Wang, Min

Patent Trials and Appeals Board

Jul 24, 2020

13356027 - (D) (P.T.A.B. Jul. 24, 2020)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www.uspto.gov
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
13/356,027 01/23/2012 Min Wang ZEN-102 6305
56352 7590 07/24/2020
GLOBAL IP SERVICES
7285 EAGLE COURT
WINTON, CA 95388
EXAMINER
CARTER, MONICA SMITH
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
3723
MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE
07/24/2020 PAPER
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte MIN WANG
Appeal 2019-001712
Application 13/356,027
Technology Center 3700
Before WILLIAM A. CAPP, BRANDON J. WARNER, and
ARTHUR M. PESLAK, Administrative Patent Judges.
PESLAK, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 134(a), Appellant1 appeals from the
Examiner’s decision to reject claims 1, 14, and 15. We have jurisdiction
under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We AFFIRM.

1 We use the word Appellant to refer to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R.
§ 1.42(a). Appellant identifies the real party in interest as the inventor, Min
Wang. Appeal Br. 1.
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Application 13/356,027

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CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER
Appellant’s invention is directed to an adjustable wrench. Spec. ¶ 1.
Claim 1, the only independent claim, is reproduced below with italics added
to emphasize the limitations at issue.
1. An adjustable wrench, comprising a wrench body and a
worm;
the wrench body includes a handle and a working part;
the working part includes a fixed member, a movable
member and a track;
a lower end of the movable member is arranged in the
track, wherein the lower end of the movable member includes a
neck part and a sliding block, the sliding block lying in a
bottom end of the neck part; the neck part and the sliding block
are arranged in the track; an approximately half round shape
tooth part is arranged at a bottom edge of the sliding block;
the working part also includes a through hole in which
the worm is arranged for meshing with the tooth part; and a fit
between the worm and the through hole is a clearance fit;
when the worm is rotated, the worm interacts with the
tooth part and drives the movable member to move in directions
towards or away from the fixed member; and
wherein a number of starts on a thread of the worm is at
least two;
wherein a tooth profile of the thread of the worm has an
arc shape surface so as to increase the reliability of a self-lock
function between the thread of the worm and the tooth part, and
a top of the thread is provided with an angle so as to avoid
interference caused by a change of a tooth shape of the tooth
part at the bottom edge of the sliding block during a rotation
process; and a top of the tooth part is a flattened surface so as to
allow the worm to come closer to the tooth part, thus an
engagement area between the worm and the tooth part is
increased to increase a torque transmission of the wrench;
wherein the adjustable wrench further comprises a pin
axle and a pin hole, the pin hole is arranged on the wrench
body, an axial position of the pin hole coincides with that of the
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worm, the pin axle extends through the pin hole and is
arranged to extend axially through the worm, and the worm is
rotatable around the pin axle, one end of the pin axle can be set
as flush with a top of the pin hole;
wherein the adjustable wrench further comprises a spring
which is arranged between the worm and the wrench body, and
one end of the spring is engaged against the worm and another
end of the spring is engaged against the wrench body; wherein
the pin axle is arranged to extend axially through the spring;
wherein the through hole has a T-shape groove on each
side, and each of two axial end surfaces of the worm has a boss
which matches the T-shape groove when the worm is installed
in the through hole;
wherein the worm is connected to the wrench body
through the pin axle, the pin axle is a cylindrical pin;
wherein the worm and the pin axle are connected with a
certain gap existing there between;
wherein two bosses are provided onto the two end
surfaces of the worm for engaging with the T-shape groove;
the wrench body is further provided with a protruding
block matching the worm, which is able to avoid the worm
from rotating back freely.
REFERENCES
The prior art relied upon by the Examiner is:
Name Reference Date
Barnes US 2,643,569 June 30, 1953
Cagle US 4,048,876 Sept. 20, 1977
Chen US 2003/0110904 A1 June 19, 2003

