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 § 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 17 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.
The phrase “the spring disc” lacks proper antecedent basis in the claim.
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) 14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO-2015105791 (WO’791) in view of US Patent 2018/0355944 to Veltum et al.
Re: claim 14. WO’791 shows in figure 2A an end-stop control valve comprising: a piston 120 extending down to the area of element number 105 that is configured to move longitudinally within a damper tube as labeled, the piston having a valve seat shown under 121; a valve disc stack-up 121 wherein a radially outer portion of the valve disc stack-up is supported on the valve seat as shown, the radially outer portion of the valve disc stack-up being configured to deflect away from the valve seat of the piston at times, for example during a compressive stroke; a catch piston 140 with which the piston is configured to engage during an end-of- stroke damping event as shown for example in figures 2B-2D, the catch piston 140 being movable longitudinally within the damper tube; and a piston band 105 that is disposed on the piston and at least partially surrounds the piston, wherein as the end-of-stroke damping event begins the piston band is configured to engage the catch piston before the piston engages the catch piston as shown, for example, in figure 2B, wherein the piston band includes a pathway as shown by the illustrated arrows in figure 2B that extends longitudinally and permits fluid to flow from a first longitudinal side 131 of the catch piston to a second longitudinal side 101 of the catch piston before the piston engages with the catch piston, wherein the piston band 105 is configured such that fluid can pass around the piston band 105 when the piston band is not engaged with the catch piston as shown in figure 2A,
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but is silent with regard to the fluid being hydraulic fluid.
Veltum et al. teach in the first line of the abstract the use of a damper in which the fluid used is hydraulic to result in hydraulic damping.
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 of the assembly of WO’791 to have been hydraulic, in view of the teachings of Veltum et al., in order to provide a fluid that achieves higher damping forces, fine tuning and adjustability, and better performance at low speeds.
Re: claim 16. WO’791, as modified, teaches in figure 2C of WO’791 the control valve configured such that engagement of the piston 120 and the catch piston 140 closes a flow path for hydraulic fluid as shown in figure 2C that extends through the pathway of the piston band 105 from the first longitudinal side of the catch piston to the second longitudinal side of the catch piston.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DE-1505360 (DE’360).
Re: claim 18. DE’360 shows in figures 1, 2, and 5 an end-stop control valve comprising: a piston 2 that is configured to move longitudinally within a damper tube 1, the piston having a valve seat or the surface above the valve stack associated with element number 17; a valve disc stack-up 17, wherein a radially outer portion of the valve disc stack-up is supported on the valve seat as shown, the radially outer portion of the valve disc stack-up being configured to deflect away from the valve seat of the piston at times during operation of the end-stop control valve for example during rebound strokes; a catch piston 10 with which the piston is configured to engage during an end-of- stroke damping event as shown in figure 5, the catch piston 10 being movable longitudinally within the damper tube; and a spring disc shown in the area of the end of the lead line of 21 shown in figure 4 that is configured to move longitudinally within the damper tube with the piston, wherein as the end-of-stroke damping event begins the spring disc is configured to engage a support of the catch piston 10 before the piston engages the catch piston since the disc is on top of the top surface of piston 2, wherein in a first position i.e. initial contact the spring disc is not elastically deformed in a longitudinal direction when the spring disc initially contacts the support of the catch piston, wherein in a second position the spring disc is elastically deformed in the longitudinal direction when the piston contacts the catch piston as shown in figure 5.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-13 are allowed.
Claims 15, 19, and 20 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.
Claim 17 would be allowable if rewritten 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 and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. CN-108757811 and US Patent Application 2018/0223942 teach the use of similar dampers including a stroke stage in which a piston portion enters a catch piston portion.
In order to complete the record, it should be noted that no conflict appears to presently exist between the subject matter defined by the instant claims and the subject matter of the claims of applicant’s and/or assignee’s copending application nos. 17/991388 and 17/952989 which have been made of record. Accordingly, no double patenting rejection is entered into the instant application. See MPEP 804+ concerning double patenting type of rejections, if necessary. Applicant and/or assignee should maintain this clear line of patentable distinction between the instant claims and the claims of the indicated patent application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MELODY M BURCH whose telephone number is (571)272-7114. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 6:30AM-3PM, generally.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Siconolfi can be reached at 571-272-7124. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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November 29, 2025
/MELODY M BURCH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
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