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
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 2/9/26 has been entered. Claims 1, 8, and 10 have been amended. Claims 1-12 remain pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/9/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding the rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lauterbach et al. (U.S. 2022/0281281), in view of McIntyre (U.S. 5,335,732), Applicant has argued that Lauterbach “fails to teach or suggest the claimed separate electronic housing” (see Remarks filed 2/9/26, Pages 8-9). The Examiner does not find this argument persuasive. Lauterbach teaches an electronic-unit casing (30, lid - Para 65) that forms an electronic-unit housing as evidenced by Para 65 which states “an electronic unit 31 (concealed in the figures) which is presently arranged completely in the interior space spanned by the electronic casing or the electronic lid 30.” For electronic unit 31 to be completely in the interior space spanned by the electronic lid necessarily makes the electronic lid a type of electronic-unit housing as the electronic unit is in the electronic lid and thereby the electronic lid houses the electronic unit.
Applicant’s arguments with respect McIntyre (U.S. 5,335,732) as applied to the rejection of claim 1 in the Non-Final Rejection mailed 11/10/25, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lauterbach et al. (U.S. 2022/0281281), in view of McIntyre have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities:
“apparatus to claim 2” in line 1 should be --apparatus according to claim 2--;
“the first motor-pump comprising” in line 3 should be --the first motor-pump group comprising--;
“forms the second motor-pump housing or is a part of a second motor-pump housing” in lines 9-10 should be --forms [[the]]a second motor-pump housing or is a part of [[a]]the second motor-pump housing--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-4, 6, and 8-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lauterbach et al. (U.S. 2022/0281281), in view of Hartel et al. (U.S. 2005/0088054).
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Re claim 1:
Lauterbach discloses an apparatus (Fig. 1) for making available hydraulic energy, in an active chassis system (50, chassis system - Para 73) of a vehicle (Para 73 - “…the vehicle…”), the apparatus comprising
- a motor-pump group (11, motor-pump group - Para 65), comprising a hydraulic pump (Modified Fig. 1 above - A (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element A as a type of hydraulic pump; element A corresponds to pump described in Para 65 -"... wherein the respectively terminally arranged pumps of the motor-pump groups 11, 21 project over the motor-pump casing 10, 20 through a planar, flat, front-side opening in said casing and are covered in sealing manner there by flange - mounted pump lids 10 ', 10 ", 20 ", 20"...")) and an electric motor (Modified Fig. 1 above - B (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element B as a type of electric motor; element B corresponds to the electric motor refenced in Para 69 - "... electric motors disposed mutually opposite in the mounted axle set 1 of the respective motor-pump groups 11, 21, which are arranged respectively on sides of the motor-pump groups 11, 21 facing away from the pump...")) for driving the hydraulic pump (Modified Fig. 1 above - A)(see Fig. 1 and Para 70 - "...drive shafts mechanically connecting the electric motors with the pumps..."), and
- an electronic unit (31, electronic unit - Para 65) for regulating the motor-pump group (11)(Para 65 (see also Para 48)),
wherein the motor-pump group (11) is arranged in a first motor-pump casing (10, motor-pump casing - Para 65), wherein the first motor-pump casing forms a motor-pump housing or is a part of the motor-pump housing (10, motor-pump casing - Para 65; 10', pump lid - Para 65; 10'', pump lid - Para 65 (elements 10, 10', and 10'' are collectively a type of motor-pump housing as shown in Fig. 1 and as described in Para 65))(see Fig. 1),
wherein the electronic unit (31) is arranged in an electronic-unit casing (30, electronic lid - Para 65) that forms the electronic-unit housing (see Fig. 1 and Para 65 - "... an electronic unit 31 (concealed in the figures) which is presently arranged completely in the interior space spanned by the electronic casing or the electronic lid 30..." (see also Para 44)) or is a part of an electronic-unit housing,
wherein the electronic unit (31) and the motor-pump group (11) are electrically connected via an external supply string (Para 48 - "...electronic unit is electrically immediately connected with both the electric motor of the first motor-pump group.. the common electronic unit or the electronic casing has exactly one actuation connector , for example for a CAN bus, which a can also include a supply voltage connector, and exactly one power connector, for example for 48 V …" (description of electronic unit being connected with motor-pump group and that the electronic unit receives supply voltage from a CAN bus, and here the supply voltage/CAN bus is a type of external supply string));
wherein the motor-pump group (11) is hydraulically (12, hydraulic lines - Para 84) connected to a shock absorber (13, shock absorber - Para 85)(see Figs. 1 and 7 and Para 73) and is optionally arranged on the shock absorber and/or connected via hydraulic lines.
