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 application filed on 10/30/25.
Claims 21-37 are pending and have been examined.
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.
Claim(s) 21, 23-25 and 27-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Galat (5,544,553).
Regarding claim 21, Galat discloses a nut runner, comprising: a housing (10) that includes a first open ended slot (32) having a first open end portion (Figs. 1 and 4); a gear assembly received in the housing (Fig. 2), the gear assembly including a plurality of gears (Fig. 2); an input shaft (48) that extends into the housing and transmits a rotary force to a first gear (20) of the plurality of gears; a driver head (forward portion of 10; Fig. 1) coupled to a second gear (30) of the plurality of gears, the driver head defining a second open ended slot (34) having a second open end portion (32); and an alignment device (42) moveably disposed in the housing that engages one of the plurality of gears to restrict rotation of the plurality of gears with the first open end portion and the second open end portion aligned.
Regarding claim 23, Galat discloses wherein the alignment device includes an element (tip portion of 42) that engages a recess (44) in one of the plurality of gears (Fig. 5).
Regarding claims 24-25 and 27, Galat discloses wherein the alignment device includes a button (proximal portion of 42 extending outside the housing) that is manipulatable from an exterior of the housing; and an element (distal tip which is spring loaded towards the recess 44) extending from the button for movement therewith; wherein the alignment device includes a spring (not shown numerically).
Regarding claim 28, Galat discloses wherein: the first open ended slot of the housing (14) is stationary and the second open ended slot of the driver head rotates in response to the rotary force transmitted from the input shaft to the gear assembly (Fig. 2); and an aligned position of first open end portion and the second open end portion provides for insertion of a rod and nut into an engagement portion of the nut runner, and for removal of the rod and nut from the engagement portion of the nut runner (col. 2, lines 36-51).
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) 29-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Galat (5,544,553) in view of Batt (2016/0031067).
Regarding claims 29-30, Galat discloses a nut runner substantially as claimed comprising an input shaft (Figs. 2-3), a gear assembly including a first idler gear (26) and a second idler gear (28) positioned between the first gear (20) and the second gear (30), at least one of the first idler gear (26) or the second idler gear (28) is configured to be in meshed engagement between the first gear and the second gear as the second gear (30) rotates in response to rotation of the first gear (20), but fails to disclose a third bevel gear coupled to the input shaft, a fourth bevel gear in meshed engagement with the third gear, wherein the first gear is coupled to the fourth gear and configured to receive rotary input from the input shaft via the third gear and the fourth gear. Batt discloses a gear assembly including an input shaft (16) coupled to a first gear (22), a second gear (30; Figs. 1-2) in meshed engagement with the first gear (Figs. 1-2), a third bevel gear (18) coupled to the input shaft (16), a fourth bevl gear (20) in meshed engagement with the third gear (18; Fig. 2), wherein the first gear (22) is coupled to the fourth bevel gear (20) and configured to receive rotary input from the input shaft via the third gear and the fourth gear for the purposes of redirecting the axis of rotation from the input shaft to the second and last gear, providing size reduction of the device while achieving a desired speed reduction or torque multiplication was well known in the art. 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 to have provide the gear assembly of Galat with a third and a fourth bevel gear as taught by Batt because the use of said gear arrangement redirect the axis of rotation, provide size reduction, and achieve a desired speed reduction or torque multiplication was well known in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 22 and 26 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.
Claims 31-37 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. The prior art does not disclose or make obvious the claimed combination including the following features:
Regarding claim 22, an alignment device including an element that moves in a direction parallel to a rotational axis of the first gear or parallel to a rotational axis of the second gear. Galat discloses an alignment device (42) that moves in a direction perpendicular to a rotational axis of the gears but fails to disclose wherein the device moves in a direction parallel to a rotational axis of the gears.
Regarding claim 26, the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest the limitation of requiring that the position of the recess is indexed with the position of the second open-ended slot such that engagement of the element in the recess aligns the first open end portion and the second open end portion. While the prior art discloses an alignment or detent mechanism for restricting rotation, it does not disclose or suggest a recess positioned in predetermined indexed relation to the driver-head slot so that engagement of the alignment element with the recess establishes the aligned position of both open-ended slots.
Regarding claim 31, the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest the limitation of "wherein the output gear rotates in response to manual manipulation of the alignment device such that the first open end portion and the second open end portion are brought into alignment with each other." Although the applied references disclose a gear assembly and an alignment mechanism for positioning or restricting rotation of the gear assembly, the references do not disclose or suggest an alignment device that is manually manipulated to rotate the output gear and thereby bring the first and second open end portions into alignment.
The combinations of the claimed limitations are novel and found to be allowable over prior art. The cited references taken singly or in combination do not anticipate or make obvious the Applicant’s claimed invention.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
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.
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) 270 - 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.
/MICHELLE LOPEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
Prosecution Insights