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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 has 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.
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) 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Christophersen US 2017/0274520 A1 in view of Kunhle WO 01/58647
Re claim 1, Christophersen discloses a housing [22, 23a, 23b] for an electric hand-held power tool [figs. 10-11], the housing comprising:
a housing interior enclosed by the housing [figs. 10-11];
a drive electronics system 20 arranged in the housing for controlling a brushless drive to drive a tool receptacle of the electric hand-held power tool [¶ 2, “[t]he present disclosure relates to various features of a handheld grinder or similar power tool having a brushless electric motor”];
a housing opening 208 through which a power cable 32 end that is used to supply power to the drive electronics system is guidable; and
an interior subsection [subsection with circuit board 20] of the housing interior in which the power cable end and line contacts of the electric hand-held power tool are arranged so that lines of the power cable end in the interior subsection are connectable to the line contacts [fig. 10];
wherein the housing includes at least a first housing portion 23a and a second housing portion 23b, which in a closed position of the housing are joined together [fig. 1], and are separated from one another in an open position of the housing [fig. 10], and wherein the first housing portion 23a is a first housing half shell that surrounds a first half of an outer circumference of the brushless drive and the second housing portion 23b is a second housing half shell that surrounds a second half of the outer circumference of the brushless drive, such that when the first housing portion is joined together with the second housing portion, an entire outer circumference of the brushless drive is surrounded by the first and second housing portions [fig. 1].
Christphersen does not disclose a maintenance opening adjoining the interior subsection; and a maintenance cover, which in a closed position closes the maintenance opening and in an open position,, releases the maintenance opening to allow manual access to the line contacts that are arranged in the interior subsection.
However, Kunhle teaches a power tool 10 including a housing with first 121 and second 122 half sell portions [fig. 2]. Kunhle teaches a maintenance opening [fig. 3] adjoining the interior subsection; and a maintenance cover 70 , which in a closed position closes the maintenance opening and in an open position,, releases the maintenance opening to allow manual access to the line contacts 76 that are arranged in the interior subsection.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kunhle with the housing of Christophersen in order to yield the predictable result of a service cover for the power cable in one of the half shells [“a particular service cover (70), on one of the housing shells (121, 122), in the vicinity of the outlet for the power cable (18), of such dimensions that on opening said cover the power cable may be removed.”].
Re claim 2, Christophersen and Kunhle teach the invention as claimed above. Kunhle further teaches wherein in a closed position of the housing, in which the first housing portion 121 is joined together with the second housing portion 122, the maintenance cover 70 is transferable from the closed position of the maintenance cover into an open position of the maintenance cover [fig. 3].
Re claim 3, Christophersen further teaches wherein the housing extends along a longitudinal axis, wherein a drive shaft 78 [fig. 5] of the brushless drive of the electric hand-held power tool is arranged in the housing interior in parallel to the longitudinal axis, wherein the first housing portion 23a, that is the first housing half shell that encloses a first housing interior section that is opened in parallel to a plane, and the second housing portion 23b that is the second housing half shell that encloses a second housing interior section that is opened in parallel to the plane, wherein the first housing half shell and the second housing half shell are connected along the plane in the closed position of the housing in order to jointly delimit a housing interior that is formed from the first and second housing interior sections, and wherein the longitudinal axis extends substantially in parallel to the plane [fig. 1].
Re claim 4, Christophersen further teaches wherein the housing extends along a longitudinal axis, wherein a drive shaft 78 of the brushless drive of the electric hand-held power tool is arranged in the housing interior, substantially in parallel to the longitudinal axis, wherein the housing has a first closed housing end [end of casing 23b] in which the housing opening for the power cable end 32 is arranged and has a second housing end connectable to an output housing through which the drive shaft is guidable.
Re claim 5, Christophersen further teaches wherein the first housing end is formed by an end-face wall whose outer surface extends, at least in part, substantially perpendicularly with respect to the longitudinal axis and in which the housing opening for the power cable end is situated [end of casing 23b, fig. 10].
Re claim 6, Christophersen further teaches wherein the end-face wall in the closed position of the housing is formed partly by the first housing portion [202, 204] and the second housing portion 23b, and wherein, in the closed position of the housing the end-face wall is formed partly by the maintenance cover 23a.
Re claim 7, Christophersen and Kunhle teach the invention as claimed above. Kunhle further teaches wherein the maintenance cover 70 encompasses at least a portion of the housing opening for the power cable end 19.
Re claim 8, Christophersen and Kunhle teach the invention as claimed above. Kunhle further teaches wherein the housing opening and the maintenance opening for the power cable end 19 merge into one another when the maintenance opening is open [fig. 3].
Re claim 9, Christophersen and Kunhle teach the invention as claimed above. Kunhle further teaches wherein the maintenance cover 70 encompasses one-half of the housing opening for the power cable end 19.
Re claim 10, Christophersen and Kunhle teach the invention as claimed above. Kunhle further teaches wherein the housing opening for the power cable end 19 is configured such that the power cable end, arranged in the housing opening, is removable from the housing opening in the open position of the maintenance cover 70.
Re claim 11, Christophersen and Kunhle teach the invention as claimed above. Kunhle further teaches wherein the maintenance cover 70 rests in a form-fit manner against a housing edge that forms the maintenance opening [fig. 3].
Re claim 12, Christophersen and Kunhle teach the invention as claimed above. Kunhle further teaches wherein the maintenance cover 70 forms a wall section of the housing having an outer side which in the closed position of the maintenance cover is at least partially aligned with the outer side of the housing 122, and wherein the wall section has an inner side at which at least one protrusion section is formed, with which the maintenance cover in its closed position is supported on an inner side of the housing [fig. 3], on a protrusion section of the housing in the interior thereof, or on a structure that is situatable in the housing interior [fig. 3].
Re claim 13, Christophersen and Kunhle teach the invention as claimed above. Kunhle further teaches wherein the maintenance cover 70 is completely separable from the housing 122.
Re claim 14, Christophersen and Kunhle teach the invention as claimed above. Kunhle further teaches wherein the maintenance cover 70 and/or the housing are essentially formed from at least one injection-molded part.
"[E]ven though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process.". MPEP 2113
Re claim 15, Christophersen further teaches an electric hand-held power tool comprising: a housing according to claim 1; the drive electronics system 22 arranged in the housing interior to control the brushless drive that is arranged in the housing interior to drive the tool receptacle, which is arranged at a tool shaft 78 that is coupled to the brushless drive, and on which a tool is detachably mounted; and a power cable 32 that supplies power to the drive electronics system 22, and has a power cable end that extends through the housing opening into the interior subsection of the housing interior, and has the lines that are connected to the line contacts arranged in the interior subsection [fig. 10].
Re claim 16, Christophersen further teaches wherein the electric hand-held power tool is an angle grinder [fig. 10].
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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Carlos A. Rivera whose telephone number is (571)270-5697. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM -4PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Keller can be reached at (571) 272-8548. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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C. A. R.
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3723
/C. A. RIVERA/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723
