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
Claims 13-17 objected to because of the following informalities: claims are not numbered consecutively”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-7, 14, 17, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kraus (EP Patent No. 1410875).
Regarding claim 1, Kraus discloses a router comprising: a housing 2 (Figs. 1 and 2); a tool holder (Fig. 2 arranged to hold a cutting tool bit that projects therefrom; a base portion 4 (Fig.1) having a base aperture 16 (Fig.2) therein, the base aperture being configured to receive the cutting tool bit that projects from the tool holder; a motor (page 2, paragraph 4 “The drive unit includes a drive motor”) mounted in the housing and operatively connected to the tool holder; a dust extraction conduit 11 (Fig. 1 and 2) connectable to a vacuum source; and a chip collector 9 (Fig 1 and 2) mountable to the base portion, the chip collector including a collecting mouth (see Fig. 2, illustrated below) facing the cutting tool bit and arranged to catch chips from the cutting tool bit, and a collection chamber (see Fig. 2, illustrated below) for receiving chips collected in the collecting mouth, wherein the collection chamber is in fluid communication with the dust extraction conduit.
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Regarding claim 2, Kraus discloses the router according to claim 1, wherein the collecting mouth circumferentially extends around a portion of the base aperture. (Fig. 1 shows the collecting mouth 9 circumferentially extending around the base aperture 4 (Fig 1).
Regarding claim 3, Kraus discloses the router according to claim 1, wherein the collecting mouth comprises a guide wall arranged to the guide the chips into the collection chamber, and wherein the guide wall is tangential to the base aperture in the base portion or an adapter hole in a sub-base adapter mountable to the base portion. (As shown in the below figure item 9 has a wall to guide the chips and dirt in the collection chamber. The top of the collecting mouth 9 is tangential to the base 4)
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Regarding claim 4, Kraus discloses the router according to claim 1, wherein the collecting mouth is connected to the collection chamber via a narrowing chute portion. (A Tubular channel 14 is provided to connect the collecting mouth 9 to the collecting chamber 10 (see Fig.2, illustrated above).)
Regarding claim 5, Kraus discloses the router according to claim 1, wherein the collection chamber comprises a blocking wall arranged to prevent chips returning to the collecting mouth. (Fig. 2 shows a sliding device 12 is provided at the connection of the chamber 10 and tubular channel 14 to keep the chip from returning to the collection mouth.
Regarding claim 6, Kraus discloses the router according to claim 1, wherein the cutting tool bit has a rotation axis, and wherein the collecting mouth extends in a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the cutting tool bit, away from the base portion. (The milling cutter has an axis of rotation 6. And the chip collector mouth is extended away from the base parallel to the axis of rotation. see Figs. 1 and 2 illustrated above)
Regarding claim 7, Kraus discloses the router according to claim 6, wherein the collecting mouth extends in the direction parallel to the rotation axis of the cutting tool bit by a distance greater than a distance that the cutting tool bit projects from the base portion in the same direction. (The collecting mouth 9 extends parallel to the axis of rotation 6. and it has greater distance than the milling cutter 5. See Fig. 1, illustrated above)
Regarding renumbered claim 14 which was originally the second claim 13, Kraus discloses the router according to claim 1, wherein the collection chamber is aligned with a longitudinal axis of the dust extraction conduit. (As shown on Fig. 1 the collection chamber 10 and the dust extracting conduit 11 is aligned along longitudinal axis.)
Regarding renumbered claim 17, which was originally claim 16, Kraus discloses the router according to claim 1, wherein the chip collector 9 (Fig. 1 and 2) is mounted on the base portion 4 (Fig. 1), radially from the cutting tool 5 (Fig. 1 and 2).
Regarding renumbered claim 18 which was originally claim 17, Kraus discloses a chip collector accessory(Fig. 1 and 2) for a router including a housing having a base portion with a base aperture arranged to receive a cutting tool bit held in and projecting from a tool holder and a dust extraction conduit connectable to a vacuum source (intended use), the chip collector accessory comprising: a collecting mouth 9 (Fig. 1 and 2) arranged to face the cutting tool bit and arranged to catch chips from the cutting tool bit when mounted to the base portion; and a collection chamber 10 (Fig 1 and 2)) for receiving chips collected in the collecting mouth, wherein the chip collector accessory is connectable to the base portion such that the collection chamber is in fluid communication with the dust extraction conduit. (It has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (1987).) (The hand Motor driven tool has a collecting mouth 9 which is connected to the base 4. The collecting mouth is facing the milling cutter 5. After the chip is collected by the cutting mouth and moved to the collecting chamber 10. It goes through a conduit 11 which is connected to a vacuum where the chip will be disposed.)
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 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kraus (EP Patent No. 1410875) in view of Steimel (EP Patent No. 1563969).
