DETAILED ACTION
This is on the merits of Application No. 18/559107, filed on 11/06/2023. Claims 34-45 and 47-66 are pending. 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
Claims 53 and 59 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 53 recites the limitation “and/or.” Because each claim can only be drawn to one invention, alternative options must be listed as “at least one of X and Y.”
Claim 59 states “axial outside” and should state --an axial outside--.
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.
Claims 34, 36-45, 47-48, and 52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2019/0178316 to Jarzomski et al. in view of U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2019/0265799 to Battlogg(2) (cited in applicant’s IDS).
Jarzomski discloses:
(Claim 34) A magnetorheological braking device (100) for braking rotary movements, comprising: at least one axle unit (110) and at least one rotating body (140) which is rotatable about the axle unit; at least one magnetorheological braking device configured to a brake the rotatability of the rotating body, said at least one magnetorheological braking device having at least one coil unit (145, par. [0023]); a receiving space (150) being formed between the axle unit and the rotating body, said receiving space being provided with a magnetorheological medium (see par. [0024]), and said magnetorheological medium having magnetorheological particles and gas as a filling medium (see par. [0024], medium comprises magnetically-responsive powder such as iron powder and at least partially fills void 150); and said receiving space being sealed via a sealing device (Figs. 1 and 2A, element 170), and said sealing device having a sealing unit (190) with a contacting sealing lip between the axle unit and the rotating body (par. [0035]).
An example of the magnetorheological particles being iron powder (Par. [0024]).
(Claim 40) wherein the sealing device has at least one non-contact sealing lip (Fig. 2A element 172).
(Claim 41) wherein the sealing device has a non-contact labyrinth seal with at least one sealing gap (Fig. 2A element 171).
(Claim 47) wherein the sealing device has at least one sealing gap of less than to the sealing surface (see Fig. 2A gap between 172 and 110. This would apply to any sealing gap).
At least partially filling the void with magnetorheological particles without giving an upper bound limit (Par. [0024]).
(Claim 48) further comprising a core (142) configured to interact with the electric coil unit of the braking device.
(Claim 52) wherein the rotating body is mounted at least partially outside of a housing, and a gap dimension between the rotating body and axle unit remains substantially unchanged when a pressure is applied to the rotating body (Fig. 1, no dimension changes when pressure is applied).
Jarzomski does not explicitly disclose:
(Claim 34) wherein the magnetorheological medium comprises graphite.
(Claim 36) wherein the sealing device has an elastic sealing lip with a coverage of less than 0.075 mm.
(Claim 37) wherein an extension of the unloaded elastic sealing lip in the removed state differs from an extension in the installed state less than 0.06 mm.
(Claim 38) wherein a relative difference between an extension of the unloaded sealing lip in the removed state and an extension in the installed state differs by less than 2.5%.
(Claim 39) wherein a sealing surface pressure between the elastic sealing lip and a sealing surface in the installed state is less than 0.075 MPa.
(Claim 42) wherein the receiving space contains more than 40 percent by volume of magnetorheological particles.
(Claim 43) wherein the receiving space is filled with more than 50 percent by volume with magnetorheological particles.
(Claim 44) wherein the receiving space is filled with less than 95 percent by volume with magnetorheological particles.
(Claim 45) wherein said magnetorheological particles are predominantly carbonyl iron powder and said magnetorheological particles have a coating against corrosion.
Battlogg(2) teaches:
(Claim 34) wherein the magnetorheological medium comprises graphite (Par. [0251]).
(Claim 45) wherein said magnetorheological particles are predominantly carbonyl iron powder and said magnetorheological particles have a coating against corrosion (Par. [0190]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified, with a reasonable expectation of success, the structure of Jarzomski to use graphite/carbonyl iron powder and a coating against corrosion, as taught by Battlogg(2), in order to reduce the friction between particles. Further, 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 choice.
