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 .
Remarks
This communication is in response to the 02/19/2026 reply.
The reply added amended claim 1.
Claims 1-12 are currently pending.
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 of this title, 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 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 - WO2019/153497, published 2019-08-15, (previously presented), in view of D2 - JP 2017187011 (previously presented), and further in view of KR 20160134843 A, hereinafter D3 (previously presented).
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As to claim 1,
D1 discloses an engine comprising:
a V engine body (V-shaped cylinder block 100 fig. 1), wherein the V engine body comprises a plurality of cylinder rows (shown schematically in fig. 7) including at least one cylinder row in which a plurality of cylinders are arranged in a front-rear direction (see annotated figure 3) and wherein two of the cylinder rows arranged side by side in a left-right direction (fig. 7).
an intake pipe (6 in fig. 3, see annotated figure below) disposed on one side surface of the V engine body (see annotated figure 3) and extending in the front-rear direction (see annotated figure 3);
D1 does not explicitly disclose: a first electric wire disposed below the intake pipe and extending in the front-rear direction along the one side surface; or wherein the intake pipe is so disposed as to shield the first electric wire from a load placed from above.
However, D2 discloses an engine (figures 1-36 show various views of the engine) comprising:
an engine body (cylinder block 6 figure 9) including at least one cylinder row in which a plurality of cylinders are arranged in a front-rear direction (shown but not numbered in fig. 9);
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an intake pipe (intake manifold 3 in fig. 18) disposed on one side surface of the engine body (facing side in fig. 18) and extending in the front-rear direction (intake manifold 3 extends from the front, e.g. the fan 9, to the rear, e.g. flywheel housing 7); and
a first electric wire (main harness assembly 703 and 704 in fig. 18) disposed below the intake pipe (intake manifold 3) and extending in the front-rear direction (portion of 703 between 701 and 704 extends in a front-rear direction) along the one side surface (a portion of 703 is below intake manifold 3 on the side of the block 6).
Because D2 teaches the claimed arrangement is known, it would be obvious to look to the prior art and apply the wire and intake routing arrangement of D2 onto to the V engine of D1 as both engines have the same components (i.e. an engine body, a row of cylinders) and one of ordinary skill in the art would have to make such a selection for the engine of D1 in order to practice the disclosure of D1 in the real world.
As to the recitation, wherein the intake pipe is so disposed as to shield the first electric wire from a load placed from above, note the phrase “is so disposed” is typically used to connect structure to a function, similar to the word “for.” “As so disposed” (for) usually means the structure can perform the function with no additional modification therefore this recitation is interpreted as a functional recitation. While features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally; apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does. See MPEP 2114. All functional implications have been carefully considered but are deemed not to impose any patentably distinguishing structure over that disclosed by the prior art reference. The function of wherein the intake pipe is so disposed as to shield the first electric wire from a load placed from above is an inherent characteristic of the prior art structure because the arrangement of the prior art is the same as the claim. See the annotated figure below.
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D3 teaches an invention intended to provide an engine that can protect a wire harness from mechanical contact and suppress the influence of noise between wire harnesses and is considered to be in a related field. D3 teaches a wire harness (22, 23, 24 in figure supra) including wherein an intake pipe (7) is so disposed as to shield the first electric wire (22, 23, 24 ) from a load placed from above (mounted under manifold 7).
Because D3 teaches the claimed arrangement is known, it would be obvious to look to the prior art and apply the wire and intake routing arrangement of D3 onto to the V engine of D1 as both engines have the same components (i.e. an engine body, a row of cylinders, an intake) and one of ordinary skill in the art would have to make such a wire routing selection for the engine of D1 in order to practice the disclosure of D1 in the real world.
As to claim 2, D1 discloses the engine according to claim 1 (see explanation for claim 1), and further discloses comprising:
a turbocharger (2 in fig. 3); and
an intercooler (1 in fig. 3) that cools intake air from the turbocharger (see page 4 of the translation), wherein the intake pipe is located downstream of the intercooler in a flow direction of intake air (fig. 3).
As to claim 3, D1 does not explicitly disclose the following which is taught by D2:
an oil filter device disposed below the intake pipe (oil filter 14 is below intake manifold 3 in fig. 18), wherein the first electric wire (main harness assembly 703) is disposed between the intake pipe and the oil filter device (fig. 18).
Because D2 teaches the claimed arrangement is known, it would be obvious to look to the prior art and apply the engine accessory arrangement of D2 onto to the V engine of D1 as both engines have the same components (i.e. an engine body, a row of cylinders) and one of ordinary skill in the art would have to make such a selection for the engine of D1 in order to practice the disclosure of D1 in the real world.
