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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because in Figure 5A there are two distinct parts labeled “250C” (one in the top center, one in the upper left). Is one of these meant to be “240C”? Paragraph [0060] of the specification discusses “bores 240A/240B/240C” in relation to Figures 5A-5B, yet these reference numbers are not represented in Figures 5A-5B. 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.
Claim Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 2 line 9 the word “a” is recited twice in a row. This appears to be a typographical error. Appropriate correction is required.
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 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Salecker, US 5,640,736.
Regarding claim 1, Salecker discloses a drain cleaning device, comprising: a power unit (power drill 20 or 34) including a housing (housing of 20 or 34, Figures 1-2), a motor received in the housing (drive or drive unit, column 1 lines 12-22, column 2 lines 25-27, 42-44), and a spindle configured to be rotated by the motor (coupling between drum and drill, column 1 lines 12-22 and column 2 lines 25-27); a drum assembly (16, Figure 1; 35, Figure 2) including a shroud coupled to the housing (18 or unlabeled section between 35 and 37 in Figure 2), a drum coupled to the spindle (16, column 2 lines 25-27) and configured to be rotationally driven by the spindle (column 1 lines 12-22 and column 2 lines 25-27), and a cable received in the drum (17 or 36); a handle assembly coupled to the drum assembly and extending along an axis (18, Figure 1, column 2 lines 21-25; or alternately at 68 in Figure 2); and a feed mechanism coupled to the handle assembly and configured to guide the cable through the handle assembly (14 or 32), the feed mechanism including a quick release selector configured to selectively engage a roller assembly (screw 76 or knob 82 engages with roller assembly 42, 50) with the cable to enable the cable to be fed through the handle assembly along the axis (column 3 lines 26-47), and a directional selector configured to vary a feed direction of the cable along the axis by changing a position of a roller assembly in the feed mechanism (directional selector includes 60 and 84; rollers 42, 50; see column 3 lines 3-14, 48-58 and column 4 lines 61-66, column 5 lines 1-6).
Regarding claim 20, Salecker discloses a drain cleaning device, comprising: a power unit (power drill 20 or 34) including a motor (drive or drive unit, column 1 lines 12-22, column 2 lines 25-27, 42-44) and a spindle configured to be rotated by the motor (coupling between drum and drill, column 1 lines 12-22 and column 2 lines 25-27); a drum coupled to a spindle of the power unit and configured to rotate in response to a rotation of the spindle (16, Figure 1; 35, Figure 2); a cable received in the drum (17 or 36); and a feed mechanism (32) including a feed housing with an axial bore extending along an axis (housing includes 40, 48, 68; bore 70), a plurality of rollers received in the feed housing (42, 50) and configured to selectively engage the cable (column 3 lines 37-47, see Figures), and a selector coupled to the roller assembly (84, 60), the selector movable among a first selector position, a second selector position, and a third selector position (“NEUTRAL”, “FORWARD”, “REVERSE”; entire discussion between column 4 line 33 to column 5 line 43), wherein in the first selector position, the plurality of rollers are oriented in a first roller position to guide the cable through the axial bore in a first direction along the axis (orientation or rollers 42, 50 shown in Figures 5A-5B; “FORWARD” direction, column 4 line 61 to column 5 line 11), wherein in the second selector position, the plurality of rollers are oriented in a second roller position to guide the cable through the axial bore in a second direction along the axis (orientation or rollers 42, 50 shown in Figures 6A-6B; “REVERSE” direction, column 5 lines 12-24), and wherein in the third selector position, the plurality of rollers are oriented in a third roller position to maintain a position of the cable along the axis in the axial bore (orientation or rollers 42, 50 shown in Figures 4A-4B; “NEUTRAL” column 4 lines 41-60).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salecker, US 5,640,736 in view of Van Osenbruggen, US 2002/0131267.
Salecker discloses all elements previously described above, however fails to disclose that there is a light assembly coupled to one of the handle assembly, the drum assembly, or the power unit.
