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
Acknowledgement is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
Receipt is acknowledged of Information Disclosure Statement(s) (IDS), filed 20 December 2024, which have been placed of record in the file. An initialed, signed, and dated copy of each PTO-1449 or PTO-SB-08 form is attached to the Office action.
Response to Preliminary Amendment
Receipt is acknowledged of a preliminary amendment, filed 20 December 2024, which has been placed of record and entered in the file.
Status of the claims:
Claims 9-16 are pending.
Claims 9-16 are new.
Claims 1-8 are canceled.
Specification and Drawings:
Amendments to the specification have been submitted in the amendment filed 20 December 2024.
Amendments to the drawings have been submitted in the amendment filed 20 December 2024.
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.
Claims 9-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Steiner (US Patent No. 2,995,113).
With respect to claim 9, Steiner discloses a working machine (pneumatic sledge hammer, fig. 1) comprising: a tubular cylinder extending in a first direction (cylinder 16, fig. 2); an accumulator container closing a one-side end portion of the cylinder in the first direction and communicating with an inside of the cylinder (cylinder 11 forming chamber 75, 91 closing end of cylinder 16 and communicating with cylinder 16, figs. 2, 3); a piston unit provided movably in the first direction in the cylinder (hammer piston 39, figs. 2, 3), defining a pressure chamber in cooperation with the cylinder and the accumulator container (pressure chamber formed by rear of hammer piston 39, walls of the cylinder 16, and cylinder 11, fig. 2), and moving to the other side in the first direction by pressure of gas in the pressure chamber to apply striking force to a fastener (gas pressure moves hammer piston 39 from position of fig. 2 to position of fig. 3 to apply force to fastener 57, figs. 2, 3, 6); and a lubricant supplying part disposed in the accumulator container (port 105 in chamber 91 supplies oil from bleed valve 90, fig. 2, col. 4, l. 15-52), positioned in an extension area which is extended in the first direction from cylinder (port 105 is positioned in reduced cylindrical portion 27 which extends from the end of cylinder 16, fig. 2), and configured to supply a lubricant to the piston unit along an inner wall of the cylinder from an inside of the accumulator container (oil is sprayed into chamber 91 and lubricates all of the moving parts, col. 4, l. 43-52).
With respect to claim 10, Steiner discloses a partition partitioning an internal space of the cylinder and an internal space of the accumulator container from each other (piston 18 partitions internal space of cylinder 16 and chamber 75 of cylinder 11, fig. 3), wherein lubricant is applied to an inner wall of the cylinder (oil is sprayed into chamber 91 and lubricates all of the moving parts, col. 4, l. 43-52), and the partition has a through-hole communicating with the internal space of the cylinder and the internal space of the accumulator container and directing a passing air flow toward the inner wall of the cylinder (piston 18 has a plurality of peripherally spaced longitudinal slots or apertures 25 extending therethrough to provide fluid passages, compressed air is delivered through slots 25 into cylinder 16 to move hammer piston 39, figs. 2, 3, 9, col. 2, l. 37-62; col. 4, l. 74 - col. 5, l. 1).
With respect to claim 11, Steiner discloses a working machine (pneumatic sledge hammer, fig. 1) comprising: a tubular cylinder extending in a first direction (cylinder 16, fig. 2); an accumulator container closing a one-side end portion of the cylinder in the first direction and communicating with an inside of the cylinder (cylinder 11 forming chamber 75, 91 closing end of cylinder 16 and communicating with cylinder 16, figs. 2, 3); a piston unit provided movably in the first direction in the cylinder (hammer piston 39, figs. 2, 3), defining a pressure chamber in cooperation with the cylinder and the accumulator container (pressure chamber formed by rear of hammer piston 39, walls of the cylinder 16, and cylinder 11, fig. 2), and moving to the other side in the first direction by pressure of gas in the pressure chamber to apply striking force to a fastener (gas pressure moves hammer piston 39 from position of fig. 2 to position of fig. 3 to apply force to fastener 57, figs. 2, 3, 6); and a partition partitioning an internal space of the cylinder and an internal space of the accumulator container from each other (piston 18 partitions internal space of cylinder 16 and chamber 75 of cylinder 11, fig. 3), wherein lubricant is applied to an inner wall of the cylinder (oil is sprayed into chamber 91 and lubricates all of the moving parts, col. 4, l. 43-52), the partition has a through-hole communicating with the internal space of the cylinder and the internal space of the accumulator container and directing a passing air flow toward the inner wall of the cylinder (piston 18 has a plurality of peripherally spaced longitudinal slots or apertures 25 extending therethrough to provide fluid passages, compressed air is delivered through slots 25 into cylinder 16 to move hammer piston 39, figs. 2, 3, 9, col. 2, l. 37-62; col. 4, l. 74 - col. 5, l. 1), the through-hole is provided at a location overlapping with the inner wall of the cylinder as viewed in the first direction (slots 25 overlap with inner wall of cylinder 16 at least at threads of end portion 52 of cylinder 16, fig. 3), the partition has a wall portion located inside the through-hole in a radial direction of the cylinder (longitudinal slots 25 extend radially from inside wall to outside wall of extension 23, fig. 2, 9).
