DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of species II is acknowledged. The elected claims were 1, 2, 4-6, 8, 10 and 12. It is noted that claim 11 was withdrawn, and claim 12 depends from claim 11. Accordingly claim 12 is also withdrawn from consideration. The remining claims to be examined are 1, 2, 4-6, 8, and 10.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/23/2024 has been considered.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it contains implied phrases, e.g. “a bearing bush… is provided”. Correction is required. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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, 2, 4-6, 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Conrad et al. (U.S. 2016/0208879).
Regarding claim 1, Conrad discloses (figs. 1-2) A bearing bush (10), in particular for a transverse control arm of a vehicle (see pgh. 0007 at least), the bearing bush comprising:
an inner sleeve (14);
an outer sleeve (12) which is arranged radially around the inner sleeve (as shown);
an elastomer body (18) which is arranged between the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve (as shown) and elastically connects them to each other (vulcanized onto each other, see pgh. 0019); and
an intermediate sleeve (16) which is, at least in sections, embedded in the elastomer body (as shown, and at least in part),
wherein the outer sleeve has, at its axial ends, a radially inwardly bent bend portion, respectively (12-1 and 12-2);
wherein a radial outer surface of the intermediate sleeve has a radially outwardly directed bulge (see fig. 1, outer surface bends radially outward) along an axial direction of the bearing bush, as shown), and
wherein the intermediate sleeve has a radially outwardly protruding outer stop portion (see fig. 2, portion of 16a that is trapezoidal in shape) which forms an axial stop with respect to an axial inner surface of the bend portion of the outer sleeve (as shown, the left and right corners of 16 interact diagonally with 12-1 and 12-2 via the element 18, thereby forming an axial stop).
Regarding claim 2, Conrad discloses (figs. 1-2) the inner sleeve has a substantially constant cross-section along the axial direction (see fig. 2, there exist at least this cross section where 14 has a substantially constant cross section along the axial direction, at least at this circumferential position).
Regarding claim 4, Conrad discloses a thin elastomer layer (20) is so thin between the intermediate sleeve and the inner sleeve that the intermediate sleeve is substantially rigidly connected to the inner sleeve (layer 20 is vulcanized to inner sleeve 14, and the intermediated layer is sandwiched between elastomer body 18 and thin layer 20, so everything is “substantially rigidly connected” to one another in at least this manner).
Regarding claim 5, Conrad discloses (figs. 1-2) the intermediate sleeve has a radially inwardly protruding inner stop portion (see fig. 2, portion of 16b that is trapezoidal in shape) which forms an inner radial stop with respect to a radial outer surface of the inner sleeve (via 20 at least).
Regarding claim 6, Conrad discloses (figs. 1-2) the inwardly bent bend portions of the outer sleeve are inwardly bent after vulcanizing the elastomer body1.
Regarding claim 8, Conrad discloses (figs. 1-2) the intermediate sleeve is a plastic component (see pgh. 0016) and/or is an aluminum component, or wherein the intermediate sleeve is an iron or cast steel component and/or is a sintered component.
Regarding claim 10, Conrad discloses (figs. 1-2) A method for manufacturing a bearing bush (10), in particular for use with a transverse control arm of a vehicle (see pgh. 0007 at least), the method comprising the steps of:
providing an inner sleeve (14); providing an outer sleeve (12) which has a larger radius than the inner sleeve (as shown);
providing an intermediate sleeve (16) for arrangement between the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve (as shown), wherein a radial outer surface of the intermediate sleeve has a radially outwardly directed bulge along the axial direction of the bearing bush (see fig. 1, outer surface bends radially outward) along an axial direction of the bearing bush (as shown), and wherein the intermediate sleeve has a radially outwardly protruding outer stop portion (see fig. 2, portion of 16a that is trapezoidal in shape),
forming an elastomer body (18) between the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve such that the elastomer body elastically connects the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve to each other (at least in part) and the intermediate sleeve is, at least in sections, embedded in the elastomer body (as shown, at least in part);
bending axial ends of the outer sleeve radially inwards to form a bend portion at each axial ends of the outer sleeve (at 12-1 and 12-2, as shown),
wherein the outer stop portion forms an axial stop with respect to an axial inner surface of the bend portion of the outer sleeve (as shown, the left and right corners of 16 interact diagonally with 12-1 and 12-2 via the element 18, thereby forming an axial stop).
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure. The documents listed on the PTO-892 disclose various related bearing bushes to the instant application, including bushes with embedded intermediate sleeves.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID MORRIS whose telephone number is (571)270-3595. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday; 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/DAVID MORRIS/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
/DAVID R MORRIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
1 Note: this limitation constitutes a product-by-process limitation, and thus patentability determinations are based on the product itself. See MPEP 2113. The bush of Conrad contains both the inwardly bent portions of the outer sleeve, and a vulcanized construction, see pgh. 0019. Accordingly, the claimed structure of the final product of Conrad meets the structural implications of the claim at present. Further, it is noted that there are only three possible options for when to bend the outer sleeve relative to vulcanization, namely before, after, or at the same time, thus there are a limited number of options for purposes of experimentation. Upon selecting the option of bending the outer sleeve after vulcanization, one of ordinary skill in the art would arrive at the claimed invention without undue experimentation.
Prosecution Insights