DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 9/10/2025 has been entered. Claims 2-19 remain pending in the application. Claim 1 was cancelled.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 9/10/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 2-5, 7-14 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Misehashi (JP2012240109) in view of Thaddaeus (US 20100199739 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Misehashi teaches a floating cutter unit (see Figure 1) for attachment to a trimming press processing device (see Figure 7), the trimming press processing device being configured to cut a scrap from a plate material along a trim line and to divide the scrap further along a scrap cut line (see Figures 7-8), the floating cutter unit comprising:
a holder set (assembly of 31 and 32) including a hole (312 with the hole in 32)), the holder set having a bush (34) fixed in the hole (see Figures 1-2);
a floating cutter held (2) by holder set in a manner movable relative to the holder set in a direction of an axial center of the floating cutter (see Figures 1-2), the floating cutter comprising
a shank part (21) having slidable fit in the bush so as to be slidable in the direction of the axial center of the floating cutter (see Figures 1-2), the shank part having a tail end surface (top surface of 23) at one end located in the hole in the holders set (see Figure 1); and
a cutting part (22) integrally formed at another end of the shank part and projecting outside the hole in the holder set (see Figure 1), the cutting part having a first side surface (right side of 22 in Figure 3C) and a second side surface (upper left side of 22 in Figure 3C) which are on opposite sides of the floating cutter and extend along the central axis of the floating cutter (Figure 3C), the first side surface having a cutting edge at a bottom edge of the first side surface (see Figure 3), the cutting edge being configured to be arranged along the trim line to cut the scrap from the plate material (see Figures 3 and 7-8),
a spring (4) inserted the hole in the holder set and abutting the tail end surface of the floating cutter so as to give reaction force to the floating cutter (see Figure 1C).
Misehashi fails to teach a member fixed to the holder set, the member comprising a guide surface and placed in slidable contact with the second side surface of the cutting part of the floating cutter, the guide surface being configured to guide the floating cutter moving in the direction of the central axis with respect to the holder set by sliding the second side surface of the floating cutter over the guide surface, wherein the floating cutter is configured so that bringing the cutting edge of the floating cutter into contact with the plate material leaves a gap between the member and the plate material.
Thaddaeus teaches a floating cutter unit (see Figure 1) with a first side surface (left surface of 20 near 48, see Figure 1) of a cutting part (20) and a second side surface of the cutting part (right surface on 44 in contact with 34, see Figure 1), a member (34) fixed to the holder set (36), the member comprising a guide surface (surface of 34 in contact with a surface in slot 44 in Figure 2) placed in slidable contact with the second side surface of the cutting part of the floating cutter (paragraph 0019 and 0023), the guide surface being configured to guide the floating cutter moving in the direction of the central axis with respect to the holder set by sliding the second side surface of the floating cutter over the guide surface (paragraph 0019 and 0023).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of Misehashi to add the member arrangement, as taught by Thaddaeus, while keep in the shape of the cutter in Misehashi), in order to better align the cutting part during cutting (paragraph 0019 and 0023). The resulting device of modified Misehashi teaches a member fixed to the holder set (as modified by Thaddaeus, 32 Thaddaeus added to the holder of Misehashi), the member comprising a guide surface and placed in slidable contact with the second side surface of the cutting part of the floating cutter (as modified by Thaddaeus, since the second surface is the only surface opposite to the first surface, the added member is in contact with the second surface as modified, as such the second surface is parallel and opposite of the first surface in Misehashi and the added guide surface as modified would also be parallel to the second surface in order to guide it), the guide surface being configured to guide the floating cutter moving in the direction of the central axis with respect to the holder set by sliding the second side surface of the floating cutter over the guide surface (as modified by Thaddaeus, see Figure 1 of Thaddaeus), wherein the floating cutter is configured so that bringing the cutting edge of the floating cutter into contact with the plate material leaves a gap between the member and the plate material (as modified by Thaddaeus, for example, cutting edge of 20 contact the work piece while there is a vertical gap between 34 and work piece, see Figure 1 of Thaddaeus).
Furthermore, if there is any doubt that the added member is in contact with the second surface, as taught by Thaddaeus, the member is in contact with a surface for guiding (see Figure 2). Therefore, it would also have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art the change the contact location of the member in to contacting any side surface of the cutting part as needed, this includes the second surface. Since, the courts have been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70. MPEP 2144.04 VI. C.