Regarding claim 9, Van Osenbruggen teach hand-operated power tools with illumination (Title, Abstract, Figures) and in particular teach an embodiment where there is a light assembly (601, Figure 6) coupled to a handle assembly about a circumferential periphery of the tool for illuminating a work area (end of paragraph 0078 and paragraphs 0080-0081; Figure 6).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the drain cleaning device of Salecker to further include a light assembly coupled to in order to illuminate a work area.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salecker, US 5,640,736 in view of Warland, GB 818,278A.
Salecker discloses all elements previously described above, however fails to disclose that the cable includes a first tool at a first end of the cable, and a second tool at a second end of the cable, a diameter of the first tool and a diameter of the second tool each being greater than a diameter of the cable.
Regarding claim 11, Warland teaches a drain cleaning cable (2) with a first tool at a first end of the cable (3, see the Figure) and a second tool at a second end of the cable (4, see the Figure), a diameter of the first tool and a diameter of the second tool each being greater than a diameter of the cable (see the Figure). In Warland, it is simple and efficient to provide two different tools to address different types of clearing or cleansing purposes (lines 9-16, 60-64).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the cable of Salecker so that it includes a first tool at a first end of the cable, and a second tool at a second end of the cable, with a diameter of the first tool and a diameter of the second tool each being greater than a diameter of the cable, as taught by Warland, so that there are two distinct tools provided, each can be useful for operation in a particular drain cleaning or clearing use.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salecker, US 5,640,736 in view of Potter et al., US 6,431,289.
Salecker disclose all elements previously described above, however fails to disclose that there is a battery back configured to be coupled to the power unit to provide power to the motor. The applicant’s specification (paragraph [0049]) states that “features of the power unit 120 are well known and further details can be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,897,454 and 6,431,289…”
Potter et al., which is the above referenced power unit described by the applicant, teaches that the power unit in the form of a portable drill (10) comprises a battery pack (26) that is coupled to it in order to provide power to its motor (column 5 lines 16-18, motor assembly 14). Potter et al. describes the battery pack as being conventional in nature (column 5 lines 2-12).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power unit of Salecker to include a battery pack configured to be coupled to its power unit in order to provide power to the motor, as taught by Potter et al., as it conventional to include a battery pack on portable drill power units to provide electricity to the motor.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-19 are allowed.
Claims 2-8 and 10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: None of the prior art made of record discloses, teaches, or suggests the invention of claims 2-8, 10, or 13-19.
Salecker (US 5,640,736) discussed above, does not disclose that the feed mechanism further comprises a shift plate disposed at a first end portion of a feed housing, a front plate disposed at a second end portion of the feed housing, a band at least partially surrounding the shift plate, the feed housing, and the front plane, and a shift ring fixedly coupled to the shift plate and rotatably coupled with respect to the band such that the shift plate rotates together with the shift ring. In addition, Salecker does not disclose that there are a plurality of detents defined in a forward peripheral edge of the shroud and an adjacent lever elastically coupled to a rear portion of the handle assembly and configured to selectively engage one of the plurality of detents to couple the handle assembly to the shroud, wherein a position of the handle assembly relative to the shroud is adjustable to a plurality of positions corresponding to the plurality of detents.
US 3,882,565 to Irwin et al. teach a feed mechanism for use with a drain cleaning tool (Abstract), the feed mechanism includes a front plate (at 42), an axial bore extending through the feed housing to guide a cable through (cable 16, see Figures), and a ring (82). Irwin et al. does not disclose a shift plate or band at least partially surrounding the shift plate, feed housing, and front plate.
US 6,009,588 to Rutkowski and US 3,268,937 to Bollinger are additionally relevant to the claimed invention, however neither of these provide any additional teachings related to the recited feed mechanism or shroud and lever of claims 2-8, 10, or 13-19.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Laura C Guidotti whose telephone number is (571)272-1272. The examiner can normally be reached typically M-F, 6am-9am, 10am-4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Posigian can be reached at 313-446-6546. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAURA C GUIDOTTI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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