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
Examiner’s Comments
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 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.
Column and line (or Paragraph Number) citations have been provided as a convenience for Applicants, but the entirety of each reference should be duly considered. Any recitation of a Figure element, e.g. “Figure 1, element T should be construed as inherently also reciting “and relevant disclosure thereto”.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the groove provided on an external surface of the collar (32) of all of the claims must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 3-16 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 3 recites “an internal groove” in lines 5-6 which lacks antecedent basis in the claims as claim 1 previously recited “a groove” through which oil is supplied.
Claim 4 recites “the internal groove” which lacks antecedent basis as claim 1 previously recited “a groove”.
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-3 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the well known prior art of FIGS.1-2 in view of JPH 070.
For claim 1, the well known prior art of FIGS.1-2 provide a cab mounting assembly hinge-connecting a frame of a vehicle and a cab in which an occupant sits,
the cab mounting assembly comprising:
a collar (132) disposed outside a fixing bolt (133) hinge-connecting the frame and the cab;
a hinge cushion (120) fitted around the collar to buffer vibration transmitted to the cab.
Additionally, for claim 2, the hinge cushion (120) includes:
an external housing (121);
an internal housing (122) positioned inside the external housing at a predetermined distance from the external housing to form a space therebetween; and
a cushion rubber (123) filling the space between the external housing and the internal housing.
Additionally, for claim 3, the hinge cushion (120) further includes:
an internal sleeve (124) provided inside the internal housing,
the sleeve (124) being in contact with the collar,
For claim 17, wherein an external circumferential portion of the hinge cushion (120) is fixed by a cab hinge bracket (111) fastened to the frame and a cab hinge cover (115) fastened to the cab hinge bracket, and wherein the fixing bolt extending through a connecting arm bracket connected to the cab extends through the hinge cushion.
The well known prior art therefore lack only an internal surface of the hinge cushion provided with an internal groove on the internal sleeve through which oil supplied into the hinge cushion flows to an end portion of the hinge cushion.
This feature is known from JPH 5-92070 (JPH 070) which provides a cab mounting assembly (see Abstract) with a collar (FIG.5) disposed outside a bolt (torsion bar 5), a hinge cushion (15), a sleeve (29) and, on an internal surface (29C) thereof, a grease groove (29D) through which oil is supplied into the hinge cushion from a grease nipple (26).
For claim 18, the cab hinge bracket is provided with an oil supply line (26) through which the oil is supplied to the hinge cushion.
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable expectation of success to have provided the sleeve and bracket, respectively, of the well known prior art of FIG.1-2 with a grease groove and supply line, respectively, as taught by JPH 070 in order to allow oil to be supplied to lubricate the assembly.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the well known prior art of FIGS.1-2, modified above with respect to claim 3, and further in view of Lee et al. ‘026.
For claim 4, Lee et al. (2007/0119026) teach the use of a spiral grease groove ([0011]) and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable expectation of success to have provided the groove of the well known prior art of FIG.1-2, as modified, to be spiral in shape as taught by Lee et al. ‘026 as an obvious expedient in order to more effectively better supply oil.
Claims 5, 14-16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the well known prior art of FIGS.1-2, as modified above, and further in view of Egami et al. (7785013) and further in view of JPH 070, and KR 182.
For claim 5, the well known prior art of FIGS.1-2, modified above with respect to claim 3, provides the cushion rubber (123) but lacks the rubber including a protrusion on one end portion of the cushion rubber to protrude in a circumferential direction of the hinge cushion.
This feature is known from Egami et al. as seen in FIG.3 which shows protrusions spaced circumferentially with radial grooves therebetween.
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable expectation of success to have provided the cushion rubber of the well known prior art of FIG.1-2, as modified, with radial grooves as taught by Egami et al. in order to allow for an alternative path of delivery for the supplied oil.
For claim 14, the well known prior art of FIGS.1-2, as modified above, further includes a side stopper (131) provided on a first end portion of the hinge cushion opposite to a second end portion of the hinge cushion on which the protrusion is provided,
the side stopper (131) being configured to provide a buffer between the hinge cushion and a connecting arm bracket connected to the cab.
For claim 15, wherein the side stopper fails to provide a through hole but JPH 070 teaches this feature. Specifically, JPH 070 provides side stoppers with a through-hole extending therethrough, and wherein the internal groove fluidically communicates with the through-hole.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable expectation of success to have further provided the same for the well known prior art of FIG.1-2, as modified, to allow the nipple to be conveniently positioned.
For claim 16, JPH 070 teaches a sealing lip (inherent, oil is disclosed to be sealed in the chamber 15D) fitted to block oil leakage and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable expectation of success to have provided such a seal for the protrusion of the well known prior art of FIG.1-2, as modified, to block the oil from leaking in an axial direction of the hinge cushion.
For claim 19, the well known prior art, as modified, fails to disclose the use of two hinge cushions abutted together, as taught by KR ‘182.
KR 2004-0104182 (KR 182) provides the use of two adjacent hinge cushions (in plural) which are disposed in an abutted relationship (see 12,13, of FIG.2) where the two adjacent hinge cushions (12 and 13) together construct a hinge cushion unit.
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable expectation of success to have further provided two abutted and adjacent hinge cushions as taught by KR 182 for use with the well known prior art of FIG.1-2, as modified, in place of one single hinge cushion as an obvious expedient based on desired properties and costs.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-13 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the primary reason for the indication of allowable subject matter for the claims in this application is the inclusion of the specific second communication groove provided on one end portion of the internal sleeve to fluidically communicate with the first communication groove, wherein the cushion grooves, the first communication groove, and the second communication groove fluidically communicate with each other to form the groove in the hinge cushion so that the oil flows from an external circumferential surface of the hinge cushion into the hinge cushion therethrough, in combination with the other elements recited which is not found in the prior art of record.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lee et al. ‘377 (9103377) as seen in FIG.14 shows housing (400) is provided with a protrusion (410) having grooves (radial lubrication passageway 418 and axial lubrication passageway 420) provided therein.
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HILARY L GUTMAN whose telephone number is 571.272.6662. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, PAUL DICKSON can be reached on 571.272.7742. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HILARY L GUTMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614