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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/20/26 has been entered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
While Applicant explains in the specification that the below horizontal position is “(e.g., below the x-axis)”, Examiner notes that in the retracted stowed position shown in figure 3 of the published application, the x-axis is shown as a vertical line.
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 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.
Claims 1, 3-9, and 11-20 are 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 phrase “wherein the retracted stowed position is a below horizontal position” is indefinite. It is unclear what is meant by “a below horizontal position”. While Applicant explains in the specification that below horizontal position is “(e.g., below the x-axis)”, Examiner notes that in the retracted stowed position shown in figure 3 of the published application, the x-axis is shown as a vertical line.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-9, and 11-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CA-3063116 (CA’116) in view of GB-2155143 (GB’143).
Re: claims 1, 3-5, 7-9, 11-13, 15-18, and 20. CA’116 shows in figure 3 an assembly, comprising: a shock strut comprising: a shock strut cylinder 110; and a shock strut piston 120 slidably disposed within the shock strut cylinder which includes gas 134 the condition of which (pressure/temperature) sensor 150 detects as disclosed in paragraph [0046]; and a temperature control unit assembly 25, 150 with part of it or element 150 disposed within the shock strut cylinder and discloses in paragraph [0004] gas pressure (which is tied to gas temperature) being maintained within a design envelope), wherein the shock strut cylinder is divided into a liquid chamber 132 and a mixed fluid chamber 134, wherein the landing gear assembly is configured such that liquid from the liquid chamber 132 enters the mixed fluid chamber responsive to compression of the shock strut or responsive to the landing gear assembly being in a retracted stowed position by virtue of the chambers being open to each other and not separated by a barrier, the mixed fluid chamber 134 comprising a gas portion 134 and a liquid portion or the portion of 132 entering 134 as broadly recited, wherein the retracted stowed position is a below horizontal position or stowed below an X-axis line as broadly recited and as best understood, and wherein the temperature control unit assembly 25, 150 is configured such that a component of the temperature control unit assembly 25, 150 is positioned within the gas portion 134 of the mixed fluid chamber regardless of whether the landing gear assembly is in an extended position, a compressed position, or in the retracted or stowed position particularly in the retracted or stowed position to the point before the liquid reaches the temperature control unit assembly as broadly recited, but is silent with regard to the temperature control unit assembly comprising: a temperature regulator; a temperature sensor electrically coupled to the temperature regulator and is silent with regard to a heating element electrically coupled to the temperature regulator being configured to, responsive to a temperature within the shock strut cylinder falling below a predetermined temperature, heat gas within the shock strut cylinder. With regard to claim 9, CA’116 discloses an aircraft in the abstract.
GB’143 teaches in figure 1 and claim 1 the use of a temperature control unit assembly comprising in addition to a temperature sensor 28 a temperature regulator 32 and a heating element 30 electrically coupled to the temperature regulator 32.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the temperature control assembly of CA’116, as modified, to have also included a temperature regulator and a heating element electrically coupled to the regulator, in view of the teachings of GB’143, in order to provide an assembly made up of components that enable an increase in the gas pressure to make the strut stiffer to help it support more static load depending on the particular application.
GB’143 teaches in figure 1 and in clam 1 the use of a temperature control unit assembly 28, 30 being configured to, responsive to a temperature within the shock strut cylinder falling below a predetermined temperature, heat gas within 10 which is within the shock strut.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the temperature control assembly of CA’116, as modified, to have been configured to, responsive to a temperature within the shock strut cylinder falling below a predetermined temperature, heat gas within the shock strut cylinder, in view of the teachings of GB’143, in order to provide a means of increasing the gas pressure to make the strut stiffer to help it support more static loads depending on the particular application. With regard to claims 7, 8, 15, and 16 see claim 1 of GB’143 which describes heating up to the predetermined max temperature (claims 7, 15, and 20) and being configured to cease heating or maintain the gas temperature at said predetermined max temperature value (claims 8, 16, and 18).
Re: claims 6, 14, and 19. CA’116, as modified, is silent with regards to the heating element being a certain type.
GB’143 teaches in figure 1 the use of a heating element 30 being of the strip type, since it comprises a coil structure arranged in a strip fashion, as best understood.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the heating element of CA’116, as modified, to have been of the strip type, in view of the teachings of GB’143, in order to provide to provide an arrangement that results in a more compact assembly due to the strip type arrangement not taking up as much vertical space as another type of heating element.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/20/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. With respect to independent claims 1, 9, and 17 Applicant argues that Fazali (CA’116) is silent with regard to having a retracted stowed position that is a below horizontal position. In paragraph [0027] of the instant published application, Applicant describes below horizontal as “(e.g., below the x-axis)”. As broadly recited and as best understood, the retracted stowed position of the landing gear assembly of CA’116 is below an x-axis, particularly one drawn above the landing gear assembly. Applicant further argues that Guesdon (GB’143) also fails to show or suggest the retracted stowed position that is a below horizontal position. Examiner notes that GB’143 was used solely for the teaching of the temperature responsive heating element. Accordingly, the above rejections have been maintained.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MELODY M BURCH whose telephone number is (571)272-7114. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 6:30AM-3PM, generally.
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mmb
June 11, 2026
/MELODY M BURCH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
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