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 with traverse of Species I in the reply filed on October 1, 2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that figures 5 and 7 illustrate the latch 114 as part of the access control hardware. This is not found persuasive because in the specification paragraphs 9-13 and 36-43 disclose an embodiment, shown in figures 3-7, with the fire-rated component being a fire cup; and paragraphs 14-15 and 44-45 disclose an embodiment, shown in figures 8 and 9, with the fire-rated component being a latch. Accordingly, the specification distinguishes the original listed species as separate embodiments of the fire-rated component.
Claims 5, 14-16 and 23-25 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1, 2, 6-13 and 17-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Number 4,854,620 to Dunphy et al.
Dunphy et al. disclose an access control hardware for a door (31), the access control hardware comprising: an exterior trim (right side rose 33) for mounting on a non-egress side of the door; an interior trim (left side rose 33) for mounting on an egress side of the door; and a plurality of lockset components (1, 12) mounted within a bore (7) of the door, the bore extending from the non-egress side to the egress side of the door (figures 6 and 7), wherein the plurality of lockset components include: at least one fire-rated component (4) comprised of a fire-resistant material, the at least one fire-rated component including at least one passage (22) extending therethrough and at least one retention flange (6) extending around a portion of the at least one passage; and at least one threaded fastener (32) extending from the interior trim through the at least one passage into threaded engagement with the exterior trim (figure 6), the at least one threaded fastener including threading captured by the at least one retention flange to retain the at least one fastener in the bore of the door in the event the threaded fastener is disengaged from exterior trim (via 22), as in claim 1.
Dunphy et al. also disclose the plurality of lockset components include a latch (12), and the at least one fire-rated component includes a fire cup (1) positioned around the latch, as in claim 2; and the interior trim includes an interior back plate comprised of fire-resistant material, and the at least one fastener extends through the interior plate (figures 6 and 7; column 6, lines 3-22), as in claim 6; as well as the exterior trim includes an exterior back plate comprised of fire-resistant material, and the at least one fastener extends through the exterior back plate (figures 6 and 7; column 6, lines 3-22), as in claim 7; wherein: the at least one fire-rated component includes a first passage (upper 22) and a second passage (lower 22) extending therethrough; and the at least one retention flange includes a first retention flange (upper 6) extending partially around the first passage and a second retention flange (lower 6) extending partially around the second passage (figures 6 and 7; column 6, lines 3-22), as in claim 8.
Dunphy et al. further disclose the at least one retention flange includes: a first retention flange (upper 6) extending around a first side of the at least one passage (upper 22); and a second retention flange (lower 6) extending around a second side of the at least one passage (lower 22), the second retention flange being spaced circumferentially from the first retention flange (figure 1), as in claim 9; wherein opposite circumferential ends of the first retention flange portion are spaced circumferentially from adjacent opposite circumferential ends of the second retention portion (figure 1), as in claim 10; and where the fire rated component includes a planar surface facing the interior trim (10); and the first and second retention flanges protrude outwardly from the planar surface toward the interior trim (figure 1), as in claim 11; as well as and each of the first and second retention flanges extends radially inwardly to an end surface, and the end surface extends partially around the at least one passage (figure 1), as in claim 12; and the end surface of each of the first and second retention flanges is obliquely oriented to a longitudinal axis of the at least one passage (as best shown in figure 3), as in claim 13.
Dunphy et al. additionally disclose a fire-rated component (figure 1) for access control hardware, the fire-rated component comprising: a body (4) defining a receptacle (5) for housing a lockset component, the body including a plate portion (6) defining at least one passage (22) for receiving a threaded fastener (32), the plate portion including a first retention flange (upper flange 6) extending around a first portion of the at least one passage (upper 22) and a second retention flange (lower flange 6) extending around a second portion of the at least one passage (lower 22), wherein the first and second retention flanges are circumferentially spaced from one another (figure 1), as in claim 17.
Dunphy et al. also disclose the at least one passage extends along a longitudinal axis (figures 1 and 6), and the first and second retention flanges protrude outwardly from the plate portion in an oblique orientation to the longitudinal axis (figure 1), as in claim 18, wherein: each of the first and second retention flanges extends from the plate portion to an end surface thereof; and each of the end surfaces is obliquely oriented to the longitudinal axis (as best shown in figure 1), as in claim 19.
Dunphy et al. further disclose the first and second retention flanges are configured to reside between threads of the threaded fastener (the flanges reside in the intermediate portion of the fastener), as in claim 20; and the first retention flange extends circumferentially around the at least one passage between opposite first and second circumferential ends of the first retention flange (arrangement shown in figure 1); the second retention flange extends circumferentially around the at least one passage between opposite third and fourth circumferential ends of the second retention flange (arrangement shown in figure 1); and wherein the first and third circumferential ends are positioned adjacent one another and separated by a first gap, the second and fourth circumferential ends are positioned adjacent one another and separated by a second gap, and the first and second gaps are directly opposite one another (shown in figure 1), as in claim 21; as well as the body forming the receptacle is a fire cup (1), as in claim 22.
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) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dunphy et al., as applied above, in view of U.S. Patent Number 5,385,374 to Fann et al.
Dunphy et al. disclose the invention substantially as claimed. However, Dunphy et al. do not disclose the latch includes at least one second passage aligned with the at least one passage of the fire cup, and the at least one threaded fastener extends through the at least one passage of the fire cup and the at least one second passage of the latch.
Fann et al. teach of an access hardware for a door (figure 3), the access hardware comprising: an exterior trim (1) for mounting on a non-egress side of the door; an interior trim (3) for mounting on an egress side of the door; and a plurality of lockset components (2, E) mounted within a bore (N) of the door, the bore extending from the non-egress side to the egress side of the door (figure 3), wherein the plurality of lockset components include: a mounting plate (2), the at least one mounting plate including at least one passage (bore within 21) extending therethrough and at least one retention flange (flange about 21) extending around a portion of the at least one passage; and at least one fastener (21) extending from the interior trim through the at least one passage into engagement with the exterior trim (figure 3), wherein the latch includes at least one second passage (L) aligned with the at least one passage of the mounting plate, and the at least one fastener (21) extends through the at least one passage of the mounting plate and the at least one second passage of the latch (figures 2 and 3), as in claim 3, as well as the at least one second passage of the latch includes a second retention flange (surround material of L) extending at least partially around the at least one second passage, and the threading of the at least one fastener is captured by the second retention flange (column 3, lines 49-68), as in claim 4.
All of the component parts are known in Dunphy et al. and Fann et al. The only difference is the combination of the “old elements” into a single device by mounting them on a single chassis. Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to place the threaded fasteners though the latch as taught by Fann et al. by incorporating bores in the flanges of Dunphy et al., since manner the fire-rated component is in no way dependent on the assembly of the access control hardware, and the assembly of the fasteners extending through the latch could be used in combination with access control hardware to achieve the predictable results of resisting a substantial torque applied thereto.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following patents are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to door lock hardware:
U.S. Patent Number 11,131,118 to Cohen et al.; U.S. Patent Number 7,934,754 to Mathachan; U.S. Patent Number 7,828,347 to Eller et al.; U.S. Patent Number 6,742,820 to Shen; U.S. Patent Number 5,490,700 to Zuckerman; U.S. Patent Number 4,272,974 to Hennessy; U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2023/0013806 to Liang et al.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER J BOSWELL whose telephone number is (571)272-7054. The examiner can normally be reached M-R: 9-4; F 9-12.
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/CHRISTOPHER J BOSWELL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3675
CJB /cb/
December 12, 2025