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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
1. 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.
2. Claims 6 and 8-9 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.
Regarding claim 6, “the biasing member” lacks antecedent basis.
Regarding claims 8-9, “the resilient member” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
4. Claims 1 and 4-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated Liao (2016/0172828 A1), provided with the IDS submitted on 09/12/2024. Regarding claim 1, as best understood, Liao teaches a cable-shaving tool 1 for shaving of a cable jacket, the tool comprising: a first housing shell 10; a second housing shell 20 configured to engage (via hinge member Fig. 3) the first housing shell 10; a cable groove 112 extending through a length of at least one of the first housing shell 10 and the second housing shell; a blade assembly (40, 321) securable in at least one of the first housing shell and the second housing shell 20; and a cable ramp 50 disposed in a cavity opposite the blade 40, the cable ramp having a movable cable shelf 51 extending along the cable ramp, the cable shelf moving towards the blade 40 to urge the cable toward the blade when the first and second housing shells are in an operating position, wherein, during shaving operation, the cable ramp 50 urges the cable jacket against a control surface (defined by the surface of the indentation that receives a portion of the cable when the shells are in a closed position; Fig. 4) and the blade initiates a cut of a predetermined depth into the cable jacket upon moving the cable-shaving tool along a length of the cable. See Figs. 2-5B in Liao.
Regarding claim 4, Liao teaches everything noted above including a resilient member 52 between a bottom surface of the cable ramp 50 to normally bias the cable ramp towards the blade 40.
Regarding claim 5, Liao teaches everything noted above including that the resilient member 52 is a compression spring or a rubber gasket.
Regarding claim 6, as best understood, Liao teaches everything noted above including that the biasing member 52 biases only a single end (defined by the protrusion extending downward from the bottom surface of the ram 50; Fig. 3) of the cable shelf towards the blade 40.
Regarding claim 7, Liao teaches a cable-shaving tool for shaving of a cable jacket from a cable, the tool comprising: a first housing shell 20 having a control surface (defined by the surface of the indentation that receives a portion of the cable when the shells are in a closed position; Fig. 3) on a bottom surface; a blade 40 secured to the first housing shell 20, the blade having a cutting surface positioned at the control surface; a second housing shell 10; a cable ramp 50 in the second housing shell 10, the cable ramp defining a first cable groove 112 along a stripping direction of the cable with the first cable groove operatively associated with the cutting surface when the first and second housing shells are in a closed position; and a biasing member 52 between the cable ramp 50 and the second housing 10, the biasing member normally biasing the cable ramp 50 towards the control surface so that a portion of the cable in the first cable groove is against the control surface (Fig. 5B), when the first and second housing shells (20, 10) are in the closed position, such that the cutting surface initiates a cut of a first predetermined depth into the cable jacket of the portion when the cable is moved relative to the cutting surface in the stripping direction. See Figs. 2-5B in Liao.
Regarding claim 8, as best understood, Liao teaches everything noted above including that the resilient member 52 is a compression spring or a rubber gasket.
Regarding claim 9, as best understood, Liao teaches everything noted above including that the biasing member 52 is engaged to the second housing shell 10 at a pivot point so that the resilient member 52 biases only a single end of the cable ramp towards the control surface.
Regarding claim 10, Liao teaches everything noted above including a hinge (not numbered, shown in Fig. 3) securing the first and second housing shells (20, 10) to one another for movement between the closed position and an open position.
Regarding claim 11, Liao teaches everything noted above including that the hinge comprises a hinge pin (Fig. 3) that is parallel to the stripping direction.
Regarding claim 12, Liao teaches everything noted above including that the blade 40 is removably secured to the first housing shell 20.
Regarding claim 13, Liao teaches everything noted above including that the
the blade 40 is secured to an upper surface of the first housing shell 20.
Regarding claim 14, Liao teaches everything noted above including that the
first housing shell 20 includes a first chip clearance channel 212 (at least receiving some chips during shaving of the cable jacket) extending entirely through the first shell housing, the cutting surface extending through the first chip clearance channel into the first cable groove. See Fig. 3 in Liao.
Regarding claim 15, Liao teaches everything noted above including that the first chip clearance channel is positioned so that a cut portion of the cable jacket protrudes from the first chip clearance channel to remove the cut portion from within the first and second shell housings.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. Claims 2-3 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liao in view of Cook, JR (2,627,768), hereinafter Cook. Regarding claims 2-3, Liao teaches everything noted above except that the cable groove comprises at least two cable grooves; and the blade includes at least two cutting portions, wherein the at least two cutting portions provide cable shavings at different depths. However, Cook teaches a cable-shaving tool including a first shell having two cable grooves 8; and a blade 14 includes at least two cutting portions 16, wherein the at least two cutting portions provide cable shavings at different depths. See Figs. 1-4 in Cook. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to provide Liao’s cable-shaving tool with the grooves and the blade with cutting portions, as taught by Cook, in order to facilitate shaving or cutting cables with different diameters.
Regarding claim 16, Liao, as modified by Cook, teaches everything noted above including a second cable groove (Fig. 2 in Cook) in a cable ramp 10, the second cable groove being along the stripping direction, and wherein the second cable groove is operatively associated with a cutting surface when a first and second housing shells (1-2) are in the closed position.
Regarding claim 17, Liao, as modified by Cook, teaches everything noted above including a partition (as shown in Fig. 2) between the first and second cable grooves.
Regarding claim 18, Liao teaches everything noted above including that the biasing member (52; Fig. 5B in Liao) normally biases the cable ramp towards the control surface so that a portion of the cable in the second cable groove is against the control surface, when the first and second housing shells are in the closed position, such that the cutting surface initiates a cut of a second predetermined depth into the cable jacket of the portion when the cable is moved relative to the cutting surface in the stripping direction.
Regarding claim 19, Liao teaches everything noted above including that the first housing shell includes a first chip clearance channel and a second chip clearance channel 212 (Fig. 5B in Liao) extending entirely through the first shell housing, the cutting surface extending through the first and second chip clearance channels into the first and second cable grooves, respectively.
Regarding claim 20, Liao teaches everything noted above including that the first and second chip clearance channels are positioned so that cut portions of the cable jacket protrude from the first and second chip clearance channels, respectively, to remove the cut portions from within the first and second shell housings.
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to
applicant’s disclosure.
Cheng (6,089,125), Ducret (6,662,450 B1), Chen (5,398,413), and Santos et al. (10,317,641 B2) teach a cable-shaving tool.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GHASSEM ALIE whose telephone number is (571) 272-4501. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 am-5:00 pm EST.
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/GHASSEM ALIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3724
March 12, 2026