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 07/16/2026.
Claims 1-9 are currently pending and have been examined below.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/16/2026 has been entered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
Figure 9 is objected because 231 is pointing to the coil spring, however the specification discloses 231 as the sliding tube (see par. 37).
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 § 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, 6, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hillen et al. (US 20100186528) (hereinafter “Hillen”).
Claim 1
(Hillen discloses) An opening-and-closing body driving device (figures 1-7) for coupling a vehicle body having an opening and an opening-and-closing body configured to open and close the opening (Hillen’s invention is directed to a drive device for a vehicle body and a hinged vehicle lid or door; abstract), and for driving the opening-and-closing body by extending and contracting in an axial direction (extension direction of the device shown in figure 1), the opening-and-closing body driving device comprising:
an extendable unit (Annotated figure 2 below) including a spindle (16) extending in the axial direction, a nut (19) configured to move in the axial direction accompanying with rotation of the spindle, a rod (Annotated figure 2 below) configured to move in the axial direction together with the nut, a bearing (31) configured to rotatably support the spindle, and a guide tube (Annotated figure 2 below) configured to support the spindle via the bearing and guide movement of the nut; and
a driving unit (Annotated figure 2 below) including a driving portion (10) configured to drive the spindle and a housing (Annotated figure 2 below) having a cylindrical shape and configured to accommodate the driving portion (figures 1-2), wherein
the guide tube includes an insertion portion (Annotated figure 2 below) configured to be inserted into the housing along the axial direction, and an inner tube (18) configured to allow movement of the nut in the axial direction and restrict rotation of the nut (figure 2),
the insertion portion includes an inner peripheral wall (Annotated figure 7 below) that has a cylindrical shape and into which the bearing is fitted (Annotated figure 7 below), and an outer peripheral wall (Annotated figure 7 below) that has a cylindrical shape and that is fitted into an end portion of the housing (Annotated figure 7 below), the inner peripheral wall including an outer peripheral surface that faces an inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral wall in a radial direction (the outer surface facing an inner surface is shown in Annotated figure 7 below),
a gap (Annotated figure 7 below) is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the inner peripheral wall and the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral wall in the radial direction orthogonal to the axial direction (Annotated figure 7 below), and
when a direction in which the insertion portion is inserted into the housing is defined as an insertion direction (Annotated figure 7 (II) below), a surface of the bearing facing a direction opposite to the insertion direction is defined as a first reference surface (Annotated figure 7 (II) below), and a surface of the housing facing the direction opposite to the insertion direction is defined as a second reference surface (Annotated figure 7 (II) below), a distance from the first reference surface of the bearing to a distal end of the inner peripheral wall (see ‘first distance’ in Annotated figure 7 (II) below) 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 (see ‘second distance’ in Annotated figure 7 (II) below).
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Annotated figure 2
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Annotated figure 7
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Annotated figure 7 (II)
Claim 2
(Hillen 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 7 (II) above).
Claim 3
(Hillen discloses) The opening-and-closing body driving device according to claim 1, wherein
an outer diameter of the inner peripheral wall is smaller than an inner diameter of the outer peripheral wall in the radial direction (both diameters shown in Annotated figure 7 (III) below).
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Annotated figure 7 (III)
Claim 6
(Hillen discloses) The opening-and-closing body driving device according to claim 2, wherein an outer diameter of the inner peripheral wall is smaller than an inner diameter of the outer peripheral wall in the radial direction (both diameters shown in Annotated figure 7 (III) above).
Claim 9
(Hillen discloses) The opening-and-closing body driving device according to claim 1, wherein
the distal end of the inner peripheral wall engages with an engaging groove (Annotated figure 7 (III) above) of a fixture fixed to the housing (Annotated figure 7 (III) 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 4-5 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hillen, as applied to claims 1-3, 6, and 9 above, in view of Tsukagoshi et al. (US 20170275939) (hereinafter “Tsukagoshi”).
Claims 4 and 7
(Hillen discloses) The opening-and-closing body driving device according to claims 1 and 2, wherein
the guide tube includes:
an outer tube (26) having an inner diameter larger than an outer diameter of the inner tube in the radial direction (see inner tube 18 having an inherent smaller diameter than the outer tube 26 in figure 1); and
a coil spring (30) 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 (figure 1).
Hillen is silent regarding the guide tube, the inner tube, the outer tube, and the insertion portion are integrally formed of a resin material.
(However, Tsukagoshi teaches) An opening-and-closing body driving device (Tsukagoshi figures 1-3), comprising: a guide tube (40), an inner tube (44), an outer tube (outer tube of 40 shown in Tsukagoshi figure 3), and an insertion portion (end portion of 40 near 30) are integrally formed of a resin material (par. 18).
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, inner tube, outer tube, and insertion portion of Hillen such that they are made of resin material as taught by Tsukagoshi for the weight benefits of resin housing without compromising their durability.
Claims 5 and 8
(Hillen discloses) The opening-and-closing body driving device according to claims 1 and 2, wherein the outer peripheral wall of the guide tube is joined to the housing (figures 1-2 and 7).
Hillen 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.
(However, Tsukagoshi teaches) An opening-and-closing body driving device (Tsukagoshi figures 1-3), wherein
(i) a housing (30) is made of a light transmissive resin (par. 18), and
(ii) a guide tube (40) is made of a light absorbing resin (par. 18).
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 housing and guide tube of Hillen such that they are made of resin material as taught by Tsukagoshi for the weight benefits of resin housing without compromising their durability.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 07/16/2026 have been fully considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kummer (US 11428037) was cited as it discloses an inner peripheral wall and outer peripheral wall that has a gap between both walls similar to applicant’s invention.
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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Daniel Cahn can be reached at (571) 270-5616. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PATRICK B. PONCIANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3634
/DANIEL P CAHN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3634
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