Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lofton (US 4919232), in view of Kim (KR 102073555, herein referenced by the EPO English Machine Translation).
Re Claim 1, Lofton discloses a system for forming an oil mist for lubrication machining in a machining apparatus, the system comprising: an oil storage device 43, 45 configured to store and maintain an oil for lubrication at a preset temperature (note: although not explicitly described, element 45 of figure 1 appears to be the tank/source of oil supply/storage for oil pump 43, to supply oil to the oil line 46); an oil supply line 46 which is connected to the cooled oil storage device and heat-insulated and configured to supply the oil from the cooled oil storage device 43, 45 therethrough; an indirect cooling device 36, 37 configured to form an indirect cooling air of a first temperature equal to or less than the preset temperature, and to indirectly cool the oil supply line 46 to the first temperature; an oil nozzle 48 configured to form the oil mist by injecting the oil of the first temperature supplied from the cooled oil storage device 43, 45 through the oil supply line 46; and a direct cooling device 29 configured to form a direct cooling air of a second temperature lower than the first temperature, and to mix and inject the oil mist and the direct cooling air (Col. 3, Line 20-Col. 4, Line 68, Fig. 1). Lofton does not explicitly disclose the oil storage tank is cooled.
Kim discloses a system for forming an oil mist for lubrication machining in a machining apparatus, the system comprising: a cooled oil storage device 9 configured to store and maintain an oil for lubrication and cooling at a preset temperature (Pars. 0017-0027, Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the system of Lofton with a cooled oil tank as disclosed by Kim for the benefit of providing chilled lubricant to properly form the oil mist.
Re Claim 2, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. The combination discloses the cooled oil storage device 9 includes: an oil chiller 7 configured to maintain the oil for lubrication and cooling at the preset temperature; and an oil reservoir 15, 9 configured to, for a predetermined time period, store the oil supplied from the oil chiller 7 and supply the stored oil to an oil supply line (See Kim, Pars. 0017-0027, Fig. 1).
Re Claim 3, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. Lofton discloses an oil supply pump 43 configured to supply the oil stored in an oil reservoir to the oil supply line 46; and an oil pressure regulator 39 configured to maintain an output pressure of the oil supply pump 43 at a predetermined pressure (Col. 3, Lines 36-41, Fig. 1).
Re Claim 4, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. Lofton discloses the indirect cooling device 36, 37 includes: at least one indirect cooling line 37 configured to at least partially surround the oil supply line 46; and at least one indirect cooling air supply device 36 configured to form the indirect cooling air of the first temperature and supply the indirect cooling air to the at least one indirect cooling line 37 (Col. 4, Lines 20-39, Fig. 1).
Re Claim 18, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. Lofton discloses the oil nozzle 48 is configured to form the oil mist by use of the oil of the first temperature supplied through the oil supply line 46 (Col. 4, Lines 20-31, Fig. 1).
Re Claim 19, Lofton discloses a method for forming oil mist in a machining apparatus, the method comprising: extracting an oil at a preset temperature from an oil storage device; maintaining and supplying the oil by supplying the extracted oil through an oil supply line 46 configured to penetrate at least one indirect cooling line 37 cooled to a first temperature equal to or less than the preset temperature; forming a direct cooling air of a second temperature lower than the first temperature; and forming the oil mist of the oil and injecting the direct cooling air to be mixed with the oil mist (Col. 3, Line 20-Col. 4, Line 68, Fig. 1). Lofton does not explicitly disclose oil cooled to a preset temperature from a cooled oil storage device.
Kim discloses a method for forming oil mist in a machining apparatus, the method comprising: extracting an oil cooled to a preset temperature from a cooled oil storage device 9; maintaining and supplying the oil below the preset temperature by supplying the extracted oil through an oil supply line (Pars. 0017-0027, Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Lofton by extracting the oil from a cooled oil tank as disclosed by Kim for the benefit of providing chilled lubricant to properly form the oil mist.
Re Claim 20, the combination as applied to claim 19 remains as previously applied. Lofton discloses the forming of the direct cooling air includes: compressing air; removing moisture from the compressed air to form a dry air; primarily cooling the dry air by flowing the dry air through a dry air supply line 36 penetrating the at least one indirect cooling line 37; and additionally cooling the primarily cooled air through a direct cooling vortex tube 29 (Col. 3, Line 20-Col. 4, Line 50, Fig. 1).
Claim Objections
Claims 5-17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/BAYAN SALONE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726