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
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 13 is 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 13 recites “…a program for causing a numerical control computer of the machine tool to execute a process comprising: reading, from a machining program, a called code of at least one coolant assignment code, each of the at least one coolant assignment code being to instruct to open or close the plurality of valves and to instruct a degree of discharge of the coolant from the pump; controlling the opening and closing of the plurality of valves based on the called code; and controlling the pump to discharge the coolant by the degree of discharge based on the called code.”.
This is a method step of using an apparatus. Because the preamble of the claim is directed towards an apparatus and not a method of using the apparatus, it is not clear as to whether Applicant intends the limitations to be required, such that the claim is directed towards a method and not simply the apparatus, or whether Applicant intends the limitations to be functional language, such that the claimed apparatus merely has to be capable of performing the given steps. Also, the aforementioned method step does not further limit the claim as said step does not recite/claim any structural features of the claimed apparatus.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 9-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kono et al. (US 2014/0338765 A1).
Re Claim 1, Kono discloses a method of supplying a coolant 108 to a machine tool 90, the method comprising: reading, from a machining program, a called code M08, M09 of at least one coolant assignment code M08, M09 (Par. 0042), each of the at least one coolant assignment code M08, M09 being to instruct to open or close a plurality of valves 136 provided in a plurality of coolant supply conduits, respectively (Par. 0033), the plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 124 being installed in the machine tool to be connected to a plurality of nozzles 43, 45, 47 each of the at least one coolant assignment code M08, M09 being to instruct a degree of discharge of the coolant 108 from a pump 100 to the plurality of nozzles 43, 45, 47; controlling the opening and closing of the plurality of valves 136 based on the called code M08, M09 (Par. 0033); and controlling the pump 100 to discharge the coolant 108 by the degree of discharge based on the called code M08, M09 (Pars. 0022-0045, Figs. 1-3).
Re Claim 9, Kono discloses the being to instruct the degree of discharge of the coolant 108 comprises being to instruct an output of the pump 100 (Pars. 0022 and 0028-0031).
Re Claim 10, Kono discloses the output of the pump 100 is indicated by a rotational speed of the pump 100 or an operation frequency of the pump 100 (Pars. 0022 and 0028-0031).
Re Claim 11, Kono discloses a wide-area control valve 136 of the plurality of valves 136 is provided at a coolant supply conduit of the plurality of coolant supply conduits 120 that is connected to two or more divisional nozzles 43 among the plurality of nozzles 43, 45 (Par. 0023, 0042 and 0043, Fig. 1).
Re Claim 12, Kono discloses a region to be exposed to the coolant 108 jetted through the two or more divisional nozzles 43, 45 corresponds to one section among a plurality of sections that are obtained by dividing a machining region of the machine tool (Pars. 0042-0046).
Re Claim 13, Kono discloses a coolant supply equipment to be installed in a machine tool 90, comprising: a plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 121; a plurality of valves 136 provided in the plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 121, respectively, each of the plurality of valves 136 being configured to control a flow amount of coolant 108 flowing in each of the plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 121; a plurality of nozzles 43, 45 connected to the plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 121, the coolant 108 being to be discharged through the plurality of nozzles 43, 45; a coolant tank 104 configured to store the coolant 108 (Par. 0021); a pump 100 connecting the plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 121 and the coolant tank 104, the pump 100 being configured to discharge the coolant 108 stored in the coolant tank 104 to the plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 121; and a computer-readable recording program storing a program for causing a numerical control computer of the machine tool to execute a process comprising: reading, from a machining program, a called code M08, M09 of at least one coolant assignment code M08, M09, each of the at least one coolant assignment code being to instruct to open or close the plurality of valves 136 and to instruct a degree of discharge of the coolant 108 from the pump 100; controlling the opening and closing of the plurality of valves 136 based on the called code M08, M09; and controlling the pump 100 to discharge the coolant 108 by the degree of discharge based on the called code M08, M09 (Pars. 0022-0045, Figs. 1-3).
Re Claim 14, Kono discloses a machine tool 90 comprising: a plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 121; a plurality of valves 136 provided in the plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 121, respectively, each of the plurality of valves 136 being configured to control a flow amount of each of the plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 121; a plurality of nozzles 43, 45 connected to the plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 121, coolant 108 being to be discharged through the plurality of nozzles 43, 45; a coolant tank 104 configured to store coolant 108; a pump 100 connecting the plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 121 and the coolant tank 104, the pump 100 being configured to discharge the coolant 108 stored in the coolant tank 104 to the plurality of coolant supply conduits 120, 212 (Pars. 0022 and 0023); interpreter circuitry configured to read, from a machining program, a called code M08, M09 of at least one coolant assignment code M08, M09, each of the at least one coolant assignment code M08, M09 being to instruct to open or close the plurality of valves 136 and to instruct a degree of discharge of the coolant from the pump 100; valve control circuitry 110 configured to control the opening and closing of the plurality of valves 136 based on the called code M08, M09 (Pars. 0022 and 0032); and pump control circuitry 110 configured to control the pump 100 to discharge the coolant 108 by the degree of discharge based on the called code M08, M09 (Pars. 0022-0045, Figs. 1-3).
