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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 9/10/15 has been entered.
Claim Interpretation
Examiner notes that the amended claim language requires a broader interpretation of the limitation “enclosing” (see lines 9 and 14). The limitation will be interpreted in light of the specification as being consistent with the embodiment of figs. 8-9 rather than one of several available definitions which require complete surrounding or closing in on all sides.
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 1-2 and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kennerly, U.S. Patent 10,316,559 in view of Chiu, U.S. Patent Application Publication.
Regarding Claim 1, Kennerly teaches:
two fixing leaves (102, 104); each one of the fixing leaves including:
at least one knuckle (112a-c, 114a-b);
a pin (108) mounted through the at least one knuckle of each one of the fixing leaves (see figs. 1-3)…
...at least one plastic element (see 110, 106a-d, see Col 3, Lns 35-41) enclosing the pin and located between the pin and the at least one knuckle of the fixing leaves (see fig. 3);
the at least one plastic element including multiple said plastic elements (see 110, 106a-d),
Kennerly does not teach:
the pin including:
a plurality of large sections and a plurality of small sections, a diameter of each one of the large sections being larger than a diameter of each one of the small sections; the large sections and the small sections staggered…
…each one of the plastic elements enclosing one of the small sections; an outer diameter of each one of the plastic elements being larger than the diameter of the large section.
Chiu teaches:
a pin (11, 16) including:
a plurality of large sections (14) and a plurality of small sections (see below), a diameter of each one of the large sections being larger than a diameter of each one of the small sections (see fig. 4); the large sections and the small sections staggered (see fig. 4)…
elements (see 21) enclosing one of the small sections (see fig. 4); an outer diameter of each one of the plastic elements being larger than the diameter of the large section (see fig. 4, and note voids between pin (11, 16) and knuckle (31).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide Kennerly with the plurality of large and small sections on the pin and to replace the sleeve of Kennerly with multiple plastic elements such as small bushings, washers or ringlets enclosing the small sections and having a diameter larger than that of the large pin sections because that would reduce the material cost by reducing the volume of PTFE plastic used and this would maintain the separation between the pin and knuckle to prevent metal on metal contact (see Kennerly Abstract). Examiner notes that Applicant’s disclosure teaches a sleeve (fig. 2, element 30) in addition to multiple plastic elements (22b) and the embodiments present obvious variants of one another rather than separate inventions.
Regarding Claim 2, Kennerly teaches:
a cap (see below) mounted at an end of the pin and thereby the at least one knuckle of each one of the fixing leaves clamped by the cap and the pin.
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Regarding Claims 15-16, in the instant combination Kennerly-Chiu would satisfy the limitations of these claims because Chiu teaches elements clamped by adjacent large sections (see fig. 4) and it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to include these features of Chiu because this would maintain the multiple plastic elements in the proper position within the knuckles along the pin.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW J SULLIVAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5218. The examiner can normally be reached IFP, Typically M-Th, 8:00-6:00, regular Fr availability.
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/M.J.S/Examiner, Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/SPE, Art Unit 3677