DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
2. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No.CN 202111300624.1, filed on November 4th 2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on April 8th 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the references cited therein are considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
4. Claims 1-18 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1-18 either recite “fitting portion” or “fitting unit.” For the purpose of consistency, one phrase should be chosen.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 18 recites “…supported on the driving wheel through roller sleeve…” This should be replaced with “…supported on the driving wheel through the roller sleeve…”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. Claim(s) 1, 13-15, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Po (US 2019/0126453) in view Hao et al. (US 2021/0323131; “Hao”).
Regarding claim 1, Po discloses a nail gun (Fig. 2), comprising:
a housing (3);
a muzzle (51), configured to receive the driven fastener (para. [0028]);
a driver assembly (8), comprising a drivable driver member (82, 83) and a base (81) that is in mechanical communication with the driver member (82, 83; Fig. 3), wherein the driver member (82, 83) extends along a first axis (X) in a longitudinal direction; and
a lifting assembly (5, 6), configured to drive the driver member (82, 83) to move to drive the base (81) to move from bottom-dead-center position (Fig. 8) to a top-dead-center position (Fig. 7; para. [0039]),
wherein the lifting assembly (5, 6) comprises a driving wheel (6) that is driven and rotates around a second axis, and a plurality of fitting units (61) are arranged on a periphery of the driving wheel (6) at intervals (Fig. 3);
a plurality of engagement units (824) are arranged on the driver member (82, 83) along the first axis;
the plurality of fitting units (61) are configured to alternately engage with the corresponding engagement units (824) under the action of the driving wheel (6; Fig. 8);
at least one of the plurality of fitting units (61) is a rolling portion (the rolling portion is deemed to be the tooth of the wheel due to said tooth rotating around the axis depicted in Fig. 2), the rolling portion being capable of rotating around an axis of the rolling portion, the rolling portion is movably engaged with a corresponding engagement unit (824; Figs. 7, 8); and
an engagement unit (824) closest to the base (81) among the plurality of engagement units is defined as a first engagement unit, and a fitting unit engaging with the first engagement unit is a first rolling portion, and the first rolling portion is non-cylindrical (Figs. 7, 8).
Po fails to disclose a power output portion, arranged in the housing; and a magazine, configured to provide fasteners for the nail gun.
However, Hoa teaches a power output portion (12), arranged in the housing (13); and a magazine (14), configured to provide fasteners for a nail gun (100).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was filed, to modify the nail gun of Po by having provided the power output portion and the magazine of Hoa, in order to drive fasteners to the workpiece.
Regarding claim 13, Po discloses wherein a quantity of the plurality of fitting units (61) is defined as n, which are sequentially a first fitting unit to an nth fitting unit according to an order of being engaged with the plurality of engagement units (824; Figs. 7, 8); and when the base (81) moves from a bottom-dead-center (Fig. 8) to near the top-dead-center position (Fig. 7), the nth fitting unit (61) is disengaged from a corresponding engagement unit (824; Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 14, Po discloses wherein a first fitting portion (see annotated diagram 1 below) and a second fitting portion (see annotated diagram 1 below) are arranged at a first angle (α1), and a second angle (α2) between a (n-1)th fitting portion and a nth fitting portion is not less than the first angle (α1; see annotated diagram 1 below.
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Diagram 1
Regarding claim 15, Po discloses wherein a third angle (α3) between a nth fitting portion (61) and a first fitting portion (61) is greater than a second angle (α2) between a (n-1)th fitting portion (61) and the nth fitting portion (61; Figs. 6, 7; see annotated diagram 1 above).
Regarding claim 19, Po discloses the nail gun (Fig. 2).
Po fails to disclose wherein the power output portion comprises a motor and a transmission mechanism; the transmission mechanism comprises: an output wheel, which is arranged coaxial with a motor output shaft; and a transmission member, which meshes with the output wheel and is arranged coaxial with the driving wheel; a rotation axis of the output wheel is perpendicular to a rotation axis of the transmission member; and both the driver member and the output wheel are located on a side of a meshing surface on the transmission member, and a rotation axis of the driving wheel is located on a same side of the driver member close to the motor.