Lauterbach fails to disclose wherein the external supply string is configured to be mechanically flexible.
Hartel teaches wherein an external supply string (4.1, supply line - Para 21; 4.2 control line - Para 21; 5, elastic insulation sleeve - Para 21) is configured to be mechanically flexible (see Figs. 1-2 and Para 21 - “…elastic insulation sleeve…of the supply and control lines 4.1; 4.2…can yield across their axial direction of extension for tolerance compensation purposes…”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modeled the external supply string of Lauterbach after that of Hartel, thereby making the external supply string of Lauterbach mechanically flexible in the way taught by Hartel, for the advantage of avoiding mechanical stress loads (Hartel; Para 21).
Re claim 2:
Lauterbach/Hartel teaches the apparatus (Lauterbach; Fig. 1) according to claim 1 (as described above).
Lauterbach further discloses wherein the motor-pump casing (10) and the electronic-unit casing (30) correspond to each other (see Figs. 1-3) and/or are set up to create partly or completely a common housing (see Fig. 3 and Para 14).
Re claim 3:
Lauterbach/Hartel teaches the apparatus (Lauterbach; Fig. 1) according to claim 1 (as described above).
Lauterbach further discloses wherein the motor-pump group (11) forms a first motor-pump group (see Fig. 1), wherein the apparatus (Fig. 1) further comprises
- a second motor-pump group (21, motor-pump group - Para 65), comprising a second hydraulic pump (Modified Fig. 1 above - C (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element C as a type of second hydraulic pump; element C corresponds to pump described in Para 65 -"... wherein the respectively terminally arranged pumps of the motor-pump groups 11, 21 project over the motor-pump casing 10, 20 through a planar, flat, front-side opening in said casing and are covered in sealing manner there by flange - mounted pump lids 10 ', 10 ", 20 ", 20"...")) and a second electric motor (Modified Fig. 1 above - D (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element D as a type of electric motor; element D corresponds to the electric motor refenced in Para 69 - "... electric motors disposed mutually opposite in the mounted axle set 1 of the respective motor-pump groups 11, 21, which are arranged respectively on sides of the motor-pump groups 11, 21 facing away from the pump...")) for driving the second hydraulic pump (Modified Fig. 1 above - C)(see Fig. 1 and Para 70 - "...drive shafts mechanically connecting the electric motors with the pumps..."),
wherein the second motor-pump group (21) is arranged in a second motor-pump casing (20, motor-pump casing - Para 65) and wherein the electronic unit (31) forms a common electronic unit for regulating the first motor pump group (11) and the second motor-pump group (21)(Para 65 (see also Para 48)),
and
-(a) wherein the second motor-pump casing forms a second motor-pump housing or is a part of a second motor-pump housing, and
- wherein the electronic unit and the second motor-pump group are electrically connected via a second supply string,
or
- (b) wherein the second motor-pump casing (20) is a part of the electronic-unit housing (31)(see Fig. 3 and Para 14) and/or
- wherein the electronic-unit housing comprises the electronic-unit casing and the second motor-pump casing.
Re claim 4:
Lauterbach/Hartel teaches the apparatus (Lauterbach; Fig. 1) according to claim 3 (as described above).
Lauterbach further discloses wherein the first motor-pump casing (10), the second motor-pump casing (20) and the electronic-unit casing (31) correspond to each other and/or are set up to create a common housing partly or completely (see Fig. 3 and Para 14).
Re claim 6:
Lauterbach/Hartel teaches the apparatus (Lauterbach; Fig. 1) according to claim 1 (as described above).
