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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments have resolved the previously presented 112(b) rejections from the preceding Office Action.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to prior art rejection of the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 3-4 and 10 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 3 recites “the base frame comprises a housing” and “the heat exchanger is designed in or on an outer wall of the housing”. Claim 1 from which claim 3 depends, “a base frame on an underside of which the at least one bearing plate” and “at least one heat exchanger is arranged above the bearing plate” In other words, the claim recites the base frame/housing is below the bearing plate (“an underside of which the at least one bearing plate”). The claim similarly recites that the heat exchanger is “arranged above the bearing plate”, but that “the heat exchanger is designed in or on an outer wall of the housing” (the base frame/housing is under the bearing plate). It is unclear how applicant has recited these limitations. They are recited confusingly and under the reading presented above, they, appear to contradict each other with respect to the positional relationship of the components with one another. Claims 4 and 10 are rejected for depending from claim 3.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, 6-8, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arzberger (US 20060053665 A1), in view of Laghi (US 20190106855 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Arzberger teaches a trench cutter, comprising
- at least one pair of cutting wheels (Fig 1, wheels 19),
- at least one bearing plate on which the cutting wheels of a pair are rotatably arranged on two sides of the bearing plate (Fig 1, bearing bracket 12, see Para 0021 wheels 19 rotatably mounted thereon),
- a base frame on an underside of which the at least one bearing plate is attached (Fig 1, housing 40, 21’, and housing surrounding 31/24’ extending to 32), and
- a cutting wheel drive for driving the cutting wheels (Fig 1-2, Para 0025, drive 48), the cutting wheel drive being lubricated with transmission oil in the bearing plate (Para 0011, “transmission oil which is located in the transmission in the bearing bracket”, see also Fig 1. Transmission includes various driving gears e.g. 17, see also Para 0025, and is driven via drive shaft 20. The presence of oil would lubricate), wherein
While Arzberger teaches a cooling oil circuit (Fig 2, Para 0025), Arzberger is not explicit on the recited particulars of the circuit.
Laghi teaches at least one heat exchanger is arranged above the bearing plate (Fig 6, flanged member 28, above the bearing plate as a modification to Arzberger. Please note element 28 broadly and reasonably is a “heat exchanger” in that it is a device able to transfer heat from one medium to another. In this case, flanged member is capable of receiving/transferring heat to line 41 by virtue of their contact and line 41 passing through. The claim does not require any particular “effectiveness” of the heat transfers nor recites the other structural particulars e.g. loops and turns present in the instant disclosure),
- for cooling the transmission oil, an oil circuit is formed to which the at least one heat exchanger is connected above the bearing plate (Fig 6, line 41, see also Para 0117. Fig 6, the heat exchanger as mapped to 28, is above the bearing plate),
- the heat exchanger is designed as a flat panel (Fig 6, flange/heat exchanger 28 is a flat panel, as seen) which is fastened in a releasable manner on the base frame or on a holding device above the base frame (Fig 6, Para 0081, the flange 28 is optionally/selectively placed and thus releasably connected/fastened), and
- the flat panel comprises a solid metal plate (Fig 6, as suggested, at least by the cross hatching, the member is a metal place and is solid) having a groove as an oil conducting channel for the transmission oil (Fig 6, groove/space accommodating line 41, see also Para 0112 and 0114).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention disclosed by Arzberger by having totality of the cooling system, including the subsequent connecting lines, flange 28, inverter, and refrigeration unit 42 (although element 28 is drawn towards the recited heat exchanger) as disclosed by Laghi because Arzberger teaches only a generic heat exchanger with no structural particulars that would be required to implement the modified invention. Laghi teaches those requires structural particulars which are implementable in the same type of device in a manner which would yield a predictable result of a cooling system to cool the cutting wheels of a trench cutter.
Regarding claim 3, Arzberger teaches wherein the base frame comprises a housing (Fig 1, housing 40, 21’, and housing surrounding 31/24’ extending to 32), the cutting wheel drive is arranged in the housing (Fig 1-2, drive 48 is within housing 40, and surrounding housing as defined), and the heat exchanger is designed in or on an outer wall of the housing (as best understood, Fig 6 of Laghi, flanged member 28, is in/on the wall of the housing as a modification).
Regarding claim 4, Arzberger as modified teaches wherein the outer wall of the housing is designed as a cooling wall comprising the flat panel (as best understood, Fig 6 of Laghi, flanged member 28, is the housing as a modification and is a cooling wall with the flat panel), the oil conducting channel is disposed on an inner side of the cooling wall, and a hose-shaped or tube- shaped line is arranged in the groove (Fig 6, cooling line 41 is within/on an inner side of the cooling wall).
Regarding claim 6, Arzberger teaches wherein at least one pump device is provided via which the oil can be conveyed in the oil circuit (Fig 2, pump 20 has threading 44 and functions as a screw pump, see Para 0024).
Regarding claim 7, Arzberger teaches wherein the pump device comprises a shaft driven by the cutting wheel drive, and the shaft is provided with at least one conveying helix on its outer side (Fig 2, pump 20 has threading 44 and functions as a screw pump, see Para 0024).
Regarding claim 8, Arzberger teaches wherein the shaft is a drive shaft (Fig 2, drive shaft 20) which extends from the cutting wheel drive through the bearing plate to the cutting wheels (Fig 1-2, shaft 20 extends from the drive 48 to the bearing plate 12 and communicates to wheels 19 via various transmission means).
Regarding claim 10, Arzberger teaches wherein two cooling walls are respectively arranged on two long sides of the housing (Fig 4-5, two walls which are the flanged portion arranged on the side of the central portion/housing accommodating lines 26/28/41. They are made of materials capable of absorbing and dissipating heat).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arzberger (US 20060053665 A1), in view of Laghi (US 20190106855 A1), in view of Claussen (US 20160165787 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Arzberger is silent on wherein the heat exchanger comprises aluminium or an aluminium alloy.
Claussen teaches the member comprises aluminium or an aluminium alloy (Para 0065).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention disclosed by Arzberger by having the member construed of aluminum (the examiner again notes the broad interpretation of the exchanger) as disclosed by Claussen because it would be obvious to try (Claussen teaches a finite number of materials, see Para 0065, used to construct a like device, which are allow the earth working device to function with predictable results).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arzberger (US 20060053665 A1), in view of Laghi (US 20190106855 A1), in view of Squillante (US 20150041414 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Arzberger as modified is not explicit on wherein a control valve is provided which blocks an oil conveying channel of the oil circuit to the heat exchanger at a first low temperature and releases the oil conveying channel at a second higher temperature.
Squillante teaches a control valve is provided which blocks an oil conveying channel of the oil circuit to the heat exchanger at a first low temperature and releases the oil conveying channel at a second higher temperature (Para 0032, “electrically operated bypass valve may configure to open and shut based on either temperature or pressure […] an electrically operated valve may be connected to temperature sensors in ports 34 in the inlet and/or outlet tanks 12, 14 and configured throttle flow through the bypass path 32 [oil conveying circuit] to maintain system temperature within a specified range”).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention disclosed by Arzberger as modified by having the control valve as disclosed by Squillante “to maintain system temperature within a specified range”. Please note, that even under the broad interpretation of the claim eventual flow to the refrigeration unit modified into the claim would necessitate flow through the heat exchanger as broadly construed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THEODORE N YAO whose telephone number is (571)272-8745. The examiner can normally be reached typically 8am-4pm ET.
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/THEODORE N YAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3676
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