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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is the FINAL office action on the merits. Claims 1, 4, and 6-9 are currently pending.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 08/01/2025 has been entered. Applicant’s amendments to the Claims in response to the Non-Final Office Action mailed 06/20/2025 has been entered.
Claims 1, 4, and 6-9 are maintained in rejection despite Applicant’s arguments/amendments.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 1, 4 and 6-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinoshita et al. (JP2007055483A, provided with translation), in view of Nakamura et al. (JP 2017043278 A, provided with translation) and Okouchi et al. (JP2017019305A, provided with translation).
Regarding claim 1, Kinoshita teaches (Fig. 1 and 7-9): A railway vehicle (para. 0001), wherein an underframe (underframe 10a) constituting a floor surface of the railway vehicle (Fig. 1 and 9) includes: a central underframe (member 12) having a hollow shape material extruded in a width direction of the railway vehicle (Fig. 9; para. 0018, lines 190-194); and a pair of end underframes (members 11) each having a hollow shape material extruded in a longitudinal direction of the railway vehicle (Fig. 9) and connected to the central underframe (12) on both sides sandwiching the central underframe (Fig. 9), wherein the central underframe (12) includes a central floor material constituted of the hollow shape material formed of an upper face plate (annotated Fig. 8 below of Kinoshita), a lower face plate (annotated Fig. 8 below of Kinoshita) disposed substantially in parallel to the upper face plate (Fig. 8), and a plurality of connection plates (annotated Fig. 8 below of Kinoshita) connecting the upper face plate and the lower face plate (Fig. 8), and each of the end underframes (11) includes an end floor material constituted of the hollow shape material formed of an upper face plate (annotated Fig. 7 below of Kinoshita), a lower face plate (annotated Fig. 7 below of Kinoshita) disposed substantially in parallel to the upper face plate (Fig. 7), and a plurality of connection plates (annotated Fig. 7 below of Kinoshita) connecting the upper face plate and the lower face plate (Fig. 7).
Kinoshita teaches (Fig. 1 and 7-9): the underframe (10a), but does not explicitly teach a pair of side beams provided along a longitudinal direction of the railway vehicle at both end portions in a width direction of the railway vehicle, and each of the side beams extends across the central underframe and the end underframes from a front end of one of the end underframes to a rear end of the other end underframe.
However, Nakamura teaches an alternate railway vehicle body structure, wherein (Fig. 1-4): a pair of side beams (side beams 113) provided along a longitudinal direction of the railway vehicle (Fig. 2) at both end portions in a width direction (X-direction) of the railway vehicle (Fig. 2; para. 0017, lines 211-216), and each of the side beams (113) extends across a central underframe (central frame 111) and end underframes (end frame 112) from a front end of one of the end underframes (112) to a rear end of the other end underframe (112)(Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for Kinoshita to include a pair of side beams provided along a longitudinal direction of the railway vehicle, extending across the central and end underframes, as disclosed by Nakamura, with a reasonable expectation of success because side sills are important structural components in a rail vehicle for enhancing its overall rigidity and distributing impact energy during collision.
Kinoshita teaches (Fig. 1 and 7-9): the underframe (10a) and a central floor material (Fig. 9), but does not explicitly teach that the side beam includes a vehicle exterior side face plate, a vehicle interior side face plate placed substantially in parallel to the vehicle exterior side face plate, a plurality of connection ribs connecting the vehicle exterior side face plate and the vehicle interior side face plate, and a central floor material supporting portion formed by extrusion integrally with the vehicle interior side face plate, the central floor material supporting portion is constituted of the vehicle interior side face plate, a first inclined plate, and a second inclined plate, and has a substantially triangular tubular shape extending in a longitudinal direction of the underframe, one end portion of each of the first inclined plate and the second inclined plate is connected to a vicinity of a connection portion between the vehicle interior side face plate of the side beam and the corresponding connection rib of the side beam, another end portion of the first inclined plate and another end portion of the second inclined plate are connected, and one end portion of the upper face plate of the central floor material in a width direction of the underframe is connected to a vicinity of the one end portion of the first inclined plate, and one end portion of the lower face plate of the central floor material in the width direction of the underframe is connected to a vicinity of the other end portion of the first inclined plate.
