DETAILED ACTION
This is a first Non-Final Office Action on the merits in response to the application filed 12/08/23, with foreign priority to a corresponding JP application filed 12/27/22. Claims 1-9 are currently pending yet all are rejected due to the 102-rejection detailed below. 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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1-9 are rejected because both independent claims 1 and 9 define a plurality of “wall portions” on the partition’s outer edge. “Wall portions” could means sections (i.e., “portions”) of a single wall. Does Applicant intend to use this broad terminology or is the Applicant seeking to define a plurality of --walls-- that radially extend from a radially outer periphery of the partition and are arranged in a circumferential direction? For the sake of moving prosecution forward, the latter/narrower construction is being used in examining the claims.
Appropriate correction is required.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Furusawa
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Furusawa et al. (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2016/0186831). Furusawa is directed to a liquid-sealed antivibration device. See Abstract.
Claim 1: Furusawa discloses a liquid seal type vibration isolation device [Figs. 1, 4A-5B] comprising: a first member (2) and a tubular second member (3); a vibration-isolating base body which is made of a rubbery elastic body (4) and connects the first member and the second member; a diaphragm (10) which forms a liquid chamber (6), in which liquid is sealed, between the diaphragm and the vibration-isolating base body; an annular member (10b), is fixed to an outer edge of the diaphragm, and is held on an inner circumference side of the second member; and a partition (20-22) which partitions the liquid chamber into a first liquid chamber (6a) on the vibration-isolating base body side and a second liquid chamber (6b) on the diaphragm side, wherein the partition is formed in a plate shape extending in a radial direction, and includes, on an outer edge of the partition, a plurality of wall portions (opposite sides of 222a) arranged in a circumferential direction, the annular member is formed to have a thickness in the radial direction thinner than that in the axial direction [see Fig. 2A], and the diaphragm includes a contact portion (portion of 10b at 222a), and the contact portion comes into contact with the wall portions on an inner circumference side of the annular member [see Figs. 3A, 5A, 5B], to regulate an inclination of the annular member to the partition. See Figs. 1, 4A-5B.
Claim 2: Furusawa discloses that the contact portion is formed continuously in the circumferential direction. See Figs. 4A, 5A, 5B.
Claim 3: Furusawa discloses that the contact portion is a protrusion protruding to the partition side relative to an axial end surface of the annular member. See Figs. 4A, 5A, 5B.
Claim 4: Furusawa discloses that the diaphragm includes a groove-shaped recess which is formed between the annular member and the contact portion and is continuous in the circumferential direction. See Figs. 4A, 5A, 5B.
Claim 5: Furusawa discloses that an axial end portion of the second member is caulked to the inner circumference side. See para 0030, 0054.
Claim 6: Furusawa discloses that when viewed from a cross section including an axis of the annular member, the contact portion is formed in an arc shape protruding to the wall portions side, and the recess is formed in an arc shape recessed in a direction away from the wall portions while being continuous with an outer edge of the contact portion. See Figs. 4A, 5A, 5B.
Claim 7: Furusawa discloses that the dimension of a portion, protruding relative to the axial end surface of the annular member, of the contact portion is not more than 10% of the dimension in the axial direction of the annular member. See Figs. 4A, 5A, 5B.
Claim 8: Furusawa discloses that the wall portions are arranged at unequal intervals in the circumferential direction of the partition. See Fig. 4A (top of 220).
Claim 9: see claim 1 above.
Conclusion
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VISHAL SAHNI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3657
/VISHAL R SAHNI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616 February 3, 2026
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