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 § 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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brazier US 20090152037 A1 in view of Gagne et al. US 20050104450 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Brazier teaches an elastic crawler (230) comprising: a crawler main body made of an elastic material and formed in an endless belt shape; a plurality of elastic protrusion portions (242) formed in a manner protruding on an inner circumferential face of the crawler main body at regular intervals in a crawler circumferential direction; and a resin cover member (244) made of a resin material and covering a surface of each elastic protrusion portion (242), the resin cover member (244) covering the elastic protrusion portion (242) to form a guide protrusion, wherein the resin cover member (244) of the guide protrusion is put on the elastic protrusion portion (242) to cover the surface of the elastic protrusion portion (242) except a root portion. (Figs. 24 and 25; para. 113) Brazier does not teach a reinforcing fiber part is embedded at least in the root portion of the elastic protrusion portion along a side face of the elastic protrusion portion.
Gagne teaches a reinforcing fabric (58) embedded in the elastic protrusion portion (30). Gagne also teaches the fabric could be made of glass fibers among other things (Fig. 4; para. 8). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a reinforcing fiber layer in the elastic protrusion portion to increase the strength and resilience of the elastic protrusion portion with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brazier US 20090152037 A1 in view of Gagne et al. US 20050104450 A1 and further in view of Miyamoto JP 2021062827 A.
Regarding claim 2, Brazier and Gagne teach the elastic crawler according to claim 1. Brazier further teaches wherein the resin cover member (244) has a top wall portion that covers a top face of the elastic protrusion portion (244) and side wall portions that are continuous to the top wall portion and that cover side faces of the elastic protrusion portion and the resin cover member (244) has a corner portion between the top wall portion and the side wall portion that are continuous to each other (Fig. 25). Brazier and Gagne do not teach the corner portion being swollen to an inner side to form a thick wall portion.
Miyamoto teaches ribs 323 to reinforce and strengthen the corners and sides of the resin cover member (Fig. 4F; para. 43 of the English language translation). In light of the specification of the instant application which states “while the thick wall portion 14T in this case is formed over an entire area in the crawlier circumferential direction of the elastic protrusion portion 13, it may otherwise be formed in the form of ribs” (para. 53), Miyamoto teaches the corner portion being swollen to an inner side to form a thick wall portion. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to strengthen the corners of the resin cover member in order to prolong the life of the resin cover member with a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 3, Brazier and Gagne teach the elastic crawler according to claim 1. Brazier and Gagne do not teach, but Miyamoto teaches, wherein either recesses (326) or protrusions or both are formed on an inner face of the resin cover member (32)(Fig. 8; para. 87, lines 4-6 of the English language translation) It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use recesses and protrusions on an inner face of the resin cover member in order to promote better adhesion and longer life of the assembly with a reasonable expectation of success.
PNG
media_image1.png
525
736
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Reshad et al. US 20110291473 A1 teaches a removable style of guide lug cap (resin cover member).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX R PALMER whose telephone number is (703)756-1981. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 am - 5:00 pm MST.
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, Samuel (Joe) Morano can be reached at (571) 272-6684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AP/Examiner, Art Unit 3615
/S. Joseph Morano/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3615