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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 5/1/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 112 and 102 rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further search and consideration, a new ground of rejection in view of Leonardelli (WO 2012/012818) is entered. The indication of allowable subject matter is also withdrawn in view of Leonardelli.
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, 4, 7-10, 12-13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Leonardelli (WO 2012/012818).
Regarding claims 1, 8, 13, and 16, Leonardelli discloses a multi-layer sliding bearing (¶ 2). The sliding bearing comprises a support shell 2 (corresponding to the claimed metal film carrier), and a sliding layer 3 formed thereon (¶ 31). A bearing metal layer 4 can be arranged between the support shell and the bearing metal layer (¶ 34). The
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sliding layer comprises a first area 8 coated with material 5, and areas 9 arranged peripherally to the first area coated with a different material (¶ 46, see Fig. 5). Leonardelli teaches the
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sliding layer materials are applied by cold gas spraying (¶ 50), as well as the bearing metal layer (¶ 43). All of the support shell 2, bearing metal layer 4, and sliding layer 3 are arranged radially (see Fig. 1) while the material formed on areas 8 and 9 are arranged axially.
Regarding claim 4, Leonardelli teaches the material for area 9 can have a higher porosity than the material for area 8 (¶ 69). Leonardelli also teaches the material for area 8 is harder than the material for area 9 (¶ 67). These teachings intrinsically establish different densities.
Regarding claims 7, 9, and 12, Leonardelli teaches area 8 is subject more to sliding (¶ 49) whereas area 9 is subject to high edge loading (¶ 70), and the materials for these areas are chosen for these operating requirements.
Regarding claim 10, Leonardelli teaches the material for area 8 may be selected from various alloys (¶ 48), and the material for the bearing metal layer 4 may be selected from various alloys (¶¶ 35-40). Some combinations of these metals will have different colors, inherently leading to the claimed “wear indicator layer” when a differently colored metal is exposed.
Conclusion
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/XIAOBEI WANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1784
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