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
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 8-9 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Brueckner (US Patent 10,391,855). Brueckner discloses an active grill system (10, See Figure 8) comprising: a frame (50); and a plurality of vanes (20, 21) disposed within the frame (See Figure 1b), wherein the frame and the plurality of vanes are rotatable connected to permit angular movement of the plurality of vanes about a longitudinal axis (X) of the plurality of vanes when actuated by an actuator (40) to define a blocking and an unblocking configuration (See Figures 1a and 1b), wherein the frame comprises at least one back support (50.2) disposed substantially orthogonally with respect to the vanes and adapted to prevent deflection of the vanes in the direction of ram air (R), wherein the back support extends towards the vanes (See Figure 8) and comprises a plurality of bearing rods (50.5) adapted to be received in bearing cavities (20.1c) formed on corresponding vanes, wherein each of the bearing cavities encapsulates at least a portion of the periphery of the corresponding bearing rod (See Figures 6a, 6b), and wherein at least one of the bearing rods and the corresponding bearing cavity are configured with at least one insertion assisting, locking and retention features (See column 11, lines 3-12).
Regarding claim 2, Brueckner discloses wherein the back support extends between, and connects the longitudinal side panels, thereby defining the frame (See Figure 2).
Regarding claim 3, Brueckner discloses wherein the back support (50.2) comprises: the bearing rods (50.5), a main rib (See annotated Figure 2 below), and connecting portions (See annotated Figure 2 below), wherein the connecting portions extend from the main rib towards the corresponding vanes and connects the main rib to the bearing rib.
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Regarding claim 4, Brueckner discloses wherein the vane (20, 21) is adapted to angularly move relative to the corresponding bearing rod (50.5) as the vane angularly moves between blocking and unblocking configuration thereof (See Figure 1a and 1b).
Regarding claim 5, Brueckner discloses wherein at least one of the bearing cavities (20.1c) comprises at least one lip portion (See annotated Figure 3b below) configured on either side of an open side of the bearing cavity, wherein the lip portion serves as a retention feature (once the bearing rod slides into the cavity, it is prevented from coming out), and wherein the lip portion is adapted to urge and retain the bearing rod with the corresponding bearing cavity and prevent escape of the bearing rod through an entry passage defined by the lip portion.
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Regarding claim 8, Brueckner discloses wherein the bearing rods (50.5) are complimentary to the corresponding bearing cavities (20.1c).
Regarding claim 9, Brueckner discloses wherein the bearing rods (50.5) are coaxial with respect to the corresponding rotatable connections between the vanes (20.2) and frame (50) formed by pins (20.1a, 20.1b) and holes (50.1) configured on extreme ends of the vanes and the frame respectively (See Figure 2, 3a and 3b).
Regarding claim 11, Brueckner discloses wherein the connecting portion comprises a converging section that is converging from the main rib to the respective bearing rod (See annotated Figure 2 above).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brueckner (US Patent 10,391,855) in view of Yamamoto (WO 2015/178172). Brueckner discloses the active grill shutter system as set forth above, but does not disclose wherein the bearing rod comprises a notch that is adapted to pass through the entry passage to facilitate insertion and receiving of the bearing rod in the corresponding bearing cavity. Yamamoto discloses wherein the bearing rod (21a, 22a and 23a) comprises a notch (23a) that is adapted to pass through the entry passage (51b) to facilitate insertion and receiving of the bearing rod in the corresponding bearing cavity (51). At the time of filing on this invention, a person of ordinary skill in this art would modified the bearing rod of Brueckner to have a notch as taught by Yamamoto in order to allow the bearing rod to be inserted into the bearing cavity as shown in Figure 4 below.
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Regarding claim 7, the combination of Brueckner and Yamamoto would disclose wherein the notch is further adapted to interact with the corresponding bearing cavity to lock the vane in different positions defining the blocking and unblocking configuration of the vanes respectively See Figure 4 above).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brueckner (US Patent 10,391,855) in view of Minero (EP 3,634,799). Brueckner discloses the active grill shutter system as set forth above, but does not disclose wherein the bearing cavities are comparatively longer than the corresponding bearing rods. Minero discloses wherein the bearing cavities (5) are comparatively longer than the corresponding bearing rods (9). As shown below, the bearing cavities taught by Minero run almost the entirety of the width of the frame. At the time of the filing of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in this art to increase the size/width of the bearing cavities disclosed in Brueckner so that they are comparatively longer than the bearing rods disclosed in Brueckner as taught by Minero. The motivation for doing so would have been to allow the bearing rod to be insertable along many width positions of the bearing cavities.
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James A Shriver II whose telephone number is (303)297-4337. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00 am - 4:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, J. Allen Shriver II can be reached at (303) 297-4337. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES A SHRIVER II/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3613