Regarding claim 3, modified Misehashi further teaches a scrap cutter (701/702) attached to the holder set and configured to be arranged along to the scrap cut line (see Figures 7-8 of Misehashi).
Regarding claim 4, modified Misehashi teaches all elements of the current invention as set forth in claim 2 above.
Modified Misehashi fails to teach the member comprises a sliding layer formed on the guide surface and including a solid lubricant.
Misehashi further teaches a sliding layer formed on a slide guide and including a solid lubricant (paragraph 0010 of the translation of Misehashi).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of modified Misehashi to a sliding layer formed on the guide surface and including a solid lubricant, as taught by Misehashi, in order to allow the cutting part to better slide against the guide surface during cutting (paragraph 0010 of the translation of Misehashi).
Regarding claim 5, modified Misehashi further teaches the spring comprise an elastic body (in the embodiment of paragraph 0035 of the translation of Misehashi).
Regarding claim 7, modified Misehashi further teaches the spring comprises a compressible fluid sprig or a gas spring (paragraph 0032 of the translation of Misehashi).
Regarding claim 8, modified Misehashi further teaches a trimming press processing device (see Figures 7-8 of Misehashi), comprising:
a trimming press lower die (assembly of 71 of Misehashi);
a main trimming press upper die (701 and 702 of Misehashi) configured to move toward the trimming press lower die to cut off a scrap other than a product part from a plate material between the main trimming press upper die and the trimming press lower die along a trim line (see Figures 7-8 of Misehashi);
a scrap cutting press lower die (73 of Misehashi) positioned with a space from a cutting edge of the trimming press lower die at a distance corresponding to a plate thickness of the plate material in a direction of moving of the main trimming press upper die (See Figures 7-8 of Misehashi); and
a scrap cutting press upper die (72 of Misehashi) configured to move together with the main trimming press upper die to divide the scrap along a scrap cut line between the scrap cutting press upper die and the scrap cutting press lower die (see Figures 7-8 of Misehashi); and
a floating cutter unit according to claim 1, the floating cutter being aligned with the main trimming press upper die along the trim line and configured to move together with the main trimming press upper die toward the trimming press lower die to cut off the scrap from the plate material between the trimming press lower die and the floating cutter unit together with the main trimming press upper die (see Figures 7-8 of Misehashi), the spring being configured to allow the floating cutter to move relative to the holder set in a direction opposite to the direction of moving of the main trimming press upper while pushing the floating cutter against the scrap cutting press lower die after cutting off the scrap (see Figures 7-8 of Misehashi).
Regarding claim 9, modified Misehashi further teaches the second side surface is configured to be arranged offset from the trim line (as least during operation, the guide surface engages the second side surface offset from the trim line, as only the upper portion of the surface on 22 is interpreted as the second side surface, thus the limitation is met).
Regarding claim 10, modified Misehashi further teaches the second side surface extends parallel to the first side surface and is configured to be arranged parallel to the trim line, and wherein the member extends parallel to the second side surface of the cutting part of the floating cutter (see Figures 7-8 of Misehashi).
Regarding claim 11, modified Misehashi further teaches the member is configured to move with the trimming press processing device when the floating cutter unit is mounted on the trimming press processing device (as modified by Thaddaeus, the added guide 34 of Thaddaeus onto member 3 of Misehashi, and move to float 1, paragraph 0049 of Misehashi translation).
Regarding claim 12, modified Misehashi further teaches a pair of cutters separate from the member (701 and 702), wherein each of the cutters comprises a cutting edge that is configured to be arranged along the trim line when the floating cutter unit is mounted on the trimming press processing device (see Figures 7-9 of Misehashi).
Regarding claim 13, modified Misehashi further teaches a distance between the member and the floating cutter is not influenced by an error in a mounting position of the floating cutter unit on the trimming press processing device when the floating cutter unit is mounted on the trimming press processing device (not rattle, paragraph 0008 of Misehashi translation).
Regarding claim 14, modified Misehashi further teaches the member is positioned away from the first side surface of the floating cutter and the guide surface is positioned on the second side surface of the floating cutter to leave the first side surface free of the guide surface (member is added to the second side, and an empty first side, see Figure 7-8 of Misehashi).
