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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Prior Art I (JP 3174326, hereafter referred to as PAI).
Regarding claim 1, PAI teaches a fixture shaft adapted to be detachably connected to a test shaft 70; a pulley 15 fixedly supported by the fixture shaft; and a cable 12 having a first end fixedly attached to the pulley and a second end detachably attached to a test mass 16.
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Riss et al. (CN 101460387, hereafter referred to as Riss).
Regarding claim 1, Riss teaches a fixture shaft adapted to be detachably connected to a test shaft (see figure 1); a pulley 111 fixedly supported by the fixture shaft; and a cable 113 having a first end fixedly attached to the pulley and a second end detachably attached to a test mass 125.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-9 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.
Claims 10-20 are allowed.
The closest prior art of record fails to teach the invention as set forth in claims 10-20 and the Examiner can find no teaching of the test fixture wherein the test mass further comprises a counter arm configured to make contact with the at least one of the upper counter contact and the lower counter contact; and corresponding method for load testing a gear train wherein the fixture shaft includes bearings disposed to support rotation of the fixture shaft; nor reasons within the cited prior art or on his own to combine the elements of these references other than the applicant’s own reasoning to fully encompass the current pending claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMEL E WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)270-7027. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 10am-4pm.
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/JAMEL E WILLIAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855