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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: “an abrushless” should be “a brushless”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: “at least one one second” should be “at least one second”. 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.
Claim 6 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 6 recites the limitation "the end-faced wall". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Christophersen US 2017/0274520 A1.
Re claim 1, Christophersen discloses a housing [22, 23b] for an electric hand-held power tool [figs. 10-11], the housing comprising:
a housing interior enclosed by the housing;
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];
a maintenance opening [opening created by cover 23a] adjoining the interior subsection; and
a maintenance cover 23a, which in a closed position closes the maintenance opening and releases it in an open position to allow manual access to the line contacts that are arranged in the interior subsection.
Re claim 2, at least one first housing portion 22 and at least one second housing portion 23b, which in a closed position of the housing are joined together, and are separated from one another in an open position of the housing, the housing being configured such that in the closed position of the housing, the maintenance cover is transferable from its closed position into its open position.
Re claim 3, wherein the housing extends along a longitudinal axis, wherein a drive shaft 78 [fig. 5] of the 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 22 is a first housing shell that encloses a first housing interior section that is opened in parallel to a plane, and the second housing portion 23b is a second housing shell that encloses a second housing interior section that is opened in parallel to the same plane, wherein the first housing shell and the second housing shell are connected along this 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 this longitudinal axis extends substantially in parallel to the plane.
Re claim 4, wherein the housing extends along a longitudinal axis, wherein a drive shaft 78 of the 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 32 is arranged and has a second housing end connectable to an output housing through which the drive shaft is guidable.
Re claim 5, 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 is situated end of casing 23b, fig. 10].
Re claim 6, 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, wherein the maintenance cover 23a encompasses at least a portion of the housing opening for the power cable end 32.
Re claim 8, wherein the housing opening 208 and the maintenance opening merge into one another when the maintenance opening is open.
Re claim 9, wherein the maintenance cover 23a encompasses one-half of the housing opening for the power cable end 32.
Re claim 10, wherein the housing opening for the power cable 32 is configured such that a power cable end, arranged in the housing opening in the closed position of the maintenance cover 23a, is removable from the housing opening in the open position of the maintenance cover 23a.
Re claim 11, wherein the maintenance cover 23a is designed to rest in a form-fit manner against a housing edge that forms the maintenance opening [fig. 10].
Re claim 12, wherein the maintenance cover 23a 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 22, 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. 10], on a protrusion section of the housing in the interior thereof, or on a structure that is situatable in the housing interior [fig. 10].
Re claim 13, wherein the maintenance cover 23a is completely separable from the housing.
Re claim 14, wherein the maintenance cover 23a 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, an electric hand-held power tool comprising: a housing according to claim 1; a drive electronics system 22 arranged in the housing interior to control a brushless drive that is arranged in the housing interior to drive a tool receptacle, which is arranged at a tool shaft 78 that is coupled to the 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 lines that are connected to line contacts arranged in the interior subsection [fig. 10].
Re claim 16, wherein the electric hand-held power tool is an angle grinder [fig. 10].
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.
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, 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
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