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 .
This action is in response to the amendment filed on 07/13/26.
Claims 1-3 and 5-18 are pending and have been examined.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 07/13/26 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of 12,416,206 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
The indicated allowability of claims 1 and 17 is withdrawn in view of the newly discovered reference(s) to Obermeier, Johnson, Ikuta and Wade. Rejections based on the newly cited reference(s) follow.
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) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obermeier et al. (7,096,974) in view of Johnson (9,434,013).
Regarding claim 12, Obermeier discloses a hand-held power tool comprising: a motor housing (4); a motor (6) in the motor housing; a tool head (14) coupled to the motor and comprising a rotational axis, wherein the motor is positioned proximal to the tool head (note that motor 6 is positioned forward the handle and directly drives spindle 12, thereby is considered proximal to the tool head in comparison with other components such as the handle), and a handle (18) coupled to the motor housing and including a grip (Fig. 2). Obermeier discloses wherein the tool could be battery operated (col. 1, lines 6-15), but fails to disclose a battery foot configured to slidably engage a battery, wherein an axis of engagement of the battery foot and the rotational axis of the tool head subtend an angle greater than 0 degrees.
Johnson teaches a power tool comprising a battery (18) removable received by the battery receiver (144) associated with a handle (Fig. 4), a tool head with an output axis (125), wherein an axis of engagement of the battery and the output axis (125) of the tool head subtend an angle (α) greater than 0 degrees. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the battery-operated power tool of Obermeier with the removable battery and battery receiver arrangement of Johnson in order to removably attach a power source to the tool facilitating replacement or recharging of the battery.
Regarding claim 13, Johnson shows wherein the angle is 15 to 75 degrees.
Claim(s) 14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obermeier et al. (7,096,974) in view of Johnson (9,434,013), as applied above to claim 12, and further in view of Webster (2006/0243469).
Regarding claims 14 and 16, the modified invention of Obermeier discloses the hand-held power tool substantially as claimed, comprising a battery foot (144) as taught by Johnson, but fails to disclose a bridge coupled to the motor housing and the battery foot and a second handle. Webster discloses a hand-held power tool comprising a bridge (22; Fig. 1) with a second handle coupled to a motor housing and a battery foot (Fig. 1) for the purpose of providing additional gripping location for the user thereby improving control, stability and balance of the power tool during operation. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the modified invention of Obermeier with a bridge and a second handle as taught by Webster in order to provide improved control, stability and balance of the power tool during operation.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obermeier et al. (7,096,974) in view of (9,434,013) and Webster (2006/0243469), as applied in claim 14, and further in view of Ikuta et al. (2023/0124236).
Regarding claim 15, the modified invention of Obermeier discloses the hand-held power tool substantially as claimed comprising a motor housing and a bridge, as taught by Webster, but fails to disclose wherein the motor is positioned in the motor housing such that an axis of the bridge intersects the motor. Ikuta discloses a hand-held power tool comprising a motor (2) within a motor housing a bridge (not shown numerically; Fig. 1) such that an axis of the bridge intersects the motor (2) for the purposes of improving support of the motor mass and facilitating manipulation and positioning of the tool during operation. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the modified invention of Obermeier with the motor positioned in the motor housing such that an axis of the bridge intersects the motor, as taught by Ikuta, in order to improve support of the motor mass and facilitate manipulation and positioning of the tool during operation.
Claim(s) 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obermeier et al. (7,096,974) in view of Wade (5,564,353).
Regarding claim 17, Obermeier discloses a hand-held power tool comprising: a motor housing (4); a motor (6) in the motor housing; a tool (16) coupled to the motor and comprising a rotational axis (W), wherein the motor is positioned proximal to the tool-head via spindle 12; and a first handle (18) coupled to the motor housing and including a grip, wherein the rotational axis (W) of the tool and an axis of the grip subtend to an acute angle (Fig. 2), but fails to disclose wherein the tool is an auger bit. Wade discloses a hand-held power tool comprising a motor housing (22) with a motor and an auger bit (16) comprising a rotational axis for the purposes of forming holes in the ground with a rotary hand-held power tool. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have substituted Obermeier’s hand-held power tool with an auger for the drill because both constitute known rotary power tools that perform material removal operations through rotation about an output axis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3 and 5-11 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter.
Regarding claim 1, the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest, either alone or in combination, the claimed arrangement of the motor wherein the majority of the motor is positioned between a center of mass of the hand-held power tool and the auger. Although individual references of record disclose certain aspects of the claimed power tool, the references do not disclose or render obvious the particular of the motor location between a center of mass of the power tool and the auger.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHELLE LOPEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-4464. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
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/MICHELLE LOPEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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