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 .
Detailed Action
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species D (Fig.9, claims 1, 2, 8-10 and 16-20 readable in the reply filed on 05/13/2026) is acknowledged.
Drawings Objection
The drawings are objected to because :
(1) In Fig.1, reference numerals “116” (first jaw) and “120” (second jaw) designate the same element (e.g., the same jaws).
(2) Reference numeral “122” has been used to designate different elements (see Figs.1, 6, 8 and 9).
(3) Reference numeral “121” has been used to designate different elements (see Figs.1, 6, 8 and 9).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Objection to the Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
(1) In paragraph [0041], reference numeral “420” is not found in FIG.6.
(2) In paragraph [0048], line 6, “300” should read --600--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objection
Claims 1-2, 8-10 and 19-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
(1) In claim 1, line 5, “one another” should read --each other--.
(2) In claim 19, line 3, “coupled first cover” should be changed to --coupled to a first cover--.
(3) In claim 20, line 4, “one another” should read --each other--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim , 18Rejection - 35 U.S.C. 112(b)
1. 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.
2. Claims 2, 8-10, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
(1) In claim 2, line 2, “one of the first jaw” is incorrect. The phrase should read --the first jaw--. Note line 10 of claim 1.
(2) In claim 10, “a first recess” and “a second recess” are vague and indefinite. They should read --a first recess of the first jaw-- and --a second recess of the second jaw--, respectively. Note line 2 of claim 19.
(3) In claim 18, lines 1-2, “the second spring is an extension spring” is incorrect. As disclosed in paragraph [0051] of the specification and shown in Fig.9, the second spring 616 is a tension spring. Note claim 8. (4) In claim 20, line 12, “the first configuration” has no antecedent basis. The phrase should read --the open configuration--.
Claim Rejection - 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)
1. 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.
2. Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schwalm et al. (U.S. Patent No. 4,483,056, hereinafter “Schwalm”).
Regarding claims 1 and 2, Schwalm discloses a power tool (see Fig.1) comprising:
a housing (34);
an actuator (35) disposed within the housing (34) and having a ram (40) that is movable between a first, retracted position and a second, extended position; and
a first jaw (1) and a second jaw (1) that are moveable relative to each other between a first, open configuration when the ram (40) is in the first, retracted position and a second, closed configuration when the ram (40) is in the second, extended position,
a first spring (14) coupled to each of the first jaw (1) and the second jaw (1) to apply a first force to bias the first jaw (1) and the second jaw (2) to the first, open configuration (see column 4, lines 6-10); and
a return assembly (e.g., a second spring 29 as required by claim 2) to apply a second force to bias the first jaw (1) to the first, open configuration. Note the second spring (29) biases levers (23) away from each other and indirectly biases the first jaw (1) to the first, open configuration because the first jaw (1) is attached to a fork (26) of the one of the levers (23) through pin (27, see column 5, lines 5-10).
Claim Rejection - 35 U.S.C. 103
1. 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.
2. Claims 1, 2, 8, 9 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D’Antuono et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0055130, hereinafter “D’Antuono”) in view of Goede et al. (U.S. Patent Application No. 2018/0175575, hereinafter “Goede”).
Regarding claims 1 and 2, D’Antuono discloses a power tool (56, see Fig.7) comprising:
a housing (inherent);
a hydraulic actuator (comprising having a pump and a fluid reservoir, see paragraph [0039]) disposed within the housing; and
a first jaw (12) and a second jaw (14) that are moveable relative to each other between a first, open configuration and a second, closed configuration in response to the actuation of the hydraulic actuator,
a first spring (22, see Fig.2) coupled to each of the first jaw (12) and the second jaw (14) to apply a first force to bias the first jaw (12) and the second jaw (`4) to the first, open configuration (); and
a return assembly (including a second spring 24 as required by claim 2) to apply a second force to bias the first jaw (12) to the first, open configuration substantially as claimed except D’Antuono does not explicitly mention the hydraulic actuator having a ram.
Goede shows a power tool comprising a hydraulic actuator having a ram (see paragraph [0038], lines 1-11) for driving a first jaw (20, see Fig.1) and a second jaw (30) between a first, open configuration and a second, closed configuration, wherein the jaws (20,30) are in the first, open configure when the ram is in a first, retracted position, and the jaws (20,30) are in the second, closed configuration when the ram is in a second, extended position.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify D’Antuono by including a ram in the hydraulic actuator to deliver a linear force for driving the jaws (12,14) as taught by Goede.
