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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I in the reply filed on 11/26/25 is acknowledged.
Claims 8-9 and 11-15 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/26/25.
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.
(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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Major (US 2022/0324507).
In re claim 1, Major discloses an apparatus comprising: a shaft (20); a helical groove (40) disposed on the shaft; a ball nut rack (22) engaged with the helical groove, the ball nut rack including a plurality of bearings (24); a motor (14) configured to apply force to the ball nut rack, the motor including a linear magnet array (linear magnets 74 arranged in an array around the ball nut) to apply the force to the ball nut rack; and a gear housing (80), the ball nut rack, the helical groove, and the motor disposed within the gear housing (as shown in Figure 4).
In re claim 2, Major further discloses wherein the gear housing is cylindrically shaped (as shown in Figure 4).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Major in view of Kurahashi (US 5,437,349).
In re claim 3, Major discloses the apparatus of claim 1, but does not disclose further including a cooling system to cool the motor, the cooling system at least partially disposed within the gear housing. Kurahashi, however, does disclose a steering system including a cooling system (air, see column 7, line 52 to column 8, line 5) to cool the motor, the cooling system at least partially disposed within the gear housing (air, see column 7, line 52 to column 8, line 5). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the housing of Major such that they comprised the cooling air system of Kurahashi to advantageously provide cooling for the steering system.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Major in view of Ricci (US 10,141,822).
In re claim 5, Major discloses the apparatus of claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the linear magnet array is a Halbach array. Ricci, however, does disclose a motor using a Halbach array of magnets (901a-d) to rotate a structure (shaft 703) to produce a higher magnetic field (see column 2, lines 58-67). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the magnets of Major such that they comprised the Halbach array of Ricci to advantageously produce a higher magnetic field.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 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 claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The specific limitations of “wherein the ball nut rack includes a plurality of slots parallel to the shaft, and the motor further includes a plurality of linear magnet arrays including the linear magnet array, each of the plurality of linear magnet arrays disposed in a corresponding one of the plurality of slots” is not anticipated or made obvious by the prior art of record in the examiner’s opinion. The Examiner notes that the prior art that teaches a magnetically driven ball nut only teaches a single magnet array (not a plural number of arrays) and the magnets are not mounted in a plurality of slots.
Claim 7 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 claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The specific limitations of “further including: an input shaft; and a planetary reduction gear set coupling the input shaft to the shaft, the planetary reduction gear set including at least three planet gears” is not anticipated or made obvious by the prior art of record in the examiner’s opinion. The Examiner notes that all of the prior art that teaches a magnetically driven ball nut do not teach the ability to have a planetary reduction gear set coupling the input shaft to the shaft and to do so would require significant redesign.
Claims 21-23 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The specific limitations of “a shaft including a helical groove; a ball nut rack engaged with the helical groove, the ball nut rack including a plurality of bearings and a first magnet array; and a motor including a second magnet array, the first magnetic array and the second magnetic array (note “magnetic” arrays are interpreted as equivalent to “magnet” arrays, without raising antecedent basis issues; correction is optional) configured to provide magnetic forces that interact to translate the ball nut rack, at least one steerable wheel to rotate when the ball nut rack translates” is not anticipated or made obvious by the prior art of record in the examiner’s opinion. The Examiner notes that the prior art only discloses a single magnet/magnetic array mounted either on the housing or on the ball nut to translate the rack, not two separate magnet/magnetic arrays that interact with each other to translate the ball nut rack.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. The references cited on the attached PTO-892 teach ball nut steering devices of interest.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael R Stabley whose telephone number is (571)270-3249. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-5:30.
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, Valentin Neacsu can be reached on (571) 272-6265. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL R STABLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3611 /VALENTIN NEACSU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3611