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
This is the first non-final office action on the merits. Claims 1-8 are currently pending.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP2022-130473, filed on 08/18/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/15/2023 has been received and considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are accepted.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Seo (KR 102049541 B1, provided with translation).
Regarding claim 1, Seo teaches (Fig. 1-5): A rail (driving rail 330) configured to guide a carriage (track vehicle 500) traveling in a predetermined travel direction (Fig. 1-2), the rail (330) comprising: a first unit (331) and a second unit (331) each extending in the travel direction, and lined up in series in the travel direction (Fig. 4); and a coupling mechanism (side plates 332 and connecting bolts/nuts 333) configured to couple the first unit (331) and the second unit (331) to each other (Fig. 4; para. 0037), and wherein the first unit (331) and the second unit (331) each comprise: a support (holder 340 and support 350)(Fig. 1 and 3-5; para. 0034); a rack (rack gear) fixed to the support (340) and configured to engage with a pinion (pinion gears) of the carriage (500)(Fig. 1 and 3; para. 0036); and a rail body (330) fixed to the support (340) while being parallel to the rack (Fig. 3), and configured to guide travel of the carriage (500), a width direction is a direction orthogonal to the travel direction when viewed in an up-down direction (Fig. 3-4), a first side in the width direction is one side in the width direction, a second side in the width direction is another side in the width direction (Fig. 3-4), a first support (340) is the support of the first unit (331), a second support (340) is the support of the second unit (331), a first rack is the rack of the first unit, and a second rack is the rack of the second unit (Fig. 4), the coupling mechanism (332, 333) is configured to couple a first target member (annotated Fig. 4 below), which is a coupling target that is either the first support or the first rack, to a second target member (annotated Fig. 4 below), which is a coupling target that is either the second support or the second rack (Fig. 4), the coupling mechanism (332, 333) comprises: a coupling member (side plate 332) having a reference abutment face (annotated Fig. 4 below) configured to abut against both a first reference face (annotated Fig. 4 below), which is a reference face of the first target member facing the first widthwise side, and a second reference face (annotated Fig. 4 below), which is a reference face of the second target member facing the first side in the width direction (Fig. 4); a first fixing member (bolts/nuts 333) configured to fix the coupling member (332) to the first target member (annotated Fig. 4 below); and a second fixing member (333) configured to fix the coupling member (332) to the second target member (annotated Fig. 4 below), the first fixing member (333) is attachable to and detachable from at least either the coupling member or the first target member (Fig. 4), and is configured to position the first target member (annotated Fig. 4 below) and the coupling member (332) by being attached (Fig. 4), and the second fixing member (333) is configured to adjust relative positions of the second target member (annotated Fig. 4 below) and the coupling member (332), and is configured to fix the second target member and the coupling member at adjusted relative positions (para. 0071, lines 4-8; para. 0083; Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 2, Seo further teaches (Fig. 1-5): the first support and the second support (340) are separated by a gap in the travel direction (Fig. 1) while the first unit (331) and the second unit (331) are coupled to each other by the coupling mechanism (332, 333)(Fig. 1 and 4).
Regarding claim 3, Seo further teaches (Fig. 1-5): a first rail body is the rail body of the first unit (331), and a second rail body is the rail body of the second unit (331)(Fig. 4), the coupling member (332) is disposed at a different position from the first rail body and the second rail body in the width direction (Fig. 4), and the first rail body and the second rail body are in contact with each other in the travel direction (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 4, Seo further teaches (Fig. 1-5): a first rail body is the rail body of the first unit (331), and a second rail body is the rail body of the second unit (331)(Fig. 4), the coupling member (332) is disposed at a different position from the first rail body and the second rail body in the width direction (Fig. 4), and the first rail body and the second rail body are in contact with each other in the travel direction (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 6, Seo further teaches (Fig. 1-5): the support (340) comprises a base member (350), and a rack support member (rail connecting portion 341) fixed to the base member (Fig. 5), the rack support member (341) comprises a width-direction positioner (mounting groove 343) configured to position the rack (rack gear) in the width direction by abutting against the rack from the first side in the width direction or the second side in the width direction (Fig. 4-5), and the rack (rack gear) is fixed to the rack support member (341) while in contact with the width-direction positioner (343) in the width direction (Fig. 4-5).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 7 and 8 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 claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 5, the prior art fails to teach that the target rail body comprises: a target body section overlapping the target support when viewed in the up-down direction; and a target extension section overlapping the counterpart support when viewed in the up-down direction, the counterpart rail body does not overlap a portion of the counterpart support overlapping the target extension section when viewed in the up-down direction, and the target body section is fixed to an upper surface of the target support, and the target extension section is fixed to an upper surface of the counterpart support. While Seo further teaches (Fig. 1-5): a target unit (annotated Fig. 5 below) is one of the first unit and the second unit (331), a counterpart unit (annotated Fig. 5 below) is another one of the first unit and the second unit (331), a target support (annotated Fig. 5 below) is the support of the target unit (annotated Fig. 5 below), a counterpart support (annotated Fig. 5 below) is the support of the counterpart unit (annotated Fig. 5 below), a target rail body (annotated Fig. 5 below) is the rail body of the target unit (annotated Fig. 5 below), and a counterpart rail body (annotated Fig. 5 below) is the rail body of the counterpart unit (annotated Fig. 5 below), the examiner finds no obvious reason to modify Seo such that the target rail body comprises: a target body section overlapping the target support when viewed in the up-down direction; and a target extension section overlapping the counterpart support when viewed in the up-down direction, the counterpart rail body does not overlap a portion of the counterpart support overlapping the target extension section when viewed in the up-down direction, and the target body section is fixed to an upper surface of the target support, and the target extension section is fixed to an upper surface of the counterpart support. Such a modification would require improper hindsight reasoning.
