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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-8, in the reply filed on November 18, 2025, is acknowledged.
Claims 9-11 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 November 18, 2025.
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancelation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be corrected in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name and by the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
Claims 1 – 8 are pending and under examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on January 08, 2025, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 – 8 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.
Regarding claim 1, line 7, and claim 7, line 16, the phrase "a curable fabric material that is cord-like" renders the claim(s) indefinite because the claim(s) include(s) elements not actually disclosed (those encompassed by "cord-like"), thereby rendering the scope of the claim(s) unascertainable, since it is not explicitly or unambiguously clear how the curable fabric material is necessarily “like” a cord. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claims 2-6, and 8 are rejected based in their dependency from rejected claims 1 and/or 7, respectively, from which directly or indirectly possesses those limitations which rendered the claims indefinite.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1 – 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gageby (US Pat. No. 3,917,352), in view of NISHIHARA et al. (JP-H0154185-B2).
Regarding claim 1. Gageby teaches a method for producing a semi-product for making a hub assembly and a hub assembly (see FIG. 3 an assembly comprising “hub portion H” 30, Col. 1, lines 26 – 53, see FIG. 33),
the semi-product including two spoke units (e.g., flanges 2 in FIGs. 1 – 2, and 7, 10, 15, 20, 22, 24, and interface 18 in FIGs. 4, 26 – 27),
each of which has a spoke center part (e.g., see FIG. 4) defining a bearing mounting hole (e.g., opening 32, FIG. 3, Col. 8, lines 40 - 43) capable of mounting a bearing (see Col. 9, lines 18 – 24), and
a plurality of spokes (e.g., 2, FIGs. 7 – 27, and Col. 6, lines 21 – 35) radially extending from the center part (see FIGs. 7 – 27),
the spoke center part (41) having an annular groove (see FIG. 4, FIG. 28, Col. 10, lines 35 – 56) for connecting a hub axle (see Col. 10, lines 35 – 56), said method comprising the steps of:
(A) preparing a mold (“negative mold”, Col. 4, lines 17 – 27) and a curable fabric material that is cord-like (“filament” Col. 5, lines 29 – 35),
said mold including a first disk (8), a second disk (9), and a spindle (“centerpost” 41, see Col. 4, lines 60 – 65) that connects the center of said first disk and the center of said second disk (see Col. 4, lines 60 – 65, and FIGs. 5A-5B),
said first disk (8) having a plurality of first linear grooves (18) each of which extends radially from the center of said first disk (8) to the outer periphery of said first disk (see FIGs. 4, 5A-5B),
said spindle (41) having a first end portion that protrudes from said first disk (see Col. 4, lines 60 – 65, and FIGs. 5A-5B);
(B) disposing said curable fabric material on said first disk (8) such that one end of said curable fabric material is connected to said first end portion of said spindle (41), such that said curable fabric material loops around said first end portion of said spindle (41) (e.g., see FIGs. 7 – 27, and Col. 5, lines 32 – 65, Col. 7, lines 47 – 54), such that said curable fabric material extends through one of said first linear grooves (18) (see Col. 6, lines 19 – 35),
(D) disposing said curable fabric material such that said curable fabric material returns to said first disk (8), extends through another one of said first linear grooves (18) which remains empty, loops over said first end portion of said spindle (41), and further extends through yet another one of said first linear grooves (18) which remains empty (e.g., see the different winding patterns disclosed by Gageby in FIGs. 7 – 27, and Col. 9, lines 18 – 45).
Gageby does not explicitly disclose, wherein said second disk (9) has a plurality of second linear grooves, each of which extends radially from the center of said second disk to the outer periphery of said second disk, and each of which is aligned with one of said first linear grooves, and a second end portion that is located opposite to said first end portion and that protrudes from said second disk,
(C) disposing said curable fabric material on said second disk from said first disk such that said curable fabric material extends through one of said second linear grooves from said one of said first linear grooves, loops over said second end portion of said spindle, and further extends through another one of said second linear grooves which remains empty;
(E) repeating the steps (C) and (D) until said curable fabric material is disposed in all of said first linear grooves and all of said second linear grooves; and
(F) cutting said curable fabric material at positions between said first linear grooves and corresponding ones of said second linear grooves so that parts of said curable fabric material, which are located on said first disk, form one of the spoke units independently from parts of said curable fabric material which are located on said second disk and which form the other one of the spoke units after said curable fabric material is cured to produce the semi-product.