However, Okouchi teaches an alternate railway vehicle body, wherein (Fig. 1 and 3): a side beam (5y) includes a vehicle exterior side face plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), a vehicle interior side face plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi) placed substantially in parallel to the vehicle exterior side face plate (Fig. 3), a plurality of connection ribs (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi) connecting the vehicle exterior side face plate and the vehicle interior side face plate, and a central floor material supporting portion (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi) formed by extrusion integrally with the vehicle interior side face plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), the central floor material supporting portion is constituted of the vehicle interior side face plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), a first inclined plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), and a second inclined plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), and has a substantially triangular tubular shape (Fig. 3) extending in a longitudinal direction of the underframe (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), one end portion (left end) of each of the first inclined plate and the second inclined plate is connected to a vicinity of a connection portion between the vehicle interior side face plate of the side beam (5y) and the corresponding connection rib of the side beam (5y)(annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), another end portion (right end) of the first inclined plate and another end portion (right end) of the second inclined plate are connected (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), and one end portion (left end) of the upper face plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi) of the central floor material in a width direction of the underframe is connected to a vicinity of the one end portion (right end) of the first inclined plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), and one end portion (left end) of the lower face plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi) of the central floor material in the width direction of the underframe is connected (at least indirectly) to a vicinity of the other end portion (right end) of the first inclined plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for Kinoshita to include a central floor material supporting portion that connects a side beam and the central floor material, along with the above stated features of the side beam, the supporting portion, and the floor material, as disclosed by Okouchi, with a reasonable expectation of success because using an extruded floor supporting portion fixedly joined with other extruded components would improve the overall rigidity of the rail vehicle underframe, allowing the vehicle to withstand more load
Regarding claim 4, Kinoshita, Nakamura, and Okouchi teach the elements of claim 1, as stated above. Kinoshita does not teach the side beam includes a vehicle exterior side face plate, a vehicle interior side face plate placed substantially in parallel to the vehicle exterior side face plate, and a plurality of connection ribs connecting the vehicle exterior side face plate and the vehicle interior side face plate, and the upper face plate and the lower face plate of the central floor material are connected to vicinities of joint portions between the vehicle interior side face plate and the connection ribs.
However, Nakamura further teaches (Fig. 1-4): the side beam (113) includes a vehicle exterior side face plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Nakamura), a vehicle interior side face plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Nakamura) placed substantially in parallel to the vehicle exterior side face plate (Fig. 3), and a plurality of connection ribs (annotated Fig. 3 below of Nakamura) connecting the vehicle exterior side face plate and the vehicle interior side face plate (Fig. 3), and the upper face and the lower face of the central floor material (central structural floor 118 having upper and lower faces) are connected (at least indirectly) to vicinities of joint portions between the vehicle interior side face plate and the connection ribs (Fig. 2 and annotated Fig. 3 below of Nakamura).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for Kinoshita to include a pair of side beams with a vehicle exterior side face plate, a vehicle interior side face plate placed substantially in parallel to the vehicle exterior side face plate, and a plurality of connection ribs connecting the vehicle exterior side face plate and the vehicle interior side face plate, wherein the joint portions of the side beams are connected to the central floor material, as disclosed by Nakamura, with a reasonable expectation of success because reinforced side sills are important structural components in a rail vehicle for enhancing its overall rigidity and distributing impact energy during collision.
It is noted that the upper face and the lower face of the central floor material of Nakamura can be broadly construed as being connected to vicinities of joint portions between the vehicle interior side face plate and the connection ribs because the term “vicinities” is a term denoting “an area near or surrounding a particular place”. Therefore, the faces of Nakamura’s central floor material are connected to joint portions of the side beam near its vicinity.
