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 .
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claims objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 36, the limitation “as seen in said reference direction” needs to be amended to - - as seen in the reference direction - - for a better consistency of the claim language.
In claim 1, line 44, the limitation “as seen in a intended direction” needs to be amended to - - as seen in [[a]] an intended direction - -.
In claim 2, line 2, the limitation “the same” needs to be amended to - - [[the]] a same - -.
In claim 16, line 2, the limitation “the the height” needs to be amended to - - [[the]] the height - -.
In claim 17, line 2, the limitation “wherein the a linear distance” needs to be amended to - - wherein [[the]] a linear distance - -.
In claim 22, last line, the limitation “smaller that x-1, where x is the number of the plurality of wave crests” needs to be amended to - - smaller than x-1, where x is [[the]] a number of the plurality of wave crests - -.
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 1-22 are 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1, line 43 recites the limitation “wherein this third insert” which is unclear how many “third insert” are there in order to claim this particular third insert.
The term “substantially” in claim 2 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The instant specification defines a general guidelines for the phrase "substantially" on page 22 (lines 4-8). However, this definition does not provide any clarity to one of ordinary skill in the art for modification of non-numerical concept (i.e., profile of a wave-shaped of a surface portion of a relief surface of the insert).
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the position of the calibrating insert" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the rake angle" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
The term “substantially” in claim 11 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The instant specification defines a general guidelines for the phrase "substantially" on page 22 (lines 4-8). However, this definition does not provide any clarity to one of ordinary skill in the art for modification of non-numerical concept (i.e., arc-shaped profile).
The term “essentially” in claim 13 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Therefore it is unclear how one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize a difference between a triangular wave shape and an essentially triangular wave shape.
The term “essentially” in claim 14 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Therefore it is unclear how one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize a difference between a square wave shape and an essentially square wave shape.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-22 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the claim objections and rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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:
Regarding claim 1, the prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest a face milling cutter including 1) at least a surface portion of the relief surface that adjoins to the rake face is wave-shaped with a periodic wave shape formed by a plurality of mutually parallel ridges and intermediate valleys extending away from the rake face, the pattern forming cutting edge being wave-shaped as seen in a direction towards the rake face with a periodic wave shape comprising a plurality of wave crests and a wave trough between every two consecutive wave crests of the plurality of wave crests, wherein a height of each wave crest of the plurality of wave crests is smaller than a linear distance between every two consecutive wave crests of the plurality of wave crests, and wherein each wave trough is located axially forwardly of the axially foremost cutting edge of each primary cutting insert of the at least two primary cutting inserts as seen in said reference direction; 2) that the face milling cutter comprises a calibrating insert for cutting summits in the grooved pattern formed by the pattern forming cutting edge to thereby adjust the surface roughness of the workpiece surface machined by the face milling cutter; 3) that the several insert seats furthermore comprise a third insert seat configured to accommodate the calibrating insert, wherein the third insert seat is arranged in the tool body directly before or directly after the second insert seat as seen in the intended direction of rotation of the tool body; and 4) that the calibrating insert has a calibrating cutting edge that is located axially between the plurality of wave crests and each wave trough of the pattern forming cutting edge as seen in said reference direction.