Gageby, however, at Col. 10, lines 5 – 61, discloses an alternate apparatus “capable of use in fabricating a wheel with a single winding process”, and comprising a front negative mold half (51) [a first disk], and a rear negative mold half (52) [a second disk] (mold halves 51, 52 comprising respective mold sections 51A,B and 52A, B – “thus enabling the fabrication of wheels of various configurations with this basic fabricating equipment”) the negative mold halves are “identical in configuration” and capable of producing a rim configuration similar to that of the negative mold halves (8, 9). Gageby discloses that during the winding processes the mold halves are prevented from relative rotation in order to maintain symmetry and distribution of the filaments after they have been wound in place (Col. 10, lines 52 – 56).
Nishihara et al. teaches a manufacturing process for a wheel disk (8) which is a member (a semi-product) that is fixed to a rim constituting the outer peripheral edge of a tire wheel of an automobile and connects the rim and an axle (a hub assembly), and made from fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) filament (7) (lines 27 – 43), wherein the filament (7) is disposed on a disc-shaped mandrel 1 mounted on a rotating shaft (2) by a reciprocating delivery eye (4), so that the filaments (7) extend radially from the center (shaft hole), making it look like a spoked wheel, the mandrel (1) comprising a groove (9) on the outer peripheral end surface to allow the tip of a cutting jig 10 (lines 47 – 59),
Nishihara et al. discloses that said filament winding molding is performed on the mandrel with the rotating shaft as the turning point [analogous to the claimed steps (B), and (C)], then the molded product is heated and hardened, and finally the molded product is divided into two at the outer periphery of the mandrel to form two wheel discs (lines 70 – 75).
Nishihara et al. discloses that the filaments are oriented radially from the center toward the outer circumference, and the filament density increases from the outer circumference toward the center, making possible to ensure sufficient strength to withstand external forces acting on the wheel disk, that is, radial forces during acceleration and braking, and axial bending moments during turning (lines .
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have duplicate the first disk (8) in the method of Gageby, so that the second disk and the first disk are identical in configuration, as suggested by Gageby, and consequently, said second disk being the duplicate of the first disk would comprise a plurality of second linear grooves (18), each of which extends radially from the center of said second disk to the outer periphery of said second disk, and each of which is would be aligned with one of said first linear grooves (18) (e.g., Gageby discloses that during the winding processes the mold halves are prevented from relative rotation in order to maintain symmetry and distribution of the filaments after they have been wound in place, Col. 10, lines 52 – 56), and a second end portion (at centerpost 41) that is located opposite to said first end portion and that protrudes from said second disk, for the purpose of, as suggested by Nishihara et al., e.g., producing a semi-product of a wheel having symmetrical front and back faces that looks like a spoked wheel, since it have been held that a mere duplication of working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. See MPEP § 2144.04 (VI) (B):
In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). The court held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced.
As to the limitations (C) disposing said curable fabric material on said second disk from said first disk such that said curable fabric material extends through one of said second linear grooves (e.g., Gageby’s 18) from said one of said first linear grooves, loops over said second end portion of said spindle (e.g., Gageby’s 41, Nishihara’s 2), and further extends through another one of said second linear grooves (e.g., grooves 18 in the duplicated first disk of Gageby) which remains empty, see the discussion of Gageby in view of Nishihara et al. above, and Nishihara et al. FIGs 1, 2).
