DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to the filing on 10/06/2023.
Claims 1-8 are currently pending and have been examined below.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
Figures 4-13 are objected as they are disclosed as cross-section figures but the drawings do not show where these cross-sections are taken. See 37 CFR 1.84 (h)(3).
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 Objections
Claims 1, 4, and 7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In line 19 of claim 1, “a surface of the housing facing a direction opposite” should read -- a surface of the housing facing the direction opposite --.
In line 7 of claims 4 and 7, “in the guide tube, the inner tube, the outer tube, and the insertion portion” should read --the guide tube, the inner tube, the outer tube, and the insertion portion-- or --wherein the guide tube, the inner tube, the outer tube, and the insertion portion--.
Appropriate correction is required. Above provides non-limiting examples, the applicant(s) must find and correct all issues similar to those discussed above.
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)(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 1-3 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wu et al. (US 11661783) (hereinafter “Wu”).
Claim 1
(Wu discloses) A opening-and-closing body driving device (figures 1-5) for coupling a vehicle body having an opening and an opening-and-closing body configured to open and close the opening (intended use; the device of Wu can be used for opening vehicle bodies), and for driving the opening-and-closing body by extending and contracting in an axial direction (Partial Annotated figure 4 further below; abstract), the opening-and-closing body driving device comprising:
an extendable unit (200; figure 2) including a spindle (230; figure 4) extending in the axial direction, a nut (241) configured to move in the axial direction accompanying with rotation of the spindle, a rod (Annotated figure 5 below) configured to move in the axial direction together with the nut, a bearing (300) configured to rotatably support the spindle, and a guide tube (210) configured to support the spindle via the bearing and guide movement of the nut; and
a driving unit (100; figure 2) including a driving portion (130; lines 10-14 of col. 4) configured to drive the spindle and a housing (110) having a cylindrical shape and configured to accommodate the driving portion (figure 2), wherein
the guide tube includes an insertion portion (Annotated figure 4 below) configured to be inserted into the housing along the axial direction (figures 4-5), and an inner tube (Annotated figure 5 below) configured to allow movement of the nut in the axial direction and restrict rotation of the nut (figures 4-5),
the insertion portion includes an inner peripheral wall (Annotated figure 4 below) that has a cylindrical shape and into which the bearing is fitted (Annotated figure 4 below), and an outer peripheral wall (Annotated figure 4 below) that has a cylindrical shape and that is fitted into an end portion (111) of the housing, and
when a direction in which the insertion portion is inserted into the housing is defined as an insertion direction (Annotated figure 4 below), a surface of the bearing facing a direction opposite to the insertion direction is defined as a first reference surface (Annotated figure 4 below), and a surface of the housing facing a direction opposite to the insertion direction is defined as a second reference surface (Annotated figure 4 below), a distance from the first reference surface of the bearing to a distal end of the inner peripheral wall is longer than a distance from the second reference surface of the housing to a distal end of the outer peripheral wall in the axial direction (both distances shown in Annotated figure 5 below; distal ends of both inner and outer peripheral walls are shown in Annotated figure 4).
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Annotated figure 4
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Annotated figure 5
Claim 2
(Wu discloses) The opening-and-closing body driving device according to claim 1, wherein in the guide tube, the distal end of the inner peripheral wall extends with respect to the distal end of the outer peripheral wall in the insertion direction (Annotated figure 4 above).
Claim 3
(Wu discloses) The opening-and-closing body driving device according to claim 1, wherein
an outer diameter of the inner peripheral wall (Partial Annotated figure 4 below) is smaller than an inner diameter of the outer peripheral wall (Partial Annotated figure 4 below) in a radial direction orthogonal to the axial direction (both diameters are measured in the radial direction; Partial Annotated figure 4 below).
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Partial Annotated figure 4
Claim 6
(Wu discloses) The opening-and-closing body driving device according to claim 2, wherein
an outer diameter of the inner peripheral wall (Partial Annotated figure 4 above) is smaller than an inner diameter of the outer peripheral wall (Partial Annotated figure 4 above) in a radial direction orthogonal to the axial direction (both diameters are measured in the radial direction; Partial Annotated figure 4 above).
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 4 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu, as applied to claims 1-3 and 6 above, in view of Yamagata et al. (US 10745958) (hereinafter “Yamagata”) in further view of Yamagata Nikio et al. (CN 109563723) (hereinafter “Nikio”).
Claims 4 and 7
(Wu discloses)
“The opening-and-closing body driving device according to claim 1” (claim 4);
“The opening-and-closing body driving device according to claim 2” (claim 7);
wherein the guide tube includes:
an outer tube having an inner diameter (Annotated figure 5 above) larger than an outer diameter of the inner tube in a radial direction orthogonal to the axial direction (Annotated figure 5 above).
Wu is silent regarding:
(i) a coil spring accommodated in a space between the inner tube and the outer tube and configured to bias the extendable unit in a direction in which the extendable unit expands, and
(ii) in the guide tube, the inner tube, the outer tube, and the insertion portion are integrally formed of a resin material.
(i) (However, Yamagata teaches) a coil spring (28; Yamagata figure 6) accommodated in a space between an inner tube (19) and an outer tube (17; figures 6-8) and configured to bias an extendable unit (3) in a direction in which the extendable unit expands (lines 28-47 of col. 6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide the guide tube of Wu with the coil spring of Yamagata, with a reasonable expectation of success, for effectively biasing the extendable unit therefore it is much more supported and prevents abrupt or harsh impact to the driving device.
(ii) (However, Nikio teaches) a guide tube (4; Nikio figure 3) formed of a resin material (Excerpt 1 from page 5 of Nikio).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide the entire guide tube including the inner and outer tubes and insertion portion of Wu such that they are formed of resin material as taught by Nikio, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the non-limiting benefits of resin such as being lightweight without sacrificing durability, sustainability, ability to be aesthetically finished in many options, and light absorption for manufacturing reasons.
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Excerpt 1
Claims 5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu, as applied to claims 1-3 and 6 above, in view of Nikio.
Claims 5 and 8
(Wu discloses)
“The opening-and-closing body driving device according to claim 1” (claim 5);
“The opening-and-closing body driving device according to claim 2” (claim 8);
wherein the outer peripheral wall of the guide tube is joined to the housing (figure 5).
Wu is silent regarding:
(i) the housing is made of a light transmissive resin, and
(ii) the guide tube is made of a light absorbing resin.
(i and ii) (However, Nikio teaches) a tubular housing (4; Nikio figure 3) is made of resin (Excerpt 1 above).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide the entire guide tube and the housing of Wu such that they are formed of resin material as taught by Nikio, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the non-limiting benefits of resin such as being lightweight without sacrificing durability, sustainability, ability to be aesthetically finished in many options, and light absorption for manufacturing reasons.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK B PONCIANO whose telephone number is (571)272-9910. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30-4:00.
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/PATRICK B. PONCIANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3634
/DANIEL P CAHN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3634