Regarding claims 36-39, 42-44, and 47:
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified, with a reasonable expectation of success, the structure of Jarzomski to have the elastic sealing lip with a coverage of less than 0.075mm, the unloaded elastic sealing lip differ from an extension in the installed state less than 0.06 mm, and a sealing surface pressure between the elastic sealing lip and a lip sealing surface in the installed state less than 0.075 MPa because it would have been an obvious matter of design choice. Such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. Mainly, the length of the seal. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified, with a reasonable expectation of success, the structure of Jarzomski to have the receiving space contain more than 40/50/95% by volume with magnetorheological particles since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Claims 34, 36-39, 42-45, 48-50, and 52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2020/0355229 to Battlogg(1) in view of Battlogg(2).
Battlogg(1) discloses:
(Claim 34) A magnetorheological braking device (Fig. 3) for braking rotary movements, comprising: at least one axle unit (4) and at least one rotating body (3) which is rotatable about the axle unit; at least one magnetorheological braking device (1) configured to a brake the rotatability of the rotating body, said at least one magnetorheological braking device having at least one coil unit (26); a receiving space (5) being formed between the axle unit and the rotating body, said receiving space being provided with a magnetorheological medium, and said magnetorheological medium having magnetorheological particles and gas as a filling medium (see par. [0098]); and said receiving space being sealed via a sealing device (38), and said sealing device having a sealing unit (38) with a contacting sealing lip between the axle unit and the rotating body.
(Claim 45) wherein said magnetorheological particles are predominantly carbonyl iron powder and said magnetorheological particles have a coating against corrosion (see par. [0082]).
(Claim 48) further comprising a core (21) configured to interact with the electric coil unit of the braking device.
(Claim 49) further comprising at least one sensor device (Fig. 10, element 41, 42) configured to detect a rotational position of the rotary body (Par. [0113], angle sensor).
(Claim 50) wherein the sensor device has a sensor adjacent to the receiving space at a connection point outside the receiving space (see Fig. 10).
(Claim 52) wherein the rotating body is mounted at least partially outside of a housing, and a gap dimension between the rotating body and axle unit remains substantially unchanged when a pressure is applied to the rotating body (Fig. 3, no dimension changes when pressure is applied).
Battlogg(1) does not explicitly disclose:
(Claim 34) wherein the magnetorheological medium comprises graphite.
(Claim 36) wherein the sealing device has an elastic sealing lip with a coverage of less than 0.075 mm.
(Claim 37) wherein an extension of the unloaded elastic sealing lip in the removed state differs from an extension in the installed state less than 0.06 mm.
(Claim 38) wherein a relative difference between an extension of the unloaded sealing lip in the removed state and an extension in the installed state differs by less than 2.5%.
(Claim 39) wherein a sealing surface pressure between the elastic sealing lip and a sealing surface in the installed state is less than 0.075 MPa.
(Claim 42) wherein the receiving space contains more than 40 percent by volume of magnetorheological particles.
(Claim 43) wherein the receiving space is filled with more than 50 percent by volume with magnetorheological particles.
(Claim 44) wherein the receiving space is filled with less than 95 percent by volume with magnetorheological particles.
Battlogg(2) teaches:
(Claim 34) wherein the magnetorheological medium comprises graphite (Par. [0251]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified, with a reasonable expectation of success, the structure of Battlogg(1) to use graphite, as taught by Battlogg(2), in order to reduce the friction between particles. Further, 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 choice.
Regarding claims 36-39 and 42-44:
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified, with a reasonable expectation of success, the structure of Battlogg(1) to have the elastic sealing lip with a coverage of less than 0.075mm, the unloaded elastic sealing lip differ from an extension in the installed state less than 0.06 mm, and a sealing surface pressure between the elastic sealing lip and a lip sealing surface in the installed state less than 0.075 MPa because it would have been an obvious matter of design choice. Such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. Mainly, the length of the seal. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified, with a reasonable expectation of success, the structure of Battlogg(1) to have the receiving space contain more than 40/50/95% by volume with magnetorheological particles since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Claim 35 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jarzomski and Battlogg(2) in view of U.S. Patent No. 3415346 to Boeskool et al.
