DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 1-3, 6-12, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent No. 5,207,007 to Cucinotta et al. in view of US Patent No. 5,402,581 to Hurd et al.
In re claim 1, Cucinotta teaches a gauge comprising:
a miter bar (4) comprising:
a first portion (as shown in at least Figure1) that has a fixed first width (as shown in at least Figure 1); and
a second portion (as shown in at least Figure 1) having a width adjustment system (5,6) configured to adjust a second width of the second portion, the second portion including a first prong (as shown in at least Figure 1) and a second prong (as shown in at least Figure 1) separated longitudinally from one another by a longitudinal slot (5),
wherein the first portion includes a miter bar body from which the first and second prongs project longitudinally (see Annotated Figure 1, below), and
wherein the first and second prongs extend from a second end of the miter bar that is opposite the first end, and the first and second prongs terminate at a distance from the first end of the miter bar.
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In re claim 6, wherein the first prong (as shown in at least Figure 3) defines a first outer surface of the miter bar (4), and the second prong (as shown in at least Figure 4) defines a second opposite outer surface of the miter bar, said first and second outer surfaces configured to engage corresponding side surfaces of a T-shaped slot of a table saw (as shown in at least Figure 7, Col. 2, lines 43-57).
Note, the preamble is directed to a miter gauge, not the table saw; therefore, the first and second outer surfaces of the first and second prongs merely have to be capable or engaging a T-shaped slot of a table saw.
In re claim 7, wherein the longitudinal slot (5) extends substantially along a longitudinal center of the miter bar.
Regarding claims 1 and 8, Cucinotta teaches a tool disposed on a miter bar, but does explicitly teach the tool having a miter housing and a first portion of the miter bar attached to the housing at a first end of the miter bar (Claim 1) and the miter bar defining a pivot hole separating the first portion from the second portion, the miter housing being selectively pivotable about the pivot hole (Claim 8).
Hurd teaches in the art of miter gauges, a miter bar gauge (Fig. 3) having a miter bar (1) and a miter housing (8) attached to a first portion at a first end of the miter bar and wherein the miter bar defines a pivot hole (as shown in at least Figure 3) separating the first portion from the second portion, the miter housing (8) being selectively pivotable about the pivot hole.
Note, as shown in at least Figure 3, the miter housing has a slotted hole, a pointer, and indicia, providing sufficient support that the miter housing pivots.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention (when building from the ground up) to fabricate the tool of Cucinotta as a miter gauge having a pivoting miter housing as taught by Hurd which is advantageous for permitting high-precision angle settings and repeatable angular cuts.
One having ordinary skill in the art would have looked to Cucinotta, which teaches using an adjustable width miter bar and recognized the miter bar of Cucinotta could have been combined with a pivoting miter housing of Hurd to provide a miter gauge which is advantageous for permitting high-precision angle settings and repeatable angular cuts.
In re claim 9, modified Cucinotta teaches wherein the miter bar (4, Cucinotta) has a first end and a second end, the first portion including the first end (as shown in at least Figures 1, Cucinotta) and the second portion including the second end (as shown in at least Figures 1 Cucinotta).
In re claim 10, modified Cucinotta teaches wherein the longitudinal slot (5,Cucinotta) is defined in the miter bar extending from the pivot hole to the second end (Fig. 1, Hurd).
In re claim 2, wherein the width adjustment system (12) includes a width adjusting arrangement (as shown in at least Figure 3) spaced along a longitudinal direction of the second portion of the miter bar (as shown in at least Figure 3), the width adjusting arrangement (12) configured to locally adjust a width of the second portion.
In re claim 11, Cucinotta teaches a width adjustment system configured to adjust a width of a second portion of a miter bar, the width adjustment system comprising:
a longitudinal slot (5) defined in the second portion of the miter bar separating the miter bar into a first prong (as shown in at least Figure 1) and a second prong (as shown in at least Figure 1), the first and second prongs projecting longitudinally from a miter bar body of a first portion of the miter bar that is at a first end of the miter bar, wherein the first and second prongs extend from a second end of the miter bar that is opposite and the first and second prongs terminate at a distance from the first end (the prongs terminate at 8),
a width adjusting arrangement (12) along a longitudinal direction of the second portion of the miter bar, the width adjusting arrangement configured to locally adjust a width of the longitudinal slot and thereby an associated width of the second portion.
Regarding claims 2 and 11, Cucinotta teaches a width adjustment system, but does not teach a plurality of width adjusting arrangements spaced apart along a longitudinal direction in which each of the plurality of adjusting arrangements is configured to locally adjust a width of the second portion.
Hurd teaches a miter bar having a plurality of width adjusting arrangements (5) spaced apart along a longitudinal direction in which each of the plurality of adjusting arrangements is configured to locally adjust a width of the second portion.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to size the miter bar of Cucinotta to have a desired length and extend the slot to accommodate a plurality of width adjustment arrangements as taught by Hurd in order to maintain proper adjustment of the bar in various width slots. Providing Cucinotta with a plurality of width adjusting arrangements is merely a duplication of working essential parts.
In re claims 3 and 12, modified Cucinotta teaches wherein each of the width adjusting arrangements (5, Cucinotta) includes a first adjusting member (8, Cucinotta) configured to exert a first force urging the first and second prongs away from one another, and a second adjusting member (5, Cucinotta) configured to exert a second force urging the first and second prongs toward one another, the first and second forces acting together to locally adjust the width of the second portion (Col. 2, lines 43-57, Cucinotta).
In re claim 15, wherein the miter bar (4) has a first end and a second end, and the longitudinal slot (5) extends from the second end a pivot hole (8), which separates the miter bar into the first portion, which has a fixed width (as shown in at least Figure 3) and the second portion (as shown in at least Figure 3). In the event one may argue 8 is not a pivot hole, Hurd teaches a miter bar having a pivot hole (as shown in at least Figure 3).
Note, as shown in at least Figure 3, the miter housing has a slotted hole, a pointer, and indicia, providing sufficient support that the miter housing pivots via a hole provided in the miter bar.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention (when building from the ground up) to fabricate the miter bar of Cucinotta to have a pivot hole as taught by Hurd which is advantageous for receiving additional tools, including but not limited to a miter housing which permits high-precision angle settings and repeatable angular cuts.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-20 are allowed.
Claims 4, 5, 13, and 14 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.
Frolov teaches a miter gauge which in which the width is adjusted via a spring and fastener arrangement. The spring permits the miter bar to expand to a desired width when placed along a T-shape slot of a saw table and the fastener. Once the miter gauge is in a desired position the fasteners are rotated to positionally lock the adjusted portion of the miter bar relative to the main body (of the miter bar).
Hurd teaches a similar concept to that of Frolov. The miter gauge of Frolov has a plurality of width adjustment members along the length of the miter bar. A spring exerts an expanding pressure on the bar to position the bar in a desired location with respect to the slot of the table saw. A screw is then tightened to retain the miter bar in the desired position.
The prior art does not teach or suggest the first adjustment member being a set screw to exert a force on the first prong to urge the prongs away and the second adjustment member being a screw having a screw head to exert a force on the interior shoulder urging the second prong toward the first prong, in combination with the other claimed elements.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-3, 6-12, and 15 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/JENNIFER S MATTHEWS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3724
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