(E) repeating the steps (C) and (D) until said curable fabric material is disposed in all of said first linear grooves and all of said second linear grooves (e.g., see the discussion of Gageby in view of Nishihara et al. above, and Nishihara’s FIG. 1); and
(F) cutting (as taught by Nishihara et al. lines 120-129, using a cutting jig 10, note that Gageby discloses cutting at Col. 8, lines 8 – 12, “The initial step in removing the wheel after the matrix has cured is to release the outboard filaments (i.e., those filaments disposed between the negative mold unit and the winding discs 20), such as by cutting.”) said curable fabric material at positions between said first linear grooves (18) and corresponding ones of said second linear grooves (e.g., grooves 18 in the duplicated first disk of Gageby) so that parts of said curable fabric material, which are located on said first disk, form one of the spoke units independently from parts of said curable fabric material which are located on said second disk and which form the other one of the spoke units after said curable fabric material is cured to produce the semi-product (see Nishihara et al. lines 124 – 129, “then the molded product is divided into two at the outer periphery of the mandrel 1 using an appropriate cutting jig 10. Two wheel discs 8, 8 of the same shape are obtained.”).
Regarding claim 2, Gageby/Nishihara teaches the method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first linear grooves are equiangularly spaced apart from each other around the center of said first disk, and said second linear grooves are equiangularly spaced apart from each other around the center of said second disk (e.g., see Gageby FIG. 4 grooves 18).
Regarding claim 3, Gageby/Nishihara teaches the method as claimed in claim 2, wherein in the step (C), said one of said second linear grooves (Gageby’s 18) and said another one of said second linear grooves (Gageby’s 18 in the duplicated first disk of Gageby) are two adjacent ones of said second linear grooves (e.g., see Gageby FIG. 4), and wherein in the step (D), said one of said first linear grooves and said another one of said first linear grooves are two adjacent ones of said first linear grooves (e.g., see Gageby FIG. 4, and the discussion of Gageby/Nishihara above, e.g., such disposition of the curable fabric material would be achieved by the modified filament winding molding to form a spoke wheel, as taught by Nishihara).
Regarding claim 4, Gageby/Nishihara teaches the method as claimed in claim 3, wherein in the step (C), said curable fabric material is disposed such that a part of said curable fabric material that extends from said one of said second linear grooves (18) to said second end portion (Gageby 41, Nishihara 2) intersects with a part of said curable fabric material that extends to said another one of said second linear grooves from said second end portion (e.g., see discussion of Gageby/Nishihara above, and Nishihara’s FIG. 1), and wherein in the step (D), said curable fabric material is disposed such that a part of said curable fabric material that extends from said another one of said first linear grooves to said first end portion intersects with a part of said curable fabric material that extends to said yet another one of said first linear grooves from said first end portion (e.g., see discussion of Gageby/Nishihara above, and Nishihara’s FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 5, Gageby/Nishihara teaches the method as claimed in claim 1, wherein: in the step (A), two lateral auxiliary curable fabric materials are further prepared (e.g., Gageby’s “sheath tube” 23, “circumferential filament bands” 29, see FIGs. 5A, 5B, FIG. 6 and Col. 9, lines 1 – 17, Col. 6, lines 61 – 68, cont. Col. 7, lines 1 – 46); in the step (F), after said curable fabric material is cut at positions between said first linear grooves and corresponding ones of said second linear grooves (e.g., see the discussion of Gageby/Nishihara above, and Nishihara lines 124 – 129), said lateral auxiliary curable fabric materials are respectively disposed on the peripheries of said first disk and said second disk such that one of said lateral auxiliary curable fabric materials connects cut ends of said curable fabric material disposed in said first disk, and the other one of said lateral auxiliary curable fabric materials connects cut ends of said curable fabric material disposed in said second disk (e.g., Gageby’s lateral auxiliary curable fabric materials “sheath tube” 23, “circumferential filament bands” 29, see FIGs. 5A, 5B, FIG. 6, and Col. 6, lines 61 – 68, cont. Col. 7, lines 1 – 46, Nishihara’s disks 8).
