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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 14, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by “FireFly” (FireFly Essential Services Vehicle Non-Patent Literature provided by Applicant; May 24, 2022 according to The Wayback Machine).
With respect to claim 11, FireFly discloses a three-wheeled vehicle (system mounting front wheel to vehicle as seen in bottom figure of page 2/8 of Applicant provided NPL) comprising: an arched brace (labeled “arched brace” in enhanced figure from page 2/8 of Applicant provided NPL shown below) comprising a first end, a second end and an apex (labeled “apex”); a pivot tube (labeled “pivot tube”) mounted proximal to the apex of the arched brace and defining a pivot axis; a wheel-mount arm (labeled “wheel mount arm”) comprising an arched brace coupled to the pivot tube, configured to pivot about the pivot axis such that a wheel mounted to the wheel mount will rotate about a wheel axis; a first mounting point (labeled “1st mounting point”) at the first end of the arched brace, and a second mounting point at the second end of the arched brace (a second mounting point at opposite side of the vehicle frame, not shown in the marked-up drawing), the first and second mounting points at the same height or lower than the wheel mount (as shown in marked-up figure below); a third mounting point (labeled “3rd mounting point) coupled to the arched brace between the first mounting point and the apex, and a fourth mounting point (labeled “4th mounting point”) coupled to the arched brace between the second mounting point and the apex, wherein the third and fourth mounting points are configured to be coupled to shock absorbers (labeled “shock absorber”) and wherein the first and second mounting points are configured to be pivotably coupled to the frame of a vehicle.
With respect to claim 12, wherein the third and fourth mounting points are on outriggers (labeled “outrigger”) mounted to the arched brace, and wherein the shock absorbers are mounted to the frame of the vehicle at locations higher than the first and second mounting points (as shown in marked-up figure below).
With respect to claim 14, wherein the wheel-mount arm is configured to engage a steering column (labeled “steering column”) mounted to a top of the pivot tube.
With respect to claim 16, wherein the first and second mounting points define a suspension axis, and wherein the suspension axis is lower than, and behind the wheel axis relative to the vehicle frame (as shown in marked-up figure below).
PNG
media_image1.png
651
694
media_image1.png
Greyscale
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 13 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “FireFly” in view of Klein (US 5,273,301).
With respect to claims 13 and 17, “FireFly” discloses the claimed invention discussed above and that the pivot tube comprises a bearing configured to permit the wheel to pivot about the pivot axis but does not disclose wherein the bearing is an angular contact bearing configured to withstand both axial and radial loads. Klein discloses a tube supporting a wheel arm can comprise a bearing that permits rotation while being able to bear axial and radial loads (18, Figs 1a, 1b; column 5, lines 30-38). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to modify the invention of “FireFly” in view of the teachings of Klein to use angular contact bearings in order to allow for a smoother and more efficient turning of a vehicle wheel.
Claim 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “FireFly” in view of Hanagan (US 6,883,629).
With respect to claim 15, “FireFly” discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein the wheel mounting arm is a single sided mounting arm or wherein the wheel-mount arm comprises a removable portion, wherein removing the removal portion permits the wheel mounted to the wheel mount to be removed. Hanagan, however, discloses a front wheel of a three wheel vehicle having a wheel mounting arm (112) that is a single sided mounting arm (Fig 8) or wherein the wheel-mount arm comprises a removable portion (lug nuts connecting wheel to flange 152), wherein removing the removal portion permits the wheel mounted to the wheel mount to be removed (column 4, lines 30-46). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to modify the invention of “FireFly” in view of the teachings of Hanagan to utilize a one sided wheel mount arm and having a removable portion in order to enable the wheel to be conveniently removed from the lug nut side (column 4, lines 47-50).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 are allowed.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 DREW J BROWN whose telephone number is (571)272-1362. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday.
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, Paul Dickson can be reached on 571-272-7742. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
DREW BROWN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
/DREW J BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614