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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/17/2025 has been entered.
Drawings
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 direction sensor and driver feedback module, including an auto/manual indicator, labeled with reference numerals, 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 § 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) 15, 16, 20-22, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kraning et al (US 5,194,851) in view of Kaneko (WO2018/198346). Kraning discloses:
A steering assembly for the right and left rear wheels of an off- road vehicle that includes a steering wheel 13 that controls steerable front wheels, the steering and suspension assembly comprising:
a right rear wheel hub;
a left rear wheel hub (see Fig. 1);
a direction sensor 33 adapted to detect “a signal representing the approximate magnitude of angular displacement of the first set of wheels 21 from the "wheel centered" position” (column 6, lines 9-11); and
a driver feedback module 25 positioned within a driver's field of view that outputs visual indicia 69 of the variance from straight/center 69a of the rear wheels, wherein the visual indicia 69 changes in real- time as the rear wheels move to indicate current rear wheel steering position relative to a centered position.
Kraning discloses a rear steering apparatus wherein “the rear set of wheels [are] angularly positioned by at least one hydraulic cylinder coupled to a control valve operable over an input power range” (column 3, lines 27-29), yet fails to explicitly disclose the rear steering as comprising a double-acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder having a right end and a left end, wherein the right end is functionally coupled to the right rear wheel hub and the left end is functionally coupled to the left rear wheel hub, wherein actuating the double- acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder in either direction moves the right and left rear wheel hubs in unison to turn the vehicle at least 2o in either direction, and wherein the direction sensor is mounted to the double-acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder.
Kaneko teaches:
A steering assembly for the right and left rear wheels of an off-road vehicle, the steering and suspension assembly comprising:
a right rear wheel hub 3Rr;
a left rear wheel hub 3Rl;
a double-acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder 60 having a right end 60R and a left end 60L, wherein the right end 60R is functionally coupled to the right rear wheel hub 3Rr and the left end 60L is functionally coupled to the left rear wheel hub 3Rl, wherein actuating the double-acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder 60 in either direction moves the right and left rear wheel hubs in unison to turn the vehicle at least 2o in either direction;
a direction sensor 61 adapted to detect the relative position of the double-acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder 60 and its variance from straight/center that steers the rear wheels (“Further, the steering device 30 includes a handle angle sensor 34 that detects the operation amount of the steering wheel 51, a stroke sensor 61 that detects the movement amount of the cylinder rod 62, and a steering angle sensor 64 that detects the steering angle β of the rear wheel 3R. And a vehicle speed sensor 65 that detects the traveling speed of the traveling device 3.” - see translation), wherein the direction sensor 61 is mounted to the double-acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder 60 (see Fig. 3); and
a driver feedback module 102 that outputs visual indicia B0, C0 of the variance from straight/center of the double-acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder that steers the rear wheels (see Figs. 9-18).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the steering and suspension assembly of Kraning with the teaching of Kaneko, with a reasonable expectation of success, such that the steering assembly includes a double-acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder having a right end and a left end, wherein the right end is functionally coupled to the right rear wheel hub and the left end is functionally coupled to the left rear wheel hub, wherein actuating the double- acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder in either direction moves the right and left rear wheel hubs in unison to turn the vehicle at least 2o in either direction, and wherein the direction sensor is mounted to the double-acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder, to allow for reliable steering of the rear wheels.
With regard to claim 16, Kaneko teaches wherein the double-acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder is effective for moving the first right and left rear wheel hubs a distance effective to turn the vehicle at least 10o in either direction.
With regard to claim 20, Kraning discloses wherein the driver feedback module comprises a plurality of LEDs 69 arranged to provide a visual representation of cylinder position, wherein different LEDs illuminate to indicate different degrees of variance from straight/center (see Fig. 6).
With regard to claim 21, Kaneko teaches wherein the direction sensor 61 is functionally coupled to the double-acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder 60.
With regard to claim 22, Kaneko teaches further comprising a right tie rod 62 coupling the right end of the double-acting, double-ended hydraulic cylinder 60 to the right rear wheel hub 63 and a left tie rod 62 coupling the left end of the double-acting, double- ended hydraulic cylinder 60 to the left rear wheel hub 63.
With regard to claim 24, Kraning discloses an electronic steering control system 23 that collects data from the direction sensor 33 and is adapted to determine an appropriate amount of turning for the rear wheels 21 of the vehicle in relation to movement of the steering wheel 13, yet fails to explicitly disclose a speed sensor adapted to detect a speed of the off-road vehicle.
Kaneko teaches a speed sensor 65 adapted to detect a speed of the off-road vehicle; and an electronic steering control system 100 that collects data from the direction sensor 61 and the speed sensor 65, wherein the controller 100 is adapted to determine an appropriate amount of turning for the rear wheels of the vehicle in relation to movement of the steering wheel 51. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the steering and suspension assembly of Kraning with the teaching of Kaneko, with a reasonable expectation of success, so as to include a speed sensor 65 adapted to detect a speed of the off-road vehicle to allow the driver to stay abreast of the speed of the vehicle.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 and 23 are allowed.
Claim 19 is 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 12/17/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-16 and 19-22 under 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Kraning, seen in the rejections above. Claim 1, as indicated in the Allowable Subject Matter section, is allowable as defining structure of the invention, including the inclusion of the suspension and axle structure of the vehicle wheels and the portion of the display device that indicates manual or automatic mode.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY WILHELM whose telephone number is (571)272-6980. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-5:30.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Paul Dickson can be reached at 571-272-7742. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TIMOTHY WILHELM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614 February 4, 2026