DETAILED ACTION
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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 October 2, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 28 and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GB 1,524,294, newly cited).
As best depicted in Figures 1-3, GB ‘294 is directed to a tire construction comprising a tread, a pair of sidewalls, a pair of beads, a carcass reinforcement, and a crown reinforcement. See modified Figure 3 below.
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GB ‘ 294 further states that said crown reinforcement includes at least two layers (corresponds with claimed first and second working layers), wherein said layers are formed with specific metal reinforcing elements having a rectangular orientation (Figure 1).
With further respect to said reinforcing elements, GB ‘294 states that (a) a thickness “t” is between 0.127 mm and 0.508 mm, (b) a width “w” is between 0.254 mm and 5.08 mm, (c) a thickness to width ratio (claimed as 1/a) is less than 0.5 (inverse of width to thickness ratio), (d) a breaking strength of said elements is greater than 14,062 kgf/cm2 (approximately 1,380 N/mm2), more preferably greater than 21,091 kgf/cm2 (approximately 2,070 N/mm2), and (e) an exemplary end count of 18 ends per 25.4 mm (0.7 ends per mm) (Page 1, Lines 50-60 and Page 4, Lines 30-34 and Lines 90-95). This in turn results in a wide variety of tire designs (using the end count disclosed above and the preferred breaking strength) that satisfy the claimed quantitative relationships with several of such designs listed below.
W=0.70 mm, T= 0.35 mm, P=1/0.7=1.4, RF=2070 MPa (N/mm2), Rn=355 N/mm
P> 0.8*(2070/355)*(1.8)*(0.35)2 and P< 1.1*(2070/355)*(1.8)*(0.35)2
P> 1.02 and P< 1.4
W=0.80 mm, T= 0.40 mm, P=1/0.7=1.4, RF=2070 MPa (N/mm2), Rn=464 N/mm
P> 0.8*(2070/464)*(1.8)*(0.40)2 and P< 1.1*(2070/464)*(1.8)*(0.40)2
P> 1.03 and P< 1.4
Additionally, independent of the exact width and thickness values, when a ratio between a thickness and a width is 0.475, for example, and an end count is 0.7 ends per mm (corresponds with pitch of 1.4), the claims are necessarily satisfied in terms of the quantitative relationship as set forth below.
0.8*(RF/Rn)*(1.9)*T2 < p < 1.1*(RF/Rn)*(1.9)*T2
0.8*(1/W*T*0.7)*(1.9)*T2 < p < 1.1*(1/W*T*0.7)*1.9*T2
2.2 T/W < p < 3 T/W
1.03 < p < 1.42
It is emphasized that these are exemplary tire designs that satisfy the claimed quantitative relationships (ratio of 0.5 is an excluded end point for a ratio between the thickness and the width in GB ‘294 but is used to approximate the claimed quantitative relationship given that a ratio of 0.499, for example, is within the scope of GB ‘294)- a wide variety of additional tire designs having, for example, thickness to width ratios between 0.45 and 0.50 would satisfy the claimed invention (as well as additional tire designs in which the breaking strength and the end count are varied). One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to form the belt layers of GB ‘294 with flat, rectangular reinforcing elements that satisfy the claimed quantitative relationships absent a conclusive showing of unexpected results. It is particularly noted that comparative examples T1, T2, and T3 in Table 1 do not constitute the closest prior art of record since they include reinforcing elements having a thickness to width ratio of 1 (any realized benefits might simply be a function of using rectangular reinforcing filaments as opposed to monofilaments). Again, a wide variety of tire designs encompassed by GB ‘294 would satisfy the claims and Applicant has not provided a conclusive showing of unexpected results for the claimed tire design.
5. Claim(s) 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GB ‘154 as applied in claim 28 above and further in view of Snyder (US 3,850,219, of record).
While GB ‘154 is silent with respect to the inclusion of a hooping ply, it is extremely well known and conventional to including hooping plies formed with textile elements in order to, for example, restrict growth during manufacturing, provide protection to underlying working belt layers, and improve uniformity, as shown for example by Snyder (Figure 1 and Column 2, Lines 30+ and Column 3, Lines 4-45). One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to include a conventional hooping ply in the tire of GB ‘154 for the benefits detailed above.
Response to Arguments
6. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 28-30 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.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN R FISCHER whose telephone number is (571)272-1215. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-2:00.
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Justin Fischer
/JUSTIN R FISCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1749 October 8, 2026
