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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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, 2, 4, and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bruneau (US 7,465,128).
As to claim 1, Bruneau discloses a rock bolt which includes an elongate member 12, a tube 18 which is made from a first material and which has a bore 18c, an inner surface opposing the bore and an outer surface, and a barrel 20 which is fixed to the elongate member and which is located at least partly in the bore, wherein the barrel is made from a second material which is harder than the first material and includes yield formations (20a,b,c) configured to engage with the inner surface of the tube and to deform the first material in response to a tensile force exerted on the elongate member which forces the barrel 20 further into the bore 18c. The tube 18 is made from a first material that is flexible and expandable. Furthermore, the barrel is designed to deform the sleeve and thus inherently is a harder material as it does not deform during this action.
As to claim 2, Bruneau discloses wherein the tube 18 has a first end and a second end, and the barrel 20 enters the bore of the tube at the first end and the elongate member 12 extends from the second end of the tube.
As to claim 4, Bruneau discloses an anchor 16 for engaging with a wall of a borehole and wherein the tube 18 and the barrel 20 are in use positioned inside the borehole.
As to claim 5, Bruneau discloses anchor 16 which in use is located inside a borehole into which the elongate member 12 extends and which fixes the elongate member to the wall of the borehole, or which fixes the tube18 to the wall of the borehole.
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) 6, 10, and 12 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bruneau (US 7,465,128) in view of Simmons et al (US 6,935,811).
As to claims 6, 10 and 12, Bruneau discloses all that is claimed except for the first material being aluminum. Simmons discloses a frictional type mining bolt wherein a tube 18 is made from aluminum (see col. 3, lines 55-58). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a tube made from aluminum as disclosed by Simmons et al, since doing so provides the expected benefit of providing an easily deformable material.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 7-9 and 11 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:
As to claim 3, the prior art of record fails to show or suggest an anchor for engaging with a wall of a borehole and wherein the tube and the barrel are in use positioned outside the borehole.
As to claim 7, the prior art of record fails to show or suggest wherein the yield formations comprise ribs on a surface of the barrel which opposes the inner surface of the tube and a respective valley is formed between each adjacent pair of the ribs.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FREDERICK L LAGMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7043. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday-Friday 8am-6:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amber Anderson can be reached at 571-270-5281. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FREDERICK L LAGMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3678