Lauterbach further discloses wherein supply string (Para 48 - "...electronic unit is electrically immediately connected with both the electric motor of the first motor-pump group.. the common electronic unit or the electronic casing has exactly one actuation connector , for example for a CAN bus, which a can also include a supply voltage connector, and exactly one power connector, for example for 48 V …" (description of electronic unit being connected with motor-pump group and that the electronic unit receives supply voltage from a CAN bus, and here the supply voltage/CAN bus is a type of external supply string)) is pluggable (Para 48 - “…the common electronic unit or the electronic casing has exactly one actuation connector, for example for a CAN bus, which a can also include a supply voltage connector, and exactly one power connector, for example for 48 V , which can also be executed as a high - voltage connector for 400 V or 800 V , for example , which are particularly preferably arranged immediately on the partial casing of the electronic unit…”) and wherein a supply connector is arranged on an outer side of the electronic-unit housing and/or the motor-pump housing (Para 48 - “…the common electronic unit or the electronic casing has exactly one actuation connector, for example for a CAN bus, which a can also include a supply voltage connector, and exactly one power connector, for example for 48 V , which can also be executed as a high - voltage connector for 400 V or 800 V , for example , which are particularly preferably arranged immediately on the partial casing of the electronic unit…”).
Re claim 8:
Lauterbach/Hartel teaches the apparatus (Lauterbach; Fig. 1) according to claim 1 (as described above).
Lauterbach further discloses wherein the motor-pump housing (10, 10', 10'') is constructed in a single-piece manner or a multi-piece manner (see Fig. 1 at 10, 10', and 10'' and Para 67 - "...partial casings 10, 10', 10''..."), optionally comprising a single-piece or multi-piece motor casing and a single-piece or multi-piece pump casing.
Re claim 9:
Lauterbach/Hartel teaches the apparatus (Lauterbach; Fig. 1) according to claim 1 (as described above).
Lauterbach further discloses wherein the motor-pump group (11) is hydraulically connected to a shock absorber (13, shock absorber - Para 73)(see Fig. 7 and Para 73) and is optionally arranged on the shock absorber and/or connected via hydraulic lines.
Re claim 10:
Lauterbach/Hartel teaches the apparatus (Lauterbach; Fig. 1) according to claim 2 (as described above).
Lauterbach further discloses wherein the apparatus comprises a chassis axle (Fig. 7 (see also Figs. 1-3)), the chassis axle comprising:
the motor-pump group (11) as a first motor-pump group (11, motor-pump group - Para 65), the first motor-pump (11) comprising the hydraulic pump as a first hydraulic pump (Modified Fig. 1 above - A (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element A as a type of hydraulic pump; element A corresponds to pump described in Para 65 -"... wherein the respectively terminally arranged pumps of the motor-pump groups 11, 21 project over the motor-pump casing 10, 20 through a planar, flat, front-side opening in said casing and are covered in sealing manner there by flange - mounted pump lids 10 ', 10 ", 20 ", 20"...")) and the electric motor as a first electric motor (Modified Fig. 1 above - B (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element B as a type of electric motor; element B corresponds to the electric motor refenced in Para 69 - "... electric motors disposed mutually opposite in the mounted axle set 1 of the respective motor-pump groups 11, 21, which are arranged respectively on sides of the motor-pump groups 11, 21 facing away from the pump...")) for driving the first hydraulic pump (Modified Fig. 1 above - A)(see Fig. 1 and Para 70 - "...drive shafts mechanically connecting the electric motors with the pumps..."), wherein the first motor-pump group (11) is arranged in a first motor-pump casing (10, motor-pump casing - Para 65) that forms a first motor-pump housing or is a part of the first motor-pump housing (10, motor-pump casing - Para 65; 10', pump lid - Para 65; 10'', pump lid - Para 65 (elements 10, 10', and 10'' are collectively a type of first motor-pump housing as shown in Fig. 1 and as described in Para 65))(see Fig. 1),
