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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on3/9/2026 is in
compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The specification needs to be updated to include Pat. No.12,472,612
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
(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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
6. Claims 1-3, 9-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ichijyou et al. (US 6035945) hereinafter (Ichijyou).
With regard to claim 1, Ichijyou discloses a hammer drill (fig.1) comprising: a housing (as seen in fig.1); a cylindrical tool holder (19) pivotally supported to be rotatable in the housing, the tool holder (19) extending in a front-rear direction and having a front end to which a bit is attachable (20); a piston cylinder (16) housed to be movable back and forth in the tool holder; an impactor (17) configured to strike the bit and disposed inside the piston cylinder; a motor (1) disposed in the housing; an intermediate shaft (14) pivotally supported to be parallel to an axis line of the tool holder in the housing, a rotation of the motor being transmitted to the intermediate shaft (see fig.1) from a rotation shaft of the motor; a gear (15) disposed at the tool holder (19); an output gear (10) that meshes with the gear to be restricted from moving in an axial direction of the intermediate shaft, the output gear being rotatably and externally mounted to the intermediate shaft separately from the intermediate shaft (14); an impact transmission member (4 see fig.1) including a rod coupled to a rear end of the piston cylinder (16), the impact transmission member being configured to rotate to convert a rotation of the intermediate shaft into a reciprocating motion in the front-rear direction of the rod and transmit the reciprocating motion to the piston cylinder, the impact transmission member being rotatably and externally mounted to the intermediate shaft separately from the intermediate shaft; a clutch member (5, 22) disposed between the gear and the impact transmission member, the clutch member being configured to be integrally rotatable with the intermediate shaft and slidable in the front-rear direction; and a locking member (9) disposed in the housing (see fig.1) and configured to slide in the front-rear direction, wherein by performing a switch (with 8) operation of a slide position of the clutch member (5, 22) from an outside of the housing, a hammer mode (as seen in fig.3) in which the clutch member (5, 22) is engaged with only the impact transmission member (4) to reciprocate the piston cylinder back and forth, and a drill mode and/or a hammer drill mode (fig.1) in which the clutch member (5, 22) is engaged with at least the output gear (10) to rotate the tool holder are selectable, in the hammer mode (fig.3), the locking member (9) locks the rotation of the output gear (10) at a lock position at which the locking member (9) is locked to the output gear, by performing a switch operation (with 8) of the locking member from the outside of the housing, a lock release position at which the locking member separates from the output gear is selectable, and the locking member (9) includes locking claws configured to directly mesh with external teeth of the output gear (10 see also fig.7), and at the lock position, the locking claws mesh with the external teeth at a position opposed to the gear across the output gear in front view.
With regard to claim 2, Ichijyou discloses a hammer drill (fig.1), wherein the locking claw (see fig.7) has a thickness in the front-rear direction at least partially overlapping with the gear in a radial direction of the gear at the lock position.
With regard to claim 3, Ichijyou discloses a hammer drill (fig.1), wherein the output gear (10) is restricted from moving in the axial direction by a retaining member (12) provided to the intermediate shaft (14), and the retaining member (12) does not interfere with the locking member (9) moving from the lock position to the lock release position.
With regard to claim 9, Ichijyou discloses a hammer drill (fig.1), wherein the locking member (9) is provided with a sliding portion (9a) guided by a guiding portion provided to the housing (as seen in fig.1) when moving back and forth.
With regard to claim 10, Ichijyou discloses a hammer drill (fig.1), wherein the guiding portion and the sliding portion are (see annotated fig. below) respectively provided in pairs on the left and right sides.
PNG
media_image1.png
390
626
media_image1.png
Greyscale
With regard to claim 11, Ichijyou discloses a hammer drill (fig.1), wherein the locking member is biased to the lock position by a spring member (23) provided between the housing and the locking member (9), and a spring receiving portion that receives the spring member (23) is disposed in a rear side with respect to the locking claw.
With regard to claim 12, Ichijyou discloses a hammer drill (fig.1), wherein the spring receiving portion is located in an outside with respect to the locking claw (as seen in figs. 2&3) in a radial direction of the output gear (10).
With regard to claim 14, Ichijyou discloses a hammer drill (fig.1), wherein the locking claws (as seen in fig. 7) are configured to mesh with 1/3 or more of the number of the external teeth of the output gear (10).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 4-8 and 13 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.
With regard to claim 4, Ichijyou discloses a hammer drill, but does not disclose or teach in combination, wherein the retaining member is a sleeve having diameter smaller than a diameter of a tooth bottom of the external tooth of the output gear.
With regard to claim 13, Ichijyou discloses a hammer drill, but does not disclose or teach in combination, wherein the locking member is a plate body extending on a plane in the front-rear and left-right directions below the intermediate shaft, the locking claw is formed at an upper end of a lock piece which is bent upward at a front end of the locking member, and a spring receiving portion is formed by cutting and raising the locking member upward at a rear of the lock piece.
Conclusion
8. Refer to attachment for notice of references cited and recommended for consideration based on their disclosure of limitations of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANIEL C. CHUKWURAH whose telephone number is (571)272-4457. The examiner can normally be reached M-F & T-F 7-4:30 IFP.
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, Anna Kinsaul can be reached at 571-260-1926. 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.
/NATHANIEL C CHUKWURAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
6/5/2026
Prosecution Insights