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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claim 8 in the reply filed on 03/31/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-7 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 03/31/2026.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/14/2023 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by
Watanabe (US 10092997).
Watanabe discloses:
8. A grinding method of a workpiece with a grinding wheel (10) comprising:
grinding a surface of the workpiece (see Fig. 6, surface of workpiece W is grinded by surfaces 21, 22 of grinding wheel 10) with a wear-accelerated portion (21) of the grinding wheel,
the grinding wheel includes an annular wheel base (13) and
a plurality of grinding stones arrayed in an annular pattern on a side of one surface of the wheel base (see Fig. 1, grinding stones A),
the grinding stones each include a base portion (22) having a mounting surface (mounting surface between 13 and A, seen in Fig. 2) where the base portion is mounted on the wheel base and
the wear-accelerated portion that has a grinding surface to be brought into contact with the workpiece and is more prone to wearing than the base portion (Col. 8 lines 1-7 discloses a surface 17a of wear accelerated portion 21 being brought into contact with the bottom surface 48 of the work piece W; Col. 5 lines 29-44 discloses portion 22 has a high hardness and is unlikely to be worn away and discloses portion 21 has a low hardness and is relatively likely to be worn away), and,
after the wear-accelerated portion has been lost, grinding the workpiece by the base portion (Col. 8 discloses that after the wear-accelerated portion Di has been lost as seen in Fig. 7, the grinding wheel continues to be used to grind the workpiece W with grinding base portion 22).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Preston et al. (US 6196911) discloses a grinding wheel for grinding a workpiece, comprising: an annular wheel base 220; and a plurality of grinding stones 14 arrayed in an annular pattern on a side of one surface of the wheel base, wherein the grinding stones each include a base portion (base portion 50, part of section 40) having a mounting surface where the base portion is mounted on the wheel base 220, and a wear-accelerated portion (layers between hard particle layers 70, 72, 74) that has a grinding surface to be brought into contact with the workpiece and is more prone to wearing than the base portion.
Turner (US 2600815) discloses a grinding wheel 17 for grinding a workpiece, comprising: an annular wheel base 16; and a plurality of grinding stones 18, 19 arrayed in an annular pattern on a side of one surface of the wheel base, and a wear-accelerated portion 19 that has a grinding surface to be brought into contact with the workpiece and is more prone to wearing than the base portion.
Ryan (US 2309016) discloses a composite grinding wheel with two different materials, with one layer wearing more rapidly than the other
Neumann (US 5503592) discloses: a grinding wheel for grinding a workpiece, comprising: an annular wheel base 11; and wherein the grinding stones each include a base portion having a mounting surface where the base portion is mounted on the wheel base 16, and a wear-accelerated portion 18 that has a grinding surface to be brought into contact with the workpiece and is more prone to wearing than the base portion.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Dustin T Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)270-0163. The examiner can normally be reached M - F: 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathaniel E. Wiehe can be reached at (571) 272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DUSTIN T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745 April 30, 2026
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