However, Hao teaches the power output portion (12) comprises a motor (121) and a transmission mechanism (122 Fig. 2; para. [0043]); the transmission mechanism (121) comprises: an output wheel (123a), which is arranged coaxial with a motor output shaft (Fig. 4; para. [0043]); and a transmission member (162), which meshes with the output wheel (123a) and is arranged coaxial with the driving wheel (161; Fig. 4); a rotation axis of the output wheel (123a) is perpendicular to a rotation axis of the transmission member (162; Fig. 4); and both the driver member (151) and the output wheel (123a) are located on a side of a meshing surface on the transmission member (162; Fig. 4), and a rotation axis of the driving wheel (161) is located on a same side of the driver member (151) close to the motor (121; Fig. 4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was filed, to modify the nail gun of Po by having provided the aforementioned limitations of Hoa, in order to provide a compact and easy-to- operate cylinder-type nail gun (para. [0002]).
Regarding claim 20, Po discloses wherein a pressing plate (52) is arranged above the driver member (82, 83; Figs. 7, 8); and the pressing plate (52) is provided with a groove (522) for giving way to the driving wheel (6; Fig. 3), and the pressing plate (52) is fixedly arranged on the muzzle (51).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 2-12 and 16-18 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.
Regarding claim 2, Po (US 2019/0126453) is the most relevant prior art.
Po discloses the first rolling portion (the teeth on element 61 are deemed to be the rolling portion).
Po fails to disclose wherein the first rolling portion has a plurality of bump portions. It would not have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify Po’s rolling portions with bumps, because said bumps would interfere with elements 824, which are already sized for the rolling portions.
Regarding claim 4, Po (US 2019/0126453) is the most relevant prior art.
Po discloses the plurality of engagement units (824).
Po fails to disclose each of the plurality of engagements comprises a meshing surface and a crossing surface; and the plurality of engagement units are alternately engaged with the corresponding fitting units.
It would not have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify Po with the alternately engaged corresponding fitting units, because that would require a change in the corresponding engagement units, rendering the final tool inoperable.
Regarding claim 16, Po (US 2019/0126453) is the most relevant prior art.
Po discloses a first fitting portion (161; see annotated diagram 1 above), a (n-1)th fitting portion (161; see annotated diagram 1 above), and a driving wheel (6).
Po fails to disclose wherein radial sizes of a first fitting portion to a (n-1)th fitting portion are equal in a diameter direction of the driving wheel.
It would not have been obvious to modify Po with the aforementioned limitation because this would require changing the shape of the driving wheel. The driving wheel would not be sized to accommodate the engagement units (824) of Po.
Regarding claim 17, Po (US 2019/0126453) is the most relevant prior art.
Po discloses the plurality of fitting units (61), and the driving wheel (6).
Po fails to disclose wherein the plurality of fitting units are respectively rotatably supported on the driving wheel through roller sleeves.
It would not have been obvious to modify the fitting units of Po with the aforementioned limitation because Po requires a rack-and-pinion configuration where elements 61 engage elements 824. A roller sleeve would not fit in 824.
Regarding claim 18, Po (US 2019/0126453) is the most relevant prior art.
Po discloses the nth fitting unit (61; see annotated diagram 1 above).
Po fails to disclose the nth fitting unit is rotatably supported on the driving wheel through roller sleeve.
It would not have been obvious to modify the fitting units of Po with the aforementioned limitation because Po requires a rack-and-pinion configuration where elements 61 engage elements 824. A roller sleeve would not fit in 824.
Conclusion
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EYAMINDAE JALLOW whose telephone number is (571)270-1927. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday from 7:30am-5:00pm and alternating Fridays from 7:30am-4:00pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SHELLEY SELF, can be reached on (571)272-4524. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)273-8300.
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/EYAMINDAE C JALLOW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731