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 12 objected to because of the following informalities: line 11 states “the transmission stage” where it should state “the transmission ratio”. 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.
(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 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Strauss (DE 10 2013 013 315).
In re claim 1, Strauss discloses a drive unit for a human-powered vehicle provided on an axle (6) of a wheel (wheel hub shell 12) of the human-powered vehicle, the drive unit comprising:
a speed increaser (chain drive) configured to receive a human driving force (via sprocket 1);
a transmission device (friction transmission 2) including a plurality of transmission stages and configured to receive the human driving force via the speed increaser; and
a speed reducer (planetary gear stage 3) configured to receive the human driving force via the transmission device (as shown in Figure 1).
In re claim 21, Strauss further discloses a motor (see [0007]) configured to apply a propulsion force to the human-powered vehicle.
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 2-8, 16-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Strauss.
In re claims 2-4, Strauss discloses the drive unit according to claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the speed reducer has a reduction ratio that is 0.15 or greater and 0.3 or less. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a reduction ratio of 0.15 or greater and 0.3 or less, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215.
In re claims 5 and 6, Strauss discloses the drive unit according to claim 1, but does not specifically disclose wherein at least one of the speed increaser, the transmission device, and the speed reducer includes a metal or resin material. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the speed increaser, the transmission device, and the speed reducer out of metal or resin, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
In re claim 7, Strauss discloses a drive unit for a human-powered vehicle, the drive unit comprising a speed increaser (chain drive) configured to receive a human driving force (via sprocket 1); and a transmission device (friction transmission 2) including a plurality of transmission stages and configured to receive the human driving force via the speed increaser, but does not specifically disclose the speed increaser having a speed-increasing ratio of 3 or greater and 11 or less. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a speed-increasing ratio of 3 or greater and 11 or less, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215.
In re claim 8, Strauss further discloses wherein the speed increaser (chain drive) includes at least one of a gear (sprocket 1), a pulley, and an endless annular member.
In re claims 16-18, Strauss discloses the drive unit according to claim 7, but does not disclose wherein the speed-increasing ratio is 9 or greater and 14 or less. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a speed-increasing ratio of 9 or greater and 14 or less, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215.
In re claim 20, Strauss further discloses a crank axle (6) of the human-powered vehicle.
Claims 15 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duggan (US 2023/0002005)
In re claim 15, Duggan discloses a drive unit for a human-powered vehicle, the drive unit comprising:
a speed increaser (122) configured to receive a human driving force (via pedals 112),
the speed increaser including a speed increaser rotation input unit (126) configured to receive the human driving force and a speed increaser rotation output unit (124) configured to output the human driving force;
the speed increaser rotation input unit having a speed increaser input rotational axis (axis of shaft 122B);
the speed increaser rotation output unit having a speed increaser output rotational axis (axis of shaft 122A) aligned coaxially with the speed increaser input rotational axis (as shown in Figures 4 and 6); and
the speed increaser having a speed-increasing ratio of 2.75 (see [0083]), but does not disclose a ratio 3 or greater and 20 or less.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a speed-increasing ratio of 3 or greater and 20 or less, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215.
In re claim 19, Duggan discloses a drive unit for a human-powered vehicle (100), the drive unit comprising: a speed increaser (122) configured to receive a human driving force (via pedals 112), the speed increaser having a speed-increasing ratio of 2.75 (see [0083]), but does not disclose a ratio of 6 or greater and 20 or less. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a speed-increasing ratio of 6 or greater and 20 or less, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-14 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The specific limitations of “wherein: the transmission stages each have a different transmission ratio; the transmission device includes a transmission device input unit configured to receive the human driving force, and a transmission device output unit configured to output the human driving force; the transmission ratio is a ratio of a rotational speed of the transmission device output unit to a rotational speed of the transmission device input unit” is not anticipated or made obvious by the prior art of record in the examiner’s opinion. The Examiner notes that the prior art does not disclose a transmission device separate from the speed increaser and including a plurality of transmission stages having different transmission ratios configured to receive the human driving force via the speed increaser.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. The references cited on the attached PTO-892 teach bicycle drives of interest.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael R Stabley whose telephone number is (571)270-3249. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-5:30.
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/MICHAEL R STABLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3611 /VALENTIN NEACSU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3611