DETAILED ACTION
This is the second Office action of Application No. 18/637,884 in response to the amendment filed on June 29, 2026. Claims 1-6 and 8-19 are pending. By the amendment, claims 1, 6, 8, 10-14, and 16 have been amended. Claim 7 has been canceled. Claims 17-19 are new.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2 and 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Blomstrom (US Patent 3800901).
Regarding claim 1, as best understood, Blomstrom discloses a drive system (Fig. 3, 12), in particular for a vehicle, comprising a driven unit (driving sprocket 11) comprising an impeller (as the wheel is part of the driven unit and this unit is in a vehicle. The wheel of the vehicle is considered the impeller.), a drive unit (16) for driving the driven unit, a drive interface (23, 24, 26) by means of which the driven unit can be coupled to the drive unit, at least one brake unit (brake 63) for braking the driven unit, and at least one brake interface (spline for 66 on 18) which is different from the drive interface and by means of which the driven unit can be coupled to the at least one brake unit, wherein the at least one brake interface has a transmission stage (gear 18 with gear 21) with a driven-side transmission (21) component arranged on the driven unit and a brake-side transmission component arranged on the at least one brake unit (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 2, Blomstrom discloses the drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the at least one brake interface has exactly one transmission stage (Fig. 3, gears 18, 21).
Regarding claim 4, Blomstrom discloses the drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that the brake-side transmission component is an externally toothed pinion (shown in Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 5, Blomstrom discloses the drive system according to claim 4, characterized in that the pinion is arranged on a brake shaft of the brake unit (shown in Fig. 3).
Claims 1, 6, 8-9, 13-14, and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishii (European document EP2332760, cited on the IDS).
Regarding claim 1, Ishii discloses a drive system (Fig. 6a), in particular for a vehicle, comprising a driven unit (e.g. axle 4) comprising an impeller (drive wheel 12, see arguments below and applicant’s specification description of an impeller (paragraph [0016])), a drive unit (e.g. assembly 2) for driving the driven unit, a drive interface (shown in Fig. 6A, e.g. 71) by means of which the driven unit can be coupled to the drive unit, at least one brake unit (brake arm 60) for braking the driven unit, and at least one brake interface (Fig. 6a) which is different from the drive interface and by means of which the driven unit can be coupled to the at least one brake unit, wherein the at least one brake interface has a transmission stage with a driven- side transmission component (e.g. 67) arranged on the driven unit and a brake-side transmission component (e.g. 65) arranged on the at least one brake unit.
Regarding claim 6, Ishii discloses the drive system according to claim 1 characterized in that a drive-side component of the drive interface is arranged on the drive unit (Fig. 6a, e.g. 3 or 42) and/or a driven-side component of the drive interface is arranged on the driven unit (Fig. 6a, 4 or 51).
Regarding claim 8, Ishii discloses the drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that the wheel has a wheel carrier, comprising a first wheel carrier part (e.g. 69) and a second wheel carrier part (e.g. 66), the driven-side transmission component being arranged on the second wheel carrier part (Fig. 6a).
Regarding claim 9, Ishii discloses the drive system according to claim 8, characterized in that the second wheel carrier part is detachably arranged on the first wheel carrier part (shown in Fig. 6a) or the wheel carrier is a single piece.
Regarding claim 13, Ishii discloses the drive system according to claim 1 characterized in that the brake unit is a spring-loaded brake with a first friction component and a second friction component, the first friction component being arranged in a rotationally fixed manner on a brake shaft of the brake unit (paragraph [0164]) and pressed axially against each other and thus brought into frictional contact during a braking process.
Regarding claim 14, Ishii discloses the drive system according to claim 1 characterized in that the at least one brake unit comprises a plurality of brake units, and the drive system has a corresponding number of brake interfaces (Figs. 3-5).
Regarding claim 16, Ishii discloses a vehicle comprising a drive system according to claim 1 (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 17, Ishii discloses the drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that a drive-side component of the drive interface is arranged directly on the drive unit (Fig. 6a, e.g. 3 or 42) and/or a driven-side component of the drive interface is arranged directly, on the driven unit (Fig. 6a, 4 or 51).
Claims 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Okuno (US Patent Publication 20130248303).
Regarding claim 1, Okuno discloses a drive system, in particular for a vehicle, comprising a driven unit (e.g. 27) comprising an impeller (traveling structure 2, where the impeller is the sprocket wheel that drives the track), a drive unit (e.g. 21) for driving the driven unit, a drive interface (e.g. 12) by means of which the driven unit can be coupled to the drive unit, at least one brake unit (31) for braking the driven unit, and at least one brake interface which is different from the drive interface (shown in Fig. 2) and by means of which the driven unit can be coupled to the at least one brake unit (shown in Fig. 2), wherein the at least one brake interface has a transmission stage with a driven-side transmission component (shown in Fig. 2) arranged on the driven unit and a brake-side transmission component (shown in Fig. 2) arranged on the at least one brake unit.
Regarding claim 3, Okuno discloses the drive system according to claim 1 characterized in that the driven-side transmission component is designed as an internally toothed ring gear (e.g. 15B).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 10, filed 6/29/2026, with respect to the objection to the abstract have been fully considered and are persuasive. More specifically, the amendments to the abstract overcome the objection. The objection to the abstract has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 10, filed 6/29/2026, with respect to the objection to the claims have been fully considered and are persuasive. More specifically, the claim have been amended to change the dependency and overcome the objection. The objection to the claims has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 10, filed 6/29/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection have been fully considered and are persuasive. More specifically, the amendment overcomes the rejection. The 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection to the claims has been withdrawn.
Regarding the prior art rejections, applicant's arguments filed 6/29/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The arguments addresses the amendment of adding the impeller and states that the impeller is narrower than a wheel. However, the applicant has defined the impeller in paragraph [0016] to include a vehicle wheel, “the term impeller is preferably understood to mean a wheel of a vehicle that establishes contact between the vehicle and the environment relative to which the vehicle can be moved. The impeller can substantially serve to transmit the vehicle forces, in particular braking, acceleration, and/or lateral forces, to the environment, in particular a roadway“. Thus, the rejection using Ishii (European document EP2332760) remains due to the applicant’s description of an impeller. Similarly, Blomstrom (US Patent 3800901) has a wheel of a vehicle on the driven side. Also, Okuno (US Patent Publication 20130248303) has a wheel sprocket that drives the track and meets the description of the impeller in the applicant’s specification. The prior art rejections remain as this is consistent with the applicant’s specification (paragraph [0016]) of the metes and bounds of the term impeller.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-12, 15, and 18-19 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.
Reasons for allowance, if applicable, will be the subject of a separate communication to the Applicant or patent owner, pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.104 and MPEP § 1302.14.
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.
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/LORI WU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