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As to claim 4, D1 does not explicitly disclose the following which is taught by D2: comprising a cooling liquid pipe (cooling water inlet pipe 22) disposed on another side surface (surface of engine in fig. 8) opposite to the one side surface (compare figs. 7-8) with a crankshaft (crankshaft 5) interposed therebetween (crankshaft 5 (side portions on both sides of the crankshaft 5) are referred to as left and right).
Because D2 teaches the claimed arrangement is known, it would be obvious to look to the prior art and apply the engine accessory arrangement of D2 onto to the V engine of D1 as both engines have the same components (i.e. an engine body, a row of cylinders) and one of ordinary skill in the art would have to make such a selection for the engine of D1 in order to practice the disclosure of D1 in the real world.
As to claims 5-6,
D1 discloses [claim 5] the engine includes an exhaust pipe disposed in an inter-bank area existing between a first bank including one of the two cylinder rows and a second bank including the other one of the two cylinder rows (see fig. 6 which shows central exhaust gas port 3 fed by the turbine of each of the four turbochargers, shown but not numbered; the high-power V 16-cylinder diesel engine further includes an intake system including four turbochargers 2 and an intercooler 1 respectively fixed to the single cylinder head 200 by brackets Above and arranged in a rectangular array (see Figure 6), the compressor of each turbocharger 2 is on the outside, the turbine of each turbocharger 2 is on the inside, and the compressor of each turbocharger 2 is connected An air filter that is erected upward, an exhaust pipe is connected to the turbine of each turbocharger 2 and converges toward a central position of the four turbochargers 2 to form an exhaust gas exhaust port 3 (see Fig. 6);
[claim 6] an intercooler (intercooler 1) disposed on one side of the inter-bank area (fig. 6 shows intercooler 6 on the left side per the page).
D1 discloses an inline turbocharged engine and D2 teaches a V turbocharged engine, both D1 and D2 use an intercooler. An invention created through a substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is obvious. Here it would be obvious to utilize the V engine of D2 for the engine of D1 to provide the predictable result of a more powerful (e.g. due to increased engine displacement) yet compact engine due to the use of the V arrangement.
As to the [claim 6] limitation wherein the first electric wire is disposed on an opposite side of the inter-bank area with the intercooler interposed therebetween. It would be obvious to provide the claimed limitation as a matter of design choice. It is well known in the art, as evidenced by D2 (last paragraph on page 19 of the translation), to position a harness away from heat to prevent deterioration and to allow the use of low-temperature materials which translate to reduced manufacturing costs.
As to claim 7, D1 does not explicitly disclose the following which is taught by D2: a second electric wire (fuel system harness assembly 705 in fig. 18) different from the first electric wire (705 is different from 704), wherein the second electric wire (705) is disposed on the one side surface to be separated downward from the intake pipe (fig. 18 shows 705 below manifold 3) and to be spaced apart from the first electric wire (fig. 18 shows 705 is spaced apart from 703).
Because D2 teaches the claimed arrangement is known, it would be obvious to look to the prior art and apply the wire and intake routing arrangement of D2 onto to the V engine of D1 as both engines have the same components (i.e. an engine body, a row of cylinders) and one of ordinary skill in the art would have to make such a selection for the engine of D1 in order to practice the disclosure of D1 in the real world.
As to claim 8
D1 discloses an intercooler (intercooler 1) disposed on one side of the engine body in the front-rear direction (fig. 3 shows intercooler 6 on the front of the engine), wherein the intercooler (intercooler 1) includes an intake air inlet portion (shown but not numbered in fig. 6) and an intake air outlet portion (translation, page 4 - The cooler 1 is fixed at a position above the rear end of the V-shaped cylinder block 100, and the compressor of each turbocharger 2 is connected through the air pipe and the intercooler 1, and the air cooler is respectively provided at both sides of the bottom of the intercooler 1. An air intake pipe 6 is respectively connected to the two air outlets).
As to the limitation and the first electric wire is disposed along an outer surface of the intake air outlet portion. It would be obvious to provide the claimed limitation as a matter of design choice. It is well known in the art, as evidenced by D2 (last paragraph on page 19 of the translation), to position a harness away from heat to prevent deterioration and to allow the use of low-temperature materials which translate to reduced manufacturing costs.
As to claim 9
D1 discloses wherein the intercooler is a liquid cooled intercooler (see translation page 4 which provides a low temperature water circulation circuit for cooling the oil cooler 4 and the intercooler 1).
