DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05-Mar-2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hiroshi (JP 63-231055) (machine translation attached).
Regarding independent claim 1, Hiroshi discloses an electric actuator (see machine translation, Abstract; FIG. 2) comprising: an input member (7) that is rotationally driven by an electric motor (M) (see Abstract) and includes a first rotation stop part on an inner periphery (see machine translation, Abstract, “straight line-like ball spline slot”); an output member (4) including, on an outer periphery, a second rotation stop (3) part engageable with the first rotation stop part and a first screw part (2); and a linear motion member (6) including a second screw part engageable with the first screw part (see machine translation, page 1, detailed description), wherein at least a portion of the second rotation stop part and the first screw part are formed to overlap with each other in an axial direction of the output member (see FIGS. 2, 3), and wherein, in an overlap portion where the second rotation stop part and the first screw part overlap with each other, a depth of a second groove of the second rotation stop part is shallower than a depth of a first groove of the first screw part (see FIGS. 2, 3; machine translation, page 2, “rather than ball screw slot 2, the depth of ball spline slot 3 is formed shallowly a little”).
Regarding claim 2, Hiroshi discloses that the first screw part is a male screw and the second screw part is a female screw (see FIG. 3).
Regarding claim 3, Hiroshi discloses that the first and second rotation stop parts are spline mechanisms (see FIGS. 2, 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 5 are allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS J LANE whose telephone number is (571)270-5988. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/NICHOLAS J LANE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
May 30, 2026
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