Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/609,474

INTEGRATED MACHINE FOR FULLY AUTOMATIC CORE DRILLING AND DIRECT PULLING AND A DETECTION METHOD THEREOF

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Mar 19, 2024
Examiner
PHAN, TRUONG D
Art Unit
2855
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Hunan Academy Of Building Research Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
68%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 8m
To Grant
85%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 68% — above average
68%
Career Allow Rate
291 granted / 429 resolved
At TC average
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+16.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
452
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.7%
-38.3% vs TC avg
§103
47.9%
+7.9% vs TC avg
§102
13.9%
-26.1% vs TC avg
§112
32.0%
-8.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 429 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 Objections Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities: In claim 8, the term "the an" in line 1 should be "the". Drawings The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings fail to show “a tension sensor set at the other end of the drive support rod” (as recited in claim 1); “the worm gear motor is configured with two and such two worm gear motors are disposed opposite to each other in the lower part of the housing” (as recited in claim 3); “two drive screws are configured with sensor fixing blocks attached to their tops” (as recited in claim 4) in a broadest sense. The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, “a tension sensor set at the other end of the drive support rod” (as recited in claim 1); “the worm gear motor is configured with two and such two worm gear motors are disposed opposite to each other in the lower part of the housing” (as recited in claim 3); “two drive screws are configured with sensor fixing blocks attached to their tops” (as recited in claim 4) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. Specification The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Due to drawing objection, the instant specification is also objected because the instant specification does not consistently reflect what being claimed i.e. “a tension sensor set at the other end of the drive support rod” (as recited in claim 1); “the worm gear motor is configured with two and such two worm gear motors are disposed opposite to each other in the lower part of the housing” (as recited in claim 3); “two drive screws are configured with sensor fixing blocks attached to their tops” (as recited in claim 4) in the instant specification. Note that the instant specification must consistently reflect claimed limitations. Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. As to claim 1, limitations of “a tension sensor set at the other end of the drive support rod” render the claim indefinite because fig.2 of the instant drawing does not show “a tension sensor set at the other end of the drive support rod”. Fig.2 of the instant drawing shows a power supply 37 set at the other end of the drive support rod 33. Tension sensor 34 appears to coupled/set at the end of a pulling screw 36. Hence, it is unclear. As to claims 2-8, claims 2-8 are also rejected due to their dependency on the rejected claim 1. As to claim 4, claim 4 recites limitations "the two drive screws”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. The claim languages “the two drive screws" appear for the first time, however, read as though they have already been recited. See MPEP 2173.05(e). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-8 are allowable once all objections and 112b rejections are corrected. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The best prior art found to record is explained below: Zhu – Translate_CN 203719982 U discloses a drilling and grinding head for making a concrete pull-off test piece. The drilling and grinding head consist of a mounting seat, a grinding disk and a drill bit. By using the drilling and grinding head for making the concrete pull-off test piece, a core sample test piece is vertical to the surface of any concrete structure can be cut in the concrete structure. The test piece is pulled out of the tested concrete structure by using a pull-off instrument, and the pull-off strength of the test piece is converted into the compressive strength of concrete. By adopting the drilling and grinding head, core sample test piece cutting operation in the concrete structure is simple and rapid, the accuracy of the core sample test piece is high, force for pulling out the core sample test piece is accurately converted into compressive strength, and damages to the concrete structure are small (abstract). Zhu fails to disclose an adjustable link block is configured to adjust a distance between the tension sensor and the pulling screw, in combination with the remaining limitations of an integrated machine for fully automatic core drilling and direct pulling as claimed in independent claim 1. Hence the prior art of record fails to teach the invention as set forth in claims 1-8 and Examiner cannot find specific teaching of the invention, nor reasons within the cited art to combine and/or modify the elements of the prior art of record other than applicant's own reasoning. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRUONG D PHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8883. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Breene can be reached on 571-272-4107. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /TRUONG D PHAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2855 /JOHN E BREENE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 19, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
68%
Grant Probability
85%
With Interview (+16.8%)
2y 8m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 429 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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