DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Receipt is acknowledged of the amendment filed 12/8/2025. Claims 1-7 are pending. Claims 2-3 were canceled. Claim 1 was amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/8/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant amended claim 1 by incorporating subject matter from claims 2 and 3 into claim 1 and addition the features “a nut disposed in the hole” and “screwing the male screw part into… the nut.”
The applicant identifies the embodiments of Figs. 1 and 6 of Noda. The embodiment of Fig. 1 was not relied on for the pending rejection and is moot. Regarding claim 1, the applicant states, see page 5 of arguments filed 12/8/2025, “Takahashi discloses…a configuration in which [the bearing] is sandwiched between nut member 13A and flange 10c (see Fig. 6).”
The applicant argues in the present application,
“by disposing the nut 60 on the back side of the substrate and fastening it to the male screw part, the support shaft is drawn in, and this force is transmitted to the substrate through the flange, the inner ring of the bearing, and the washer. Thus, the present application enables the fastening force from the nut 60 to simultaneously perform not only the fixation of the shaft but also the clamping and fixing of the bearing. See Figure 9.”
Such an arrangement is substantially similar to what is disclosed in Fig. 6 of US 2009/0263061 (Takahashi), provided below. Takahashi shows a bearing assembly 20 mounted to a stationary base 11 between a flange 10c of a shaft and a nut 13b secured to threaded portions of shaft 10 on the opposite side of the stationary base 11. The embodiment comprises a flange 10c of the shaft 10, an inner race 21 of the bearing assembly 20, a nut 13A, stationary base 11, and nut 13B secured to threaded portions of the shaft 10. As best understood by the examiner, the amended limitations as claimed contrast with the embodiment of Fig. 6 of Takashi by substituting a washer in place of nut 13A.
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The applicant further argues on page 5 that “the washer provided in the present application differs in that it is not a member having thickness like the nut member or bearing washer disclosed in Takahashi, but rather is a configuration that directly enables the thin profile of the device as described in at least paragraph [0023] and elsewhere.” And “In Takahashi, a space corresponding to the thickness of the "nut member" and "bearing washer" is indispensable between the bearing and the substrate, which increases the axial height of the device and prevents it from being made thin.”
These arguments appear to be mere speculation as there is nothing in Takahashi which discloses the thickness of the nut. One of ordinary skill in the art would reasonably be able to use a thinner nut if the thickness is a concern without undue experimentation.
The applicant further argues on page 5, “Moreover, even if one were to replace Takahashi's "nut member" and "bearing washer" with a washer, such a washer alone could not provide the necessary clamping and fixing force for the bearing. Thus, Takahashi cannot simultaneously achieve both the clamping and fixing of the bearing and the thinning of the device.”
Again, these arguments appear to be mere speculation. The examiner agrees that “a washer alone could not provide the necessary clamping and fixing force for the bearing” since washers do not provide a clamping or fixing force, however, if a washer were substituted for nut 13A in Fig. 6 of Takahashi, a clamping and fixing force would still be provided by means of nut 13B threaded to male thread portion 10b of the stationary shaft 10 which sandwiches the stationary base 11 and bearing inner race 11 with the flange 10c in an equivalent manner as claimed. See Fig. 6 and [0044] of Takahashi.
Noda (US 2019/0047161) teaches wherein a washer 17B is arranged between a bearing 17C and a base member 11 while allowing a rotational member 13 attached to the shaft to rotate. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to arranged a washer between a bearing and a substrate in view of Noda, however, Noda is no longer relied on for the current rejection.
In view of the amendments, a new ground of rejection is provided in view of US 6,120,104 (Okamoto) which teaches in Fig. 21 wherein a bearing is secured to a board with a washer 35 arranged between an inner portion of a bearing 5 and a centering board 35. It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that a washer may be substituted between the nut arranged between the bearing and the base of Takahashi as both arrangements are known for securing a bearing to a substrate and substituting the nut for a washer would yield predictable results. See MPEP 2143 I. (A) and (B).
At the bottom of page 5, the applicant states “Claim 7 is considered allowable based upon its dependence from claim 1.” The examiner notes claim 7 was previously rejected in the Non-Final Rejection filed 9/10/2025 over US 2012/0146630 (Itomi), and stands rejected as outlined below.
Thus, the examiner maintains the limitations as claimed would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art by substituting nut 13A of Takahashi with a washer without providing any new or unexpected results or requiring any undue experimentation.
Therefore, claims 1 and 4-7 stand rejected as outlined below.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 4-6 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Please amend the third to last line of claim 1 to recite “a male screw part at the one end,” since “one end” was previously established in line 2.
The examiner proposes removing “inserting” from the last line of claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2020/203467 (Saito, WO was cited in the IDS filed 10/17/2023 and a machine translation is included with the pending rejection) in view of US 2009/0263061 (Takahashi) and US 6,120,104 (Okamoto).
