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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114 was filed in this application after a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, but before the filing of a Notice of Appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or the commencement of a civil action. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114 and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the appeal has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114 and prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant’s submission filed on 17 December 2025 has been entered.
Claims 1-4, 6-18 and 20-24 are pending in the application. Claims 1, 17 and 18 have been amended. Claims 5 and 19 are cancelled.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 24, last line, “the uppermost surface of the cylinder block” is indefinite for lacking sufficient antecedent basis in the claims because neither upper or lower surfaces have been recited or defined previously rendering it unclear what part of the cylinder block is being referenced making the metes and bounds of the claim subject to uncertainty. For examination, the uppermost surface will be interpreted broadly as and end or outer surface of the cylinder block. Correction is required.
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 22-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Breuer (German Patent Publication No. DE 10201305263) in view of Delam (German Patent Publication No. DE 3213031).
As to claims 22-24, Breuer discloses a hydraulic axial piston machine (FIG.’s 1 & 2, Machine Translation para. 0002) comprising:
a housing 1, 2 (Trans. para. 0025),
a cylinder block 5 (para. 0027) rotatably mounted in the housing 1 about an axis of rotation (via shaft 3) and having at least one cylinder 6, and a valve arrangement (rotary axial piston machine valving provided by porting through plate 18 providing connections to pressure ports 23, 24, see para. 0041) and between the cylinder block 5 and the housing 1, 2 the valve arrangement having a first part 18 (para. 0029, “drum plate 18”) rotating with the cylinder block 5 (para. 0031, “drum plate 18, … is rotated together with the cylinder drum 5”), wherein the first part 18 comprises a support plate 18 and an elastically deformable spring section (para. 0031, formed in part by spring elements 22 and its arrangement with drum plate 18, refer to an Annotated copy of Breuer FIG. 1 attached below, as shown and indicated).
Breuer is silent as to the spring section and the first part are one piece wherein the spring section lies in the plane of the support plate1. In this regard, Delam teaches a spring body having spring 1 with its ends encapsulated in an annular groove 3 formed in plate 2 (FIG. 1, Machine Translation para. 0042) indicating that the spring ends may be cast or joined with the plate by welds 10 (para. 0046 & 0050). Delam is concerned with maintaining contact between the spring and plate to prevent lifting or disengagement due to transverse loads or misalignment (para.’s 0014 & 0027). The resulting spring body is formed as an integral, one-piece part, addressing the same problem faced by the inventors of instant invention (see Applicant’s spec. para. 0007). With this in mind, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to weld or cast Breuer’s spring ends into the drum plate, resulting in one-piece construction, in order to improve the strength of its connection such that it can absorb clamping torques and transverse forces when the spring ends are deflected, preventing lifting or disengagement of the spring from the plate as taught by Delam (para.’s 0027 & 0042, inter alia).
As to claims 22 and 23, upon modification, the spring section taught by Breuer and Delam, with the spring ends welded into the plate 18 results in the spring section lying in the plane of the support plate (Annotated Breuer FIG. 1, as shown, due to placement of spring ends in surface of plate 18).
As to claim 24, this claim includes all of the limitations of claim 23 while further reciting that the spring section contacts the uppermost surface of the cylinder block. Upon modification, the spring section taught by Breuer and Delam including support plate 18 contacts the uppermost surface of the cylinder block 5 (Annotated Breuer FIG. 1, as shown, within the broadest reasonable interpretation of the term uppermost surface2).
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Annotated Breuer FIG. 1
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 6-16, 20 and 21 are allowed.
Claims 17 and 18 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The aforesaid allowable/objected claims incorporate the indicated allowable features set forth in the Office-action of 23 October 2023, reasons for allowance included therein.
Response to Amendment
No substantive arguments have been presented. Claim 1 has been amended to incorporate the indicated allowable subject matter set forth in the previous Office-action(s). Applicant has also added three new independent claims broader than claim 1. These new claims are rejected under 35 U. S.C. 103 over Breuer and Delam as set forth above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENNETH J HANSEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6780. The examiner can normally be reached Monday Friday 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM (MT).
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/KENNETH J HANSEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
1 Claim 23 omits the one-piece limitation. However, the claim is considered commensurate in scope for the purpose of applying prior art.
2 Note the aforesaid 35 U.S.C.112(b) issues, supra.