DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements have been received and considered.
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.
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) 1,2,7,11,12,17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gorski et al. 10,816,055 in view of Gorski 11,566,679.
Regarding claims 1,12 Gorski ‘055 shows in figures 2 and 3: A damper for a vehicle, comprising:
a damper tube 30 extending longitudinally between a first end and a second
end; a piston rod 34 extending into the first end of the damper tube along a
longitudinal axis; a piston 48 coupled to the piston rod and slidably positioned in the damper tube 30;
a piston rod seal 60 positioned radially between the piston rod 34 and the first end of the damper tube 30; and a cap 72 positioned over the first end of the damper tube, the cap including a side wall 74 positioned in contact with and extending annularly about the first end of
the damper tube, an end wall 76 extending radially inwardly from the side wall, and a
‘collector’ 78,96 radially outwardly extending from the side wall relative to the longitudinal
axis, wherein the end wall 76 of the cap includes a rod aperture 82 through which the
piston rod 34 extends, the cap including a vent 88, the side wall including an end face 91b at
an opposite end of the cap as the end wall 76, wherein the collector is longitudinally positioned between the vent 88 and the end face 91b of the side wall such that oil passing by the piston rod seal and through the vent is capable of accumulating on a surface of the collector 78,96.
Lacking in Gorski ‘055 is a specific statement that oil passing by the piston rod seal and through the vent accumulates on a surface of the collector 78,96.
However does show channels at 86 and vents at 88 defining fluid paths 89 that would allow this to happen should oil leak pass the oil seal 60. See the discussion in col 6 lines 20-43.
Nevertheless Gorski ‘679 (same inventor) also shows in figures 2-7 a cap 40 positioned over the first end of a damper tube 26 and states in col 1 :
Dampers may also exhibit static oil leakage where very small amount of oil continuously passes through the rod guide seal as a result of pores on the surface of the rod. For example, where the surface of the rod is chrome plated, it is known that chrome includes micro pores. Hydraulic oil can be captured in the pores and as the rod leaves the damper, the oil can leave the pores and drip down the rod as pass through the space between the ribs on the bumper cap and damper.
The cap 40 arrangement of Gorski is structured to address the problem of oil leakage. See the fluid flow paths 54,56 in figure 4.
One having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would realize that oil passing by the piston rod seal and through the vent 88 in the cap arrangement 72 of Gorski ‘055 is capable of accumulating on a surface of the collector 78,96, due to the structural design of the cap 72 and as further illustrated by Gorski ‘679 by the flow paths in figure 4.
Regarding claims 2, as readily apparent from the drawings Gorski ‘055 meets the claimed limitations.
Regarding claims 7,17 as broadly claimed, the ‘first protrusion’ is considered to be the element at 98,110a in figures 4,5 and the ‘second protrusion’ the flange at 92.
Regarding claim 11 see the jounce bumper at 51 in figure 2.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6,8-10,13-16,18-20 are 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER P SCHWARTZ whose telephone number is (571)272-7123. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 A.M.-7:00P.M..
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/CHRISTOPHER P SCHWARTZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
12/28/25