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 Objections
The claims are objected to because it is unclear if the applicant is claiming the subcombination of an apparatus or the combination of the apparatus and a rail of a window regulator and a vehicle door panel. The preamble of claim 1 implies that the applicant is claiming the subcombination of the apparatus, however, the positive recitations of the vehicle door panel on line 1 of claim 1 and line 3 of claim 8, the rail on line 13 of claim 1, and the vehicle door on line 2 of claim 2 implies that the applicant is claiming the combination of the apparatus and the rail of a window regulator and a vehicle door panel.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-7, 15, 17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lisak et al. (US 4956942) in view of Mrozowski et al. (US 2002/0008404). Lisak et al. discloses an apparatus for adjusting a location of a rail 12, 46 of a window regulator (see lines 49-53 of column 2 which discloses that the window 14 is movable between opened and closed positions which would require a window regulator) with respect to a vehicle door panel (labeled below), the apparatus comprising:
a jack-screw 54 secured to a gear 62, the gear 62 and the jack-screw 54 being rotatably secured to a surface (labeled below) of the vehicle door panel, the jack screw 54 extending away from the surface of the vehicle door panel as labeled below in figure 1;
a bevel gear 64 rotatably secured to the vehicle door panel, the bevel gear 64 being configured to meshingly engage the gear 62; and
a nut 52 secured to the rail 12, 46, the jack-screw 54 extending through the rail 12, 46 and threadingly engaging the nut 52, wherein when the bevel gear 64 is rotated in a first direction the jack-screw 54 will rotate in either a clockwise direction and when the bevel gear 64 is rotated in a second direction, which is opposite to the first direction, the jack-screw 54 will rotate in a or counter clockwise direction, wherein movement of the jack-screw 54 in the clockwise direction or in the counter clockwise direction which will cause the rail 12, 46 to move in a direction with respect to the vehicle door panel (claim 1).
Lisak et al. is silent concerning a worm rotatably secured to the vehicle door panel, the worm being configured to meshingly engage the gear.
However, Mrozowski et al. discloses an apparatus for adjusting a location of a rail 234 (fig. 6) comprising a worm 270 (fig. 9) rotatably secured to a vehicle door panel 216, the worm being 270 configured to meshingly engage a gear 272, wherein rotation of the worm and the gear causes the rail 234 to move relative to the vehicle door panel 216.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to replace the two bevel gears 62 and 64 of Lisak et al. with a worm 270 and worm gear 272, as taught by Mrozowski et al., with a reasonable expectation of success to more accurately control the positioning of the rail relative to the vehicle door panel and to produce large torque in a small space.
With respect to claim 2, Lisak et al. discloses that the bevel gear 64 is accessible from outside of a vehicle door 10. Thus, when the bevel gear 64 is replaced by the worm and worm gear drive, the worm would also be accessible from outside the vehicle door 10.
With respect to claim 3, the apparatus 25 of Lisak et al., as modified above, is located at the lower area of the rail 12, 46 as shown in figure 1.
With respect to claim 4, Lisak et al., as modified above, discloses that the vehicle door panel (labeled below) provides a guiding 34 (fig. 1) for a tool 32 that is configured to engage a head of the worm 270 of Mrozowski et al. in order to provide a rotational force to the worm.
With respect to claims 5 and 6, the apparatus 25 of Lisak et al., as modified above, is located in a lower area of the rail 12, 46 as shown in figure 1.
With respect to claim 7, Lisak et al., as modified above, discloses that the vehicle door panel (labeled below) provides a guiding 34 (fig. 1) for a tool 32 that is configured to engage a head of the worm 270 of Mrozowski et al. in order to provide a rotational force to the worm.
With respect to claim 15, Lisak et al., as modified above, discloses that the worm 270 and the gear 272 of Mrozowski et al. would be located between the rail 12, 46 of the window regulator and the vehicle door panel.
With respect to claim 17, Lisak et al., as modified above, discloses that the nut 52 is directly secured to the rail 12, 46.
With respect to claim 19, Lisak et al., as modified above, discloses that the vehicle door panel (labeled below) provides guiding 34 (fig. 1) for access to the worm 272 of Mrozowski et al. by a tool 32.
Claims 8-14, 16, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lisak et al. in view of Mrozowski et al. as applied to claims 1-7, 15, 17 and 19 above. Lisak et al., as modified above, is silent concerning the specific method steps by which the apparatus of Lisak et al., as modified above, is utilized.
However, the use of the apparatus of Lisak et al., as modified above, would inherently lead to the method steps set forth in claims 8-14, 16, 18 and 20.
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Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed September 29, 2025 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY J STRIMBU whose telephone number is (571)272-6836. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-4:30 Monday-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Daniel Cahn can be reached at 571-270-5616. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY J STRIMBU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3634