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 § 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) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Preti (EP 2093024).
Re Claim 1, Preti discloses a method of operating a blind rivet nut-setting tool 100, the method comprising: pressing a blind rivet nut 3 on an output shaft 2 of the tool 100 against a workpiece P (not shown), thereby applying an external force to the output shaft 2 to move the output shaft 2 in a rearward direction along a longitudinal axis from a first position to a second position; activating a first motor 1 to rotate the output shaft 2 about the longitudinal axis in response to the output shaft 2 activating a limit switch 62 after reaching the second position, thereby rotating the output shaft 2 relative to the blind rivet nut 3 causing plastic deformation of the blind rivet nut 3; and activating a second motor 5 to translate the output shaft 2 along the longitudinal axis in the rearward direction, causing further plastic deformation of the blind rivet nut 3 and permanently setting the blind rivet nut on the workpiece (Pars. 0004-0006, Figs. 1-11).
Re Claim 2, Preti discloses in response to the limit switch 62 being activated, the step of the first motor 1 being caused to rotate the output shaft 2 about the longitudinal axis is automatically performed (Par. 0001, Col. 3, Line 30-Col. 4, Line 9).
Re Claim 3, Preti discloses the step of activating the second motor 5 to translate the output shaft 2 along the longitudinal axis in the rearward direction includes translating a carrier 40 from a first carrier position to a second carrier position (Par. 0005, Lines 2-14, Figs. 4-11).
Claim Objections
Claims 4-20 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
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/BAYAN SALONE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726