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 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) 1, 5, 8-9, 12, 14, 16 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0056953 to Serpi (Serpi).
Concerning claim 1, Serpi discloses a multi-axis deep rolling tool for deep rolling a workpiece comprising:
a roller tool comprising an adaptor plate (22);
a multi-axis measurement unit (240) attached to the adaptor plate (22);
an arm mount (24) attached to the multi-axis measurement unit (10);
an arm (50) attached to the arm mount (24), the arm comprising an adapter end proximate the arm mount, the arm comprising a roller end opposite the adapter end;
a cartridge assembly (42) attached to the arm (50) proximate the roller end, the cartridge assembly (40, 42) including a rolling element (26, 27) insertable within the cartridge assembly (40, 42), the rolling element configured to contact the workpiece.
Concerning claim 5, Serpi discloses the rolling element comprises: a monolithic rod (27) configuration having a shaft forming a solid cylinder shaped bar extending axially from a base end to a ball end.
Concerning claim 8, Serpi discloses a system for deep rolling a fan blade comprising:
a roller tool comprising an adaptor plate (22);
a multi-axis measurement unit (240) attached to the adaptor plate (22);
an arm mount (24) attached to the multi-axis measurement unit (240);
an arm (50) attached to the arm mount (24), the arm comprising an adapter end proximate the arm mount, the arm comprising a roller end opposite the adapter end; and
a cartridge assembly (40, 42) attached to the arm proximate the roller end, the cartridge assembly (24) including a rolling element (26, 27) insertable within the cartridge assembly, the rolling element configured to contact the fan blade.
Concerning claim 9, Serpi discloses the cartridge assembly (40, 42) comprises a detachable cartridge holder (24), the detachable cartridge holder configured removable, wherein different styles of detachable cartridge holder can be substituted, the detachable cartridge holder including a rolling angle, the rolling angle formed between a rolling element axis and an arm axis.
Concerning claim 12, Serpi discloses the rolling element comprises: a monolithic rod (27) configuration having a shaft forming a solid cylinder shaped bar extending axially from a base end to a ball end; or a two-part configuration having a detachable interchangeable tooling ball inserted into a tooling ball receiver formed in a shaft proximate a ball end of the shaft, the ball end being opposite a base end of the shaft.
Concerning claim 14, Serpi discloses a process for forming a multi-axis deep rolling tool for deep rolling a workpiece comprising:
forming a roller tool comprising an adaptor plate (22);
attaching a multi-axis measurement unit (240) to the adaptor plate (22);
attaching an arm mount (24) to the multi-axis measurement unit;
attaching an arm (50) to the arm mount (24), the arm comprising an adapter end proximate the arm mount, the arm comprising a roller end opposite the adapter end;
attaching a cartridge assembly (40, 42) to the arm proximate the roller end, the cartridge assembly including a rolling element (26, 27) insertable within the cartridge assembly, the rolling element configured to contact the workpiece.
Concerning claim 16, Serpi discloses a dynamic force controller (¶59) in operative communication with the at least one load cell (33), the dynamic force controller configured to monitor rolling element applied forces to the workpiece during the deep rolling.
Concerning claim 18, Serpi discloses the rolling element comprising: forming a monolithic rod (27) configuration having a shaft forming a solid cylinder shaped bar extending axially from a base end to a ball end.
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(s) 7, 13 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Serpi in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 9,868,186 to Schleinitz (Schleinitz).
Concerning claims 7, 13 and 20, Serpi does not disclose the rolling element comprises a ball tip.
Schleinitz discloses the teaching that a roller element can be “for example, as a ball, a hemisphere, a disc, or a wheel” (column 1, lines 21-25).
Because both these references are concerned with a similar problem, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to replace the roller of Serpi with a ball tip. In KSR (KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007)) the courts held that combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results. Accordingly a simple substitution of the roller of Serpi with a ball tip will obtain predictable results and is therefore obvious and proper combination of the references is made. As seen in Schleinitz a ball tip is a well known variant of the roller of Serpi and thus the results of said substitution are predictable.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 6, 10-11, 15, 17 and 19 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: For claims 2 and 15, the prior art does not disclose the central sliding pivot as claimed. For claims 4, 10 and 17, the prior art does not disclose the thrust bearing. For claims 6 and 19 the prior art does not disclose the “rolling element comprises: a two-part configuration having a detachable interchangeable tooling ball inserted into a tooling ball receiver”.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Matthew Katcoff whose telephone number is (571)270-1415. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th: 8-4, Fri: Flex.
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/Matthew Katcoff/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3725
03/20/2026