Regarding claim 1, Saito teaches an absolute encoder (absolute encoder 100-2 of Fig. 42 as well as Figs. 10-41) comprising:
a support shaft having one end fixed to a substrate (shaft 143 of Fig. 42 is connected to a substrate 10; see [0205] of translation);
at least one bearing including an inner ring fixed to the support shaft (bearing 56 includes an inner ring 56b fixed to shaft 143; see Fig. 42; see [0205] of the machine translation);
a magnetized magnet (magnet 8; see Fig. 42 and [0205] of the machine translation);
a spacer disposed between the bearing and the magnet in an axial direction of the support shaft (a ring-shaped tubular body 55 functions as a spacer and is configured between the magnet 8 and the bearing 56 in an axial direction; see Fig. 42 and [0205] of the machine translation);
a magnet holder configured to hold the magnet (annular portion 54 holds the magnet 8; see Fig. 42 and [0205] of the machine translation); and
a magnetic sensor configured to detect a magnetic flux from the magnet (magnetic sensor 50 detects a magnetic flux from magnet 8; see Figs. 10-12, 18, 55 and [0208] of the machine translation), wherein the magnet holder includes
a bearing fixing part being a recess part exposed at one side in the axial direction, and fixed to an outer ring of the bearing (annular portion includes a recess that allows the bearing to be press fit into a part of the annular portion 54 as claimed; see Fig. 42 and [0205] of the machine translation), and
a magnet holding part being a recess part formed at an other end side of the bearing fixing part (magnet 8 is formed at an other end of the annular portion 54; see Fig. 42),
the spacer is in contact with the outer ring of the bearing from the axial direction inside the bearing fixing part (tubular body 55 is in contact with outer ring 56a of the bearing 56 in an axial direction AX; see inside a bearing fixing portion of auxiliary shaft gear 5F; see Fig. 42 and [0205] of the machine translation).
Saito fails to teach a support shaft including a flange part at an other end; a washer disposed between the substrate and the bearing in the axial direction; the bearing is disposed between the substrate and the flange part in the axial direction; the substrate includes a hole, the support shaft being insertable into the hole and a nut disposed in the hole, and the support shaft includes a male screw part at one end, and the support shaft is fixed to the substrate together with the bearing by screwing the male screw part inserting into the hole and the nut.
Takahashi teaches a support shaft including a flange part at an other end (shaft 10 comprises one end fixed to base 11 and an other end comprising a flange part 10c; see Fig. 6);
a nut disposed between the substrate and the bearing in the axial direction (a nut 10 is disposed between stationary base 11 and bearing assembly 20; see Fig. 6);
the bearing is disposed between the substrate and the flange part in the axial direction (bearing assembly 20 is arranged between the base 11 and the flange 10c; see Figs. 6-7; see [0043]-[0044]);
the substrate includes a hole, the support shaft being insertable into the hole and a nut disposed in the hole, and the support shaft includes a male screw part at one end, and the support shaft is fixed to the substrate together with the bearing by screwing the male screw part inserting into the hole and the nut (stationary base 11 includes a shaft insertion hole 12 with shaft 10 inserted through the hole 12, and the shaft 10 comprises male thread portions 10b wherein the shaft is fixed to the bearing by nut 10B in an equivalent configuration as claimed; see Fig. 6; see [0044]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the features of Takahashi into Saito in order to gain the advantage of sandwiching the inner race of the bearing between the flange and a nut member of the base such that the shaft and inner portion of the bearing are held fixed while allowing the outer portion of the bearing to rotate.
Okamoto a washer disposed between the substrate and the bearing in the axial direction (a washer 35 is disposed between a centering board 34 and an inner portion of a bearing 5 in an axial direction of a shaft of a bolt 29 wherein the bearing is sandwiched between a flange of the bolt 29 and a nut 37 secured to a threaded portion of the bolt in an equivalent manner as claimed; see Fig. 21; see col. 5, line 55 - col. 6, line 7).
It would have been obvious matter of simple substitution for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the nut 13A of Takahashi with a washer 56 as taught in Okamoto without providing any new or unexpected results as both configurations are known in the art for securing a stationary portion of a bearing to a stationary substrate using a shaft with a flange comprising a male threaded portion secured with a nut while still allowing the rotating portion of a bearing to freely rotate.
Regarding claim 4, Saito teaches wherein the spacer is in contact with the inner peripheral part of the bearing fixing part in a radial direction, and is in contact with the outer ring of the bearing in the axial direction (the spacer 55 is arranged as claimed and in contact with outer ring 56a of bearing 56; see Fig. 42).
Regarding claim 5, Saito fails to teach wherein the flange part has a surface at one end side in the axial direction facing a disk part of the inner ring of the bearing.
Takahashi teaches wherein the flange part has a surface at one end side in the axial direction facing a disk part of the inner ring of the bearing (flange 10c has a surface which faces inner race 21 of the bearing 20 in an axial direction; see Figs. 6, 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the features of Takahashi into Saito in order to gain the advantage of sandwiching the inner race of the bearing between the flange and a nut member of the base such that the shaft is held fixed.
Regarding claim 6, Saito teaches wherein the spacer is formed in an annular shape (tubular body 55; see Fig. 42).
While Saito and Takahashi fail to explicitly teach and the flange part is disposed inside an inner peripheral surface, the limitations would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art since Saito teaches the tubular body configured to contact an outer ring (56a in Fig. 42) of the bearing and Takahashi teaches wherein flange 10c contacts an inner race 21 of the bearing 20. The configuration as claimed would be understood by combining Saito and Takashi such that the spacer is allowed to rotate with an outer ring of the bearing as disclosed in Saito with the inner ring fixed to a substrate with a flange as disclosed in Takashi.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2020/203467 (Saito, WO was cited in the IDS filed 10/17/2023 and a machine translation is included with the pending rejection) in view of US 2009/0263061 (Takahashi) and US 6,120,104 (Okamoto), and in further view of US 2012/0146630 (Itomi).
Regarding claim 7, Saito fails to teach wherein the support shaft is formed of a magnetic material.
Itomi teaches wherein the support shaft is formed of a magnetic material (a shaft is made of a ferromagnetic member; see [0022]-[0026]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the features of Itomi into Saito in order to gain the advantage of forming a magnetic shield comprising the shaft to prevent an angle detection error.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN LEE YENINAS whose telephone number is (571)270-0372. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 10 - 6.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Judy Nguyen can be reached at (571) 272-2258. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STEVEN L YENINAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858