DETAILED ACTION
This is a first action on the merits of application 18438604.
Claims 1-15 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the peripheral" in line 13. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear if “the peripheral” is the same as “the peripheral wall”
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(s) 1-7, 11-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blanchard US 4331432, and further in view of JP 4193683 [‘683].
Claim 1 and 14, Blanchard discloses outboard motor [10] comprising: a motor [14] including an output shaft [16] extending in an upper-lower direction; a gearing [32 transmission]connected to the output shaft of the motor [14] and including a plurality of gears [36/38/40/42] to rotate around a plurality of rotation shafts [28/34/37] extending in the upper-lower direction; and a housing chamber [82 entire case housing] to accommodate the gearing [32] and oil [not numbered but inherent]; wherein the housing chamber includes a peripheral wall [fig. 3] extending along one gear of the plurality of gears; and the peripheral wall includes a sloped portion between the one gear and the peripheral that is inclined upward along a rotating direction of the one gear [see fig. 3] He does not disclose the motor is an electric motor, JP ‘683 discloses an electric outboard motor in the Abstract. Thus, it 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 to have modified Blanchard with JP ‘863 with the said motor for increased efficiency known in electric motors over combustion engines.
See fig. 3 cut out below: Blue arrow points to the peripheral wall includes a sloped portion between the one gear and the peripheral that is inclined upward along a rotating direction of the one gear. Examiner notes the outboard motor is designed for use on boats.
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Claim 2, Blanchard discloses wherein an inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall is arc-shaped [see cutout fig.3 above shaded wall area by 100/104] along the rotating direction of the gear [42] when viewed in the upper-lower direction.
Claim 3, Blanchard discloses the sloped portion is spaced apart from the one gear [38] in a radial direction of the one gear. See sloped portion shown above by blue arrow.
Claim 4, Blanchard discloses wherein the sloped portion [blue arrow area in fig. 3 cutout above] extends along and is in contact with an inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall [shaded area wall]
Claim 5, Blanchard discloses wherein the sloped portion [blue arrow area in fig. 3 cutout above] has an inclination angle of about 45 degrees or less with respect to a horizontal direction. See fig. 3
Claim 6, Blanchard discloses a lower end of the sloped portion [blue arrow area in fig. 3 cutout above] faces a bottom surface of the housing chamber [82].
Claim 7, Blanchard discloses wherein the gearing [32] includes another gear [42] to mesh with the one gear [38]; and the sloped portion is located on a side of the one gear [38] opposite to the other gear. See fig. 3 cutout above.
Claim 11, Blanchard discloses a bearing [68] to support an upper end of the rotation shaft connected to a gear but not the one gear and he does not disclose a guide to guide the oil lifted by the sloped portion to the bearing. But it has been held that a change in location is of ordinary skill the have the bearing moved from one gear to an opposite gear and it is known to use channels to guide oil to lubricate bearings in motor transmissions. Thus, it 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 to modify Blanchard to lubricate the bearings inside a transmission system.
Claim 12, Blanchard and JP ‘683 discloses the aforementioned limitations of claim 1, Blanchard does not disclose the gearing includes a reduction gearing connected to the output shaft of the electric motor and includes an input gear to mesh with the gear. However, Blanchard does disclose use of a reduction gear with input gear meshed with another gear [col. 3 lines 1-16]. JP ‘683 discloses use of reduction gears in an electric motor wherein a storage space 28 for a reduction gear composed of a driven gear 26 and a drive gear 27 is recessed above the partition wall 12. A driven gear 26 is housed in the front side of the housing space 28 and a drive gear 27 is housed in the rear side. The upper surface of the housing space 28 is closed by a motor mounting base 29A to form a reduction gear chamber [figs 4-6]. Thus, it 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 to modify Blanchard with JP ‘863 to provide speed reduction of the shafts to decrease vessel speed.
Claim 13, Blanchard and JP ‘683 discloses the aforementioned limitations of claim 1, they do not disclose a bearing to support an upper end of the rotation shaft connected to the one gear; and a guide to guide the oil lifted by the sloped portion to the bearing; wherein a position at which the one gear meshes with the input gear is located on an outer circumference side of than the bearing when viewed in the upper-lower direction. However, the same rationale is applied in this claim used in the rejection of claims 11, that this would be obvious as stated above in that it has been held that a change in location is of ordinary skill the have the bearing moved from one gear to an opposite gear and it is known to use channels to guide oil to lubricate bearings in motor transmissions. He does disclose a gear meshes with the input gear is located on an outer circumference side of than the bearing when viewed in the upper-lower direction [fig. 3]. Thus, it 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 to modify Blanchard to lubricate the bearings inside a transmission system.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 4193683 and further in view of Blanchard US 4331432.
Claim 15, JP 4193683 discloses an outboard motor [figs. 4-6] comprising: a drive source [14]; a transmission [fig. 6] to transmit power from the drive source and including a rotor [27] to rotate around a rotation shaft [30] extending in an upper-lower direction; and a case [12] including a housing chamber to accommodate the transmission and oil; wherein the housing chamber includes a peripheral wall [wall around gears 27/26, fig. 6] extending along the rotor [27]; He does not disclose the peripheral wall includes a sloped portion between the rotor and the peripheral wall that is inclined upward along a rotating direction of the rotor. Blanchard discloses sloped peripheral wall that is inclined upward along a rotating direction. Thus, it 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 to modify JP ‘683 with Blanchard to provide oil in the transmission to lubricate the components.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Because they are outboard motors with detailed transmission components.
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/JOVON E HAYES/Examiner, Art Unit 3615
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