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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 5,553,534 to Soavi, hereinafter “Soavi”.
Regarding claim 1, Soavi discloses a shaving compression mechanism of a pencil sharpener (shaving compression mechanism EV in Figs. 1 and 2 may be used in connection with a pencil sharpener as a workplace producing wood shavings as disclosed at col. 1, line 13-22), comprising:
a conveying member (conveying member shaft 3 with thread 4 in Figs. 1-4; col. 7, line 29-37) provided in a shaving box (housing sections 6, 7, 8 and 10 in Figs. 1-4; col. 7, line 45-56), the conveying member being located below a cutting position (shaft 3 and thread 4 are located in intermediate section B shown in Figs. 1 and 2 where shaving fall from above as illustrated by the arrows pointing downwardly toward housing section 8; col. 7, line 29-49); and
a power source (power source motor 1 in Figs. 1 and 2; col. 7, line 33-34), the power source being connected with the conveying member and configured to drive the conveying member to rotate (power source motor 1 is connected to shaft 3 via joint 2 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2; col. 7, line 33-35),
the conveying member rotating to convey shavings that fall onto the conveying member to a distal end in the shaving box (conveying member shaft 3 with thread 4 rotates to convey shavings that fall onto shaft 3 and 4 to distal end housing section 10 in Figs. 1 and 2; col. 7, line 57 through col. 8, line 15).
Regarding claim 2, Soavi anticipates the shaving compression mechanism of the pencil sharpener according to claim 1 as explained above. Soavi further discloses the conveying member is connected with the power source through a transmission structure (transmission structure joint 2 in Figs. 1 and 2).
Regarding claim 3, Soavi anticipates the shaving compression mechanism of the pencil sharpener according to claim 2 as explained above. Soavi further discloses the transmission structure comprises a gear set. See col. 7, line 33-35 disclosing motor 1 is a geared motor connected to transmission joint 2.
Regarding claim 6, Soavi anticipates the shaving compression mechanism of the pencil sharpener according to claim 1 as explained above. Soavi further discloses a box body of the shaving box is detachably connected with a main body of the pencil sharpener. Box body longitudinal element 10 in Figs. 1 and 2 is shown as a separate part of the shaving box that is detachable from main body wings 7 as shown in Fig. 4.
Regarding claim 7, Soavi anticipates the shaving compression mechanism of the pencil sharpener according to claim 1 as explained above. Soavi further discloses the conveying member is provided with spiral blade thread 4 in Figs. 1 and 2.
Regarding claim 8, Soavi anticipates the shaving compression mechanism of the pencil sharpener according to claim 1 as explained above. Soavi further discloses the conveying member (conveying member shaft 3 with thread 4 in Figs. 1 and 2) is rotatably connected with a box body of the shaving box through a connecting member (see “Connecting Member” annotation to Fig. 1 of Soavi reproduced below), and the connecting member is capable of driving the conveying member to rotate relative to the box body inside the box body (the Connecting Member drives conveying member shaft 3 with thread 4 to rotate relative to the body of shaving box sections 6, 7, 8 and 10).
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Regarding claim 9, Soavi anticipates the shaving compression mechanism of the pencil sharpener according to claim 8 as explained above. Soavi further discloses the connecting member (see “Connecting Member” annotation above) is provided with a connecting part configured to connect the power source (A connecting part of the Connecting Member connects to power source motor 1 in Fig. 1. See “Connecting Part” annotation to Fig. 1 of Soavi reproduced below).
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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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 4 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Soavi in view of Korean Patent Publication No. KR 20-2011-0001166 U, hereinafter “Korean Reference”.
Regarding claim 4, Soavi anticipates the shaving compression mechanism of the pencil sharpener according to claim 1 as explained above. However, Soavi does not disclose the power source comprises a hand-cranked wheel and a motor.