Regarding claim 8, D’Antuono’s second spring (24) is a tension spring (24 )that is coupled between a first tang of the first jaw (12) and a second tang of the second jaw (14).
Regarding claim 9, D’Antuono’s second spring (24) is coupled to the first tang of the first jaw (12) via a first bracket (26) and coupled to the second tang of the second jaw (14) by a second bracket (26).
Regarding claim 16, D’Antuono discloses a power tool (56, see Fig.7) comprising:
a housing (inherent):
a hydraulic actuator (comprising having a pump and a fluid reservoir, see paragraph [0039]) disposed within the housing; and
a first jaw (12) and a second jaw (14) that are pivotally coupled (e.g., at a pivot pin 20, see Fig.1) to move between an open configuration and a closed configuration, each of the first jaw (12) and the second jaw (14) including a tang at one end and a blade (16/18) at a distal end thereof;
a first spring (22) coupled to the tang of each of the first jaw (12) and the second jaw (14) to apply a first force to bias the first jaw (12) and the second jaw (14) to the open configuration; and a return assembly (24) coupled to the tang of the first jaw (12) to apply a second force to bias the first jaw (12) to the open configuration.
Indication of Allowable Subject Matter
1. Claims 10 and 18 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
2. Claims 17 and 19 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.
3. Claim 20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action.
4. Claim 10 contains allowable subject matter because none of the prior art of record taken alone or in combination thereof shows or fairly suggests the claimed power tool. The most relevant prior art of record is U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/005130 (note the above 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection). However, the ‘130 reference fails to show the claimed first end of the first spring (119, see Fig.9 of this instant application) being disposed in a first recess of the first jaw (116) and the first bracket (604) covers the first recess, and a second end of the first spring (119) is disposed in a second recess of the second jaw (120) and the second bracket (608) covers the second recess.
5. Claims 17-19 contain allowable subject matter because none of the prior art of record taken alone or in combination thereof shows or fairly suggests the claimed power tool. The most relevant prior art of record is U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/005130 (note the above 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection). However, the ‘130 reference fails to show the claimed first spring (119) positioned within a gap between a first leg and a second leg of a yoke (128, see Fig.9 of this instant application) that pivotally supports the first jaw (116) and the second jaw (120), and the return assembly (600) includes a second spring (616) that is positioned external to the gap.
6. Claim 20 contains allowable subject matter because none of the prior art of record taken alone or in combination thereof shows or fairly suggests the claimed power tool. The most relevant prior art of record is U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/005130. However, the ‘130 reference fails to show the clamed first spring (119, see Fig.9 of this instant application) coupled to the first jaw (116) and the second jaw (120) to apply a first force to bias the first jaw (116) and the second jaw (120) to a first configuration, the first spring (119) positioned within a gap defined between two spaced legs of a yoke (128) at which the first jaw (116) and the second jaw (120) coupled; and a second spring (616) to provide a second biasing force to the first jaw (116), the second spring (616) positioned external to the gap.
Prior Art Citations
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent No. 7,216,523 shows a hydraulic power tool comprising two pivotal jaws (3) and a spring (17) for biasing the two jaws (3) to an open configuration, a first end of the spring (17) being disposed in a first recess (19) of the first jaw (3), and a second end of the spring (17) being disposed in a second recess (19) of the second jaw (3, see Fig.6 and column 6, lines 28-45).
U.S. Patent No. 7,882,722 is cited to show a power tool (10) comprising a housing (11, see Fig.1), an actuator (14) disposed with the housing (11) and having a ram (22) between a retracted position and an extended position relevant claim 1.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0006907 is cited to show a power tool comprising a return spring (651, see Fig.7) for biasing an actuator (650) to an initial position away from a tool head (655) of the power tool, wherein the tool head (655) having two jaws pivotally connected to each other and to a yoke (654).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0061724 shows a power tool quipped with a return spring (22) to return a piston (8) to a home position at the conclusion of the cutting process by the power tool.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0138671 is cited to show a power tool comprising a first jaw (70) and a second jaw (100) that are movable relative to each other between an open configuration and a closed configuration, and a spring (180) couped to each of the first jaw (70) and the second jaw (100) to apply a first force to bias the first jaw (70) and the second jaw (100) to the open position.
Point of Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HWEI-SIU PAYER whose telephone number is (571)272-4511. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Boyer Ashley, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-4502. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HWEI-SIU C PAYER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3724
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