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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: the phrase “wherein gates” should be “wherein the frangible gates” since they were established in claim 3 and claim 4 depends from claim 3. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-2, 8, 10-12 and 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nippon Pop Rivets JPH 0227078 (hereinafter Nippon).
Re. Cl. 1, Nippon discloses: An assembly (see Fig. 6) for securing at least one tube (18, Fig. 6) to a threaded stud (26, Fig. 6), the assembly comprising: a pin (44, Fig. 6) including an elongated body (see Fig. 6), a driving head (478, Fig. 6) disposed at a first end of the pin, and a coupling head (52, Fig. 4) disposed at a second end of the pin, the pin having a bore for receiving the threaded stud (see Fig. 6); and a bracket (10, Fig. 6) including at least one finger (30, Fig. 4-5) and at least one receptacle (see Fig. 2, between 16s and 14 where 18 is received) for receiving and retaining the at least one tube (see Fig. 6), wherein the pin is insertable into a bore in the bracket to a first position in which the at least one finger of the bracket engages the coupling head and thereby inhibits withdrawal of the pin from the bore in the bracket (see Fig. 8a), and the pin is rotatable relative to the bracket using the driving head to thread the pin onto the threaded stud and thereby insert the pin further into the bore in the bracket (see progression from Fig. 6 to Fig. 7).
Re. Cl. 2, Nippon discloses: the bore in the pin is unthreaded when the pin is formed, and rotating the pin relative to the bracket while the threaded stud is positioned in the bore of the pin creates internal threads in the bore of the pin (“tapping engagement with the stud bolt, ” see Page 2 of the machine translation provided by the Applicant).
Re. Cl. 8, Nippon discloses: the pin is insertable into the bore in the bracket until the driving head on the pin seats against the bracket (see Fig. 7).
Re. Cl. 10, Nippon discloses: each receptacle of the at least one receptacle includes an open-ended slot (see Frig. 2) and a pair of flexible tabs (16s, Fig. 2) extending into the slot.
Re. Cl. 11, Nippon discloses: the coupling head of the pin is a rounded head (see Fig. 4), and the at least one finger of the bracket engages an underside surface of the rounded head when the pin is in the first position (see Fig. 8a).
Re. Cl. 12, Nippon discloses: the driving head has a noncircular shape for engagement with a driving tool to rotate the pin relative to the bracket (see 48, Fig. 8a for instance).
Re. Cl. 15, Nippon discloses: the elongated body of the pin includes an outwardly flared section (see 46, Fig. 8a, outwardly flared relative to the portion to the left which has 52 thereon) that engages the bore in the bracket and thereby prevents the pin from tilting relative to a longitudinal axis of the bore when the pin is in the first position (see Fig. 6-7, the outward flare of 46 would prevent tilting to a degree).
Re. Cl. 16, Nippon discloses: An assembly (Fig. 6) for securing at least one tube (18, Fig. 6) to a threaded stud (26, Fig. 6), the assembly comprising: a pin (44, Fig. 6) including an elongated body (see Fig. 6), a driving head (48, Fig. 6) disposed at an end of the pin, and a ledge (52, Fig. 4) projecting radially outward from the elongated body (see Fig. 4), the pin having a bore for receiving the threaded stud (see Fig. 6-7); and a bracket (10, Fig. 6) including at least one finger (30, Fig. 8a) and at least one receptacle for receiving and retaining the at least one tube (see Fig. 2, between 16s and 14 where 18s are located), wherein the pin is insertable into a bore in the bracket to a first position in which the at least one finger of the bracket engages the ledge on the pin and thereby inhibits withdrawal of the pin from the bore in the bracket (see Fig. 8a), wherein the driving head is spaced apart from the bracket when the pin is in the first position (see Fig. 8a).
Re. Cl. 17, Nippon discloses: the driving head has a noncircular shape for engagement with a driving tool to rotate the pin relative to the bracket (see 48, Fig. 8a).
Re. Cl. 18, Nippon discloses: the pin is insertable into the bore in the bracket until the driving head on the pin seats against the bracket (see Fig. 7).
Re. Cl. 19, Nippon discloses: the at least one finger of the bracket includes a pair of fingers disposed on opposite sides of the bore in the bracket (see Fig. 8a).
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 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nippon in view of Shirakabe US 8684321 (hereinafter Shirakabe).
Re. Cls. 3-4, Nippon does not disclose the pin and the bracket are formed as a single piece with a plurality of frangible gates connecting the pin to the bracket, and inserting the pin into the bore in the bracket to the first position breaks the gates (Cl. 3), gates extend between the bore of the bracket and the coupling head of the pin (Cl. 4); or each finger of the bracket is disposed within an opening in the bracket that extends through a sidewall of the bracket to the bore in the bracket (Cl. 9). Shirakabe discloses an assembly for securing a tube onto a stud (Fig. 1) which includes a pin (14) and a bracket (12, Fig. 1-2) which are formed as a single piece (see Fig. 1) with a plurality of frangible gates (18, Fig. 1) connecting the pin to the bracket (see Fig. 1), and inserting the pin into the bore in the bracket to the first position breaks the gates (see Fig. 1-2); the frangible gates extend between the bore of the bracket and the coupling head of the pin (see Fig. 1, between bore 26 and coupling head 20).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Nippon device to have its pin and bracket coupled using frangible gates as disclosed by Shirakabe with reasonable expectation of success to prevent the pin from being separated from the bracket and lost prior to installation.