Regarding claim 6, Gageby/Nishihara teaches the method as claimed in claim 1, wherein: after said curable fabric material is cured, said curable fabric material forms said bearing mounting hole (e.g., Gageby’s 30, see Nishihara’s FIG. 2) of one of said spoke units where said curable fabric material loops around said first end portion of said spindle (e.g., Gageby’s 41, Nishihara’s 2, see FIG. 1) and forms said bearing mounting hole of the other one of said spoke units where said curable fabric material loops around said second end portion of said spindle (e.g., Gageby’s 41, Nishihara’s 2, see FIG. 1); in the step (A), a central auxiliary curable fabric material is further prepared (e.g., Gageby’s web 1, Col. 6, lines 21 – 35); and said method further comprising step (G): disposing said central auxiliary curable fabric material around the center of said first disk and around the center of said second disk to respectively form the spoke center parts of said spoke units each having said annular groove after said central auxiliary curable fabric material is cured (e.g., see Gageby’s FIGs. 11 – 15, Col. 6, lines 3 – 12).
Claim(s) 7 – 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gageby (US Pat. No. 3,917,352), in view of NISHIHARA et al. (JP-H0154185-B2), as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of De Roeck (US 2024/0076003 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Gageby/Nishihara teaches the method for producing a hub assembly as discussed in claim 1 above. For the sake of brevity of the Office action, only those limitations of claim 7 not share with claim 1 would be discussed.
Gageby/Nishihara teaches the method for producing a hub assembly comprising a central auxiliary curable fabric material (see the discussion of claim 6 above),
(F) cutting said curable fabric material at positions between said first linear grooves and corresponding ones of said second linear grooves so that parts of said curable fabric material, which are located on said first disk, form one of the spoke units independently from parts of said curable fabric material which are located on said second disk and which form the other one of said spoke units after said curable fabric material is cured, said curable fabric material forming two bearing mounting holes of the spoke units at positions where said curable fabric material loops around said first end portion and said second end portion after being subjected to curing (see the discussion of claim 6 above);
(G) disposing said central auxiliary curable fabric material around the center of said first disk and around the center of said second disk, said central auxiliary curable fabric material forming said spoke center parts of said spoke units which respectively have annular grooves after being subjected to curing (see the discussion of claim 6 above).
Gageby/Nishihara does not explicitly disclose, two bearings, a hub axle and, (H) mounting said bearings into said two bearing mounting holes of said spoke units, respectively, and mounting said hub axle into said annular grooves of said spoke center parts of said spoke units to interconnect said spoke units, so as to produce said hub assembly.
Nishihara, however, discloses his invention provides a wheel disk which is a member that is fixed to a rim constituting the outer peripheral edge of a tire wheel of an automobile and connects the rim and an axle (lines 99 – 105). Additionally, Gageby discloses that his invention provides a fiber reinforced plastic central hub portion adapted to be rotatably mounted (see Gageby claim 1).
In the same field of endeavor of wheels for vehicles, De Roeck teaches a wheel of a bicycle (notice that De Roeck discloses the wheel of his invention is not limited to a wheel of a bicycle [0002]), a wheel (2) [0024], comprising, inter alia, a wheel hub (5) [0025], wherein the wheel is bearing-mounted around the wheel axle (15) by a bearing (18) [0027]-[0028].
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modify the method of Gageby/Nishihara by mounting two bearings into said two bearing mounting holes of said spoke units, respectively, as suggested by the prior art, and mounting a hub axle into said annular grooves of said spoke center parts of said spoke units to interconnect said spoke units, with good expectation of success, so as to produce a hub assembly adapted to be rotatably mounted, as taught by Gageby, since it have held to be within the ordinary skill of worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use. See MPEP § 2144.07:
Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945) The selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use supports a prima facie obviousness determination.
Regarding claim 8, Gageby/Nishihara/De Roeck teaches the method as claimed in claim 7, wherein, in the step (H), said spoke units are interconnected such that said spokes of one of said spoke units alternate with said spokes of the other one of said spoke units (e.g., see Nishihara’s FIG. 2).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Schlanger (US Pat. No. 6,520,595 B1): see FIG. 4A, lower mold half 24, “an improved vehicle wheel construction, particularly bicycle wheels, including an improved connection means for connecting the spokes to the hub.” Col. 1, lines 5 – 7.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDGAREDMANUEL TROCHE whose telephone number is (571)272-9766. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sam Zhao can be reached at 571-270-5343. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDGAREDMANUEL TROCHE/Examiner, Art Unit 1744
/JEFFREY M WOLLSCHLAGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742