Jarzomski and Battlogg(2) teach:
The limitations of claim 34.
The contacting seal being a compressed felt or elastomeric seal, or any of a variety of other kinds of sealing elements to prevent further migration of any of the magnetically-responsive medium that is able to pass the magnetic seal (Par. [0035])
Jarzomski and Battlogg(2) do not explicitly teach:
(Claim 35) wherein the contacting sealing lip is configured to seal the magnetorheological particles within the receiving space without forming a liquid tight seal.
Boeskool teaches:
contacting sealing lip (44) is configured to seal the magnetorheological particles within the receiving space without forming a liquid tight seal (Col. 2 ln 47-70, lip can come loose at high speeds, thus the seal is not liquid tight).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified, with a reasonable expectation of success, the structure of Jarzomski and Battlogg(2) to have the contact seal not be liquid tight, as taught by Boeskool, in order to avoid the cost of using liquid tight seals. Jarzomski already discloses using particles for the magnetorheological brake. Jarzomski also already discloses using a seal to hold these particles. Jarzomski does not state whether the seal would be liquid-tight or not. One of ordinary skill would be able to apply the teachings of Boeskool and use a seal that is good enough to retain particles, while not being liquid tight, and produce predictable results.
Claim 51 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Battlogg(1) and Battlogg(2) in view of U.S. Patent No. 600513 to Richards.
Battlogg(1) and Battlogg(2) teach:
The limitations of claim 49.
Battlogg(1) and Battlogg(2) do not explicitly teach:
(Claim 51) further comprising a graphite seal axially outside of the sensor device.
Richards teaches:
Using a graphite seal (Col. 3 ln 61).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified, with a reasonable expectation of success, the structure of Battlogg(1) and Battlogg(2) to have the seal be a graphite seal, as taught by Richards, as an obvious design choice to the type of material wanted out of the seal. 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. Graphite seals have strong adhesion with metal materials and have good thermal performance.
Claim 53 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Battlogg(1) and Battlogg(2) in view of CN 201166064 to Miao et al.
Battlogg(1) and Battlogg(2) teach:
(Claim 53) wherein the axle unit has a first axle part (36) and a second axle part (33) connected to one another in the axial direction; and said first axle part is substantially made of a different material (par. [0052]), and said core and/or the coil unit is accommodated on the second axle part.
Battlogg(1) and Battlogg(2) do not explicitly teach:
(Claim 53) said first axle part is substantially made of a paramagnetic or diamagnetic material.
Miao teaches:
Using a paramagnetic or diamagnetic material for an axle (see claim 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified, with a reasonable expectation of success, the structure of Battlogg(1) and Battlogg(2) to have the first axle part substantially made of a paramagnetic or diamagnetic material, as taught by , 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.
Claim 65 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Battlogg(1) and Battlogg(2) in view of U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2002/0057152 to Elferich et al.
Battlogg(1) and Battlogg(2) teach:
The limitations of claim 49.
Battlogg(1) and Battlogg(2) do not teach:
(Claim 65) characterized in that the sensor device is configured to detect at least one axial position of the rotating body in relation to the axle unit.
Elferich teaches:
(Claim 65) characterized in that the sensor device is configured to detect at least one axial position of the rotating body in relation to the axle unit (Par. [0009]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified, with a reasonable expectation of success, the structure of Battlogg(1) and Battlogg(2) to use Hall sensors that can detect at least one axial position of the rotating body in relation to the axle unit, as taught by Elferich, in order to determine a depressed and non-depressed state of the knob. This would allow for the knob to include more features.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 54-64 and 66 are allowed.
Conclusion
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/TIMOTHY HANNON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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