Regarding claim 7, the prior art fails to teach the target rack support member comprises: a target support body section that is a portion whose arrangement region in the travel direction overlaps the target base member; and a target support extension section that is a portion whose arrangement region in the travel direction overlaps the counterpart base member, the counterpart rack support member is arranged in such a manner that an arrangement region of the counterpart rack support member in the travel direction does not overlap an overlap portion of the counterpart base member, the overlap portion is a portion whose arrangement region in the travel direction overlaps the target support extension section, the target support main body section is fixed to the target base member, and the target support extension section is fixed to the counterpart base member. While Seo further teaches (Fig. 1-5): a target unit (annotated Fig. 5 below) is one of the first unit and the second unit (331), a counterpart unit (annotated Fig. 5 below) is another one of the first unit and the second unit (331), a target support (annotated Fig. 5 below) is the support of the target unit (annotated Fig. 5 below), a counterpart support (annotated Fig. 5 below) is the support of the counterpart unit (annotated Fig. 5 below), a target rail body (annotated Fig. 5 below) is the rail body of the target unit (annotated Fig. 5 below), and a counterpart rail body (annotated Fig. 5 below) is the rail body of the counterpart unit (annotated Fig. 5 below), the examiner finds no obvious reason to modify Seo such that a target support body section that is a portion whose arrangement region in the travel direction overlaps the target base member; and a target support extension section that is a portion whose arrangement region in the travel direction overlaps the counterpart base member, the counterpart rack support member is arranged in such a manner that an arrangement region of the counterpart rack support member in the travel direction does not overlap an overlap portion of the counterpart base member, the overlap portion is a portion whose arrangement region in the travel direction overlaps the target support extension section, the target support main body section is fixed to the target base member, and the target support extension section is fixed to the counterpart base member. Such a modification would require improper hindsight reasoning.
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Regarding claim 8, the prior art fails to teach that the second drum section and an inner circumferential surface of the second circular hole are separated by a gap for relative position adjustment while the second drum section has been screwed into the second female screw hole. While Seo further teaches (Fig. 1-5): the coupling mechanism (side plates 332 and connecting bolts/nuts 333) comprises: a first circular hole in one of the coupling member (332) and the first target member (annotated Fig. 4 below); a first female screw hole in another one of the coupling member (332) and the first target member (annotated Fig. 4 below); a second circular hole in one of the coupling member and the second target member (annotated Fig. 4 below); and a second female screw hole formed in another one of the coupling member and the second target member (annotated Fig. 4 below), the first fixing member (333) is a shoulder bolt comprising: a first head section (Fig. 4); a first tubular section with a diameter configured to be fitted into the first circular hole (Fig. 4); and a first male screw section (333) configured to be screwed into the first female screw hole (Fig. 4), and the second fixing member (333) is a bolt comprising: a second head section (Fig. 4); and a second drum section (bolt shank) having a male thread (Fig. 4), the second fixing member (333) is configured to be screwed into the second female screw hole (Fig. 4), the examiner finds no obvious reason to modify Seo such that the second drum section and an inner circumferential surface of the second circular hole are separated by a gap for relative position adjustment while the second drum section has been screwed into the second female screw hole. Such a modification would require improper hindsight reasoning.
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure of a rack-pinion rail having a coupling mechanism: US-20130126455-A1, US-10017190-B2, KR-20160004491-A, KR-101665091-B1, KR-20180069196-A, CN-111809457-A, CN-112962367-A.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHENG XI LIN whose telephone number is (571)272-6102. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. through Fri. 9:00am to 6:00pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Samuel (Joe) Morano can be reached at 5712726684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHENG LIN/Examiner, Art Unit 3615