Regarding claim 6, Kinoshita and Nakamura teach the elements of claim 1, as stated above. Kinoshita teaches (Fig. 1 and 7-9): the underframe (10a) and a central floor material (Fig. 9), but does not explicitly teach that the underframe includes a central floor material supporting portion that connects the side beam and the central floor material, and the side beam includes a vehicle exterior side face plate, a vehicle interior side face plate placed substantially in parallel to the vehicle exterior side face plate, and a plurality of connection ribs connecting the vehicle exterior side face plate and the vehicle interior side face plate, the central floor material supporting portion includes a first face plate placed substantially in parallel to the vehicle interior side face plate of the side beam, a second face plate placed substantially in parallel to the first face plate, and a plurality of connection face plates connecting the first face plate and the second face plate, the upper face plate of the central floor material is connected to an upper end portion of the second face plate, the lower face plate of the central floor material is connected to a lower end portion of the second face plate, and the corresponding connection face plate and the upper face plate are disposed on substantially the same plane.
However, Okouchi teaches an alternate railway vehicle body, wherein (Fig. 1 and 3): an underframe (underframe 5) includes a central floor material supporting portion (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi) that connects a side beam (side beam 5y) and a central floor material (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), and the side beam (5y) includes a vehicle exterior side face plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), a vehicle interior side face plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi) placed substantially in parallel to the vehicle exterior side face plate (Fig. 3), and a plurality of connection ribs (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi) connecting the vehicle exterior side face plate and the vehicle interior side face plate (Fig. 3), the central floor material supporting portion (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi) includes a first face plate (annotated Fig. 3 of Okouchi below) placed substantially in parallel to the vehicle interior side face plate of the side beam (annotated Fig. 3 of Okouchi below), a second face plate (annotated Fig. 3 of Okouchi below) placed substantially in parallel to the first face plate (annotated Fig. 3 of Okouchi below), and a plurality of connection face plates (annotated Fig. 3 of Okouchi below) connecting the first face plate and the second face plate (Fig. 3), the upper face plate (annotated Fig. 3 of Okouchi below) of the central floor material is connected to an upper end portion of the second face plate (annotated Fig. 3 of Okouchi below), the lower face plate of the central floor material is connected to a lower end portion of the second face plate (annotated Fig. 3 of Okouchi below), and the corresponding connection face plate and the upper face plate are disposed on substantially the same plane (annotated Fig. 3 of Okouchi below).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for Kinoshita to include a central floor material supporting portion that connects a side beam and the central floor material, along with the above stated features of the side beam, the supporting portion, and the floor material, as disclosed by Okouchi, with a reasonable expectation of success because using an extruded floor supporting portion fixedly joined with other extruded components would improve the overall rigidity of the rail vehicle underframe, allowing the vehicle to withstand more load.
Regarding claim 7, Kinoshita, Nakamura, and Okouchi the elements of claim 1, as stated above. Kinoshita further teaches (Fig. 1 and 7-9): A method for manufacturing the railway vehicle according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above), but does not explicitly teach the steps of: preparing the end underframes; preparing a central floor material that forms the central underframe; preparing a side beam; connecting the side beam to the end underframes; and connecting the central floor material to the end underframes and the side beam.
However, Nakamura teaches an alternate railway vehicle body structure, wherein (Fig. 1-4): a method for manufacturing the railway vehicle comprises the steps of: preparing the end underframes (end frames 112); preparing a central floor material (118) that forms the central underframe (central frame 111); preparing a side beam (side beam 113); connecting the side beam (113) to the end underframes (112)(Fig. 2); and connecting the central floor material (118) to the end underframes (112) and the side beam (113)(Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for Kinoshita to include the steps of: preparing the end underframes; preparing a central floor material that forms the central underframe; preparing a side beam; connecting the side beam to the end underframes; and connecting the central floor material to the end underframes and the side beam, as disclosed by Nakamura, with a reasonable expectation of success because the end and central underframes, floors, and side beams are important structural components in a rail vehicle prepared and interconnected for enhancing its overall rigidity and distributing impact energy during collision.
