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 .
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) 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TW1746665 (hereinafter ‘665) in view of Koenig (US10717179).
With respect to claim 1 ‘665 discloses an electric tool including a transmission member; and comprising:
A shaft member (5 in figure 6) that is positioned;
A stator unit (7 in figure 6) that is connected (in this case treated as meaning associated with so as to clarify the respective elements can move to allow function) to said shaft member and that includes a coil assembly surrounding said shaft member and for generating a magnetic field;
A rotor (6 in figure 6) unit that is rotatable sleeved on said shaft member, and that includes a magnetic unit (62in figure 6) disposed between said shaft member and said coil assembly, and driven by the magnetic filed generated by said coil assembly to rotate, and
A flywheel set (6 and 611) co-rotatable connected to said magnetic unit, and adapted for contacting the transmission member (32) that is movable relative to said flywheel set, and for driving movement of the transmission member during rotation of said flywheel set.
‘665 does not expressly disclose a noise reducing unit that surround said shaft member that is mounted to said flywheel set, and that is for absorbing energy of sound waves generated when said flywheel set contacts the transmission member.
Koenig discloses a noise reducing unit (1015) for surrounding the shaft of a power tool that is for absorbing sound waves generated when said flywheel set contacts the transmission member of the power tool.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of Koenig to apply a sound absorption member for noise reduction to the device of ‘665 so as to reduce noise and enhance user comfort while using the tool.
With respect to claim 2 ‘665 as modified further discloses said flywheel set includes
A carrier (hub member including bearing 770 in Koenig) surrounding said shaft member and rotatable sleeved on said shaft member;
A wheel body surrounding said carrier and spaced apart from said carrier, and
A plurality of bearings (770 the duplication of which would have been obvious to allow for support on both sides of the flywheel disc. Further it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.) disposed between said carrier and said shaft member; and said noise reducing unit is connected to said carrier and said wheel body.
With respect to claim 3 ‘665 as modified further discloses wherein said carrier includes
A bushing portion adjacent to said shaft member (as can be seen in figure 6 of ‘665 there is a connection between housing 7 and shaft member 5, the connection point is of increased surface area and as such acts as a bushed type connection there being no separate bearing in place at this connection. The use of bushings, bushed type connections and other supports between embers are well known in the art, bushings are known to be simple structures of good durability and as such obvious to impart those properties. ), disposed between said coil assembly and said shaft member and connected to said magnetic unit and
A wheel frame portion distal from said shaft member;
Said wheel body and said wheel frame portion define a noise reduction space;
Said bearings are disposed between said wheel frame portion and said shaft member; and
Said noise reducing unit is mounted said noise reduction space, contacts said wheel body (see figure 7a and column 12 of Koenig) and is spaced apart from said wheel frame portion.
With respect to claim 4 ‘665 as modified further discloses wherein said noise reducing unit has a porous structure (see Koenig column 12 lines 35-45) and includes a physical portion defining a plurality of pores, having a void ration. As it regards the void ratio of total volume of said pores to a volume of said physical portion is greater than 60% such would have been an obvious matter of optimization. One of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing would have found it obvious to optimize the pore ratio of a sound absorbing foam based upon routine testing. It is known in the art that the void ratio is a result effective variable and as such obvious to optimize. It has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
With respect to claim 5 ‘665 as modified further discloses the inclusion of pores, as it regards the selection of less than 3mm, it would have been obvious to select such a value based upon a desired to optimize the structure, it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
With respect to claim 6 ‘665 as modified further discloses wherein said noise reducing unit is made of a low density material (see Koenig column 12) said low density material being plastic rubber, foam or combinations thereof (see again Koenig column 12). With regard to the density being; lower than 0.003g/mm3, it would have been an obvious matter to one of ordinary skill in the art to select such a value based upon a desire to optimize. It has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
With respect to claim 8 ‘665 further discloses wherein said stator unit further includes an outer housing (71) having a sleeve portion (72) that is sleeved on said shaft member, and a mounting portion that surround said shaft member that is connected to said sleeve portion, and that is spaced apart rom said shaft member; and said coil assembly is mounted to said mounting portion.
With respect to claim 9 ‘665 as modified further discloses an electric nail gun comprising:
A supporting frame (2 in figure 3);
The noise reduction device as claimed in claim 1 that is mounted to said supporting frame (see teachings of Koenig as to the inclusion of a noise reduction member, the noise reduction member of Koenig is indirectly connected to the supporting frame and it is considered that given the teachings of Koenig one of ordinary skill would have found the application of the absorber to any surface to have been an obvious matter);
A swing arm unit that is pivotably connected to said supporting frame and swingable relative to said flywheel set; and
A striking unit (32 in ‘665) that served as the transmission member, that is mounted to and movable relative to said swing arm unit along said swing arm unit, and that is driven by said swing arm unit to contact said flywheel set such that rotation of said flywheel set drives said striking unit to perform a nail striking operation.
With respect to claim 10 ‘665 further discloses wherein said swing arm unit is operable to swing relative to said flywheel set about a swing axis between a normal position and a striking position (see again figure 3 of ‘665 the structure is so positioned due to the movement of element 32); and
A shortest distance between swing arm unit and said flywheel set when said swing arm unit is at the normal position is larger than a shortest distance between said swing arm unit and said flywheel unit when said swing arm unit is at the striking position.
With respect to claim 11 ‘665 as modified further discloses wherein said striking unit (32 in figure 3 of ‘665) is thrown by said flywheel set to move in a nail striking direction substantially perpendicular to the swing axis being driven by the swing arm (see orientation of the return spring the striking distance being horizontal and the swing axis being vertical).
2. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TW1746665 in view of Koenig (US10717179) as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Wu (US20070003419).
With respect to claim 7 ‘665 further discloses wherein said flywheel set further includes a rib plate (see figure 3 of ‘665) interconnecting said carrier and said wheel body and defining a plurality of rib holes (six of which are shown in figure 3), and A side cover sleeved on said carrier (to support bearing member shown in figure 3).
‘665 as modified does not disclose said noise reducing unit further includes a plurality of connecting members extending from said physical portion through said rib plate ;
Each of said connecting members has opposite barbs extending through one of said rib holes and engaging said rib plate, such that said noise reducing unit is detachably connected to aid rib plate.
Wu discloses the use of a cover means (811) which includes protruding connectors (82) which attach to holes formed in the receiving member for use in conjunction with a motor system (see figures 3 and 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of Wu to use mechanical connectors and adhesive to attach a member in a motor structure with the absorbing means of ‘665 as modified. The motivation for doing so would be to provide a mechanical bond that would continue to hold regardless of the incursion of dirt and the thermal loads thereon.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kunyil (US20240364177) discloses a sealing cover for actuator motor using push fit connectors; and Shelton (US11826048) discloses a surgical instrument using rack and pinion arrangement to provide linear motion.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FORREST M PHILLIPS whose telephone number is (571)272-9020. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00.
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, Dedei Hammond can be reached at (571) 272-3985. 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.
/FORREST M PHILLIPS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
Prosecution Insights