a second motor-pump group (21, motor-pump group - Para 65), comprising a second hydraulic pump (Modified Fig. 1 above - C (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element C as a type of second hydraulic pump; element C corresponds to pump described in Para 65 -"... wherein the respectively terminally arranged pumps of the motor-pump groups 11, 21 project over the motor-pump casing 10, 20 through a planar, flat, front-side opening in said casing and are covered in sealing manner there by flange - mounted pump lids 10 ', 10 ", 20 ", 20"...")) and a second electric motor (Modified Fig. 1 above - D (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element D as a type of electric motor; element D corresponds to the electric motor refenced in Para 69 - "... electric motors disposed mutually opposite in the mounted axle set 1 of the respective motor-pump groups 11, 21, which are arranged respectively on sides of the motor-pump groups 11, 21 facing away from the pump...")) for driving the second hydraulic pump (Modified Fig. 1 above - C)(see Fig. 1 and Para 70 - "...drive shafts mechanically connecting the electric motors with the pumps..."), wherein the second motor-pump group (21) is arranged in a second motor-pump casing (20, motor-pump casing - Para 65) that forms the second motor-pump housing or is a part of a second motor-pump housing (20, motor-pump casing - Para 65; 20', pump lid - Para 65; 20'', pump lid - Para 65 (elements 20, 20', and 20'' are collectively a type of second motor-pump housing as shown in Fig. 1 and as described in Para 65))(see Fig. 1),
first hydraulically regulatable shock absorber (13, shock absorber - Para 73) and a second hydraulically regulatable shock absorber (23, shock absorber - Para 73), the first hydraulically regulatable shock absorber (13) and the second hydraulically regulatable shock absorber (23) are hydraulically connected respectively to the first motor-pump group (11) and a second motor-pump group (21)(see Figs. 1, 7, and Para 73),
wherein the first motor-pump group (11) and the second motor-pump group each (21) have a supply connector (12, hydraulic lines - Para 84; 22, hydraulic lines - Para 84)(see Figs. 1, 7, and Para 84), which is optionally arranged on the respective motor-pump casing and/or at an end of a supply string or at the end of a supply string section.
Re claim 11:
Lauterbach/Hartel teaches the chassis axle (Lauterbach; Fig. 7) according to claim 10 (as described above).
Lauterbach further discloses wherein the chassis axle (Fig. 7) is pre-assembled (see Fig. 7 and Para 73 (consistent with instant disclosure as described in Para 66 of US 2024/0295218 which is the PGPUB of the instant disclosure)) and/or the first motor-pump casing and the second motor-pump casings and/or the first motor-pump unit and the second motor-pump units are fixedly connected to the chassis axle or the respective shock absorbers, and/or
wherein the first motor-pump group and the second motor-pump groups are connected to the respective shock absorbers respectively via hydraulic lines or the first motor-pump casing and the second motor-pump casings or the first motor-pump housing and the motor-pump housings are arranged on and/or attached to the respective shock absorber or a damper cylinder of the respective shock absorber.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lauterbach et al. (U.S. 2022/0281281) in view of Hartel et al. (U.S. 2005/0088054), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wissner (EP3088737A1).
Re claim 7:
Lauterbach/Hartel teaches the apparatus (Lauterbach; Fig. 1) according to claim 1 (as described above).
Lauterbach fails to disclose wherein the supply string has at least or exactly three motor-phase supply lines, and optionally two or more signal supply lines.
Wissner teaches wherein a supply string (16, three lines - Para 30) has at least or exactly three motor-phase supply lines (Para 30 - "...The three lines 16 are each connected to...one phase of an electric drive of the motor...").
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modeled the supply string of Lauterbach/Hartel after that of Wissner (thereby including three motor-phase supply lines in the supply string of Lauterbach in the way taught by Wissner) for the advantage of a supply string capable of connecting to a three phase motor (Wissner; see Fig. 1 and Para 30).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 12 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 5 and 12 would be allowed primarily because the prior art of record cannot anticipate Applicant’s claimed invention by a single reference nor render Applicant’s claimed invention obvious by the combination of more than one reference.
Additionally, the prior art of record does not teach the third motor-pump group and claimed details thereof, nor the fourth motor-pump group and claimed details thereof as within the context of the claimed invention as disclosed and within the context of the other limitations present in claims 5 and 12.
Therefore, the prior art of record cannot anticipate Applicant’s claimed invention by a single reference nor render Applicant’s claimed invention obvious by one or more references.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Loren C Edwards whose telephone number is (571)272-7133. The examiner can normally be reached M-R 6AM-430PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Laurenzi can be reached at (571) 270-7878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LOREN C EDWARDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746 2/27/26