DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-4 are pending in the application.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because of the following informalities:
In Fig. 1, ref. no. “21d” should be replaced with ref. no. --21e-- since it points to the “recess 21e”, rather than the “frame 21d”
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Re Claim 2: Claim 2 recites the limitation “wherein the first shaft portion and the second shaft portion each have the same outer diameters along the axial direction.” However, claim 1 requires that the second shaft portion has “a diameter smaller than that of the first shaft.” It is unclear how both of these limitations can be true at the same time since the outer diameter of the second shaft portion cannot be both “smaller than” and “the same” as the outer diameter of the first shaft portion. For examination purposes, for this Office Action only, the Examiner will interpret this limitation to mean that the outer diameter are not the same as each other, but rather they are each constant along the axial direction.
Further, there is a lack of antecedent basis for the limitation “the axial direction.” For examination purposes, for this Office Action only, the Examiner will interpret this limitation as referring to an axial direction of the positioning pin.
If the above interpretations are correct, claim 2 should be amended as follows:
--2. The component assembly structure according to claim 1, wherein
the first shaft portion and the second shaft portion each have a constant outer diameter along an axial direction of the positioning pin.--
Clarification and correction are required.
Re Claim 4: This claim is considered indefinite because of its dependency from indefinite claim 2.
Examiner notes that any prior art rejections made in this Office Action are made in view of the claims, as best understood by the Examiner, in view of the above indefiniteness rejections.
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakagawa (JP H10-311746, a copy of which was provided by Applicant with the IDS filed 21 May 2025).
Re Claim 1: Nakagawa discloses a component assembly structure (see Figs. 1-2) comprising:
a component to be assembled (3) in which a positioning pin (17) is provided on a base (at 3h);
a first component (21) with a first hole (21h) to be fitted to the positioning pin (17); and
a second component (11) with a second hole (11h) to be fitted to the positioning pin (17), wherein
the positioning pin (17) includes a first shaft portion (17a) in a side on the base and a second shaft portion (17c), having a diameter smaller than that of the first shaft portion, in a side on a tip end,
the first component (21) is positioned on the component to be assembled by fitting the first hole (21h) to the first shaft portion (17a), and
the second component (11) is positioned on the component to be assembled by fitting the second hole (11h) to the second shaft portion (17c).
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Re Claim 2, as best understood by the Examiner: Nakagawa discloses a component assembly structure (see Figs. 1-2), wherein the first shaft portion (17a) and the second shaft portion (17c) each have a constant outer diameter along an axial direction of the positioning pin.
Re Claims 3 and 4: Nakagawa discloses a component assembly structure (see Figs. 1-2), wherein an inclined portion (17b) having a conical trapezoidal shape is provided between the first shaft portion (17a) and the second shaft portion (17c).
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tiberghien (US Patent 8,336,922).
Re Claim 1: Tiberghien discloses a component assembly structure (see Figs. 5-8) comprising:
a component to be assembled (3) in which a positioning pin (positioning post 121) is provided on a base (at centring post 31);
a first component (2) with a first hole (see annotated Fig. 6 below) to be fitted to the positioning pin (121); and
a second component (410) with a second hole (see annotated Fig. 6 below) to be fitted to the positioning pin, wherein
the positioning pin (121) includes a first shaft portion (see below) in a side on the base and a second shaft portion (see below), having a diameter smaller than that of the first shaft portion, in a side on a tip end,
the first component (2) is positioned on the component (3; upon positioning the centring post 31 within the centring socket 21) to be assembled by fitting the first hole to the first shaft portion, and
the second component (410) is positioned on the component to be assembled by fitting the second hole to the second shaft portion.
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Re Claim 2, as best understood by the Examiner: Tiberghien discloses a component assembly structure (see Figs. 5-8), wherein the first shaft portion and the second shaft portion (see annotated Fig. 6 above) each have a constant outer diameter along an axial direction of the positioning pin.
Re Claims 3 and 4: Tiberghien discloses a component assembly structure (see Figs. 5-8), wherein an inclined portion (see annotated Fig. 6 above)) having a conical trapezoidal shape is provided between the first shaft portion and the second shaft portion.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW R MCMAHON whose telephone number is (571)270-3067. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.
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, Amber Anderson can be reached at (571) 270-5281. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW R MCMAHON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3678