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 Group II (claims 12-14) in the reply filed on 02/10/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following antecedent basis informalities:
Claim 12, ll. 6, consider amending to, --the gear grinding machine is configured to grind a tooth surface of [[the]]a gear—
Claim 12, ll. 11, consider amending to, --discharge port configured to supply the coolant toward the toward surface from a trailing--
Claim 12, ll. 14, consider amending to, --the discharge port is located at least partially at [[the]]a same position as the gear—
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 12 -13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CH714436 (CH’436), as provided in IDS filed on 04/16/2025 and translation provided by Examiner.
Regarding claim 12, CH’436 discloses a gear grinding machine, comprising:
a grindstone tool (item 2; figs. 2 and 5-8) having an outer circumference (defined as outer cylindrical surface of tool 2; fig. 5 below) that includes a grinding thread (pp. [0133]; defined as screw-thread); and
a coolant discharge member (includes items 60’, 63; figs. 5-8) having a tip (item 60’, pp. [0189-0190]; fig. 7) that includes a discharge port (includes items 61, 62, pp. [0190]; figs. 5-7) that discharges coolant (pp. [0191]), wherein
the gear grinding machine is configured to grind a tooth surface of a gear workpiece (item 3; pp. [0187]; figs. 5-8) by rotating the grindstone tool and the gear workpiece in a state in which the thread is meshed with teeth of the gear workpiece (pp. [0126]; tooth surface is machined as grindstone tool 2 is rotated about axis B1 and workpiece 3 is rotated about axis C2; fig. 5) and supply the coolant from the discharge port to a meshing portion (pp. [0182] and [0186], defined as portion in which tooth surface of grindstone tool 2 and outer surface of workpiece 3 directly engage), between the thread and the teeth (pp. [0186]; coolant is supplied via discharge port 61 into meshing portion between the thread of the tool 2 and the teeth of the workpiece 3),
the discharge port is located on a meshing start side (designated in annotated fig. 8 below) of the meshing portion, the discharge port being configured to supply coolant toward the tooth surface from a trailing side (discharge port supplies coolant from a rear side, i.e. trailing side, of the meshing portion in which grindstone 2 and workpiece 3 directly engage) in a rotation direction of the gear workpiece (rotation direction defined along axis C2, designated in annotated fig. 8 below; pp. [0182], discharge port supplies coolant laterally toward the tooth surface, similar to applicant’s disclosure) through a space (pp. [0182]; defined as engagement area) between the gear workpiece and the grindstone tool,
the discharge port is located at least partially at a same position as the gear workpiece in a direction in which an axis of the gear workpiece extends (direction in which axis C2 extends is defined vertically in view of annotated fig. 8 below; therefore, partially the discharge port 61 is at a same position along the vertical direction as the gear workpiece 3; fig. 8),
the discharge port is arranged such that the coolant is directly supplied to a tooth located in a thread groove of the grindstone tool (pp. [0183] and [0189-0190]; the discharge port include items 61, 62 and supplies coolant along direction 65; the port is intended to transport as much coolant to the engagement area via items 61, 62 and thereby, the discharge port is capable of supplying a portion of the coolant, i.e. portion of the coolant that does not contact inclined planes 71, directly to a tooth located within a thread groove, i.e. groove between LF and RF in view of fig. 2, during the machining process), and
the grindstone tool is rotated in a direction (along direction B1; figs. 1, 3, and 5) in which the thread enters a tooth groove (defined as space between teeth of workpiece 3; figs. 3 and 5) of the gear workpiece from above (axis B1 rotates clockwise and therefore, enters the space between the tooth groove from above and exits below; figs. 3 and 5).
Regarding claim 13, CH’436 discloses the gear grinding machine as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a lifting table (item 30; fig. 1) that elevates the grindstone tool (pp. [0134]; grindstone tool 2 mounted onto lifting table 30 which is capable of moving along Z1 direction upward and downward, i.e. elevated), wherein the discharge port is configured to be elevated together with the grindstone tool (pp. [0192-0193]; the discharge port is mounted on a separate structure, i.e. item 23, and is capable of being elevated when the grindstone tool 2 is elevated in order for the coolant flow to always be aligned with the point of engagement).
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.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CH714436 (CH’436), as provided in IDS filed on 04/16/2025 and translation provided by Examiner, in view of Bricker (US Patent No. 4,314,425).
Regarding claim 14, CH’436 discloses the gear grinding machine as claimed in claim 12. CH’436 does not disclose wherein the discharge port is shaped along a rotation trajectory of an addendum circle of the gear workpiece. However, Bricker (US Patent No. 4,314,425) teaches a grinding machine comprising a larger-sized workpiece (item 16; fig. 1), a grindstone tool (item 14; fig. 1), and a coolant discharge member (item 20; fig. 1) including a tip (item 26; fig. 1) and discharge port (opening in which coolant 22 exits through in tip 26; fig. 1), wherein the discharge port is shaped along a rotation trajectory of an addendum circle (defined as outermost circle of workpiece 16, corresponding to an outermost circle of a gear workpiece in CH’436, i.e. circle defined around the outermost surface of the gear teeth; designated in annotated fig. 1 below, discharge port extends within boundary of rotation trajectory, similar to applicant’s disclosure, fig. 10 and pp. [0036] in instant disclosure).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the discharge port and workpiece, as disclosed in CH’436, to be shaped along a rotation trajectory of a greater-sized workpiece, as taught in Bricker, in order for the coolant discharge member to function as intended when the gear workpiece is of greater size and therefore, direct coolant directly to the area of grinding contact (Bricker; col. 1, ll. 20-24).
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Annotated Fig. 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Smith (US 2005/0126004) discloses a gear grinding machine comprising a grindstone tool including a grindstone thread, a coolant discharge member having a tip that extends into the area of a workpiece, and the workpiece is a gear workpiece.
Ozaki (US 2016/0107291) discloses a gear grinding machine comprising a grindstone tool including a grindstone thread, a gear workpiece, and a coolant discharge member having a tip that directly supplies coolant to a meshing start portion between the threads of the grindstone tool and teeth of the gear workpiece.
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/SIDNEY D FULL/Examiner, Art Unit 3723