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 .
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species II in the reply filed on 06/04/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-20 are pending for examination.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 objected to because of the following informalities: recite “…the each operating paraments…” in line 3 and 4 and it should be rewritten as “…each operating parameters…” . Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (2) as being anticipated by Wood et al. (WO 2023/064247 A1 and Wood hereinafter).
As to Claim 1, Wood in its teachings as shown in Fig.1-28B disclose a power tool, comprising:
a functional piece (220);
an electric motor (210) for driving the functional piece (220) to operate (see [0099];
a power supply device (battery pack) for supplying power to at least the electric motor (see [0098] and [00104]);
a parameter detection device (324, 328) connected to the electric motor and configured to acquire a plurality of operating parameters of the electric motor and/or the power supply device (see [00100] – [00101]); and
a controller (304) connected to the parameter detection device (324,328) and configured to control running of the electric motor (210 and see also [00101]), detect whether the plurality of operating parameters satisfy policy switching conditions corresponding to the plurality of operating parameters (…the power tool 100 determines an operating mode or operating state of the power tool 100 based on, for example, a motor torque, a motor speed, an output from a gyroscope, a hammer translation sensor, a microphone, etc. The power tool 100 can determine that the power tool 100 is in the impacting state or the non-impacting state based on such parameters…see [00108]), in a case where any operating parameter of the plurality of operating parameters satisfies a policy switching condition corresponding to the any operating parameter, control the electric motor by using a first electric motor control policy (see Fig.5A: the PWM duty cycle in the first region 510 and also [00109]), and, in a case where none of the plurality of operating parameters satisfy the policy switching conditions corresponding to the plurality of operating parameters, control the electric motor by using a second electric motor control policy (see Fig.5A: the PWM duty cycle in the second region 515 and also [00109]).
As to Claim 2, Wood disclose the power tool of claim 1, wherein the plurality of operating parameters comprise at least two of an electric motor speed, a bus current, a bus voltage, a phase voltage, a pulse-width modulation (PWM) duty cycle, a demagnetization time, and a freewheeling time of the electric motor (see [0100] and [00108]).
As to Claim 3, Wood disclose the power tool of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to periodically detect whether each operating parameter of the plurality of operating parameters satisfies a policy switching condition corresponding to the each operating parameter based on a detection period corresponding to the each operating parameter (see temperature sensor 328 and [00100]).
As to Claim 4, Wood disclose the power tool of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to, in a case where the any operating parameter of the plurality of operating parameters satisfies the policy switching condition corresponding to the any operating parameter, control an electric motor speed of the electric motor to increase and remain a target high speed in a loaded state and, in a case where none of the plurality of operating parameters satisfy the policy switching conditions corresponding to the plurality of operating parameters, control the electric motor speed of the electric motor to remain in a target low speed in a to-be-loaded state or configure the PWM duty cycle of the electric motor to be a target low duty cycle in the to-be-loaded state (see temperature sensor 328 and [00100]).
As to Claim 5, Wood disclose the power tool of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to use the operating parameter or an operation value of the operating parameter exceeding a parameter threshold corresponding to the operating parameter as the policy switching condition or use the operating parameter or an operation value of the operating parameter exceeding a parameter threshold corresponding to the operating parameter at a current ambient temperature as the policy switching condition (see temperature sensor 328 and [00100]).
As to Claim 6, Wood disclose the power tool of claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to, before the electric motor enters the to-be-loaded state, control the electric motor speed of the electric motor to increase in a no-load state and set the electric motor speed to remain unchanged so that the electric motor enters the to-be-loaded state, and, when an integral value of a slope of a function of the bus current of the electric motor over time within a preset period is greater than or equal to a corresponding current integral threshold, control the electric motor speed of the electric motor to increase and remain the target high speed in the loaded state (see temperature sensor 328 and [00100]).
As to Claim 7, Wood disclose the power tool of claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to, before the electric motor enters the to-be-loaded state, control the electric motor speed of the electric motor to increase in a no-load state and set the electric motor speed to remain unchanged when the electric motor speed reaches the target low speed so that the electric motor enters the to-be-loaded state, and, when an integral value of a slope of a function of the PWM duty cycle of the electric motor over time within a preset period is greater than or equal to a corresponding duty cycle integral threshold, control the electric motor speed of the electric motor to increase and remain the target high speed in the loaded state (see [00111]).
As to Claim 8, Wood disclose the power tool of claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to, before the electric motor enters the to-be-loaded state, control the PWM duty cycle of the electric motor to increase in a no-load state and set the electric motor speed to remain unchanged when the electric motor speed reaches the target low speed so that the electric motor enters the to-be- loaded state, and, when an integral value of a slope of a function of the electric motor speed of the electric motor over time within a preset period is less than or equal to a corresponding rotational speed integral threshold, control the electric motor speed of the electric motor to increase and remain the target high speed in the loaded state (see Fig.5A and 5B and also [00109] – [00110]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-20 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (US 2023/0125520 A1 - A power tool includes a housing, an electric motor, a driver circuit, a speed detection device, and a control device. The driver circuit is electrically connected to the electric motor to drive the electric motor to operate. The speed detection device is configured to acquire a rotational speed of the electric motor. The control device is connected to the speed detection device and the driver circuit and outputs a control signal to the driver circuit to control rotation of the electric motor. The control device is configured to acquire the rotational speed of the electric motor when the electric motor is in a start-up stage, obtain a rotational speed variation of the electric motor within a preset time based on the rotational speed of the electric motor, and turn off the electric motor when the rotational speed variation is less than a rotational speed variation threshold- see [Abstract]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GABRIEL T AGARED whose telephone number is (571)270-1981. The examiner can normally be reached 8-5 (Mon- Thur).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eduardo Colon-Santana can be reached at (571) 272-2060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GABRIEL AGARED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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