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
This office action is in response to Applicant’s initial application filed 2 December 2024.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1, 9, and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Simm et al. (US 8,083,006) in view of Stafflage et al. (US 10,702,930).
Regarding claim 1, Simm et al. discloses a portable machine tool (1), the portable machine tool comprising: a gearbox (includes motor mount 2, gears/pinions 6/7/10/11/12/13, clutch housing 8, and countershaft 9) comprising a gearing system (gears/pinions 6/7/10/11/12/13) configured to operatively transmit a rotational output (using motor shaft 5) of an electric motor (4) to a tool (15), wherein the gearbox comprises a motor mount (power tool housing 2) configured to be operatively coupled to the electric motor; and a plurality of input gears (10/11) having different configurations, wherein each input gear of the plurality of input gears is configured to be operatively installed in the gearbox for operatively meshing with an output gear (12/13) mounted on an output shaft (14) of the electric motor (tool shaft 14 may be considered an output shaft of the electric motor as it is rotated by operation of the motor).
Simm et al. does not disclose that the portable machine tool is in the form of a kit for assembling a portable machine tool. Stafflage et al. teaches the use of a portable machine tool (1) that comprises a gear train with input gears (36/56) and output gears (38/58) that may be in the form of a kit (modular system, see column 4, lines 2-13) for the purpose of being able to provide different gear trains to meet different requirements for drilling machines. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have combined the portable machine tool of Simm et al. with the modular kit system of Stafflage et al. in order to be able to use the portable machine tool with different gearing systems to meet different operational requirements.
Regarding claim 9, Simm et al. discloses further comprising the tool (15, drill bit or screwdriver bit).
Regarding claim 11, Simm et al. as modified by Stafflage et al. discloses a method of assembling a portable machine tool (1) from the portable machine tool kit of claim 1, the method comprising: selecting a selected input gear from the plurality of input gears based on a configuration of the electric motor (as set forth by Stafflage et al.); and installing the selected input gear in the gearbox (as set forth by Stafflage et al.).
Regarding claim 12, Simm et al. as modified by Stafflage et al. discloses further comprising mounting the electric motor to the motor mount (inherent during assembly of the portable machine tool).
Claims 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Simm et al. (US 8,083,006) in view of Stafflage et al. (US 10,702,930) and further in view of Miller (US 3,585,882).
Regarding claims 8 and 10, Simm et al. discloses the invention substantially as claimed, except Simm et al. does not disclose wherein the tool is a boring bar. Miller teaches the use of a portable machine tool, where the portable machine tool can be used for drilling, reaming, tapping and boring bar operations. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have combined the portable machine tool of Simm et al. with the boring bar operation of Miller in order to be able to use the portable machine tool for a boring bar operation.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ricci et al. (US 6,447,220) teaches a boring bar with a gearing system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC ANDREW GATES whose telephone number is (571)272-5498. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th 9-6, Alt Fr 9-5.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sunil Singh, can be reached on 571-272-3460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIC A. GATES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3722 14 July 2026
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