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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1-4, 7, 8, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 7,237,463 B1 to (Lee) in as being obvious in view of US 2024/0075596 A1 to (Tibbs et al.).
Regarding claim 1, (Lee) provides a swing wrench, comprising: a driving head 20 having a first protruding ear structure 21, wherein an inner surface of the first protruding ear structure has a smooth portion 22 and a toothed portion 23; a handle 10 having two second protruding ear structures 12, wherein the first protruding ear structure 21 is disposed between the two second protruding ear structures 12; a pressing element (button 14); and a positioning element (pivot 16) engaged with the pressing element 14, and the pressing element 14 and the positioning element 16 disposed through the first protruding ear structure 21 and the two second protruding ear structures 12. (Lee) provides that the toothed portion 23 of the first protruding structure 21 may extend only a portion of the axial length of the wall of the aperture 22 of the ear 21 (Col. 2, lines 39-41). However, (Lee) is not explicit as to the relationship of the length of the toothed portion L1 relative to the length of the smooth portion L2.
(Tibbs et al.), likewise, provides a swing wrench 10, comprising: a driving head 16 having a first protruding ear structure 26, wherein an inner surface (channel 36) of the first protruding ear structure 26 has a smooth portion and a toothed portion (grooves 42); a handle 12 having two second protruding ear structures (arms 22 and 24), wherein the first protruding ear structure 26 is disposed between the two second protruding ear structures 22,24; and a positioning element (pin 28), and the positioning element disposed through the first protruding ear structure 26 and the two second protruding ear structures 22,24; wherein a length of the toothed portion 40 is L1, a total length of the smooth portion (pivot portion 52) and the toothed portion 40 is L2, and the following condition is satisfied: L1 <½ L2 (clearly evident in Figs. 2, 3, 5 and 6).
Therefore, absent any showing of criticality, since (Lee) and (Tibbs et al.) pertain to the same art, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the positioning element of (Lee) such that the length of the toothed portion L1 relative to the length of the smooth portion L2 meets the condition of L1 <½ L2, as (Tibbs et al.) demonstrates in Figs. 2, 3, 5 and 6. Furthermore, it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, e.g., (Lee), discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955) and Smith v. Nichols, 88 U.S. 112, 118-19 (1874).
Regarding claim 2, in modified (Lee) according to claim 1, the two second protruding ear structures 12 have a smooth inner surface and a toothed inner surface (a plurality of teeth 130 is formed on the wall of the aperture 13 of one of the ears 12)(Col. 2, lines 33-34), respectively, the smooth inner surface is corresponding to the smooth portion, and the toothed inner surface 130 is corresponding to the toothed portion.
Regarding claim 3, in modified (Lee) according to claim 2, the positioning element 16 has a toothed end 17 engaged with the toothed inner surface1 130.
Regarding claim 4, in modified (Lee) according to claim 1, the pressing element 14 has a first engaging end 150, the positioning element 16 has a second engaging end 19, and the first engaging end 150 and the second engaging end 19 are engaged with each other (Figs. 2-4; Col. 2, lines 53-60).
Regarding claim 7, in modified (Lee), the swing wrench further comprises an elastic element 15 disposed on a smooth end of the positioning element.
Regarding claim 8, in modified (Lee) according to claim 7, the elastic element is a spring (spring 15).
Regarding claim 14, in modified (Lee) according to claim 1, a toothed end of the positioning element has a corresponding toothed structure disposed on an end of the toothed end, which is connected to a smooth end of the positioning element.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 6, 9-13, and 15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if claims 5, 6, 9, 11 and 15 are rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: regarding claim 5, that the first engaging end is a protruding structure, and a surface of the protruding structure is smooth; regarding claim 6, that the first engaging end is a protruding structure, and a surface of the protruding structure is threaded; regarding claim 9, that the pressing element has a toothed outer surface and a smooth outer surface, a length of the toothed outer surface is Ltp, a total length of the pressing element disposed in one of the two second protruding ear structures is Lto, and the following condition is satisfied: 1/3 Lto
≤
Ltp
≤
2/3 Lto; regarding claim 11, that an end of the positioning element has a tapered structure, and the tapered structure is disposed between a toothed end and a smooth end of the positioning element; and, regarding claim 15, that the smooth portion has a threaded portion, and the threaded portion is located on an end of the smooth portion, together in combination with the rest of the limitations in claim 1, have neither been disclosed nor suggested by the prior art of record considered as a whole, alone, or in combination, and would require and inventive step or motivation to apply said limitations to the respective components of the wrench.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure as describing wrenches having an angular adjustment mechanism between the wrench head and the handle of the wrench.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David B. Thomas whose telephone number is (571) 272-4497. The examiner’s e-mail address is: dave.thomas@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 11:30-7:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Posigian can be reached on (. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/David B. Thomas/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/DBT/
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