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 Status
Claims 1-8 are pending:
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 12/03/2024 is/are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation - Language
Language and/or terms in the claims are interpreted as follows:
Terms within parentheses in claim do not limit claim scope, please see MPEP 608.01(m.)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sanders (US 10,265,817) in view of Feldman (US 5,254,004)
Claim 1
Sanders discloses:
“A fluid driving device, comprising:
a housing extending along an axis (best seen Fig1/4-8, housing 120, central axis X), and having a tubular housing wall that defines an accommodation space (Fig1/4-8, tubular wall of housing 120 – best seen in cross-section, that defines internal void), an inlet passage unit that spatially communicates with said accommodation space and an external environment (Fig1/4-8, bottom opening of void region within housing 120), and an outlet passage unit that spatially communicates with 9 and the external environment (Fig1/4-8, top opening of void region within housing 120 and cover 130);
a sleeve member disposed in said accommodation space (Fig1/4-8, sleeve is integral to the inner contact arrangement between housing 120 and turbine 170), and including a tubular sleeve wall that defines an internal space (Fig1-4-8, space 112), and a drainage hole set that is formed through said tubular sleeve wall and that spatially communicates with said inlet passage unit (Fig1/4-8, openings 125), said drainage hole set having a plurality of drainage holes that are spaced apart from each other, that are arranged about the axis, and that respectively extend along a plurality of central lines (Fig1/4-8, plurality of openings 125 arranged about the central axis and extend along a plurality of lines), said outlet passage unit being located outside said sleeve member (Fig1/4-8, top opening of void region within housing 120 and cover 130 is located axially outside space 112);
a bearing unit disposed in said internal space of said sleeve member (Fig1/4-8, bearings 150/160);
a shaft member extending along the axis, disposed in said internal space of said sleeve member (Fig1/4-8, shaft 110 of turbine 170), and including a driven segment that is adjacent to said drainage hole set (Fig1/4-8, shaft 110 portion on turbine 170 is driven), and a support segment that is connected to said driven segment along the axis and that is supported by said bearing unit (Fig1/4-8, shaft 110 portion on bearings 150/160);
a rotor secured to said driven segment of said shaft member (Fig1/4-8, turbine 170), located at one side of said bearing unit along the axis (Fig1/4-8, turbine 170 location to bearings 150/160 shown), and including a plurality of blades that are surrounded by said drainage hole set and said outlet passage unit (Fig1/4-8, blades of turbine 170 are surrounded by holes 125), said rotor being rotatable, said plurality of blades taking turns intersecting at least one of the plurality of central lines of said plurality of drainage holes when said rotor rotates (functional limitation. Fig1/4-8, when turbine 170 rotates the blades of turbine 170 sequentially intersect the lines of openings 125);
…”
The above noted limitations are considered functional language, and as the structure disclosed in the reference anticipates the claimed structure, the structure disclosed is capable of performing the recited function, see MPEP 2114.I,II. However, the functional language is disclosed as noted above.
Sanders discloses (C6L24-32; Fig1/4-8) that cutting tip 111 is integrally formed with shaft 110 in the embodiment shown, however Sanders further discloses that cutting tip 111 could be “releasably engaged with shaft 110”.
Sanders shown embodiment is silent to the “fastener member” as claimed.
Feldman (best seen Fig1/3-4) teaches the application of a releasably engaged working tool 104 fastened to turbine member 102 shaft via threaded fastener chuck assembly 120 located within the shaft of turbine member 102
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the arrangement of Sanders to have the releasably engaged fastener chuck assembly as taught by Feldman, as Sanders itself explicitly indicates that it is open to such a modification and the assembly as taught by Feldman is a known in the art selection for a releasably engaged fastener chuck assembly, and such a modification would merely be a simple substitution of one known in the art, and identified selection by Sanders itself, selection for holding a working bit to the shaft for a drill for another known in the art selection for holding a working bit to the shaft for a drill, and the resulting arrangement has the reasonable expectation of successfully providing the arrangement of Sanders with a working drill bit attachment arrangement with improved variability due to improved ease of changing drill bits.
Claim 2
The combination of Sanders and Feldman discloses: “The fluid driving device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing includes a tube portion (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, housing 120 portion nearest turbine 170), and a body portion that is connected to said tube portion along the axis (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, housing 120 portion near threads 121, said tube portion including said tubular housing wall (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, tube wall of tube portion of housing 120) and further including an end wall that is connected to said tubular housing wall (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, end wall interface at horizontal thickness change between tube/body portions – best seen Fig4A/B), said tubular housing wall and said end wall cooperatively defining said accommodation space (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, space 112), said body portion being connected to said end wall of said tube portion (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, integrally formed), and said inlet passage unit has an introduction segment that extends along the axis and that is formed in said body portion (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, housing 120 region near threads 122 for cover 140), a plurality of transmission segments that are formed in said end wall and that spatially communicate with said introduction segment (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, grooves of channels 126 fluidly and spatially communicate with every feature within space 112), and a plurality of output segments that are formed in said tubular housing wall and that spatially communicate with said drainage holes (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, walls of channels 126 at outlet of housing 120 fluidly and spatially communicate with every feature within space 112).”
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Claim 7
The combination of Sanders and Feldman discloses: “The fluid driving device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tubular sleeve wall of said sleeve member has an inner wall surface that is adjacent to said internal space (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, inner surface of housing 120 on space 112), and a block ring that protrudes from said inner wall surface (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, internal top of cover 140), said internal space having a first side portion and a second side portion that are located at two opposite sides of said block ring along the axis (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, first side at bottom, second side at top of space 112), said first side portion spatially communicating with said drainage hole set (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, internal top of cover 140 fluidly and spatially communicate with every feature within space 112), said bearing unit including a first bearing that is disposed in said first side portion and between said block ring and said rotor (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, first bearing 160 between cover 140 and turbine 170), and at least one second bearing that is disposed in said second side portion (Sanders: Fig1/4-8, second bearing 150).”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3-6, 8 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.
Claim 3
The prior art of record fails to anticipate or render obvious the limitations of the claim, and in particular “wherein said plurality of transmission segments of said housing are arranged radially around the axis, each of said plurality of output segments having a communication hole that spatially communicates with a corresponding one of said plurality of transmission segments, said inlet passage unit further having a plurality of storage grooves that respectively and spatially communicate with said plurality of output segments and that spatially communicate with said accommodation space, each of said plurality of storage grooves having a cross section that is perpendicular to the axis and that is greater than a cross section of the respective one of said plurality of output segments perpendicular to the axis.” in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
Claim 4-6 would be allowable based on dependency.
Claim 8
The prior art of record fails to anticipate or render obvious the limitations of the claim, and in particular “… said hub having a threaded hole that is configured to be a reverse-threaded hole, the axis extending through said threaded hole, said driven segment of said shaft member having an external thread that is configured to be a reverse thread, said driven segment threadedly engaging said rotor” in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN HUNTER JR whose telephone number is (571)272-5093. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9-18.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at 571 272 9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN S HUNTER, JR/Examiner, Art Unit 3761