DETAILED ACTION
This non-final Office action is in response to Applicant’s patent application filed on 12/8/2025. An action on the merits follows.
Claims 13-24 are pending in the application.
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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the limitation “wrap spring coupling" of claim 18 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. No new matter should be added.
Claim Objections
Claim 23 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 23, “wherein ein the rotary” should recite “wherein the rotary”.
Appropriate correction(s) is/are required. No new matter should be added.
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.
(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.
Claims 13-15, 17, 22-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by USPGP# 20210146517 of Shioya et al, (henceforth Shioya).
Regarding claim 13, Shioya teaches
An apparatus (10) for driving a fastening element (59) into a substrate (W1), the apparatus comprising:
a spring (25) for storing mechanical energy (¶0050);
a driving-in element (12) movable from an initial position (fig. 2A, ¶0054) into a setting position (Fig. 2A, ¶0054) in order to transmit energy from the spring to the fastening element in a driving-in direction (A1, ¶0054);
a tensioning apparatus (14, 15, 16, 17, 44) for tensioning the spring,
wherein the tensioning apparatus has a rotary drive (15, 16), a rotary element (17) driven in rotation by the rotary drive, and a flexible traction element (44),
wherein the traction element has a front end (44B) attached to the driving-in element and a rear end (44C) attached to the rotary element, and
wherein the tensioning apparatus is provided for winding up the traction element on the rotary element in order to convey the driving-in element from the setting position into the initial position (¶0073).
Regarding claim 14, as shown in claim 13, Shioya teaches
wherein the spring is tensioned by the driving-in element being conveyed from the setting position into the initial position (¶0073).
Regarding claim 15, as shown in claim 14, Shioya teaches
wherein the spring has a gas spring (¶0050) and the driving-in element has a piston (26) delimiting a gas volume of the gas spring (¶0073), and
wherein the gas spring is compressed by virtue of the driving-in element being conveyed from the setting position into the initial position (¶0073).
Regarding claim 17, as shown in claim 13, Shioya teaches
wherein the tensioning apparatus has a coupling (inherent interfacing element between 16 and 17) acting between the rotary drive and the rotary element.
Regarding claim 22, as shown in claim 13, Shioya teaches
wherein the traction element includes a belt or a cable (¶0063).
Regarding claim 23, as shown in claim 13, Shioya teaches
wherein the rotary drive includes an electric motor (¶0047) or an electrical battery (14, ¶0047).
Regarding claim 24, as shown in claim 13, Shioya teaches
wherein the rotary element comprises a spool (17 see fig. 3) or drum (17 see fig. 3) for winding up the traction element.
Claims 13-14, 17-18 and 22-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by USPGP# 20090188766 of Shima et al. (henceforth Shima).
Regarding claim 13, Shima teaches
An apparatus (1) for driving a fastening element (23) into a substrate, the apparatus comprising:
a spring (9) for storing mechanical energy (¶0036);
a driving-in element (8) movable from an initial position (left position in fig. 1) into a setting position (right position in fig. 1) in order to transmit energy from the spring to the fastening element in a driving-in direction (A-B, fig. 1, ¶0040);
a tensioning apparatus (7, 13, 81) for tensioning the spring,
wherein the tensioning apparatus has a rotary drive (7), a rotary element (13) driven in rotation by the rotary drive, and a flexible traction element (16),
wherein the traction element has a front end (end attached to 8b, fig. 1) attached to the driving-in element and a rear end (end attached to 13, fig. 5, ¶0048) attached to the rotary element, and
wherein the tensioning apparatus is provided for winding up the traction element on the rotary element in order to convey the driving-in element from the setting position into the initial position (¶0040-0041).
Regarding claim 14, as shown in claim 13, Shima teaches
wherein the spring is tensioned by the driving-in element being conveyed from the setting position into the initial position (¶0040-0041).
Regarding claim 17, as shown in claim 13, Shima teaches
wherein the tensioning apparatus has a coupling (24) acting between the rotary drive and the rotary element (fig. 3, ¶0042).
Regarding claim 18, as shown in claim 17, Shima teaches
wherein the coupling includes a wrap spring coupling (29, 0043).
Regarding claim 22, as shown in claim 13, Shima teaches
wherein the traction element includes a belt or a cable (¶0049).
Regarding claim 23, as shown in claim 13, Shima teaches
wherein the rotary drive includes an electric motor (¶0035) or an electrical battery (4, ¶0035).
Regarding claim 24, as shown in claim 13, Shima teaches
wherein the rotary element comprises a spool (13 see fig. 5) or drum (13 see fig. 5) for winding up the traction element.
Claims 13-15, 17, 19-20 and 22-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by WO# 2023166008 of Treber et al. (henceforth Treber).
Regarding claim 13, Treber teaches
An apparatus (1) for driving a fastening element (2) into a substrate, the apparatus comprising:
a spring (13) for storing mechanical energy (¶0040);
a driving-in element (11,12) movable from an initial position (¶0040) into a setting position (¶0040) in order to transmit energy from the spring to the fastening element in a driving-in direction (16);
a tensioning apparatus (18, 19, 24, 34) for tensioning the spring,
wherein the tensioning apparatus has a rotary drive (24), a rotary element (21, 34) driven in rotation by the rotary drive (¶0044), and a flexible traction element (20, ¶0043),
wherein the traction element has a front end (end of 20 that’s attached to 14 as shown in fig. 1) attached to the driving-in element and a rear end (end of 20 that’s attached to rollers 21 of rotary element 19) attached to the rotary element, and
wherein the tensioning apparatus is provided for winding up the traction element on the rotary element in order to convey the driving-in element from the setting position into the initial position (¶0042-0043).