Regarding claim 8, Kinoshita, Nakamura, and Okouchi teach the elements of claim 7, as stated above. Kinoshita further teaches (Fig. 1 and 7-9): the central floor material (12) is formed by arranging and joining extruded shape materials (members 12, 13, 14) side by side in a direction (vehicle longitudinal direction) intersecting an extrusion direction while aligning an extrusion direction (extrusion extending in vehicle width direction; Fig. 1 and 9), the extruded shape materials (12, 13, 14) being obtained by division along the extrusion direction (vehicle width direction; Fig. 9; para. 0018).
Regarding claim 9, Kinoshita, Nakamura, and Okouchi teach the elements of claim 1, as stated above. Kinoshita further teaches (Fig. 1 and 7-9): The method for manufacturing the railway vehicle according to claim 3 (see claim 3 rejection above), but does not explicitly teach the steps of: assembling an end beam, a body bolster, a middle beam, and a cross beam that form each of the end underframes, and the side beam to a frame body; and assembling the end floor materials and the central floor material to the frame body.
However, Nakamura teaches an alternate railway vehicle body structure, wherein (Fig. 1-4): a method for manufacturing the railway vehicle comprises the steps of: assembling an end beam (end beam 114), a body bolster (bolster 116), a middle beam (center beam 115), and a cross beam (cross beam 117) that form each of the end underframes (end frame 112)(Fig. 2), and the side beam (side beams 113) to a frame body (Fig. 2); and assembling the end floor materials (end structural floor 119) and the central floor material (central structural floor 118) to the frame body (Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for Kinoshita to include the steps of: assembling an end beam, a body bolster, a middle beam, and a cross beam that form each of the end underframes, and the side beam to a frame body; and assembling the end floor materials and the central floor material to the frame body, as disclosed by Nakamura, with a reasonable expectation of success because the end beam, side beams, floors, body bolster, middle beam, and cross beam are important structural components in a rail vehicle for enhancing its overall rigidity and distributing impact energy during collision.
Fig. 7-9 of Kinoshita:
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Fig. 3 of Nakamura:
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Fig. 3 of Okouchi:
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Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 08/01/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues that Nowhere does Okouchi disclose or suggest an interior side face plate placed substantially in parallel to an exterior side face plate, nor any plurality of connection ribs connecting such plates, and that there is no disclosure of any supporting portion constituted by a vehicle interior side face plate, first inclined plate, and second inclined plate forming a substantially triangular tubular shape. Applicant further states that “Thus, Okouchi does not, and could not, disclose or even suggest any vehicle interior side face plate placed substantially in parallel to the vehicle exterior side face plate, nor a plurality of connection ribs connecting the vehicle exterior side face plate and the vehicle interior side face plate, as explicitly recited in the claim”.
The office responds that as seen in the annotated Fig. 3 of Okouchi below, an interior side face plate is placed in parallel to an exterior side face plate, and has a plurality of connection ribs between them. Additionally, the supporting portion of the central floor material defined in annotated Fig. 3 below constitutes the first face plate” (part of the vehicle interior side face plate), “first inclined plate”, and “second inclined plate”, which together form a substantially triangular tubular shape as part of the central floor’s supporting structure. While it can be seen that Okouchi’s floor supporting portion has more structure than the present application, it must be noted that Okouchi discloses the invention as claimed. The claimed limitation does not require the central floor material supporting portion to be composed solely of the interior side face plate, first inclined plate, and second inclined plate.
To overcome the prior art reference Okouchi, the office suggests modifying the independent claims to suggest a common connection point for the first inclined plate and the second plate, connected to the lower face plate of the central floor material. This has support in applicant’s Figure 5 of the drawings.
