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 . This office action is in response to the amendment filed on 05/04/2026 in which claims 1-20 are pending, claims 1, 3, 12, 13 and 18 are currently amended.
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 13-20 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 13 recites, “to engage the support bracket” and it appears that the applicant intended -- to engage the stabilizer tab – as is shown in Figure 9.
Claim 20 recites, “The circular saw of claim 20,” It is unclear whether the Applicant intended to recite, -- The circular saw of claim 19--, --The circular saw of claim 13—or another claim from which claim 20 depends.
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.
Claims 1-3, 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Niwa et al. (U.S. Patent 7,281,332), herein referred to as Niwa.
In regards to claim 1, Niwa disclose a circular saw comprising a housing (main body 2); a motor (not illustrated) disposed within the housing, the motor having a driveshaft (e.g. rotating shaft 10); a blade (saw blade 3) removably coupled with the drive shaft of the motor and operable to rotate therewith; and a bottom plate (base 1) rotatably coupled to the housing and configured to act as a guide on a workpiece during a cutting operation of the circular saw, the bottom plate (1) defining a zero plane in which the blade (3) is orthogonal to the bottom plate (fig. 3), and the bottom plate (1) is rotatable in a first direction (per Fig. 4) about an axis from the zero plane and in a second direction (per Fig. 5) about the axis from the zero plane opposite the first direction; a stabilizer tab (area of guide member 36 around the hole 36a) disposed adjacent to a first end of the bottom plate and
a bevel bracket (guide member 35) disposed adjacent to a second end of the bottom plate opposite the first end, the bevel bracket (35) configured to facilitate rotation of the bottom plate in the first direction and in the second direction, and the bevel bracket having a set screw (bolt 34) to adjust the bottom plate relative to the housing to ensure that the bottom plate is aligned along the zero plane at a bevel angle of zero degrees (“By screwing the bolt 34 and a nut member 38 (FIG. 3) projected into the first guide hole 35a to engage therewith rotatably, pivoting positions of the support member 32 and the first guide member 35 relative to each other can be fixed.”) and wherein the stabilizer tab (36) and the set screw (34) cooperatively maintain the bottom plate in the zero plane( guide members 35 and 36 support the front and back of the saw and the bolt 34 via its engagement with guide member 35 can adjust the bottom plate at a zero degree bevel angle relative to the saw blade.
In regards to claim 2, Niwa discloses wherein the bottom plate (1) rotates in the first direction over a range of zero degrees to fifty degrees (fig. 4) and in the second direction over a range of zero degrees to three degrees (fig. 5).
In regards to claim 3, Niwa discloses a support bracket (36) adjacent to the first end of the bottom plate (1), wherein the support bracket connects the first end of the bottom plate (1) to the housing (2), wherein the bottom plate (1) rotates about the support bracket (36) and wherein the support bracket includes the stabilizer tab (area around 36a or 36).
In regards to claim 12, Niwa discloses wherein the bevel bracket (35) connects the second end of the bottom plate (1) to the housing (2), wherein the bottom plate (1) rotates about the bevel bracket (35), and wherein the set screw (34) is rotatable to a stop position (either end of guide hole 35a) in which the bottom plate is prevented from rotating in the second direction from the zero plane.
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 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakimoto (JP2002/361601) in view of Chiuminatta (U.S. Patent 4,903,680) (4903680; 4805500; 7163010)
In regards to claim 13, Kakimoto discloses a circular saw (fig.1) comprising a housing (8); a motor (electric motor) disposed within the housing (8), the motor having a driveshaft (for driving the blade); a blade (7) removably coupled with the driveshaft of the motor and operable to rotate therewith; a support bracket (10a) extending from the housing (8), the support bracket including a stabilizer tab (part of 10a that is engaging the buffer means 19); and a bottom plate (12) rotatatably coupled to the support bracket (10a) and configured to act as a guide on a workpiece during a cutting operation of the circular saw, the bottom plate (12) including a compressible pad (coil spring 19) configured to engage the support bracket (near 10a) when the bottom plate (12) is aligned along a zero plane in which the blade is perpendicular to the bottom plate.
Kakimoto discloses a coil spring configured to engage the support bracket but does not set forth that the coil spring is a compressible pad. Attention is further directed to the Chiuminatta concrete saw that utilizes spring biased screws 60/64 that can exert a variable force for restraining upward and downward movement of the insert 46. Further, Chiuminatta expressly teaches that the resilient biasing member need not be a coil spring and may instead comprise rubber washers or other resilient means known in the art (col. 9, lines 3-10), demonstrating that the biasing member is interchangeable with a compressible resilient element while performing the same function. Because both Kakimoto and Chiuminatta employ a resilient member for applying a biasing force and Chiuminatta teaches substituting a rubber washer or other resilient element for a coil spring, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute Kakimotor’s coil spring with a rubber washer (compressible pad) in order to provide the same resilient biasing force using an alternative resilient member known in the art.
Claim 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakimoto (JP2002/361601) in view of Chiuminatta (U.S. Patent 4,903,680) and in further view of Niwa et al. (U.S. Patent 7,281,332), herein referred to as Niwa. In regards to claim 14, the modified device of Kakimoto discloses wherein the bottom plate rotates in a first direction in the zero plane but does not set forth that the bottom plate also rotates in a second direction from the zero plane opposite the first direction. Niwa discloses a circular saw with a guide plate is adjustable in both positive and negative angular directions relative to the zero plane. In particular, Niwa teaches that adjustments in the negative direction permits certain side cutting operations without the motor housing hitting the workpiece. Niwa also discloses that in the positive direction, the saw can be extended to a larger angle relative to the bottom plate for miter cutting. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the bottom plate of Kakimoto to provide angular adjustments in both the positive and negative directions, as taught by Niwa, in order to permit side cutting operations while reducing the likelihood of the motor housing contacting the workpiece as well as larger miter cuts, thereby providing the same advantage recognized by Niwa.
In regards to claim 17, the modified device of Kakimoto discloses wherein the compressible pad (rubber washer Chiuminatta) compresses to allow the bottom plate to rotate in the second direction.
In regards to claim 18, the modified device of Kakimoto discloses wherein the compressible pad comprises an elastomeric pad (rubber washer Chiuminatta)
In regards to claim 19, the modified device of Kakimoto discloses wherein the compressible pad (rubber washer Chiuminatta) is affixed to the bottom plate within an indentation (12b) in the bottom plate (12; see fig. 3).
In regards to claim 20, the modified device of Kakimoto discloses wherein a top surface of the compressible pad (rubber washer Chiuminatta) is flush with an upper surface of the bottom plate when the compressible pad is installed within the indentation (12b) of the bottom plate.
Claims 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakimoto (JP2002/361601) in view of Chiuminatta (U.S. Patent 4,903,680) and in further view of Niwa et al. (U.S. Patent 7,281,332), herein referred to as Niwa.
In regards to claim 15, the modified device of Kakimoto discloses wherein the bottom plate rotates in the first direction over a first and second range but does not disclose a first direction of rotation over a range of zero degrees to fifty degrees or a second direction of rotation over a range of 0-3 degrees. Niwa discloses a circular saw having a guide plate that is adjustable over a range of approximately +45 deg to -12 degrees (col. 7, lines 54- col. 8, line 10). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention to provide the modified device of Kakimot with a first direction of ration over a range of 0-50 degree and a second direction of ration over a range of 0 to 3 degrees, as these claimed ranges fall within or an encompassed by the workable range taught by Niwa. Moreover, when the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-11 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAURA M LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-8339. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8a.m.- 5p.m..
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/LAURA M LEE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3724
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