DETAILED ACTION
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) 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 15, 16, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jerabek et al. (2012/0192440) in view of Carusillo et al. (7,497,860).
Jerabek et al. discloses the invention substantially as claimed including a housing 14; a handle 30 extending substantially transverse from the housing in a direction along a handle axis; a battery (see para. 0019) selectively coupled to the handle; a foot plate 22 coupled to the housing and configured to contact a workpiece during a cutting operation; a drive assembly powered by the battery and including a motor 38, a transmission driven (see Fig. 2) by the motor, an output spindle (146, 150) driven by the transmission and coupled to a saw blade 18; and a scotch yoke mechanism 58 to convert a rotational motion of the transmission to a reciprocating motion of the output spindle and the saw blade generally along a vertical axis that is perpendicular to the handle axis, wherein the scotch yoke mechanism includes a bushing 202 eccentrically mounted to a driven gear of the transmission; a laterally extending slot 142 of the output spindle. Jerabek et al. doesn’t show a spherical bearing surface. However, Carusillo et al. teaches the use of a spherical bearing surface 80 for the purpose of handling radial loads and bidirectional loads simultaneously. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified the device of Jerabek et al. by providing the above limitation as taught by Carusillo et al. in order to obtain a device that handle radial loads and bidirectional loads simultaneously.
Also, Carusillo et al. teaches the bearing surface has a convex cross-sectional shape in a plane containing a central axis of the bushing (see Fig. 4); wherein the bearing surface includes an apex that has a diameter that is greater than a diameter of first and second ends of the bearing surface (see Fig. 4).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 5-7, 10, 12-14, 17, and 19-20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMAR FLORES SANCHEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-4507. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Thursday8:00-4:00 pm.
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, Adam Eiseman can be reached at 571-270-3818. 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.
/OMAR FLORES SANCHEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3724
Prosecution Insights