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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 16-18 and 20-21 are pending in the application. Claims 1-15 and 19 were previously canceled by Applicant.
Claim 18 was previously withdrawn from current consideration as being drawn to a non-elected species.
Claims 16-17 and 20-21 remain under current consideration by the Examiner.
In Applicant’s most recent response filed 10 August 2026, claims 17 and 20-21 were amended. These amendments have been entered.
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 16-17, and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gong (CN 204357929, cited by Applicant in the IDS filed 07/24/2025) in view of Landkammer (US Patent Application Publication 2025/0180048).
Re Claim 16: Gong discloses a gearbox (see, for example, Figs. 4-6) comprising a thrust pad (the combination of thrust bearings 1 joined together in a ring; see Fig. 4), a carrying member (4), and a fastening apparatus (2), wherein the fastening apparatus is configured to connect the thrust pad (1) to the carrying member (4),
wherein the thrust pad (1) is provided with a first recess (13; see annotated Fig. 6 below) and a communication hole (see annotated Fig. 6 below) communicating with the first recess, the carrying member (4) is provided with a threaded hole (see annotated Fig. 6 below), an aperture of the communication hole is greater than an aperture of the threaded hole (see Fig. 6), the fastening apparatus comprises a bolt (2), an end cap (the head of the screw 2, fitted into the groove 13) of the bolt is disposed in the first recess (13), a screw (the threaded shaft of screw 2) of the bolt is threaded into the threaded hole, and
wherein the thrust pad (1) further comprises a second recess (see annotated Fig. 6 below), the first recess and the second recess communicate with two sides of the communication hole respectively, an area of a bottom of the first recess and an area of a bottom of the second recess are each greater than an opening area of the communication hole, and an opening of the second recess faces the carrying member (4).
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Gong fails to explicitly disclose wherein the fastening apparatus further comprises a connection structure; such that the screw of the bolt passes through the connection structure; and the connection structure is able to be clamped between the end cap and the carrying member; and wherein the connection structure comprises a flange pad and a bushing body, the flange pad is disposed in the first recess, the bushing body is disposed in the communication hole, the flange pad is clamped between the end cap and the bottom of the first recess, and a reserved gap is formed between the bushing body and one of the carrying member or the flange pad.
Landkammer teaches the use of a fastening apparatus (see Fig. 1), for connecting a thrust pad (for example, as shown for workpiece 1) to a carrying member (for example, as shown for component 2 in combination with threaded member 5), wherein the thrust pad (1) is provided with a first recess (at 23) and a communication hole (at 31) communicating with the first recess, the carrying member (2, 5) is provided with a threaded hole (the internally threaded hole of threaded member 5), an aperture of the communication hole (31) is greater than an aperture of the threaded hole (see Fig. 1), the fastening apparatus comprises a bolt (3) and a connection structure (6, 7), an end cap (4) of the bolt (3) is disposed in the first recess (23), a screw (at 3) of the bolt passes through the connection structure (6, 7) and is threaded into the threaded hole (of threaded member 5), and the connection structure (6, 7) is able to be clamped (at first washer 14) between the end cap (14) and the carrying member (2, 5), and wherein the thrust pad (1) further comprises a second recess (at 24), the first recess (23) and the second recess (24) communicate with two sides of the communication hole (31) respectively, an area of a bottom (at 10) of the first recess and an area of a bottom (at 11) of the second recess are each greater than an opening area of the communication hole (31), and an opening of the second recess (24) faces the carrying member (2, 5); and the connection structure (6, 7) comprises a flange pad (14) and a bushing body (Examiner notes that the “bushing body” can be considered either the “first sleeve 13” or the “second sleeve 18), the flange pad (14) is disposed in the first recess (23), the bushing body (13/18) is disposed in the communication hole (31), the flange pad (14) is clamped between the end cap (4) and the bottom (at 10) of the first recess (23), and a reserved gap (27) is formed between the bushing body (13/18) and one of the carrying member (2, 5) or the flange pad (14), for the purpose of, for example, reducing the stress on the connection.
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Gong, with a reasonable expectation of success, such that the fastening apparatus further comprises a connection structure; such that the screw of the bolt passes through the connection structure; and the connection structure is able to be clamped between the end cap and the carrying member; and wherein the connection structure comprises a flange pad and a bushing body, the flange pad is disposed in the first recess, the bushing body is disposed in the communication hole, the flange pad is clamped between the end cap and the bottom of the first recess, and a reserved gap is formed between the bushing body and one of the carrying member or the flange pad, as taught by Landkammer, for the purpose of reducing the stress on the connection.
Re Claim 17: Landkammer further teaches the use of a fastening apparatus (see Fig. 1), wherein the flange pad (14) and the bushing body (13) are connected to each other, and the reserved gap (27) is formed between the bushing body (13) and the carrying member (2, 5), for the purpose of allowing for an amount of axial play.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Gong, with a reasonable expectation of success, such that the connection structure comprises a flange pad and a bushing body that are connected to each other, the flange pad is disposed in the first recess, the bushing body is disposed in the communication hole, the flange pad is clamped between the end cap and a bottom of the first recess, and a reserved gap is formed between the bushing body and the carrying member, as taught by Landkammer, for the purpose of reducing the stress on the connection.
Re Claim 20: Landkammer further teaches the use of a fastening apparatus (see Fig. 1), wherein the flange pad (14) and the bushing body (13) are integrally structured, and the reserved gap (27) is formed between the bushing body (13) and the carrying member (2, 5, or the flange pad (14) and the bushing body (18) are separably structured, and the reserved gap (27) is formed between the bushing body (18) and the flange pad (14).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Gong, with a reasonable expectation of success, such that the flange pad and the bushing body are integrally structured, and the reserved gap is formed between the bushing body and the carrying member, or the flange pad and the bushing body are separably structured, and the reserved gap is formed between the bushing body and the flange pad, as taught by Landkammer, for the purpose of reducing the stress on the connection.
Re Claim 20: Landkammer further teaches the use of a fastening apparatus (see Fig. 1), wherein a size of the reserved gap (27) is greater than or equal to 0, or the bushing body (13/18) is in contact with one of the carrying member (2, 5) or the flange pad (14).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Gong, with a reasonable expectation of success, such that a size of the reserved gap is greater than or equal to 0, or the bushing body is in contact with one of the carrying member or the flange pad, as taught by Landkammer, for the purpose of reducing the stress on the connection.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to all pending claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW R MCMAHON whose telephone number is (571)270-3067. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.
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/MATTHEW R MCMAHON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3678
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