DETAILED ACTION
Application Status
Claims 1-20 are pending and have been examined in this application.
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Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) filed on 11/07/2023 and 04/04/2024 have been reviewed and considered.
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 § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2 and 12 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Allen (US 20230088778 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Allen discloses: A track tensioning mechanism for a tracked vehicle, comprising: a tensioner wheel (80, Fig. 1B) configured to engage a track (100) to be tightened, the tensioner wheel having a first axle (84, Fig. 3) about which the tensioner wheel can rotate; and a bracket assembly (274, Fig. 5B) coupled to the first axle and having a second axle (see 288, Fig. 2) about which the bracket assembly can rotate relative to a body of the vehicle (see paragraph [0145]), wherein the second axle is laterally offset from the first axle, enabling the track to be loosened or tightened by rotating the bracket assembly about the second axle between first and second positions (see “…which results in increasing the tension…” paragraph [0151]).
With respect to claim 2, Allen discloses: the track tensioning mechanism of claim 1, wherein the first axle (84, Fig. 3) is parallel to the second axle (288).
With respect to claim 12, Allen discloses: a tracked vehicle (20, Fig. 1A), comprising: a body (24) and first and second (see paragraph [0108]) suspension carriers (150, Fig. 1B) having respective tracks (100), each of the first and second suspension carriers including a tensioning mechanism (270) that includes: a tensioner wheel (80) configured to engage a track to be tightened, the tensioner wheel having a first axle (84, Fig. 3) about which the tensioner wheel can rotate; and a bracket assembly (274) coupled to the first axle and having a second axle (see 288, Fig. 2) about which the bracket assembly can rotate relative to a body of the vehicle, wherein the second axle is laterally offset from the first axle, enabling the track to be loosened or tightened by rotating the bracket assembly about the second axle between first and second positions (see “…which results in increasing the tension…” paragraph [0151]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-20 allowed.
Claims 3-11 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.
Regarding claims 3, 4, and 13, the closest prior art of record is Allen (US 20230088778 A1). Allen discloses: A track tensioning mechanism for a tracked vehicle, comprising: a tensioner wheel (80, Fig. 1B) configured to engage a track (100) to be tightened, the tensioner wheel having a first axle (84, Fig. 3) about which the tensioner wheel can rotate; and a bracket assembly (274, Fig. 5B) coupled to the first axle and having a second axle (see 288, Fig. 2) about which the bracket assembly can rotate relative to a body of the vehicle (see paragraph [0145]), wherein the second axle is laterally offset from the first axle, enabling the track to be loosened or tightened by rotating the bracket assembly about the second axle between first and second positions (see “…which results in increasing the tension…” paragraph [0151]).
With respect to claim 3, Allen is silent in teaching any feature that could be reasonably equated to “a pry bar receiver”. Furthermore, the bracket assembly (274) is rotated by the advancement of a threaded fastener (276) that would prevent the bracket from being rotated by forces applied directly to the bracket. Since a pry bar would be inoperable for rotating the bracket, a person of ordinary skill in the art would not have been motivation to modify Allen to include a pry bar receiver.
With respect to claims 4 and 13, Allen is silent in teaching that the bracket assembly includes a housing piece from which a translating piece extends between the housing piece and the first axle, the translating piece configured to translate relative to the housing piece for varying a distance between the first axle and the second axle. The combination of a pivotable bracket and translating piece as claimed in claims 4 and 13 was not reasonably found in the prior art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art made of record discloses track tensioning systems in general.
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/MATTHEW D LEE/ Examiner, Art Unit 3614
/PAUL N DICKSON/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3614