REJECTION ON APPEAL
The Examiner rejected claims 1, 14, and 15 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
as being unpatentable over Chen, Barnes, and Cagle.
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OPINION
The Examiner finds that Chen discloses most of the limitations of
claim 1 including a pin axle extending through the pin hole and a worm
rotatable around the pin axle but does not disclose “a T-shaped groove hole
and that each of the two axial surfaces of the worm has a boss which
matches the T-shaped groove when the worm is installed in the through
hole.” Final Act. 3–5. The Examiner finds that Barnes discloses the recited
“T-shaped groove hole (24)” and that “the two axial end surfaces of the
worm has a boss (23) which matches the T-shaped groove.” Id. at 5. The
Examiner concludes that it would have been obvious “to use the structure
disclosed by Chen with the T-shaped groove and boss extrusions on the
worm taught by Barnes” to “prevent[] inadvertent change in position and
movement when the tool is in use for engaging a work piece more securely
because of increased contact area between the worm gear and the movable
jaw face.” Id.
Appellant contends that none of the references disclose the T-shaped
groove hole or a worm with bosses as recited in claim 1. Appeal Br. 5.
Appellant further contends that Barnes does not disclose a “pin axle such as
arranged in the present application extending through the worm.” Id.
Appellant further contends that
the function of the axle bosses 23 [in Barnes] is same with an
axle pin, and the axle bosses 23 should be configured on a
position at end of the knurl aligning the center of the knurl 22,
not as disclosed in the present application that bosses 45 are
added to the two end surfaces of the worm 24, and it cannot be
arranged as the bosses 45 as disclosed in the present
application.
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Appeal Br. 6. Appellant further argues that neither Barnes nor Cagle solves
the same problem allegedly solved by Appellant’s invention. Id. at 7. For
the following reasons, we sustain the rejection of claim 1.
Appellant’s Figure 9, which is reproduced below, illustrates an
embodiment of the T-shaped groove.

Figure 9 is a structural schematic view of an embodiment of the claimed
wrench body. Spec. ¶ 27. The T-shaped groove is identified as item 41. Id.
¶ 41. Figure 7 of Barnes, which is reproduced below, illustrates item 24
which the Examiner finds corresponds to the recited T-shaped groove.

Barnes’ Figure 7 is an illustration of the head area of a wrench body.
Barnes, 1:26–27. Appellant’s Figure 10, which is reproduced below,
illustrates the recited worm with bosses.
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Figure 10 is a structural schematic view of the worm 34 with bosses 45.
Spec. ¶¶ 28, 41. Figure 4 of Barnes is reproduced below.

Barnes’ Figure 4 is a partial plan view of a wrench head. Barnes, 1:21–22.
Figure 4 shows knurl 22 with bosses 23 on each end. Id. at 3:11–13, Fig. 2.
Given the fact that Barnes’ T-shaped groove 24 and knurl 22 with
bosses 23 on its end are virtually identical to the disclosure in Appellant’s
Specification, the Examiner’s finding that Barnes discloses the recited
T-shaped groove and worm with bosses is supported by the requisite
preponderance of the evidence. With respect to Appellant’s contention that
Barnes does not disclose a pin axle on which the worm is arranged, we note
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that the Examiner relies on Chen not Barnes for this limitation. See Final
Act. 4. This contention is, thus, not persuasive because it is an attack on
Barnes individually when the rejection is based on the combined teachings
of Chen and Barnes. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 425 (CCPA 1981) (One
cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually when the
rejection is based on a combination of references.). Appellant’s contention
that neither Barnes nor Cagle solves the same problem as Appellant is not
persuasive of Examiner error. KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398,
402 (2007) (Determining it erroneous to “look only to the problem the
patentee was trying to solve.”). Therefore, we sustain the rejection of claim
1. Appellant does not argue separately for the patentability of dependent
claims 14 and 15. Appeal Br. 3–7. We sustain the rejection of claims 14
and 15 for the same reasons.
CONCLUSION
The Examiner’s rejection is affirmed.
More specifically,
DECISION SUMMARY
In summary:
Claims
Rejected
35 U.S.C.
§
Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed
1, 14, 15 103 Chen, Barnes,
Cagle
1, 14, 15

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TIME PERIOD FOR RESPONSE
No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with
this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a). See 37 C.F.R.
§ 1.136(a)(1)(iv).
AFFIRMED