Regarding claim 14, as shown in claim 13, Treber teaches
wherein the spring is tensioned by the driving-in element being conveyed from the setting position into the initial position (¶0042-0043).
Regarding claim 15, as shown in claim 14, Treber teaches
wherein the spring has a gas spring (¶0042) and the driving-in element has a piston (11) delimiting a gas volume of the gas spring (¶0042), and
wherein the gas spring is compressed by virtue of the driving-in element being conveyed from the setting position into the initial position (¶0042).
Regarding claim 17, as shown in claim 13, Treber teaches
wherein the tensioning apparatus has a coupling (34) acting between the rotary drive and the rotary element.
Regarding claim 19, as shown in claim 17, Treber teaches
wherein the coupling includes a claw coupling (57, 58).
Regarding claim 20, as shown in claim 19, Treber teaches
wherein the rotary element includes one or more claws (58 of 34) of the claw coupling.
Regarding claim 22, as shown in claim 13, Treber teaches
wherein the traction element includes a belt or a cable (¶0043).
Regarding claim 23, as shown in claim 13, Treber teaches
wherein the rotary drive includes an electric motor (¶0042) or an electrical battery (14, ¶0075).
Regarding claim 24, as shown in claim 13, Treber teaches
wherein the rotary element comprises a spool (21 see fig. 2) or drum (21, ¶0043) for winding up the traction element.
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.
Claims 16 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shioya in view of USPGP# 20160368127 of Franz (henceforth Franz).
Regarding claim 16, as shown in claim 15, Shioya does not teach
wherein the rotary drive, the rotary element or the traction element is arranged partially or entirely in the gas spring.
Franz teaches
An apparatus (apparatus in fig. 1) for driving a fastening element (“nails”, ¶0017) into a substrate (“workpiece”, ¶0017), the apparatus comprising:
a spring (8) for storing mechanical energy;
a driving-in element (5, 7, 10, 12) movable from an initial position (“relaxed state” , ¶0023. rearward/right position in fig. 1) into a setting position (forward/left position in fig. 1) in order to transmit energy from the spring to the fastening element in a driving-in direction (forward/left direction in fig. 1);
a tensioning apparatus (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, “disk” in ¶0020) for tensioning the spring,
wherein the tensioning apparatus has a rotary drive (16), a rotary element (“disk” in ¶0020) driven in rotation by the rotary drive, and a flexible traction element (13).
and wherein the rotary drive (17), the rotary element (“disk” in ¶0020) or the traction element (13) is arranged partially or entirely in the gas spring (¶0025).
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 apparatus of Shioya, such that the rotary drive, the rotary element or the traction element is arranged partially or entirely in the gas spring, as taught by Franz, in order to provide the predictable result of reducing structural dimensions of the overall tool (Franz: ¶0003-0004) while also making it easier to seal the gas spring (Franz: ¶0005). Additionally, a skilled artisan would have recognized that the modification of Shioya with the teachings of Franz involves no more than the predictable use of prior art elements according to their established functions. The combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results. KSR, 550 U.S. at 416
Regarding claim 21, as shown in claim 17, Shioya teaches
wherein the coupling is arranged partially or entirely in the gas spring.
Franz teaches
An apparatus (apparatus in fig. 1) for driving a fastening element (“nails”, ¶0017) into a substrate (“workpiece”, ¶0017), the apparatus comprising:
a spring (8) for storing mechanical energy;
a driving-in element (5, 7, 10, 12) movable from an initial position (“relaxed state” , ¶0023. rearward/right position in fig. 1) into a setting position (forward/left position in fig. 1) in order to transmit energy from the spring to the fastening element in a driving-in direction (forward/left direction in fig. 1);
a tensioning apparatus (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, “disk” in ¶0020) for tensioning the spring,
wherein the tensioning apparatus has a rotary drive (16), a rotary element (“disk” in ¶0020) driven in rotation by the rotary drive, and a flexible traction element (13)
wherein the tensioning apparatus has a coupling (“other disk” in ¶0020) acting between the rotary drive and the rotary element
and wherein the coupling is arranged partially or entirely in the gas spring (figs. 1-2, ¶0005, 0025).
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 apparatus of Shioya, wherein the coupling is arranged partially or entirely in the gas spring, as taught by Franz, in order to provide the predictable result of reducing structural dimensions of the overall tool (Franz: ¶0003-0004) while also making it easier to seal the gas spring (Franz: ¶0005). Additionally, a skilled artisan would have recognized that the modification of Shioya with the teachings of Franz involves no more than the predictable use of prior art elements according to their established functions. The combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results. KSR, 550 U.S. at 416
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attached PTO-892.
Please note that the above claims can also be rejected in other combinations such as claims 16 and 21 can be rejected with Shima in view of Franz and/or Treber in view of Franz.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOBEEN AHMED whose telephone number is (571) 272-0356. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F (8:30 am to 5 pm).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anna Kinsaul can be reached on 571-270-1926. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M. A./
Examiner, Art Unit 3731
/VERONICA MARTIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