Regarding claim 20, the method claim is understood to require all of the limitations of the apparatus claim 1 and as such, the prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest the limitations of claims 20.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Shibuya et al. (US 20190118272A1) teaches a milling cutter (1) including a tool body to rotate about an axis; and cutting edges at an outer peripheral part of a front end of the tool body, wherein the cutting edges include a flat face machining cutting edge extending along a virtual plane perpendicular to the axis, and a recessed groove machining cutting edge projecting further toward a front end side in the axial direction than the flat face machining cutting edge, and the recessed groove machining cutting edge has a first inclined portion extending toward the front end side in the axial direction toward an outside in a radial direction, a second inclined portion arranged outside the first inclined portion in the radial direction and extending toward a base end side in the axial direction toward the outside in the radial direction, and a tip portion connecting the first and second inclined portions (abstract, Figs. 1-16B). In the indexable milling cutter 1, a base end portion (upper end portion) of the tool body 2 is attached to a main axis or the like (not illustrated) of a machine tool. In the indexable milling cutter 1, the tool body 2 is configured to rotate about the axial O in the tool rotational direction T by the main axis or the like, feeding in a direction that intersects the axis O is given, and milling (milling work) is performed on the work material such as a metal material by the cutting edges 7 of the cutting inserts 20 and 30 disposed at the outer peripheral part of the tip (lower end outer circumferential portion) of the tool body 2. Specifically, the indexable milling cutter 1 mainly performs the facing (perpendicular surface milling work) on the work material by feeding in the direction that perpendicularly intersects the axis O being given while being configured to rotate in the tool rotational direction T (paragraph [0084]). Shibuya further teaches a milling method including the steps of providing a plurality of cutting edges at an outer peripheral part of a front end of a tool body that is configured to rotate about an axis with intervals provided between one another in a circumferential direction around the axis; performing milling on the work material by moving the tool body to the work material in a radial direction that perpendicularly intersects the axis while the tool body is rotated in the circumferential direction; forming a flat face on the work material by using a flat face machining cutting edge that extends along a virtual plane that is perpendicular to the axis among the plurality of cutting edges; and forming a recessed groove with a V-shaped section recessed from the flat face on the work material by using a recessed groove machining cutting edge that projects further toward a front end side in the axial direction than the flat face machining cutting edge among the plurality of cutting edges (paragraph [0017]).
Ripley (US 6,511,264) teaches a nest or seating element for tangentially-mounted on-edge cutting inserts for face mills which shares a peripheral pocket of the face mill with the cutting insert, and which facilitates the adjustment of the cutting insert it supports by virtue of its resilience in the axial direction of the face mill (abstract). Ripley further teaches a cutting edge configuration with desirable rake-face geometry is achieved by dividing each insert side into two surfaces 61 and 63 at different angles to the flat faces of the insert with the upper surface of the insert-engaging pad 54 in contact with the insert surface 61 that it supports. The pad 54 is divided into two bosses 62, both engaged with the surface which happens to be on the underside of the insert 24 and supporting the face-cutting edge 32 of the insert with proper angular clearance irrespective of the position of adjustment of the pad 54 (Figs. 1-12).
Hobohm (US 20120263547A1) teaches a cutting insert carrier, in particular for a face milling cutter (2) comprises a tool basic body (4), having a multiplicity of insert seats (5), in which cutting inserts (6) are received. Rotatably fastened to the tool basic body (4) is a setting element, which is realized, in particular, as a curved ring (8) and which has circumferential cams (10), by means of which the clamping levers (12) are actuated for the purpose of fastening the cutting inserts (6) in a locking manner. The setting element (8) enables all clamping levers (12) to be actuated jointly, at the same time, such that all cutting inserts (6) are simultaneously released or locked in their insert seats (5). As a result, the assembly and setup time for insert changing is reduced significantly in comparison with conventional systems (abstract, Figs. 1-5).
Zhang et al. (US 20200122247A1) teaches a face milling cutter which includes an insert body 1 and a cutting body 2 laminated on the insert body 1, the indexable face milling cutting insert is approximately prismoid-shaped, the insert body 1 and the cutting body 2 are in smooth transition, the insert body 1 comprises multiple positioning side surfaces 11, an upper plane 12, and a positioning bottom surface 13, the cutting body 2 is laminated on the upper plane 12 of the insert body 1, an area of the upper plane 12 is larger than an area of the positioning bottom surface 13, and a projection 1.sub.2 of an edge of the positioning bottom surface 13, or an extension line thereof, on a rake face 21 is intersected with a corresponding edge or a of the rake face 21, or an extension line 1.sub.3 thereof, to form a surface deflection angle 23 (abstract, Figs. 1-18).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARANG AFZALI whose telephone number is (571)272-8412. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7 am - 4 pm EST.
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, Thomas Hong can be reached at 571-272-0993. 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.
/SARANG AFZALI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726 07/10/2026
Prosecution Insights