Claims 5-7, 9 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nippon in view of Takenaka US 2009/0256032 (hereinafter Takenaka).
Nippon discloses the at least one finger of the bracket includes a pair of fingers (see 30s Fig. 10b) but does not disclose the pin includes a pair of fingers configured to engage threads on the threaded stud when the threaded stud is inserted into the bore in the pin, and each finger of the pin is disposed within an opening in the pin that extends through a sidewall of the pin to the bore in the pin (Cl. 5), the bore in the bracket is placed over the threaded stud and the bracket is seated against an object to which the threaded stud is mounted, the fingers of the pin engage the threads on the threaded stud and thereby retain the assembly on the threaded stud (Cl. 6), the pin includes a plurality of fins configured to engage threads on the threaded stud when the threaded stud is inserted into the bore in the pin, the plurality of fins including a first set of fins and a second set of fins diametrically opposed to the first set of fins (Cl. 7), each finger of the bracket is disposed within an opening in the bracket that extends through a sidewall of the bracket to the bore in the bracket (Cl. 9) or the pin includes one of a pair of fingers and two sets of fins disposed on opposite sides of the bore in the pin and configured to engage threads on the threaded stud when the bore in the bracket is placed over the threaded stud and the bracket is seated against an object to which the stud is mounted while the pin is in the first position (Cl. 20). Takenaka discloses an assembly (Fig. 1) which includes a pin (5-6, Fig. 1), a bracket (4, Fig. 1) which functions to secure to tube (2, Fig. 1) to a threaded stud (7, Fig. 2). Re. Cls. 5-7, Takenaka discloses the pin includes a pair of fingers (9, 10, Fig. 2) configured to engage threads on the threaded stud when the threaded stud is inserted into the bore in the pin (see Fig. 2), and each finger of the pin is disposed within an opening in the pin that extends through a sidewall of the pin to the bore in the pin (see Fig. 1-2, 9 and 10 are exposed through openings in the sidewall of both pin (5) and bracket (4)); the bore in the bracket is placed over the threaded stud and the bracket is seated against an object to which the threaded stud is mounted (see Fig. 2, seated on 8), the fingers of the pin engage the threads on the threaded stud and thereby retain the assembly on the threaded stud (see Fig. 2); the pin includes a plurality of fins (9, 10, Fig. 2) configured to engage threads on the threaded stud when the threaded stud is inserted into the bore in the pin (see Fig. 2), the plurality of fins including a first set of fins and a second set of fins diametrically opposed to the first set of fins (see Fig. 2). Re. Cl. 9, Takenaka discloses each finger (15, 17, Fig. 2) of the bracket is disposed within an opening in the bracket that extends through a sidewall of the bracket to the bore in the bracket (see Fig. 1-2, the fingers 15, 17 are exposed through opening in the sidewall as seen; in other words 15, 17 are visible through the sidewall of 4 as shown in Fig. 1). Re. Cl. 20, Takenaka discloses the pin includes one of a pair of fingers (see 9, 10, Fig. 2) and two sets of fins disposed on opposite sides of the bore in the pin and configured to engage threads on the threaded stud when the bore in the bracket is placed over the threaded stud and the bracket is seated against an object to which the stud is mounted while the pin is in the first position (see Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the tapping connection of Nippon with the finger/fins of Takenaka with reasonable expectation of success since it has been held obvious to replace one known means with another to achieve a predictable result. KSR Int’l Co. V. Teleflex Inc. 550 U.S. ___, 82 USPQ 2d 1385 (Supreme Court 2007) (KSR). Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Nippon device to have the openings in the sidewalls of the pin as disclosed by Takenaka with reasonable expectation of success to provide a device that would save on material costs and overall weight of the device.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nippon in view of Sano US 2007/0248436 (hereinafter Sano).
Re. Cl. 13, Nippon does not disclose that the driving head includes an internal head having a hexalobular shape. Sano discloses a fastening member () which is in the form of a pin (11, Fig. 1-2) that has an internal head (45, Fig. 1) having a hexalobular shape (see Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the head of Nippon to have a hexalobular internal shape as disclosed by Sano with reasonable expectation of success since Sano states that such a modification can be engaged by a tool such as an Allen wrench (Paragraph 0045).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nippon in view of Potzas US 4541602 (hereinafter Potzas).
Re. Cl. 14, Nippon discloses that the driving head includes an external head (see 48, Fig. 4) but does not specify which shape it is. Potzas discloses that it is known to use an external head (54, Fig. 1) in a fastener (52) which is shaped as a hexagon (Col. 3, Lines 10-12).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Nippon device to have its external head to be hexagonal in shape as disclosed by Potzas with reasonable expectation of success since it has been held obvious to replace one known means with another to achieve a predictable result. KSR Int’l Co. V. Teleflex Inc. 550 U.S. ___, 82 USPQ 2d 1385 (Supreme Court 2007) (KSR).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Vaccaro US 10948107, Schaty US 5271587, Oi US 6206330, and Kraus US 5002243 disclose other assemblies for supporting tubes that are presented to the Applicant for their consideration.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER E GARFT whose telephone number is (571)270-1171. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m..
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/CHRISTOPHER GARFT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632