With respect to claim 12, Steiner discloses a plurality of the through-holes is provided along the inner wall of the cylinder (plurality of longitudinal slots 25, fig. 9).
With respect to claim 13, Steiner discloses a working machine (pneumatic sledge hammer, fig. 1) comprising: a tubular cylinder extending in a first direction (cylinder 16, fig. 2); an accumulator container closing a one-side end portion of the cylinder in the first direction and communicating with an inside of the cylinder (cylinder 11 forming chamber 75, 91 closing end of cylinder 16 and communicating with cylinder 16, figs. 2, 3); a piston unit provided movably in the first direction in the cylinder (hammer piston 39, figs. 2, 3), defining a pressure chamber in cooperation with the cylinder and the accumulator container (pressure chamber formed by rear of hammer piston 39, walls of the cylinder 16, and cylinder 11, fig. 2), and moving to the other side in the first direction by pressure of gas in the pressure chamber to apply striking force to a fastener (gas pressure moves hammer piston 39 from position of fig. 2 to position of fig. 3 to apply force to fastener 57, figs. 2, 3, 6); and a partition partitioning an internal space of the cylinder and an internal space of the accumulator container from each other (piston 18 partitions internal space of cylinder 16 and chamber 75 of cylinder 11, fig. 3), wherein lubricant is applied to an inner wall of the cylinder (oil is sprayed into chamber 91 and lubricates all of the moving parts, col. 4, l. 43-52), the partition has a through-hole communicating with the internal space of the cylinder and the internal space of the accumulator container and directing a passing air flow toward the inner wall of the cylinder (piston 18 has a plurality of peripherally spaced longitudinal slots or apertures 25 extending therethrough to provide fluid passages, compressed air is delivered through slots 25 into cylinder 16 to move hammer piston 39, figs. 2, 3, 9, col. 2, l. 37-62; col. 4, l. 74 - col. 5, l. 1), wherein the through-hole is provided inside the inner wall of the cylinder in a radial direction of the cylinder (slots 25 are inside the inner wall of cylinder 16 at least at threads of end portion 52 of cylinder 16, fig. 3), and a cylinder-side opening of the through-hole is located outside an accumulator container-side opening of the through-hole in the radial direction of the cylinder (longitudinal slots 25 extend radially from inside wall to outside wall of extension 23, fig. 2, 9). Steiner discloses that the slots 25 extend radially such that one opening is radially outside the opposite opening; the outside opening of the slot 25 is considered to be the cylinder-side opening and the inside opening of the slot 25 is considered to be the accumulator container-side opening. Without defining language in the claim, there is nothing in the claim language to prohibit this reading of the cylinder-side opening and the accumulator container-side opening.
With respect to claim 14, Steiner discloses the through-hole is a long hole extending in a circumferential direction of the inner wall of the cylinder (peripherally spaced longitudinal slots 25 extend in circumferential direction of the inner wall of cylinder 16 and portion 17 of cylinder 16, fig. 9).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-16 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:
With respect to claim 15, the prior art fails to disclose or teach the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the partition is a nut fixing the cylinder and the accumulator container.
Claim 16 depends from claim 15, and would likewise be allowable.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bradley et al. (US Patent Publ. No. 2022/0371167) disclose a cylinder for a power tool including a lubricant supplying porous material (fig. 2).
Lin (CN 104110564) disclose a nail gun including lubricant supplying means in an accumulator container (fig. 1).
Braun et al. (US Patent Publ. No. 2011/0139475) disclose an impact device including a lubricant supply means.
Wallis (US Patent No. 4,076,103) discloses a gas operated cylinder with lubricant supplying felt material (fig. 1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Linda J. Hodge whose telephone number is (571)272-0571. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shelley Self can be reached at (571) 272-4524. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LINDA J. HODGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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