In the field of pencil sharpeners, the Korean Reference teaches it was known before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine a motor driven appliance, in this case a fan, with a hand-cranked pencil sharpener. See the abstract and Figs. 1 and 2.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Soavi’s motor-powered shaving compression mechanism with a hand-cranked wheel driven pencil sharpener to provide the pencil sharpener with a mechanism for compressing shavings generated during use of the hand-cranked wheel driven pencil sharpener. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching of the Korean Reference to Soavi’s shaving compression mechanism would yield the predictable result of a hand-cranked pencil sharpener with a motor-powered pencil shaving compression mechanism.
Regarding claim 13, the prior art reference combination of Soavi in view of the Korean Reference renders the shaving compression mechanism according to claim 4 unpatentable as explained above. The prior art reference combination of Soavi in view of the Korean Reference further teaches a pencil sharpener (pencil sharpener 10 in Figs. 1 and 2 of the Korean Reference) which comprises the shaving compression mechanism according to claim 4 as explained in the rejection of claim 4 above.
Claims 5, 10-12 and 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Soavi in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2006/0272743 A1 by Hu, hereinafter “Hu”.
Regarding claim 5, Soavi anticipates the shaving compression mechanism of the pencil sharpener according to claim 1 as explained above. However, Soavi does not disclose power source motor 1 in Fig. 1 rotates a cutter holder at a cutting position as claimed in claim 5.
In the same field of motor driven pencil processing apparatus, Hu teaches it was known before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the motor of a pencil sharpener which rotates the cutter assembly to also drive a secondary system associated with processing pencils. In the instance taught by Hu, the secondary system is a feeding device which feeds the pencil to the cutter assembly. See the abstract.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Soavi’s shaving compression mechanism into a motor driven pencil sharpener where the motor of the pencil sharpener also drives Soavi’s shaving compression mechanism in the same way Hu teaches. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching of Hu to the disclosure of Soavi would yield the predictable result of a pencil sharpener with a motor which rotates the cutter assembly and drives a shaving compression mechanism compressing shavings created by the cutter assembly.
Regarding claims 10-12, Hu teaches a pencil sharpener with a motor used to rotate the sharpener’s cutter assembly and also drive a secondary system associated with processing pencils. In the instance taught by Hu, the secondary system is a feeding device which feeds the pencil to the cutter assembly. See the abstract.
Soavi anticipates the shaving compression mechanism of the pencil sharpener according to claims 1-3 as explained above.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Soavi’s shaving compression mechanism into a motor driven pencil sharpener where the motor of the pencil sharpener also drives Soavi’s shaving compression mechanism in the same way Hu teaches. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching of Hu to the disclosure of Soavi would yield the predictable result of a pencil sharpener with a motor which rotates the cutter assembly and drives a shaving compression mechanism compressing shavings created by the cutter assembly.
Regarding claim 14, the prior art reference combination of Soavi in view of Hu renders the shaving compression mechanism according to claim 5 unpatentable as explained above. The prior art reference combination of Soavi in view of Hu further teaches a pencil sharpener (the pencil sharpener shown in Fig. 1 of Hu) which comprises the shaving compression mechanism according to claim 5 as explained in the rejection of claim 5 above.
Regarding claims 15-18, Hu teaches a pencil sharpener with a motor used to rotate the sharpener’s cutter assembly and also drive a secondary system associated with processing pencils. In the instance taught by Hu, the secondary system is a feeding device which feeds the pencil to the cutter assembly. See the abstract.
Soavi anticipates the shaving compression mechanism of the pencil sharpener according to claims 6-9 as explained above.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Soavi’s shaving compression mechanism into a motor driven pencil sharpener where the motor of the pencil sharpener also drives Soavi’s shaving compression mechanism in the same way Hu teaches. A person of ordinary skill would have recognized applying the teaching of Hu to the disclosure of Soavi would yield the predictable result of a pencil sharpener with a motor which rotates the cutter assembly and drives a shaving compression mechanism compressing shavings created by the cutter assembly.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL DEREK PRESSLEY whose telephone number is (313)446-6658. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30am to 3:30pm Eastern.
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/P DEREK PRESSLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3725
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