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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 13 (second line from the bottom), the reference character “L1” should be enclosed within parentheses to improve clarity (MPEP 608.01(m) Form of Claims).
Claims 2-7 are also objected to due to their dependency.
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D’Alessio et al. US4516663 in view of Higuchi et al. US20180334054.
Regarding independent claim 1, D’Alessio discloses, in Figure and 6,
A linear actuator (D’Alessio; Fig. 6) comprising: a rail (D’Alessio; toothed rack 3 that comprises 6-foot toothed outer rack section 50 and T-shaped inner section 55) including a gear rack (D’Alessio; the assembly of 6-foot toothed outer rack section 50 and T-shaped inner section 55) extending along a longitudinal direction of the rail; and a pinion unit (D’Alessio; the assembly of motor drive mechanism 6, drive pinion 7, and governor pinion 8) configured to slidably engage the gear rack, wherein the gear rack includes at least one no-teeth section (D’Alessio; toothless surface 51 with a 10-inch length; col. 6:57-59 “removing the teeth over a 10 inch portion thereof to provide a toothless surface 51”) among a row of teeth, the at least one no-teeth section extending over a length, the pinion unit comprises: two pinion gears (D’Alessio; drive pinion 7 and governor pinion 8) both configured to engage the gear rack, the two pinion gears being spaced apart from each other by a center-to-center distance (D’Alessio; col. 5:18-20 the drive pinion 7 and the governor pinion 8 are separated by a nominal distance of 14-inches) along the longitudinal direction; and a motor (D’Alessio; motor drive mechanism 6) configured to drive the two pinion gears, and the length L1 is equal to or longer than two pitches of the teeth of the gear rack and is shorter than the center-to-center distance (D’Alessio; see labeled figure below).
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D’Alessio’s labeled Figure 6.
D’Alessio is silent regarding an electric motor.
Higuchi teaches an electric motor (Higuchi; electric motor 23 that provides power for operating the rack 21 and pinion 22; [0008] “transmitting a rotation generated in an electric motor to the pinion”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the effective filing date of the invention to substitute the motor as taught by D’Alessio with the electric motor as taught by Higuchi for the purpose of providing a quiet moto-running operation with minimal environmental emissions.
Regarding claim 2, Modified D’Alessio teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The linear actuator of claim 1, wherein a distance (D’Alessio; toothless surface 51 with a 10-inch length) between two end teeth located on both sides of the no-teeth section is equal to an integral multiple of a pitch of the teeth of the gear rack (D’Alessio; the length of the toothless surface 51 is an integral multiple of the tooth pitch because the begins and ends at the edge of corresponding distal teeth at the two distal ends of the toothless surface 51).
Claim(s) 3 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over over D’Alessio et al. US4516663 in view of Higuchi et al. US20180334054 as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, and further in view of Meyer US5836205.
Regarding claim 3, Modified D’Alessio teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The linear actuator of claim 1, wherein the two pinion gears (D’Alessio; drive pinion 7 and governor pinion 8).
Modified D’Alessio does not teach wherein the two pinion gears engage an idle gear.
Meyer teaches wherein the two pinion gears engage an idle gear (Meyer; Fig. 1; driver pinion gear 22 provides power to rotate drive gears 14 and 16 along first rack 10).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the linear actuator as taught by Modified D’Alessio so that the two pinion gears engage an idle gear as taught by Meyer for the purpose of distributing the input power force across both pinions instead of only on pinion so that the forces are distributed more evenly.
Regarding claim 7, Modified D’Alessio teaches the invention substantially the same as described above in regards to claim 3.
Allowable Subject Matter
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Claims 4-6 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Meck US20130233102 teaches, in Figure 2, a screw 34 that mounts a gear rack 12 to a carrier element 14, but the screw 34 does not penetrate through to the teeth of the gear rack 12.
Higuchi US20190168641 teaches, in Figures 5-7, bolts 31b that mount rack 31 at distal ends of the rack ([0047]).
Knapp US1957785 teaches an adjustable vehicle seat with a slide 38, a rack 39, and pinions 63.
Okada et al. US20240191792 teaches a gear rack.
Mohammad et al. US12162417 teaches a vehicle seat, a driving mechanism 31, and gear wheels 27/29 that travel on gear rack 71.
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/JONATHAN MALIKASIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612 1/16/26