DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-8 are currently presented for examination.
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.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: the Specification identifies claims at least at page 1 in the second full paragraph and page 3 in the third full paragraph. The claims are subject to amendment, cancellation, and renumbering, and references to the claims are thus not necessarily instructive to one reviewing a hypothetically issued patent as disclosing the concepts Applicant may intend.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-8 are 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 1 recites the limitation "the drill axis" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 2-8 each depend from claim 1, and therefore are rejected for at least the reasons presented above with respect to claim 1.
Claim 5 is recites the limitation "the chip surfaces" in line 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.
Claims 1-8
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by United States Patent Application Publication 2022/0305571 to Shitrit et al. (hereinafter “Shitrit”).
Regarding claim 1, Shitrit discloses a flat drill with a shank (68) and a cutting part (20) with front-side main cutting edges (30), which each extend in a plane (see plane at SA1 in Fig. 1) transversely to the drill axis (AL) from a cutting edge corner (see Fig. 1; edges 30 meet radial outer surface 50) into a drill center (towards central, longitudinal axis), characterized by three main cutting edges (30, 30, 30; see Fig. 18), which converge at the drill axis (AL).
Regarding claim 2, Shitrit discloses the limitations of claim 1, and further Shitrit discloses that viewed in the direction of rotation of the drill (view in Fig. 2 ), the main cutting edges (30) in each case lie at least partially in front of a plane (see imaginary radial planes PR1, PR2, PR3, by way of example; see paragraph [0066]) containing the drill axis (AL) and the respective cutting edge corner (location at which edges 30 meet radial outer surface 50) and the course of the main cutting edges (30) is in each case corrected by means of a point thinning in the region of a drill core (thinning region 40; see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, Shitrit discloses the limitations of claim 2, and further Shitrit discloses that the main cutting edges (30) in each case run in a crescent-shaped manner (see Fig. 2) from the point thinnings (at regions 40) in the direction of the cutting edge corners (toward radially outer side).
Regarding claim 4, Shitrit discloses the limitations of claim 2, and further Shitrit discloses that the chip surfaces (32), which adjoin the main cutting edges (30) and which each have positive axial chip angle (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 3) in the region from the point thinning (40) all the way to the cutting edge corners (location where edges 30 meet radial outer surface 50; chip surfaces appear to extend in direction having a positive angle towards the corners).
Regarding claim 5, Shitrit discloses the limitations of claim 2, and further Shitrit discloses that that the chip surfaces (32) which adjoin the main cutting edges (30) each have an axial chip angle of 0˚ (angle of chip surfaces in axial view understood to be 0 relative to each of the three cutting blades) in the region of the point thinnings (40).
Regarding claim 6, Shitrit discloses the limitations of claim 2, and further Shitrit discloses that the flat drill is characterized by free surfaces (26, unnumbered angled face adjacent each face 26 in Fig. 1), which adjoin the main cutting edges (30) and which are in each case formed of a first free surface (26) adjoining the main cutting edge (30) and a second free surface (unnumbered angled face adjacent each face 26) adjoining the first free surface (26) with a larger clearance angle than the first free surface (26)
PNG
media_image1.png
357
720
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 7, Shitrit discloses the limitations of claim 6, and further Shitrit discloses that the flat drill is characterized by cooling lubricant channel openings (unnumbered openings towards radial outer face of cutting blade) lying in the free surfaces (see Fig. 17; at least one of the openings visible in one of the free surfaces).
PNG
media_image2.png
244
536
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 8, Shitrit discloses the limitations of claim 1, and further Shitrit discloses that the flat drill is characterized by helically running chip flutes (48).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
United States Patent Application Publication 2020/0108449 to Brodski et al. teaches a drill having three cutting blades (see Fig. 3).
United States Patent Application Publication 2016/0175944 to Lyu et al. teaches a drill having three cutting blades (11B, 12B, 13B) which converge at a central axis.
United States Patent Application Publication 2021/0053128 to Filho et al. teaches a drill (10) having three cutting blades (30, 32, 34).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARRELL C. FORD whose telephone number is (313)446-6515. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM to 5:15 PM, Monday to Friday.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hong can be reached at (571) 272-0993. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DARRELL C FORD/Examiner, Art Unit 3726
Prosecution Insights