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 .
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) 1-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2000249142 (JP142), in view of Smith, USP 9,316,260.
Regarding claims 1, JP142 discloses a support assembly for a rotatable element (third figure in document provided by Applicant, all line citations correspond to the translation provided by Applicant), the support assembly comprising: a frame (38) having a mounting seat (38a) and a liner (37) of elastomeric material (rubber, see paragraph 0028 and 0059), co-molded on the mounting seat (“co-molded” is a product by process recitation, see MPEP 2113, the only specific structure this could require is that the liner is bonded to the frame, this is disclosed in paragraph 0060 of the prior art), and a bearing unit (1, specifically made of 2/3/4/5) disposed within the mounting seat of the frame, the bearing unit including a stationary radially outer ring (3) having a spherical surface (3b) radially outwardly delimiting the outer ring, wherein the liner (37) is radially interposed between the seat (38a) of the frame and the spherical surface (3b) of the radially outer ring.
JP142 discloses a one piece frame (38) and thus does not disclose that the frame comprises a first half-frame and a second half-frame, the frame halves forming the mounting seat.
Smith teaches that as an alternate to a one-piece frame the bearing can be housed in a two piece frame (48, see column 2, line 59-column 3 line 9 which discloses that one piece and two piece frames are known alternatives), the two piece frame comprising a first and a second half frame (left and right sides of frame 48 in figure 6) with the frame halves collectively forming the mounting seat.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to modify JP142 and configure the one piece frame into a known alternative two piece frame with two symmetrical halves, as taught and explicitly disclosed by Smith as an alternative to a one piece frame, since substituting between two known frames, one piece vs two piece, is within the level of ordinary skill in the art and provides the predictable result of simplifying mounting the bearing as no special structure or insertion openings are needed in a two piece frame to allow the bearing to be placed in the frame.
Regarding claim 2, JP142 discloses that the elastomeric material of the liner is a nitrile rubber (see paragraph 0028 which discloses one of the materials for the elastic element as nitrile rubber).
Regarding claims 3 and 11, JP142 does not disclose a specific thickness for the liner and thus does not disclose that radial thickness of the liner is between 0.45 mm and 0.55 mm.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to select any specific radial thickness for the liner, including between 0.45mm and 0.55mm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Furthermore, in the translation JP142 states that the purpose of using the liner is for suppressing vibrations, this is the same purpose of the instant application, however one having ordinary skill in the art would select any specific thickness for the liner based on the vibration characters they want or want to exclude in the product and based on the specific utility of the bearing itself.
Regarding claims 4 and 12, JP142 discloses that the frame is made of pressed steel (see paragraph 0059, “pressed” is a product by process limitation, see MPEP 2113, that does not limit the claim to any particular structure and the shape of the frame in JP142 could be made using any number of different methods).
Regarding claims 5 and 13, JP142 in view of Smith discloses that the bearing unit has an axis of rotation (horizontal axis through the inner ring in both references), the first and second half-frames being symmetrical with respect to an axis transverse to the axis of rotation of the bearing unit (the two halves taught by Smith are symmetrical about the vertical axis indicated by the dashed line in figure 6).
Regarding claims 6, 7, 8, 14, 15 and 16, JP142 in view of Smith discloses that the first half-frame comprises a flange portion and an annular portion, connected to the flange portion and radially internal with respect to the flange portion [clms 6 and 14] and the second half-frame comprises a flange portion and an annular portion, connected to the flange portion and radially internal with respect to the flange portion [clms 7, 8 and 15] (each half of the frame taught by Smith includes a flange 52 and an annular portion extending from the inner portion of the flange to form the bearing seat just like the assembly of the frame in the instant application), and wherein the two flange portions are axially brought together and made integral by means of locking elements [clms 8 and 16] (the two flanges contact and are ultimately held together by a locking element in the form of a bolt or screw that passes through 58 just like in the instant application).
Regarding claims 9 and 17, JP142 in view of Smith discloses that the second half-frame comprises a flange portion and an annular portion (52 and annular portion forming bearing seat), connected to the flange portion and radially internal with respect to the flange portion [clm 9], and wherein the two annular portions (of both frame halves) have corresponding spherical surfaces, radially internal, which together form the mounting seat of the bearing unit inside the frame [clms 9 and 17] (the two annular portions form the spherical seat for the outer ring in Smith just like in the instant application).
Regarding claims 10 and 18, JP142 in view of Smith results in a frame that is split in two parts, the liner of JP142 would also be split in two with each half bonded to the corresponding frame half and thus the combination results in the liner comprising a first portion and a second portion, symmetrical with respect to the transverse axis, and co-molded (again this is a product by process recitation, see MPEP 2113) respectively on the spherical surface of the annular portion of the first half-frame and on the spherical surface of the annular portion of the second half-frame.
Regarding claim 19, JP142 in view of Smith, as explained in rejection of claim 10 above, results in the first and second portions of the liner being bonded to the mating surface of the split frame (taught by Smith). Smith includes a spacing in the mating surface region at 84 and thus the first and second portions of the liner would be spaced apart by this region in the combination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed November 21, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant has amended the independent claim to include features of claim 5, claim 5 being previously rejected under 35 USC 103. Relative to the combination in the previous office action and maintained above Applicant argues that proper reasoning for the combination has not been provided, with rational underpinning. However, the Applicant then acknowledges in the remarks that that “The Office’s purported reason to ‘simplify mounting the bearing’” thus the rejection does include a reason. In this case Applicant disagrees with the reason and argues that making the frame in two pieces actually complicates mounting of the bearing. However, simplifying does not mean that all aspects need to be improved nor does it, in this case, mean the physical putting of the device together is easier. As further explained in the rejection above simplifying is in reference to there no longer being a need for special structure or insertion openings in the frame using a two piece frame to allow the bearing to be placed in the frame. In spherical type bearings the opening at the ends of the frame are smaller than the maximum diameter of the bearing, these types of bearings cannot be assembled without some insertion groove or hole that is required in the axial end to allow the bearing to pass, this requires more machining steps to make the part and sequenced insertion and alignment of the bearing in the frame during assembly, this can be considered complex. Another alternative would be to split the bearing itself and insert it in pieces into the frame, again another complex process. However, in the case of a split frame to halves can be simply placed around the bearing and then secured in place, this can be considered a simplification.
The argument also does not address the other portion of the rejection that points out that Smith actually acknowledges one piece frames members and split frames as being known alternatives.
Because of the reason above and the fact that Smith acknowledges the different styles of frames as being alternatives the argument by Applicant is unpersuasive.
With regards to new claim 19 Applicant presents an argument regarding the “spaced apart from one another” recitation. It is the position taken in this office action that this is a result of the combination. JP142 has the liner bonded to the spherical surface, in Smith the spherical surface is split and a gap 84 is present. In the combination the liner would also be split and would be secured to the spherical surfaces. Since the spherical surfaces in Smith are spaced apart by a gap the liner portions would also be spaced apart.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/JAMES PILKINGTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617