DETAILED ACTION
Application Status
Claims 1-10 are pending and have been examined in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on 16 October 2023 has been reviewed and considered.
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.
Claims 1-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alman (AU 2010100897 A4) in view of Bender (US 2600959 A), Weis (US 20150184687 A1), and Buckner (US 20050274760 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Alman discloses: a tow hook assembly comprising: a tow hook (10, Fig. 1); and a clevis pin (14) having a head portion (22).
Alman is silent in teaching that the head portion of the clevis head is a bolt head formed by a number of equidistant edges, each pair of adjacent edges defining an interior side wall. Further, while Alman discloses using the tow hook assembly with vehicles (see “vehicle”, pg. 3, L. 4); Alman does not positively disclose a vehicle comprising the tow hook assembly.
Bender discloses a tow hitch assembly for a vehicle (see Col. 1, LL. 4-6) comprising a fastener (30) having a bolt head portion configured with equidistant edges configured to engage a vehicle lug nut wench (see Col. 4, LL. 49-56). Bender further discloses that forming the ends of the fastener in a manner that allows them to engage a lug nut wrench provides for easy rotation of the fastener (see Col. 4, LL. 49-56).
The bolt heads disclosed by Bender do not have edges that define an interior side wall as claimed.
Weis discloses a bolt having a number of equidistant edges (31a-d, Fig. 1), each pair of adjacent edges defining an interior side wall (33a-f, Fig. 4) extending between the pair of adjacent edges and recessed with respect to the edges, the bolt head portion configured such that the edges engage a vehicle lug nut wrench (see “vehicle lug bolts”, paragraph [0005]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Alman in view of Bender to provide a bolt head portion that engages a vehicle lug nut wrench to facilitate an easier rotation of the clevis pin. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Alman in view of Bender in further view of Weis to arrive at the claimed invention and to impart a decorative effect on the tow hook assembly as described by Weis (Weis; see “decorative effect”, paragraph [0002]). Such a modification would be further obvious because it is a simple substitution of one known element (the bolt head shape disclosed by Bender) for another known element (the bolt head shape disclosed by Weis) to achieve predicable results (a tow hook with a decorative finish).
Further note, twelve-point bolt heads, which were known in the art before the effective filing date would also comprise: equidistant edges, each pair of edges defining an interior side wall extending between the pair of adjacent edges and recessed with respect to the edges.
Buckner discloses a vehicle comprising a tow hook assembly (30, Fig. 1).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to apply the tow hook resulting from the combination of Alman Bender and Weis to the vehicle disclosed by Buckner. Such a modification would have been obvious because it is a simple substitution for one known element (the tow hook assembly disclosed by Buckner) for another known element (the tow hook resulting from the combination of prior art elements) to achieve predictable results (a vehicle comprising a substantially similar tow hook). Such a person would have been motivated to make the modification to provide a vehicle with a tow hook comprising a clevis that can be easily rotated by a vehicle lug nut wrench as taught by Weis (Weis; see Col. 4, LL. 49-56).
With respect to claim 2, Alman in view of Bender, Weis, and Buckner as modified above discloses: the vehicle of claim 1, wherein the bolt head portion (Weis; see Fig. 1) is has a first distance that extends between a pair of opposing edges.
With respect to claim 3, Alman in view of Bender, Weis, and Buckner as modified above discloses: the vehicle of claim 1, further comprising vehicle lug nuts (Buckner; see “lug nuts”, paragraph [0028]) each having a number of equidistant edges, each pair of adjacent edges defining side wall, each of the vehicle lug nuts having a first distance extending between a pair of opposing edges, the first distance of the bolt head portion is equal to the first distance of each of the vehicle lug nuts. Note, the examiner takes official notice that vehicle lug nuts are regular hexagons in shape and configured to engage vehicle lug nut wrenches, and accordingly, the lug nuts disclosed by Buckner would meet all of the claimed limitations of the lug nuts.
With respect to claim 4, Alman in view of Bender, Weis, and Buckner as modified above discloses: the vehicle of claim 1, wherein the clevis pin (Alman; 14, Fig. 1) further comprises a threaded portion (34, Fig. 2) having opposite the bolt head portion, a shaft (24) extending between the bolt head portion and the threaded portion, and a washer member (Weis; 54, Fig. 32; also see paragraph [0089]) between the shaft and the bolt head portion.
With respect to claim 5, Alman in view of Bender, Weis, and Buckner as modified above discloses: the vehicle of claim 4, wherein the tow hook (Alman; 10, Fig. 1) includes a pair of arms and an opposing connection portion provided between the pair of arms (see annotated figure below).
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With respect to claim 6, Alman in view of Bender, Weis, and Buckner as modified above discloses: The vehicle of claim 5, wherein the pair of arms comprises a first arm having a through bore (18, fig. 3) and a second arm having an internally threaded bore (20), the threaded portion of the clevis pin configured to fit in the internally threaded bore.
With respect to claim 7, Alman in view of Bender, Weis, and Buckner as modified above discloses: The vehicle of claim 6, wherein upon engagement of the edges with the vehicle lug nut wrench, the clevis pin (Alman; 14, Fig. 1) engages with the tow hook based on a fit between the internally threaded bore and the threaded portion of the clevis pin (see pg. 6, LL. 1-15).
With respect to claim 8, Alman in view of Bender, Weis, and Buckner as modified above discloses: The vehicle of claim 4, wherein an aperture (Alman; aperture for bar 38, Fig. 1) is formed in the bolt head portion of the clevis pin between a bolt end and the washer member (Weis; 54, Fig. 32). Note, when modifying the shape of the bolt head disclosed by Alman, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to keep the aperture through the bolt head in order to provide additional means for rotating the clevis.
With respect to claim 10, Alman in view of Bender, Weis, and Buckner discloses: the vehicle of claim 3, further comprising a vehicle lug nut wrench (Weis; see “automobile lug wrench”, Col. 4, L. 83) having a number of equidistant edges, each pair of adjacent edges defining side wall, the vehicle lug nut wrench having a first distance extending between a pair of opposing edges, the first distance of the vehicle lug nut wrench corresponding to the first distance of each of the vehicle lug nuts.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alman (AU 2010100897 A4) in view of Bender (US 2600959 A), Weis (US 20150184687 A1), and Buckner (US 20050274760 A1) as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Alba (US 20020164198 A1).
With respect to claim 9, Alman in view of Bender, Weis, and Buckner as modified above discloses: the vehicle of claim 4, wherein an aperture (Alman; 28, Fig. 2) is formed in an end portion of the clevis (14) proximate the threaded portion.
Alba discloses a clevis pin (37, Fig. 1) having a threaded portion (26) and an aperture (44) formed in the threaded portion.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Alman in view of Bender, Weis, and Buckner in further view of Alba to arrive at the claimed invention. Such a person would have been motivated to form the aperture through a threaded portion of the clevis rather than forming a reduced-diameter end portion to accommodate the aperture to reduce the number of turning operations required to form the clevis pin.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and discloses tow hook assemblies in general.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Matthew D Lee whose telephone number is (571)272-6087. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Fri. (7:30 - 5:00 EST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Paul Dickson can be reached at (571) 272-7742. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW D LEE/ Examiner, Art Unit 3614
/PAUL N DICKSON/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3614
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