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.
Claim(s) 2, 3 and 6 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kono et al. (US 2014/0338765 A1), in view of OZEKI (US 2020/0262019 A1).
Re Claim 2, Kono discloses determining at least one valve 136 among the plurality of valves 136 which is instructed to be opened by the each of the at least one coolant assignment code M08, M09; determining a region to which the coolant 108 is jetted through at least one nozzle 43, 45 of the plurality of nozzles 43, 45 which is connected to the at least one valve 136; determining a total amount of the coolant 108 to be jetted through the at least one nozzle 43, 45 based on the degree of discharge of the coolant 108 instructed by the each of the at least one coolant assignment code M08, M09 (Pars. 0022-0045, Figs. 1-3).
Kono does not explicitly disclose displaying the each of the at least one coolant assignment code and the region corresponding to the each of the at least one coolant assignment code in a manner that correlates the each of the at least one coolant assignment code and the region; or displaying at least one of the total amount and an amount of the coolant to be jetted through each of the at least one nozzle in a manner that correlates the each of the at least one coolant assignment code and the at least one of the total amount and the amount of the coolant.
OZEKI discloses a method of supplying a coolant to a machine tool 2, the method comprising: reading, from a machining program a called code; and displaying various data and information provided by the program using a display/interface 70 during machining processes; one of said processes being adjusting an amount of coolant supplied to a machine tool (Pars. 0031-0037 and 0041, Figs. 1-5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Kono by providing a display/interface as disclosed by OZEKI, thus allowing for the displaying the each of the at least one coolant assignment code and the region corresponding to the each of the at least one coolant assignment code in a manner that correlates the each of the at least one coolant assignment code and the region; and displaying at least one of the total amount and an amount of the coolant to be jetted through each of the at least one nozzle in a manner that correlates the each of the at least one coolant assignment code and the at least one of the total amount and the amount of the coolant, as claimed.
Re Claim 3, Kono does not explicitly disclose displaying power consumption of the pump to be operated based on the each of the at least one coolant assignment code in a manner that correlates the each of the at least one coolant assignment code and the power consumption. Kono does however disclose the pump 100 is utilized to reduce power loss during coolant supplying (Par. 0028).
OZEKI discloses a method of supplying a coolant to a machine tool 2, the method comprising: reading, from a machining program a called code; and displaying various data and information provided by the program using a display/interface 70 during machining processes; one of said processes being adjusting an amount of coolant supplied to a machine tool (Pars. 0031-0037 and 0041, Figs. 1-5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Kono by providing a display/interface as disclosed by OZEKI, thus allowing for displaying power consumption of the pump to be operated based on the each of the at least one coolant assignment code in a manner that correlates the each of the at least one coolant assignment code and the power consumption, as claimed.
Re Claim 6, Kono discloses determining at least one open valve 136 of the plurality of valves 136 that has been opened as instructed by the called code M08 while the coolant 108 is being discharged from the pump 100 by executing the machining program; determining a jetting region to be exposed to the coolant 108 jetted through at least one jetting nozzle 43, 45 of the plurality of nozzles 43, 45 that is connected to the at least one open valve 136; based on the degree of discharge of the coolant 108 instructed by the called code M08, determining a total jetting amount of the coolant 108 jetted through the at least one jetting nozzle 43, 45 (Pars. 0022-0045, Figs. 1-3). Kono does not explicitly disclose displaying the jetting region and at least one of the total jetting amount and an individual jetting amount of the coolant jetted through each of the at least one jetting nozzle; and upon receipt of a command to change the degree of discharge, rewriting the degree of discharge of the coolant instructed by the called code to a changed degree of discharge.
OZEKI discloses a method of supplying a coolant to a machine tool 2, the method comprising: reading, from a machining program a called code; adjusting an amount of coolant supplied to a machine tool by rewriting a degree of discharge of the coolant instructed by the called code to a changed degree of discharge; and displaying various data and information provided by the program using a display/interface 70 during machining processes (Pars. 0031-0037; 0041 and 0069-0074, Fig. 5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Kono by providing a display/interface as disclosed by OZEKI, thus allowing for displaying the jetting region and at least one of the total jetting amount and an individual jetting amount of the coolant jetted through each of the at least one jetting nozzle; and upon receipt of a command to change the degree of discharge, rewriting the degree of discharge of the coolant instructed by the called code to a changed degree of discharge.
Claim Objections
Claims 4, 5, 7 and 8 are 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. Yellin et al. (US 2018/0029183 A1), Maekawa (US 2015/0025673 A1), and Haug et al. (DE 102009026656).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BAYAN SALONE whose telephone number is (571)270-7739. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-60 PM.
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, Sunil Singh can be reached at (571)272-3460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BAYAN SALONE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726
Prosecution Insights