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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a Non-final Office Action for application number 18/568,942 VIBRATION DEVICE filed on 12/11/2023. Claims 1-4 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 12/11/2023, 2/19/2024 and 10/2/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Japanese Patent No. 2004-150596.
With regards to claim 1, Japanese Patent No. 2004-150596 teaches a device having first anti-vibration rubber cylinder (4) configured to connect a vibration generating portion and a vibration receiving portion (24) to each other in a first direction; a second anti-vibration rubber cylinder (3) configured to sandwich one of the vibration generating portion and the vibration receiving portion in the first direction between the first anti-vibration rubber cylinder and the second anti-vibration rubber cylinder; and a support member (31) configured to sandwich the second anti-vibration rubber cylinder in the first direction between the one of the vibration generating portion and the vibration receiving portion and the support member, wherein the first anti-vibration rubber cylinder and the second anti-vibration rubber cylinder are provided with respective central axes thereof [AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow]extending in the first direction, and peripheral grooves (33, 44, ) [AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow]
PNG
media_image1.png
652
902
media_image1.png
Greyscale
are formed separately on an outer peripheral surface and an inner peripheral surface of at least one of the first anti-vibration rubber cylinder and the second anti-vibration rubber cylinder.
[AltContent: arrow]With regards to claim 2, Japanese Patent No. 2004-150596 teaches, wherein a communication hole (13) is formed in the one of the vibration generating portion and the vibration receiving portion, the communication hole communicating an inside of the first anti-vibration rubber cylinder with an inside of the second anti-vibration rubber cylinder in the first direction, the anti-vibration device further including a core cylinder (11) configured to be inserted integrally into the first anti-vibration rubber cylinder and into the second anti-vibration rubber cylinder through the communication hole and configured to be sandwiched in the first direction between the support member and another one of the vibration generating portion and the vibration receiving portion, wherein the peripheral grooves are formed separately on the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface of the second anti-vibration rubber cylinder, a depressed portion
PNG
media_image2.png
542
600
media_image2.png
Greyscale
is formed at an opening end edge of the second anti-vibration rubber cylinder that is located closer to the one of the vibration generating portion and the vibration receiving portion along the first direction, the depressed portion opening inward in a radial direction, and the communication hole formed in the one of the vibration generating portion and the vibration receiving portion is provided, at an opening peripheral portion thereof, with a stopper cylinder portion (25) that is inserted into the depressed portion.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 4 are 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.
With regards to claim 3, the prior art does not teach wherein, in the second anti-vibration rubber cylinder, a count of peripheral grooves formed on the outer peripheral surface is larger than a count of one or more peripheral grooves formed on the inner peripheral surface.
Cited References
PN 2019/0344831 to Asai et al. shows a vibration mount
PN 2009/0134292 to Kubat shows a vibration mount
PN 5,158,269 to Hein shows a vibration mount
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to Amy J. Sterling at telephone number 571-272-6823 or to Supervisor Jonathan Liu at 571-272-8227 if the examiner cannot be reached. The examiner can normally be reached (Mon-Fri 8am-5:00pm). The fax machine number for the Technology center is 571-273-8300 (formal amendments), informal amendments or communications 571-273-6823. Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application should be directed to the Technology Center receptionist at 571-272-3600.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AMY J. STERLING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631 2/9/26