The applicant argues that there is no disclosure or teaching of inclined plates, connection points between inclined plates and connection ribs, or connection points between inclined plates and the upper/lower face plates of a central floor material. Applicant further states that “Thus, Okouchi does not and could not disclose or even suggest any connection where one end portion of each of the first inclined plate and the second inclined plate is connected to a vicinity of a connection portion between the vehicle interior side face plate of the side beam and the corresponding connection rib of the side beam, another end portion of the first inclined plate and the second inclined plate are connected, and one end portion of the upper face plate and lower face plate of the central floor material is connected to a vicinity of the first inclined plate, as explicitly recited in Applicants' claim”.
The office responds that the claim language does not require connection points between inclined plates and connection ribs, or connection points between inclined plates and the upper/lower face plates of a central floor material. The claim only recites for a connection of the inclined plates to a vicinity of a connection portion between the vehicle interior side face plate and the corresponding connection rib, and a connection of the first inclined plate to a vicinity of the end portions of the upper face plate and the lower face plate. The connection to a “vicinity” denotes a connection to an area near or surrounding a particular place, and not a direct connection. The applicant’s argument is more specific than the claim language recited.
As shown in annotated Fig. 3 of Okouchi below: one end portion (left end) of each of the first inclined plate and the second inclined plate is connected to a vicinity of a connection portion between the vehicle interior side face plate of the side beam (5y) and the corresponding connection rib of the side beam (5y)(annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), another end portion (right end) of the first inclined plate and another end portion (right end) of the second inclined plate are connected (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), and one end portion (left end) of the upper face plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi) of the central floor material in a width direction of the underframe is connected to a vicinity of the one end portion (right end) of the first inclined plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi), and one end portion (left end) of the lower face plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi) of the central floor material in the width direction of the underframe is connected (at least indirectly) to a vicinity of the other end portion (right end) of the first inclined plate (annotated Fig. 3 below of Okouchi).
The applicant argues that “Okouchi instead teaches external weld configurations between an extension portion of the side structure and the side beam, without disclosing any of the internal multi-plate, ribbed, triangulated supporting configurations or connection relationships required by Applicants' claim”.
The office responds that while Okouchi teaches external weld configurations, that does not preclude Okouchi from teaching the internal multi-plate, ribbed, triangulated supporting configurations or connection relationships required by Applicants' claim. The structures recited are annotated in Fig. 3 of Okouchi below.
The applicant argues that “Okouchi describes extrusion, but Okouchi does not disclose any integrally extruded floor material supporting portion connected specifically to the interior side face plate”.
The office responds that as seen in annotated Fig. 3 of Okouchi below, the “vehicle interior side face plate” is integrally extruded with the “central floor material supporting portion”. The frame (5) of Okouchi acts as a supporting portion, and the side beam (5y) is part of the extruded frame. Even if the two parts are not extruded integrally, it has been held that forming in one piece an article which has formerly been formed in two pieces and put together involves only routine skill in the art. In re Larson, 340 F.2d 965, 968, 144 USPQ 347, 349 (CCPA 1965). See MPEP § 2144.04(V)(B)
The applicant argues that “Okouchi lacks any discussion of connection ribs or how inclined plates connect to them”.
The office responds that the connection ribs are seen as being connected to a vicinity of the inclined plates (annotated Fig. 3 below), as claimed by the applicant.
The applicant argues that “there is no teaching in Okouchi of inclined plates joined together at their other ends”.
The office responds that as shown in annotated Fig. 3 below, the first and second inclined plates are joined at their right ends.
The applicant argues that “Okouchi does not disclose any connection between upper/lower face plates of central floor material and the inclined plates of a supporting portion”.
The office responds that the claim only recites for a connection of the inclined plates to a vicinity of the end portions of the upper face plate and the lower face plate. The connection to a “vicinity” denotes a connection to an area near or surrounding a particular place, and not a direct connection. The applicant’s argument is more specific than the claim language recited
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Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHENG XI LIN whose telephone number is (571)272-6102. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. through Fri. 9:00am to 6:00pm EST.
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/CHENG LIN/Examiner, Art Unit 3615