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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 10-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 04/22/2026
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-9 in the reply filed on 4/22/2026 is acknowledged.
Drawings
Color photographs and color drawings are not accepted in utility applications unless a petition filed under 37 CFR 1.84(a)(2) is granted. Any such petition must be accompanied by the appropriate fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(h), one set of color drawings or color photographs, as appropriate, if submitted via the USPTO patent electronic filing system or three sets of color drawings or color photographs, as appropriate, if not submitted via the via USPTO patent electronic filing system, and, unless already present, an amendment to include the following language as the first paragraph of the brief description of the drawings section of the specification:
The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
Color photographs will be accepted if the conditions for accepting color drawings and black and white photographs have been satisfied. See 37 CFR 1.84(b)(2).
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 3, 4 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 3 recites the limitation "the locking mechanism" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the locking mechanism" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-7, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hammer (U.S. Patent 3,991,991) in view of Blaske (U.S. Patent 2,452,426).
Hammer discloses a removable fence apparatus comprising: a housing (plate 6); a locking peg (7) vertically extending away from a bottom portion of the housing and comprising at least one protrusion parallel to the bottom portion of the housing, wherein the locking peg (7) is configured to twist so as to rotate the at least one protrusion between a locked position and an unlocked position, the locked position facilitating affixing the removable fence onto a benchtop, the unlocked position facilitating removing the removable fence from the benchtop;
a movable wall (fence 5) coupled to a side portion of the housing (6), wherein the movable wall is configured to maintain a parallel orientation with the side portion of the housing and a perpendicular orientation with the bottom portion of the housing; and an adjustment knob (disc 16) configured to push the movable wall away from the housing when the adjustment knob is twisted in a first direction, and configured to pull the movable wall towards the housing when the adjustment knob is twisted in an opposite direction of the first direction (disc 16 pushes and pulls fence 5 via lever 14).
Hammer discloses a locking peg, e.g. positioning bolt 7, but does not set forth that the positioning bolt has at least one protrusion parallel to the bottom portion of the housing. Blaske sets forth a means for securing a linear member 16 to a bed 11 utilizing a locking cam 23 disposed in channels of the guides and actuated by a handle 25. As Blaske and Hammer both set forth means for securing two linear members, it owould have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the to have replaced the bolt 7 with a locking cam member as shown by Blaske, allowing the Hammer plate to be slidably positioned as well as locked against the working table 3.
In regards to claim 2, the modified device of Hammer discloses: a first stabilizing peg (7) positioned on a bottom portion of a first end of the housing; and a second stabilizing peg positioned on a bottom portion of a second end of the housing.
In regards to claim 3, the modified device of Hammer discloses wherein the locking mechanism (7) is a knob positioned on a top portion of the housing, and wherein the knob is configured to twist the locking peg into either the locked position or the unlocked position.
In regards to claim 4, the modified device of Hammer discloses wherein the locking mechanism is a lever (25 as modified by Blaske) positioned on a side portion of the housing, and wherein the lever is configured to twist the locking peg (23 as modified by Blaske) between the locked position and the unlocked position.
In regards to claim 6, the modified device of Hammer discloses at least one arm (14) coupled to the adjustment knob (16) on a first end of the at least one arm, and coupled to the movable wall (5) on an opposite end of the at least one arm (14).
In regards to claim 7, the modified device of Hammer discloses least one arm (9) coupled to a stabilizing peg (21) on a first end of the at least one arm, and coupled to the movable wall (5) on an opposite end of the at least one arm.
In regards to claim 9, the modified device of Hammer discloses wherein the adjustment knob (16) is configured to facilitate maintaining the parallel orientation between the side portion of the housing and the movable wall via a plurality of arms (9/9).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hammer (U.S. Patent 3,991,991) in view of Blaske (U.S. Patent 2,452,426) in view of Anderson et al. (U.S. Patent 9,382,699)
The modified device of Hammer does not disclose a spring coupled to the lever (25 Blaske), wherein the spring is configured to provide resistance when the lever (25 Blaske) twists the locking peg (e.g. shank 27 Blaske) into the unlocked position, and wherein the spring is configured to retract the locking peg (e.g. shank 27 Blaske) into the locked position when the lever is released. Anderson discloses a spring biased cam rotatable from a first orientation and a second orientation by an external force on the handle. It would have been obvious to modify Blaske to include the spring biased cam arrangement taught by Anderson so that the cam is automatically urged towards its locking position thereby reducing the need for continuous manual positioning of the handle and providing reliable engagement of the cam with the associated locking member.
7. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hammer (U.S. Patent 3,991,991) in view of Blaske (U.S. Patent 2,452,426) and in further view of Smith (U.S. Patent 10,532,414)
In regards to claim 8, the modified device of Hammer discloses the claimed invention except for measurement demarcations indicating how far the movable wall is expanded from the housing. Smith discloses a worktable with a movable fence wherein “the position gauge 355 is marked with a plurality of coarse fence position markings 356 that are used in combination with the fine position markings 335 of the dial assembly 330 to provide a measurement of the offset distance” (col. 14, lines 27-31). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have provided a scale as taught by Smith on the housing of Hammer to indicate the relative movement of the fence away from the housing.
8.
Conclusion
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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