DETAILED ACTION
This is on the merits of Application No. 18/275117, filed on 07/11/2023. Claims 2-7 are pending. Claims 2-3 and 5-7 are withdrawn. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 27, 200, 204, 205, 206, 301, 306, 307. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) 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. 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.
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 “triangle support connected between said bridge gear transmission box body and the engine rear support”, “the input shaft of the gear transmission box body”, “the same spline coaxially penetrates into the output shaft bearing block”, “the outward extending part of the bearing block of the gear transmission box body are fastened through nuts”, and “three groups of mutually meshed gear bearing combinations” of claim 4 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.
The drawings are objected to because the numbers are hard to read clearly. 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 Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 4 line 6 states “the left output shaft” and should state --a left output shaft--.
Claim 4 line 8 states “the engine rear support” and should state --an engine rear support--.
Claim 4 line 9 states “the input shaft” and should state --an input shaft--.
Claim 4 line 9 states “the right side of the output shaft bearing block” and should state --a right side of an output shaft bearing block--.
Claim 4 line 17 states “the first group… the second group… the third group” and should state --a first group… a second group… a third group--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 4 is 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The claims are generally narrative and indefinite, failing to conform with current U.S. practice. They appear to be a literal translation into English from a foreign document and are replete with grammatical and idiomatic errors.
The following terms are unclear as neither the specification nor claims provide enough information as to how to interpret them:
“gear transmission box body”
“bridge gear transmission box body”
What is the difference between these terms? What is meant by a “box body”? Are these just talking about the housings? It is suggested applicant just state “a gear transmission” and “a bridge gear transmission”.
Claim 4 starting at line 5 states “a bridge gear transmission box body mounted horizontally on the left output shaft of said engine is closely stuck and fixedly mounted to the box body at the left of the engine output shaft”. This limitation is unclear and is confusing as to what is trying to be claimed. First, “the left output shaft” and “the engine output shaft” lack antecedent basis. Second, are there multiple output shafts of the engine? Is there a “left output shaft” and a separate “engine output shaft”? Or are they the same output shaft? Third, what is meant by “mounted horizontally on the left output shaft”? What is meant by “horizontally” in this way? Or is this trying to state that the bridge gear transmission box body is mounted on the left side of the output shaft in a horizontal direction? Fourth, it is unclear what is meant by “closely stuck and fixedly mounted to the box body”. If the output shaft were stuck and fixed to a box body, how would the output shaft rotate? Further, to which “box body” is this referring to?
Claim 4 starting at line 9 states “a top bearing block of the input shaft of the gear transmission box body is arranged on the right side of the output shaft bearing block at the tail end of the bridge gear transmission box body side by side”. It is unclear what this claim limitation is trying to state. Is the top bearing block “at the tail end” or is the output shaft bearing block “at the tail end” of the bridge gear transmission box body? As written, it could be interpreted as either one being “at the tail end”. Further, it is unclear how to interpret “side by side”. Is this trying to state one of these components is directly to the side of the bridge gear transmission box body? Reviewing the drawings, it looks like the output shaft bearing block is side by side with the bridge gear transmission box body and the top bearing block is arranged to the right of the output shaft bearing block. It is suggested the claim split up these limitations to avoid confusion.
Claim 4 line 11 states “the same spline coaxially penetrates into the output shaft bearing block at the tail end of the bridge gear transmission box body and the top bearing block of the input shaft of the gear transmission box body which are coaxial and side by side therewith”. Again, it is confusing as to what is happening in this limitation. First, what spline connection is this referencing? There is a lack of antecedent basis for this spline. A review of the drawings shows no spline connection. What elements are being splined together that penetrates into the output shaft bearing block? Is the spline penetrating all the way to the tail end of the bridge gear transmission box body and the top bearing block of the input shaft of the gear transmission box body? What is coaxial and side by side therewith? This limitation grammatically gives many different interpretations as to what is happening, making it unclear.
Claim 4 line 14 states “the outward extending part of the bearing block of the gear transmission box body are fastened through nuts”. There is a lack of antecedent basis for “the outward extending part” and “the bearing block of the gear transmission box body”. Is this a new bearing block? The claim references element 201, but that is the “top bearing block”. If these are the same components, they should be stated as such.
Claim 4 line 15 states “three groups of mutually meshed gear bearing combinations are sequentially arranged in the bridge gear transmission box body, comprising the first group of transmission gears, the second group of transition gear bearing combination and the third group of tail end output gear bearing combination.” It is unclear what this claim is trying to state. What is a “mutually meshed gear bearing combination”? Are the bearings meshing with each other somehow? Or is this trying to state there are gear mesh combinations and these gears have bearings inside? How does the second group contain another gear bearing combination? What is even considered a gear bearing combination? Similarly, what is “a group of tail end output gear bearing combination”? The claim references elements 204, 205, and 206, but these appear to be single gears in Fig. 8.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/23/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding the drawings, applicant argues that the features not shown in the drawings of claim 4 have been canceled, but no feature of claim 4 has been canceled and the missing features have not been shown in the amended drawings. Applicant states that missing labels have been added, however many of these labels are not in the specification, as stated above. These labels still do not show the features missing in the drawings. For example, while there may be an “input shaft” somewhere shown in the drawings, there is no label as such. Another example, the elected figures do not show any kind of “triangle support”. Further, the drawing amendments have made the numbering on the drawings even harder to read making a further objection necessary.
Applicant argues that the amendment of claim 4 has overcome the 112 rejections. While some of the claim objections may have been fixed, not all the claim objections have been addressed and none of the 112(b) rejections have been addressed nor overcome.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY HANNON whose telephone number is (571)270-1943. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10-6.
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/TIMOTHY HANNON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655