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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 5 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE-3919945 (DE’945) in view of DE-4403127 (DE’127), KR-19980056932 (KR’932), CN-105078084 (CN’084), and CN-104870836 (CN’836).
DE’945 shows in figure 1 a damper for a rail vehicle, the damper consisting essentially of: a cylindrical housing 12 wherein a hollow piston 11 is received axially movable, a working chamber, as labeled, of variable volume in the housing, an overflow chamber, as labeled, of variable volume in the piston, the overflow chamber being connected to the working chamber, as labeled, via a throttle, as labeled, in a flow passage between the working
[AltContent: textbox (Spring chamber)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Overflow chamber)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Throttle )][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Working chamber)][AltContent: arrow]
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chamber and the overflow chamber, a spring chamber, as labeled, of variable volume in the piston, the spring chamber being configured to hold a gas volume as described in the sentence under the brief description of Fig. 6 for acting as a spring, and the spring chamber being separated from the overflow chamber by a separator piston 23 axially movable, but is silent with regard to the fluid in the working chamber and the overflow chamber being hydraulic and is silent with regard to the damper further comprise a pressure detector configured to detect a pressure in at least one of the spring chamber, the working chamber, and the hydraulic overflow chamber, and is silent with regard to the pressure detector in the form of at least two pressure switches having different thresholds.
DE’127 teaches the use of a working chamber 9 in which the fluid is liquid (hydraulic) and the use of an overflow chamber 6 in which the fluid is liquid (hydraulic).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the fluid in the working chamber and the overflow chamber of DE’945 to have been liquid (hydraulic), in view of the teachings of DE’127, in order to provide a means of ensuring smooth and controlled damping as well as reliability since hydraulic fluids maintain relatively stable viscosity across temperature ranges.
KR’932 teaches in the first claim and in figure 2 the use of a pressure sensor 8 in a rod guide 5 for measuring and sensing the pressure in a gas chamber G of a damper.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the damper of DE’945, as modified, to have further included a pressure detector configured to detect a pressure in at least one of the spring chamber, the working chamber, and the hydraulic overflow chamber, in view of the teachings of KR’932, in order to provide a means of actively controlling a damper using real-time data to improve damping capabilities particular to a given situation and environment.
CN’084 teaches in figure 1 the use of a damper including a pressure switch configured to detect pressure and be in a first state i.e. no buzzer if the detected pressure is below a threshold and a second state i.e. buzzer if the detected pressure is above the threshold.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the pressure detector of DE’945, as modified, to have included a pressure switch, in view of the teachings of CN’084, in order to provide a means of being able to alert a user of the damper when the detected pressure is greater than a certain pressure amount to achieve active control capabilities.
CN’836 teaches in the paragraph beginning “Referring to FIG. 6-7” the use of at least two pressure devices with different thresholds.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the at least one pressure switch of DE’945, as modified, to have included two pressure switches with different thresholds, in view of the teachings of CN'836, in order to provide a means of setting up staged control to facilitate identifying normal versus faulty states.
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 5 and 20 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.
Re: claims 5 and 20. Independent claims 5 and 20 recite a pressure detector, the pressure detector comprising at least one pressure sensor, the at least one pressure sensor comprising a pressure switch. Then the claims later additionally recite the pressure detector comprising at least two pressure switches. The combination of limitations recites two sets of pressure switches - one set with one pressure switch and another set with at least two pressure switches. Examiner suggests reciting at least one pressure switch and then using such language as --wherein the at least one pressure switch comprises at least two pressure switches-- to avoid confusion.
Re: claims 5 and 20. In line 8 from the bottom of claim 5 the phrase “the pressure sensor” is indefinite. It is unclear whether Applicant intends to refer back to the at least one pressure sensor which may also include a plurality of pressure sensors or limit the at least one pressure sensor to a single pressure sensor. A similar issue exists in claim 20.
Response to Amendment
Upon further review and in light of the CN’836 reference, new grounds of rejection have been presented and the finality of the Office action mailed 5/7/26 is withdrawn. The after-final amendment submitted on 8/18/26 has not been entered, so the action is based on the entered after-final claims mailed on 6/17/26.
Conclusion
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mmb
September 3, 2026
/MELODY M BURCH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
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