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 .
This action is in response to the application filed on 12/12/24.
Claims 1-10 are pending and have been examined.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/12/24, 12/08/25, 12/29/25 and 03/09/26 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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)(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) 1-2, 4 and 8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yasunori (JP 2002166333; see English translation).
Regarding claims 1 and 9, Yasunori discloses an electric tool system and a diagnosis method for making a diagnosis about an electric tool, comprising: an electric tool section (10; Fig. 1) which is portable, a measuring unit (torque sensor 22), a storage unit (26), and a decision unit (28), the electric tool section including: a driving part (i.e. motor 20) configured to be supplied with motive power by a power source and thereby generate torque; an attachment part (18) to which a tip tool (16) is attachable; and a transmission part (inherently disclosed) configured to transmit the torque from the driving part (motor 20) to the attachment part (18) and thereby drive the attachment part, the measuring unit being configured to measure a physical quantity (i.e. a torque via torque sensor 22) concerning the electric tool section, the storage unit being configured to store the physical quantity measured by the measuring unit, the decision unit being configured to determine, based on the physical quantity stored in the storage unit, whether the tip tool needs replacement or not and thereby obtain replacement information representing a decision result indicating whether the tip tool needs replacement or not (see the overview; pars. 10 and 15).
Regarding claim 2, Yasunori discloses a notification unit configured to make, in accordance with the replacement information obtained by the decision unit, notification prompting replacement of the tip tool (par. 13 and 28).
Regarding claim 4, Yasunori discloses wherein the measuring unit includes at least a torque measuring unit (22) configured to measure, as the physical quantity, torque applied to the tip tool.
Regarding claim 8, Yasunori discloses wherein the measuring unit is configured to measure a plurality of physical quantities (i.e. torque and rotation angle; par. 25-28) and the decision unit is configured to obtain the replacement information based on a correlation between the plurality of physical quantities stored in the storage unit (par. 25).
Regarding claim 10, Ysunori discloses a non-transitory storage medium (via 30) storing thereon a program designed to cause one or more processors of a computer system (via host system; par. 15) to perform the diagnosis method of claim 9.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 5-7 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, a restrictor configured to restrict, while the attachment part is being driven, the notification to be made by the notification unit.
Regarding claim 5, wherein the measuring unit includes: the torque measuring unit; the number of revolutions measuring unit; and a thrust load measuring unit configured to measure, as the physical quantity, a thrust load applied to the tip tool, and the decision unit is configured to obtain the replacement information based on the torque, the number of revolutions, and the thrust load which are stored in the storage unit.
Regarding claim 6, an acquirer configured to acquire at least one of type information about a type of the tip tool or material information about a material for the tip tool, wherein the decision unit is configured to obtain the replacement information based on the physical quantity stored in the storage unit and at least one of the type information or the material information acquired by the acquirer.
Regarding claim 7, wherein the decision unit is configured to obtain the replacement information based on a storage location of the physical quantity in the storage unit within a feature quantity space about a feature quantity extracted from the physical quantity.
The combinations of the claimed limitations are novel and found to be allowable over prior art. The cited references taken singly or in combination do not anticipate or make obvious the Applicant’s claimed invention.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHELLE LOPEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-4464. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anna Kinsaul can be reached at (571) 270 - 1926. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHELLE LOPEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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