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 .
Application Status
This action is responsive to the claims filed 4 December 2025.
Claims 16-30 are currently pending and being 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) 16, 23-27, and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Butzen (US 2006/0249554).
Butzen teaches:
Claim 16: A tool (20-fig.1) comprising:
a receptacle (40-fig.1) configured to temporarily receive a consumable (88-fig.23);
a feed channel (between 312 and 316-figs.18-19; ¶[0095]-[0099]) configured to guide the consumables into the receptacle (¶[0097]-[0099]); and
a projection (316 or 400-fig.23) of the consumable (88-fig.23); and
a probe (432-fig. 34) configured to detect a position (430-fig.34) of a projection of the consumable (88-fig.34; ¶[0121]-[0123]).
Claim 23: The tool as recited in claim 16 wherein the tool is a driving tool having a driving piston (144-fig.11) and an actuating device (296-fig.11) configured to actuate the driving piston such that the driving piston drives a fastening element into a substrate (¶[0093]).
Claim 24: A consumable (88-fig.23) configured to be arranged in a feed channel (between 312 and 316-figs.18-19; ¶[0095]-[0099]) of the tool as recited in claim 16 (see claim 16 above) and to be pushed in a transport direction (¶[0016]), wherein the consumable comprises a projection (396 or 400-fig.23) indicative of a type of the consumable and projecting in a direction inclined to the transport direction (see figs. 23-24 showing 396 and 400 projecting in a direction inclined to the transport direction).
Claim 25: The consumable as recited in claim 24 wherein the projection projects in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction (see fig. 23 showing 396 and 400 projects perpendicular to the transport direction).
Claim 26: The consumable as recited in claim 24 further comprising a fastening element (88-fig.23; ¶[0118])).
Claim 27: The consumable as recited in claim 24 wherein the consumable has a container or collation element comprising the projection (¶[0118]).
Claim 30: The consumable as recited in claim 24 wherein the projection is made of a plastic material (¶[0006]).
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) 19-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Butzen (US 2006/0249554) in view of Zeiler (US 2008/0302549).
Butzen further teaches:
Claim 19: The tool as recited in claim 16.
Butzen does not expressly teach wherein the probe is configured to generate a signal indicative of a position of the projection of the consumable, and wherein the tool further comprises a controller configured to control an operation of the tool and a signal line configured to transmit the signal from the probe to the controller, wherein the controller is configured to recognize a type of the consumable upon receipt of the signal and to at least one of control the operation of the tool in dependence of the recognized type of the consumable and store the recognized type of the consumable in a data storage.
However, Zeiler teaches a probe (36-fig.7A) is configured to generate a signal (¶[0041]) indicative of a position of the projection of the consumable (¶[0041]-[0046],[0056]), and wherein the tool further comprises a controller (32-fig.7A) configured to control an operation of the tool and a signal line configured to transmit the signal from the probe to the controller (¶[0041]), wherein the controller is configured to recognize a type of the consumable (24,20-fig.7B) upon receipt of the signal and to at least one of control the operation of the tool in dependence of the recognized type of the consumable (¶[0041]) and store the recognized type of the consumable in a data storage (¶[0041]; control circuits are made of memory and processor).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the applicant’s claimed invention, to modify the tool of Butzen, by having a probe that generates a signal to control the motor speed of a the tool dependent of the type of consumable, as taught by Zeiler, so the power tool can be operated at desirable and optimal performance characteristics, like motor speed. (Zeiler ¶[0003]).
Claim 20: The tool as recited in claim 19 wherein the controller is configured to operate the tool at reduced power or to prevent or abort operation of the tool if the type of the consumable is not recognized (Zeiler: ¶[0058]).
Claim 21: The tool as recited in claim 19 wherein further comprising an output device configured to output the recognized type of the consumable (Zeiler: ¶[0058]).
Claim 22: The tool as recited in claim 21 wherein the output device comprises a LED (Zeiler: ¶[0058]).
Claim(s) 28-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Butzen (US 2006/0249554) in view of Curtis (US 2019/0337132).
Butzen teaches:
Claim 28: The consumable as recited in claim 27.
Butzen as modified by Zeiler does not expressly teach the projection is made of a different material than a remainder of the container or collation element.
However, Curtis teaches that a collation made of various materials (“Various types of collated nails 30 can be used such as nails connected together by plastic, paper, wire or other materials forming the substrate or collation 34.” ¶[0023]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the applicant’s claimed invention, to modify the collation strip of Butzen, by changing the material of the projection, as taught by Curtis, as a matter of design choice based on the well-known material used to make collation strips, which include paper and wire or plastic and wire.
Claim 29: The consumable as recited in claim 27.
Butzen does not expressly teach the container or collation element comprises a paper strip.
However, Curtis teaches a collation element comprises a paper strip (¶[0023]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the applicant’s claimed invention, to modify the collation strip of Butzen, by changing the material of the collation, as taught by Curtis, as a well-known alternative material used for collating nails.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17 and 18 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The subject matter of the tool would be allowable over the prior art because of the arrangement of the combination of structural limitations set forth in the claim and their functional relationship to one another. Claims 16 and 17 includes the following limitations which, in combination with the other limitations of the claim, are what make the subject matter allowable over the prior art, as the subject matter is neither taught nor suggested by the prior art: “a pusher arranged in the feed channel and configured to push the consumable in a transport direction towards the receptacle, wherein the pusher comprises the probe.” The prior art of record that comes closest to teaching the limitations is McGee (US 2006/0000863) which teaches a sensor (laterally extending flange-like element) on the pusher, but fails to teach the sensor is used to detect the position of a projection of a consumable. The prior art is silent regarding a probe configured to detect a position of a projection of the consumable, wherein the pusher comprises the probe. Therefore, the combination set forth in the claims are not discussed, taught, or suggested in the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KATIE L GERTH whose telephone number is (303)297-4602. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 9am-4pm (CT).
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/KATIE L GERTH/Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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