Regarding claim 8, Kraus discloses the router according to claim 1, but fails to disclose a sub-base adapter removably mountable to the base portion, wherein the chip collector is removably mountable to the base portion or the sub-base adapter. Steimel shows in Fig. 3, a sub-base adapter 18 removably attached to base 2. (It is stated in the specification that “The suction hood 13 is rotatable about the rotation axis 7. For this purpose, the upper end portion 17 of the suction hood 13 at a Retaining ring 18 rotatably mounted on the support plate 2 is releasably secured, being suitably provided is that the retaining ring 18 in the attached state at the Bottom 3 of the support plate 2 is arranged.” (Page 3, paragraph 5 lines 1-4)) The hood 13 is removably mounted to plate 18. The plate (sub-base) 18 is removably mountable to the base 3. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the router and include the sub-base adapter removably mounted to the base for the purpose of easily replacing the parts in case the parts get damaged or wares out during operation.
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Regarding claim 9, Kraus in view of Steimel discloses the router according to claim 8. Steimel further teaches wherein the chip collector is mountable to the base portion or the sub-base adapter via a toolless mounting arrangement. (Steimel teaches in (Page 3, paragraph 5 line 2) that “the suction hood 13 rotatable on the retaining ring 18th is stored” the hood can be secured and removed from the plate by rotation, which is a toolless mounting arrangement.)
Regarding claim 10, Kraus in view of Steimel disclose the router according to claim 8. Steimel further teaches wherein the chip collector comprises at least one deformable clip 21(Steimel: Fig.5) arranged to engage with a reciprocal notch in the base portion or the sub-base adapter. (Steimel teaches “The neck part 21 then springs back on, so that the locking lugs 25, the retaining ring 18 overlap, in turn, the retaining ring 18 stepwise overlaps” (Page 4, paragraph 2 lines 2-4) the phrase “springs back on” states that the clip 21 is deformable.)
Regarding claim 11, Kraus in view of Steimel disclose the router according to claim 10. Steimel further teaches wherein the chip collector comprises a first ledge 25(Fig. 7) and a second ledge 24(Fig. 7), and wherein part of the base portion or a sub-base adapter is sandwiched between the first ledge and the second ledge when the chip collector is mounted to the base portion (Steimel teaches in Fig. 7 that the hood has two ledges, item number 24 and 25. Where 25 is the first ledge and 24 is the second ledge. The two ledges 24 and 25 sandwiched the sub-base 18.)
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Regarding claim 12, Kraus in view of Steimel disclose the router according to claim 11, wherein the first ledge and the second ledge are slidably engageable with a lip portion of the base portion or the sub-base adapter. (Steimel teaches that the hood is rotatably mounted to the sub-base. That is considered sliding. The hood and the sub-base are sliding when the user is rotating to mount.)
Regarding claim 13, Kraus in view of Steimel disclose the router according to claim 12. Steimel further teaches wherein the first ledge extends over a workpiece facing side of the base portion or the sub-base adapter, and the second ledge extends over another side of the base portion or the sub-base adapter, and wherein the first ledge projects a greater distance than the second ledge. (Steimel teaches in the above Fig.7 that the fist ledge 25 extends over the top of subbase 18 and the second ledge 24 extends under the sub-base 18. The first ledge 25 is longer than the second ledge 24.)
Regarding renumbered claim 15, which was originally claim 14, Kraus discloses the router according to claim 1. Kraus fails to disclose wherein the base portion comprises a sub-base adapter removably mountable to the base portion, and wherein the chip collector is removably mountable to the sub-base adapter. However, Steimel teaches wherein the base portion 3(Fig. 3) comprises a sub-base adapter 18(Fig. 5) removably mountable to the base portion, and wherein the chip collector 13 (Fig. 5) is removably mountable to the sub-base adapter 18 (Fig. 5) (“a Retaining ring 18 rotatably mounted on the support plate 2 is releasably secured” a sub-base 18 attached to the base 2 where in the collection hood 13 is removably attached to the sub-base 18. Having a removable subbase and collection hood will help the user to replace the parts easily when it gets damaged. Instead of changing the whole had tool only some parts will be replaced.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the sub-base and the chip collector to be removably mounted to the base. A removable collector mouth is known in the art and one of the ordinary skills in the art could have substituted the permanent component with the removable collector mouth so replacing the part will be easy when it wears out or gets damaged.
Regarding renumbered claim 16, which was originally claim 15, Kraus in view of Steimel disclose the router according to claim 14. Steimel further teaches wherein the sub-base adapter and the chip collector are mountable to the base portion in different orientations about the rotation of axis of the cutting tool bit. (Steimel teaches that the shape and size of the sub-base and collecting mouth are different, so they have different mounting orientation.)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to LEWIE S WELDEGIORGIS whose telephone number (571)270-
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/L.S.W./
Examiner, Art Unit 3725
/Christopher L Templeton/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3725
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