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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/16/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-17 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/16/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the Notice of Allowance on 03/20/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-17 are 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.
Claim 1 recites “the surface hardness” in line 10 (of the last filed claims dated 02/17/2026) where the Examiner is unclear which surface hardness is being referred back to due to improper antecedent basis. For examination purposes, the phrase “the surface hardness” will be treated as “a [[the]] surface hardness”.
Claim 17 recites “the surface hardness” in line 12 (of the last filed claims dated 02/17/2026) where the Examiner is unclear which surface hardness is being referred back to due to improper antecedent basis. For examination purposes, the phrase “the surface hardness” will be treated as “a [[the]] surface hardness”.
Claims 2-10 and 2-17 are rejected for being dependent from an unclear and indefinite claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 11 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Per the previous Notice of Allowance on 03/20/2026, Applicant has amended independent claim 1 and independent claim 11 in similar manners to further clarify the relative locations of the holes for the lubricant to pass through. A further modification to the previously presented combination of US 2005/0214540 (Maslar), US 2019/0040481 (Goldsmith), US 2017/0175622 (Avelar), and US 5011382 (Thompson) would require hindsight rationale to reconstruct the claims. Therefore, independent claims 1 and 11 along with dependent claims 2-10 and 12-17 are found to be allowable over the prior art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CONNOR J. TREMARCHE whose telephone number is (571)272-2175. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 0700-1700 Eastern.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MICHAEL HOANG can be reached at (571) 272-6460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CONNOR J TREMARCHE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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