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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: 210a and 210b in Paragraph 0054. Should 210a and 210b be changed to 120a and 120b to match the numerals in Figure 6a?
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore:
the second plurality of wheel assemblies from claim 9
the pair of spaced-apart rail segments of each of the first rail, the second rail, the first upper rail, and the second upper rail from claim 11
the second weldment of the second rail and the second upper rail from claim 12 (Note: element 600 in Figures 6a and 6b is disclosed as being a weldment, and the second rail (120) and the second upper rail (120b) are a part of that weldment. Do the drawings show another weldment?)
the particular wheel assembly that is configured to attach to the rail in both a forward-facing direction and a reverse-facing direction from claim 16 (Note: is there a specific wheel assembly shown in the drawings that can perform this function?)
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 7 and 8 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 7, line 2, recites “wheel assemblies” which is indefinite because it is unclear how the wheel assemblies from claim 7 are related to or different from the plurality of wheel assemblies from claim 1, line 3. Are the wheel assemblies from claim 7 a part of the plurality of wheel assemblies from claim 1?
Claim 7, line 4, recites “a wheel assembly” which is indefinite because it is unclear how the wheel assembly from claim 7 are related to or different from the plurality of wheel assemblies from claim 1, line 3. Is the wheel assembly from claim 7, line 4, a part of the plurality of wheel assemblies from claim 1?
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the second rail" in lines 3-4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Is the Applicant trying to refer to the upper rail from claim 7?
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cheng et al. (CN 107521574 A; see provided machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Cheng et al. discloses a modular apparatus for supporting wheels of a tracked vehicle (tracked all-terrain vehicle from the Abstract and a crawler-type all-terrain vehicle from claim 1 in the machine translation), comprising:
a rail (1) that extends lengthwise along a side of the vehicle; and
a plurality of wheel assemblies (18) attached to the rail at a set of user-selected locations (the locations that user has chosen to place two of the 18s) along the rail,
wherein the wheel assemblies are constructed and arranged to guide a track (the track that must be present for the vehicle to be a tracked vehicle) in a loop around the wheel assemblies on the side of the vehicle.
Regarding claim 2, Cheng et al. discloses that the rail is an indexed rail (1 is viewed as being an index rail given the plurality of wheel mounting location) that defines discrete locations at which the plurality of wheel assembles can be attached (see Figures 1 and 3).
Regarding claim 13, Cheng et al. discloses a method of configuring a tracked vehicle (tracked all-terrain vehicle from the Abstract and a crawler-type all-terrain vehicle from claim 1 in the machine translation), comprising:
providing a rail (1) that extends lengthwise along a side of the tracked vehicle;
selecting a plurality of wheel assemblies (two of the 18s in Figure 3) for attaching to the rail;
selecting a set of locations along the rail at which to attach the plurality of wheel assemblies (the location that the two selected 18s attach to 1 in Figure 3); and
attaching the plurality of wheel assemblies at the selected locations (see Figure 3).
Claims 1, 13, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park et al. (US 2007/0131460 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Park et al. discloses a modular apparatus for supporting wheels of a tracked vehicle (see Figure 1), comprising:
a rail (2) that extends lengthwise along a side of the vehicle; and
a plurality of wheel assemblies (20, 30; Paragraph 0033 discloses that the first embodiment is installed on the structure of Figures 1 and 2, and Figure 2 shows a plurality of carrier rollers) attached to the rail at a set of user-selected locations (Paragraphs 0040, 0044, and 0052 disclose that the carrier roller can be moved by the presence of the slots in 20; see Figure 3) along the rail,
wherein the wheel assemblies are constructed and arranged to guide a track (see Figure 1) in a loop around the wheel assemblies on the side of the vehicle.
Regarding claim 13, Park et al. discloses a method of configuring a tracked vehicle (see Figure 1), comprising:
providing a rail (2) that extends lengthwise along a side of the tracked vehicle;
selecting a plurality of wheel assemblies (20, 30; Paragraph 0033 discloses that the first embodiment is installed on the structure of Figures 1 and 2, and Figure 2 shows a plurality of carrier rollers) for attaching to the rail;
selecting a set of locations (Paragraphs 0040, 0044, and 0052 disclose that the carrier roller can be moved by the presence of the slots in 20; see Figure 3) along the rail at which to attach the plurality of wheel assemblies; and
attaching the plurality of wheel assemblies at the selected locations.
Regarding claim 14, Park et al. discloses moving at least one of the plurality of wheel assemblies from an initial location (one position of 20) along the rail to a new location (a position of 20 when 20 is slid to along the axial length of 2) along the rail.
Claims 1-3, 5, 6, 9, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by R. C. Williams (US 2,823,079 A).
Regarding claim 1, R. C. Williams discloses a modular apparatus for supporting wheels of a tracked vehicle (see Figure 1), comprising:
a rail (6) that extends lengthwise along a side of the vehicle; and
a plurality of wheel assemblies (the circular members that fit into each 28; see Figures 1 and 3) attached to the rail at a set of user-selected locations (the wheels assemblies can be placed in any of the 28s given the similar structure of each 28 as shown in Figures 1 and 2 thus the locations are viewed as being user-selected) along the rail,
wherein the wheel assemblies are constructed and arranged to guide a track (18) in a loop around the wheel assemblies on the side of the vehicle.
Regarding claim 2, R. C. Williams discloses that the rail is an indexed rail (6 is viewed as being an index rail given the plurality of wheel mounting location) that defines discrete locations at which the plurality of wheel assembles can be attached (see Figures 1 and 2).
