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 .
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.
Claims 1-6, 9, and 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuwabara (JP2019044370) in view of Gontars et al. (JP3223818U).
With respect to claim 1, Kuwabara discloses a work machine, having an undercarriage (10) which comprises a middle part (12) and at least one crawler carrier (11) connected to the middle part and having at least one electric traction drive (11d), wherein at least one energy transmission line (50, 61, 62) for supplying power to the traction drive and at least one further supply line runs between the traction drive and the middle part, wherein the at least one energy supply line and the at least one further supply line run together outside the middle part and the crawler carrier ([0025] and [0030] of attached translation). Kuwabara does not specifically disclose that the at least one energy supply line and the at least one further supply line run together in a separate protection means. Gontars, however, disclose multiple lines that run through a protective hose jacket (302, 402, Figs 3-4). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to modify the invention of Kuwabara in view of the teachings of Gontars to have the lines run in a hose jacket in order to both organize and protect the lines from external damage.
With respect to claim 2, Kuwabara discloses at least one guide element (64) for guiding the protection means which is arranged on the middle part and/or on the crawler carrier, but the combination of Kuwabara and Gontars et al. do not specifically disclose that the protective hose is configured to be flexible at least in sections. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to form the hose out of flexible material in order to bend and curve around vehicle components and to be easily moved around as desired.
With respect to claim 3, wherein the protection means comprises a hose jacket (Figs 3-4 of Gontars).
With respect to claim 4, wherein the protection means (302, 402 of Gontars) completely surrounds the at least one energy transmission line and the at least one further supply line (Figs 3-4; hose jacket surrounds multiple lines).
With respect to claim 5, wherein the lines running inside the protection means have connections (63a, 63b) via which they can be detached from connections on the middle part side and/or on the traction drive side ([0025] of attached translation of Kuwabara).
With respect to claim 6, wherein the connections for making and disconnecting the connections are accessible from outside the middle part and/or crawler carrier and, are arranged outside the middle part and/or crawler carrier in the connected state ([0025] and [0030] of attached translation of Kuwabara).
With respect to claim 9, wherein at least two energy supply lines are provided for supplying power to the traction drive (Fig 5 and [0023] of attached translation).
With respect to claim 11, wherein the cable routing of the protection means is adaptable to a machine configuration of the work machine (Fig 5).
With respect to claim 12, comprising at least two crawler carriers which are connected to the middle part and which each have at least one traction drive whose at least one energy transmission line and at least one further supply line run to the middle part in a separate protection means (Figs 2-4 of Kuwabara).
With respect to claim 13, the combination discloses a work machine comprising a crawler crane (Fig 1) but does not disclose it is a duty-cycle crawler crane. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to try implementing the system on a duty cycle crawler crane, since it was old and well known that work machines mau use a cuty cycle for continuous, demanding tasks which offers superior durability, higher productivity, and better performance in tough conditions.
Claims 7-8, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuwabara (JP2019044370) in view of Gontars et al. (JP3223818U), as applied to claim 7 discussed above, and further in view of Nasu et al. (JP2010121327).
With respect to claim 7, the combination of Kuwabara and Gontars et al. discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein at least one further supply line is a coolant line for providing coolant for the traction drive. Nasu et al., however, disclose a coolant line (59A) for providing coolant for a traction drive ([0054] of attached translation). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to further modify the invention of Kuwabara in view of the teachings of Nasu et al. to have a coolant line as one of the further supply lines in order to avoid overheating.
With respect to claim 8, the combination of Kuwabara and Gontars et al. discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein at least one further supply line is a signal line for transmitting control signals to the traction drive and/or sensor signals to a controller. Nasu et al., however, disclose a control unit (34) for transmitting control signals to the traction drive and/or sensor signals to a controller ([0028], [0030], [0031] of attached translation). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to further modify the invention of Kuwabara in view of the teachings of Nasu et al. to have a signal line as one of the further supply lines in order to control the traction device as desired.
With respect to claim 10, the combination of Kuwabara and Gontars et al. discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein the at least one energy supply line connects the traction drive to an inverter, which is arranged in the middle part of the undercarriage. Nasu et al., however, disclose wherein the at least one energy supply line connects the traction drive to an inverter (28), which is arranged in the middle part of the undercarriage. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to further modify the invention of Kuwabara in view of the teachings of Nasu et al. to have the at least one energy supply lines connect the traction drive to an inverter in order to convert direct current (DC) power from the onboard batteries into alternating current (AC) power.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DREW J BROWN whose telephone number is (571)272-1362. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday.
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DREW BROWN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
/DREW J BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614