DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the notch" in line 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being disclosed by Yang (WO 2023/197402).
Yang discloses the invention including:
Claim 1; a shear assembly 1 and a drive assembly (see Fig. 1-2), wherein: the shear assembly comprises:(a) a shear base 11,(b) a stationary blade 18 secured on the shear base,(c) a shear lever 12 hinged to the shear base,(d) a moving blade 19 secured on the shear lever,(e) a reset spring 17 abutting against the shear lever,(f) a cam 13 rotatably mounted on the shear base, and(g) a roller 14 rotatably mounted on the shear lever; and the drive assembly comprises an electric motor configured to drive the cam, and a speed reducer 25; wherein a lower concave surface, an involute surface, and a circular fillet surface connecting the lower concave surface and the involute surface are arranged along a peripheral direction of the cam (see Fig. 2); when the roller engages the lower concave surface, the threaded rod cutter is in a ready-to-shear state; and when the roller rotates past the lower concave surface to engage the involute surface, the involute surface drives the shear lever to swing so that the shear lever drives the moving blade to be fitted with the stationary blade to shear a threaded rod (see Fig. 3); and wherein an outer peripheral surface of the cam engages an outer peripheral surface of the roller by conical abutment with a taper angle a (see Fig. 6), so that the cam, when rotating, applies an axial component force against the roller, where 3º<a<8º (see Fig. 5-6).
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) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (WO 2023/197402) in view of Qu (11,548,082).
Yang discloses the invention substantially as claimed except for the stationary blade is formed of a square structure, each of four sides of the square structure being provided with one stationary threaded cutting edge, and the moving blade is formed of a square structure, each of four sides of the square structure being provided with one moving threaded cutting edge, four stationary threaded cutting edges being differently sized, four moving threaded cutting edges being also differently sized, the four stationary threaded cutting edges and the four moving threaded cutting edges being arranged in a one-to-one corresponding manner so as to be adapted to threaded rods of four different specifications, the four stationary threaded cutting edges and the four moving threaded cutting edges having their diameters sequentially increased or sequentially shrunk in a clockwise direction or in a counterclockwise direction; a locating recess is arranged at an edge of the shear base, a first securing groove facing the locating recess is arranged at a front side of the shear base, and the stationary blade is secured in the first securing groove; and/or, a second securing groove facing the locating recess is arranged at a rear side of the shear lever, the moving blade is secured in the second securing groove, and a locating surface facing the locating recess is formed at a bottom wall of the second securing groove. However, Qu teaches the use of above limitations in Fig. 7 for the purpose of cutting rods of different diameters. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified the device of Yang by providing the above limitations as taught by Qu in order to obtain a device that cut rods of different diameters.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-20 are allowed.
Claims 3 and 5 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.
Claim 4 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMAR FLORES SANCHEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-4507. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Thursday8:00-4:00 pm.
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/OMAR FLORES SANCHEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3724