Regarding claim 3, R. C. Williams discloses that the indexed rail includes a plurality of equally-spaced features (28; the recesses [28] are at intervals as disclosed by Column 2 / Lines 49-51 which appear to be equally-spaced as shown in Figures 1 and 2) that define the discrete locations.
Regarding claim 5, R. C. Williams discloses that the rail includes first (6) and second (8) spaced-apart rail segments that run parallel to each other and have equally-spaced features that are transversely aligned (see Figure 3).
Regarding claim 6, R. C. Williams discloses that the equally-spaced features include concave regions (each 28 is concave) constructed and arranged to receive convex features (the portion of each wheel assembly that fits into each concave region) of the wheel assemblies.
Regarding claim 9, R. C. Williams discloses a tracked vehicle (see Figure 1), comprising:
a vehicle hull (see Figure 1);
a first rail (6) that extends lengthwise along a first side of the vehicle hull (see Figure 1);
a second rail (the rail not shown in the figures; Column 2 / Lines 17-27 discloses that the track and wheel assembly shown in Figure 1 is duplicated and identical to a rail and wheel assembly on the non-shown side of the tracked vehicle) that extends lengthwise along a second side of the vehicle hull (see Figure 1);
a first plurality of wheel assemblies (the circular members that fit into each 28; see Figures 1 and 3) attached to the first rail at a set of user-selected locations (the wheels assemblies can be placed in any of the 28s given the similar structure of each 28 as shown in Figures 1 and 2 thus the locations are viewed as being user-selected) along the first rail, the first plurality of wheel assemblies constructed and arranged to guide a first track (18) in a loop around the first plurality of wheel assemblies (see Figure 1); and
a second plurality of wheel assemblies (the circular members that fit into each 28; see Figures 1 and 3; Column 2 / Lines 17-27 discloses that the track and wheel assembly shown in Figure 1 is duplicated and identical to a rail and wheel assembly on the non-shown side of the tracked vehicle) attached to the first rail at a set of user-selected locations (the wheels assemblies can be placed in any of the 28s given the similar structure of each 28 as shown in Figures 1 and 2 thus the locations are viewed as being user-selected) along the second rail, the second plurality of wheel assemblies constructed and arranged to guide a second track (the track that is not shown in the figures) in a loop around the second plurality of wheel assemblies.
Regarding claim 13, R. C. Williams discloses a method of configuring a tracked vehicle (see Figure 1), comprising:
providing a rail (6) that extends lengthwise along a side of the tracked vehicle;
selecting a plurality of wheel assemblies (the circular members that fit into each 28; see Figures 1 and 3) for attaching to the rail;
selecting a set of locations (the wheels assemblies can be placed in any of the 28s given the similar structure of each 28 as shown in Figures 1 and 2 thus the locations are viewed as being user-selected) along the rail at which to attach the plurality of wheel assemblies; and
attaching the plurality of wheel assemblies at the selected locations.
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 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steben et al. (US 2014/0174839 A1) in view of Park et al. (US 2007/0131460 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Steben et al. discloses a tracked vehicle, comprising:
a vehicle hull (see Figure 1);
a first rail (641; Figure 19) that extends lengthwise along a first side of the vehicle hull (see Figure 19);
a second rail (642; Figure 19) that extends lengthwise along a second side of the vehicle hull (see Figure 19);
a first plurality of wheel assemblies (881, 882, 883, 884; Figure 19) attached to the first rail at locations along the first rail (see Figure 19), the first plurality of wheel assemblies constructed and arranged to guide a first track (161) in a loop around the first plurality of wheel assemblies (see Figure 1); and
a second plurality of wheel assemblies (the wheel assemblies attached to 642 as shown in Figure 19) attached to the second rail at locations along the second rail, the second plurality of wheel assemblies constructed and arranged to guide a second track (162) in a loop around the second plurality of wheel assemblies (see Figure 1).
Steben et al. does not disclose that the first plurality of wheel assemblies and the second plurality of wheel assemblies are attached to their respective rails at set of user-selected locations.
Park et al. teaches an endless track vehicle that comprises at least one bracket connecting at least one roller assembly to a rail, and wherein the at least one bracket allows for adjustment of the wheel assembly position on the rail (see Paragraphs 0040, 0044, and 0052).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the first plurality of wheel assemblies and the second plurality of wheel assemblies of Steben et al. to be attached to their respective rails at set of user-selected locations, as taught by Park et al., for the purpose of allowing the operator to perfect the positioning of wheel assemblies.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 10-12, and 15-17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 7 and 8 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.
Tripp et al. (US 2024/0082612 A1) discloses an electric vehicle that has a pair of tracks that are supported by respective rails, and the rails and corresponding wheel assemblies appear to be similar in design to the rails and wheel assemblies of the current application.
Yoshida et al. (US 6,702,406 B2) discloses a crawler work vehicle in Figure 8 that is comprised of a rail, a track, and a plurality of wheel assemblies, and wherein it appears that the two central wheel assemblies are reversible thus functioning in both forward-facing and rearward-facing directions.
Livesay (US 4,361,363 A) discloses a tracked vehicle comprised of a rail, a track, and a plurality of wheel assemblies, one of the wheel assemblies has a suspension component, and another of the wheel assemblies does not have a suspension component.
Sun (CN 114919672 A) discloses a vehicle with a rail and track system, the rail has a plurality of concave recesses formed on a lower surface, and a plurality of wheel assemblies fit into the recesses.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM D ROGERS whose telephone number is (571)272-6561. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 6AM-2:00PM EST.
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/ADAM D ROGERS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617