As to claim 10
D1 as modified does not disclose wherein the first electric wire (main harness assembly 703 and 704 in fig. 18) is further disposed to extend along the intake pipe in the front-rear direction (shown in fig. 1).
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D3 teaches an invention intended to provide an engine that can protect a wire harness from mechanical contact and suppress the influence of noise between wire harnesses and is considered to be in a related field. D3 teaches a wire harness including a power supply harness (23 or 24) and a signal harness (22) mounted under an intake pipe (manifold 7) and extending in a front-rear direction (as in fig. 1).
Because D3 teaches the claimed arrangement is known, it would be obvious to look to the prior art and apply the wire and intake routing arrangement of D3 onto to the V engine of D1 as both engines have the same components (i.e. an engine body, a row of cylinders, an intake) and one of ordinary skill in the art would have to make such a wire routing selection for the engine of D1 in order to practice the disclosure of D1 in the real world.
As to claim 11
D1 as modified does not disclose wherein the first electric wire is further disposed at a position directly below the intake pipe, wherein the intake pipe shields the first electric wire from loads placed from above.
D3 teaches an invention intended to provide an engine that can protect a wire harness from mechanical contact and suppress the influence of noise between wire harnesses and is considered to be in a related field. D3 teaches a wire harness including a power supply harness (22 or 23) and a signal harness (22) mounted under an intake pipe (manifold 7) and extending in a front-rear direction (as in fig. 1), wherein the first electric wire (any of 22, 23, 24) is further disposed at a position directly below the intake pipe (as in fig. 9 above), wherein the intake pipe shields the first electric wire from loads placed from above (this is shown in the annotated figure above).
Because D3 teaches the claimed arrangement is known, it would be obvious to look to the prior art and apply the wire and intake routing arrangement of D3 onto to the V engine of D1 as both engines have the same components (i.e. an engine body, a row of cylinders, an intake) and one of ordinary skill in the art would have to make such a wire routing selection for the engine of D1 in order to practice the disclosure of D1 in the real world.
As to claim 12
D1 as modified does not teach further comprising a second electric wire different from the first electric wire, wherein the second electric wire is disposed above the first wire, spaced apart from the first electric wire at a distance to suppress electromagnetic noise interference between the first electric wire and the second electric wire, and wherein the first electric wire is a high voltage electric wire and the second electric wire is a low voltage electric wire.
D3 teaches an invention intended to provide an engine that can protect a wire harness from mechanical contact and suppress the influence of noise between wire harnesses and is considered to be in a related field. D3 teaches a wire harness including a power supply harness (22 or 23) and a signal harness (22) mounted under an intake pipe (manifold 7) and extending in a front-rear direction (as in fig. 1), comprising a second electric wire different from the first electric wire (22, 23, 24 are all different), wherein the second electric wire (23) is disposed above the first wire (22), spaced apart from the first electric wire at a distance to suppress electromagnetic noise interference between the first electric wire and the second electric wire (see translation page 5, second paragraph, However, the signal wire harness 22 is electronically isolated from the first power supply wire harness 23 and the second power supply wire harness 24, which are the sources of electromagnetic waves, by the wire harness cover 25, so that the influence thereof is reduced. Further, the signal wire harness 22, the first power supply wire harness 23, and the second power supply wire harness 24 are mechanically isolated from the periphery by the wire harness cover 25. Thus, the engine 1 protects the wire harness from mechanical contact, and can suppress the influence of noise between the wire harnesses), and wherein the first electric wire is a high voltage electric wire and the second electric wire is a low voltage electric wire (23, 24 are power supply lines and 22 is signal).
Because D3 teaches the claimed arrangement is known, it would be obvious to look to the prior art and apply the wire and intake routing arrangement of D3 onto to the V engine of D1 as both engines have the same components (i.e. an engine body, a row of cylinders, an intake) and one of ordinary skill in the art would have to make such a wire routing selection for the engine of D1 in order to practice the disclosure of D1 in the real world.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
The prior art made of record on the attached PTOL-892 and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure as each further discloses a state of the art.
US 20040200647 A1 – discusses wiring harness routing rationales
The examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record in the body of this action for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. Applicant should consider the entire prior art as applicable as to the limitations of the claims. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing the response, to consider fully the entire reference as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or pointed out by the examiner.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to J. T. Newton, Esq. whose telephone number is (313)446-4899. The examiner can normally be reached 0700-1500 M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Justin Mikowski can be reached on (571) 272-8525. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J. T. Newton/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3673
5/8/2026
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