DETAILED ACTION
This is a first Non-Final Office Action on the merits in response to the application filed 12/07/23. The request for foreign priority to a corresponding DE application filed 06/07/21 has been received and is proper. Claims 1-17 are currently pending yet all are rejected due to the 102 and 103 rejections 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 Objections
Claims 1 and 8 are objected to because of the following informalities: both claims recite a preload component connecting the upper and lower the sides,” which is incomprehensible. Applicant appears to have misplaced the word --the--.
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.
Trede
Claim(s) 1-5, 8-14 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Trede (DE 10 2012 205090). Trede is directed to a gearbox mounting of a wind turbine. See Abstract.
Claim 1: Trede discloses an elastomer spring (41) [Fig. 9] for an azimuth brake of an azimuth drive [see Translation (“yaw brakes 11, which serve to lock the azimuth adjustment of the rotor”)] adapted to track a nacelle with a rotor (4, 5) relative to a tower (2) of a wind turbine (1), the elastomer spring comprising: an elastomer body (41) made from one piece and including upper and lower sides (top/bottom of 41) each pointing in a spring direction of the elastomer body and being adapted to transmit a spring force in the spring direction; and a preload component connecting the upper and lower the sides, the preload component having a concavely curved lateral surface [see Fig. 9 (sides of 41)]. See Fig. 9.
Claim 2: Trede discloses that the preload component is adapted to elastically compress during compression such that a curvature of the lateral surface decreases. See Fig. 9.
Claim 3: Trede discloses that the preload component is adapted to expand during deflection such that a curvature of the lateral surface increases. See Fig. 9.
Claim 4: Trede discloses that the preload component is adapted to elastically compresses during compression, building up an elastic deformation restoring force, such that the elastomer body is adapted to transmit the deformation restoring force as a preload force in the spring direction via the upper and the lower sides. See Fig. 9.
Claim 5: Trede discloses that the elastomer body includes at least one further preload components, wherein the preload components and the at least one further preload component are arranged in series in the spring direction. See Fig. 9.
Claim 8: Trede is relied upon as in claim 1 above. Trede further discloses an azimuth brake for an azimuth drive adapted to track a nacelle with a rotor (4, 5) relative to a tower (2) of a wind turbine (1), the azimuth drive (10) having an azimuth ring (71, 72) [see Fig. 2] connected to the tower in a rotationally fixed manner [see Translation; Fig. 9], the azimuth brake comprising: a sliding disk (80) in sliding contact with the azimuth ring of the azimuth drive that is preloaded by the elastomer spring. See Figs. 2-5.
Claim 9: Trede discloses a nacelle-fixed receptacle adapted for the elastomer spring such that the elastomer spring is translationally displaceable. See Fig. 9.
Claim 10: Trede discloses that the elastomer spring includes at least two clamping sections arranged at a distance from one another in the spring direction of the elastomer spring, the at least two clamping sections being in circumferential contact with the receptacle and being connected to one another via a concavely curved lateral surface. See Fig. 9.
Claim 11: Trede discloses that the at least two clamping sections are supported on the receptacle when the elastomer spring is compressed to increase the preload force on the sliding disk such that the at least to clamping sections are moved towards each other and the curvature of the lateral surface decreases. See Fig. 9.
Claim 12: Trede discloses that the preload force is adjustable via a degree of compression of the elastomer spring. See Fig. 9.
Claim 13: Trede discloses a mechanical, hydraulic, or pneumatic unit adapted to compress the elastomer spring. See Fig. 9 (mechanical).
Claim 14: Trede discloses an azimuth drive adapted to track a nacelle having a rotor relative to a tower of a wind turbine, the azimuth drive comprising: at least one servomotor (10); and an azimuth brake according to claim 8. See Figs. 1, 9.
Claim 17: Trede discloses that the nacelle-fixed receptacle adapted for the elastomer spring such that the elastomer spring and the sliding disk is translationally displaceable. See Fig. 9.
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.
Trede in view of Bonnet
Claim(s) 6-7 and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bonnet (U.S. Patent No. 7,819,624). Bonnet is directed to a suspension system. See Abstract. Also of note is that this reference was explicitly referred to in the Trede reference.
Claim 6: Trede is relied upon as in claims 1 and 5 above but does not disclose detailed features of the elastomer spring, namely that each component is separated by a “cutting disc.” Bonnet discloses an elastomer spring for use in a nacelle of a wind turbine, wherein two adjacent preload components, of the preload component and the at least one further preload component, are separated from each other by a cutting disc adapted to remain undeformed during compression and/or extension. See Fig. 4a. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to include these features because Trede explicitly refers to the Bonnet reference in its specification, for details on the elastomer spring in connection with a nacelle or a wind turbine.
Claim 7: Bonnet discloses that the cutting disc has a same shape and/or outer dimension as the upper and the lower sides. See Fig. 4a.
Claims 15 and 16: Bonnet discloses that the elastomer spring is made of a cast elastomer, specifically polyurethane. See col. 4, line 53.
Conclusion
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VISHAL SAHNI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3657
/VISHAL R SAHNI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616 February 4, 2026