Regarding claim 16, modified Misehashi further teaches the guide surface is flat (as modified by Thaddaeus, see Figure 2 of Thaddaeus).
Regarding claim 17, modified Misehashi further teaches the first side surface of the floating cutter is positioned to linearly move without engaging the guide surface (see Figures 7 and 8 of Misehashi).
Regarding claim 18, modified Misehashi further teaches the floating cutter is axially movable between a retracted position and an extended position relative to the holder set (see Figures 7 and 8 of Misehashi), wherein the floating cutter is configured to move toward the retracted position by moving in a first axial direction and is configured to move toward the extended position by moving in a second axial direction that is opposite the first axial direction (see Figures 7 and 8 of Misehashi), wherein the floating cutter is configured so that the cutting edge moves toward the bush in the holder set when the floating cutter moves in the first axial direction and the cutting edge moves away from the bush in the holder set when the floating cutter moves in the second axial direction (see Figures 7 and 8 of Misehashi), and wherein when the floating cutter is in the extended position, the floating cutter extends beyond the guide surface of the member in the second axial direction (see Figures 7 and 8 of Misehashi).
Regarding claim 19, modified Misehashi further teaches a length of the guide surface of the member in a direction parallel to the central axis of the floating cutter is less than a length of the second side surface of the floating cutter in the direction parallel to the central axis so that the floating cutter extends beyond the guide surface of the member in the direction parallel to the central axis of the floating cutter toward the trim line (as modified by Thaddaeus, similar to the ratio of 22 and 34 in Thaddeus, see Figure 1 of Thaddaeus).
If there is any doubt about the length, with respect to the specific ratio of length, the courts have held that where the general conditions of the invention are met, a change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art., In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955). MPEP 2144.04 IV. A. Therefore, it would have been obvious to further modify Misehashi to have the desired length ratio of guide, based on the desired support desired by the end user.
Regarding claim 20, modified Misehashi further teaches the length of the guide surface of the member in the direction parallel to the central axis of the floating cutter is less than a length of the first side surface of the floating cutter in the direction parallel to the central axis (as modified by Thaddaeus, similar to the ratio of 22 and 34 in Thaddeus or the modification in claim 19, see Figure 1 of Thaddaeus).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Misehashi (JP2012240109) in view of Thaddaeus (US 20100199739 A1) and in further view of Fujimura (US 20070144230 A1).
Regarding claim 6, modified Misehashi further teaches the elastic body is a spring (in the embodiment of paragraph 0035 of the translation of Misehashi).
Modified Misehashi fails to teach a coil spring.
Fujimura teaches a coil spring used to push out a cutting part (see Figure 3-6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of modified Misehashi to have the spring to be a coil spring, as taught by Fujimura. As one of ordinary skill in the art understand that coil springs are commonly used to push out cutting part in the art of trimming device.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Misehashi (JP2012240109) in view of Thaddaeus (US 20100199739 A1) and in further view of Sugimoto (US 20020051590 A1).
Regarding claim 15, modified Misehashi further teaches all elements of the current invention as set forth in claim 4 above.
Modified Misehashi fails to teach the sliding layer comprises a porous sintered alloy layer impregnated with oil.
Sugimoto teaches a solid guide with a porous sintered alloy layer impregnated with oil. (paragraphs 0004-0005).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of modified Misehashi to have the solid guide made for a porous sintered alloy layer impregnated with oil, as taught by Sugimoto. As one of ordinary skill in the art understand that a porous sintered alloy layer impregnated with oil are commonly used for lubricating two parts.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/10/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s argument that modified Misehashi fails to teach “the floating cutter is configured so that bringing the cutting edge of the floating cutter into contact with the plate material leaves a gap between the member and the plate material”. The examiner disagrees and notes that the resulting device of modified Misehashi teaches the floating cutter is configured so that bringing the cutting edge of the floating cutter into contact with the plate material leaves a gap between the member and the plate material (as modified by Thaddaeus, for example, cutting edge of 20 contact the work piece while there is a vertical gap between 34 and work piece, see Figure 1 of Thaddaeus).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIANG DONG whose telephone number is (571)270-0479. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8 AM-6 PM.
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/LIANG DONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3724 11/13/2025