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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because
In line 1, “The present application discloses” should be removed.
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In lines 5-6 of claim 2, “the fastening bolt a fastening outer hexagon screw head” should read ---the fastening bolt is provided with a fastening outer hexagon screw head---.
In line 5 of claims 9-16, “a wheel body channel” should read ---the wheel body channel---.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ma (US10773929B2).
Regarding claim 1, Ma discloses a steel belt guide wheel assembly made of nylon, comprising guide wheels (18) and bearings (42), wherein the guide wheels (18) are made of nylon (column 2, lines 1-6) and the left and right ends of a wheel surface are respectively provided with a left annular convex wall (LW; see Ma annotated Figure 11 below) and a right annular convex wall (RW), and a belt groove (44; Figure 6) is formed between the left annular convex wall (LW) and the right annular convex wall (RW); the bearings (44) are coaxially installed in wheel body channels of the guide wheels (18), and the guide wheels (18) can be detachably connected in pairs by a connecting mechanism (56) or glued together by glue (column 5, lines 47-59, adhesive).
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Ma, Annotated Figure 11
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 9 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma in view of Mori (JP2016169748A).
Regarding claims 9 and 17, Ma discloses wherein the bearing (42) comprises an inner ring (IR; see Ma annotated Figure 8 below), an outer ring (OR), balls (B) and a retainer (R); the inner ring (IR) is coaxially sleeved in a ring channel of the outer ring (OR), and the outer ring (OR) is coaxially fixed in a wheel body channel of the guide wheel (18; Figure 11); the balls (B) are rotatably connected between the inner ring (IR) and the outer ring (OR) through the retainer (R), but fails to teach a cover; and the left and right ends of the inner ring and the outer ring are respectively closed by the cover.
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Ma, Annotated Figure 8
Mori teaches a similar bearing and further teaches a cover (15; Figure 2); and the left and right ends of the inner ring (3) and the outer ring (7) are respectively closed by the cover (15); wherein the cover (15) is sealed by a sealing ring. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the guide wheel assembly of Ma to include the cover as taught by Mori in order to prevent ball bearing lubricants from escaping and prevent debris from entering the bearing.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 8 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:
Claim 2 would be allowable over the prior art of record because the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest the entire combination of elements set forth including for disclosing a left primary stepped hole and a right primary stepped hole are respectively arranged on the left annular convex wall and the right annular convex wall; a large hole part of the left primary stepped hole is arranged towards the belt groove; a large hole part of the right primary stepped hole is arranged towards the belt groove.
Ma teaches the above steel belt guide wheel assembly made of nylon and further teaches wherein the connecting mechanism (56) comprises a fastening bolt (column 5, lines 47-59, pin or fastener), but fails to teach a positioning nut, and the left and right ends of the positioning nut are respectively provided with a positioning internal thread blind hole and a positioning inner hexagon notch; the fastening bolt a fastening outer hexagon screw head and a fastening screw, and one end of the fastening screw is coaxially connected with the fastening outer hexagon screw head, and the other end can be screwed into the positioning internal thread blind hole; a left primary stepped hole and a right primary stepped hole are respectively arranged on the left annular convex wall and the right annular convex wall; a large hole part of the left primary stepped hole can be used for placing the positioning nut and is arranged towards the belt groove; a large hole part of the right primary stepped hole is in a shape of an inner hexagon adapted to the fastening outer hexagon screw head and is arranged towards the belt groove, and small hole parts of the right primary stepped hole and the left primary stepped hole can be penetrated by the fastening screw.
Topper (DE202010008215U1) teaches a similar connecting mechanism and further teaches a positioning nut (1; Figure 1), and the left and right ends of the positioning nut (1) are respectively provided with a positioning internal thread blind hole (20) and a positioning inner hexagon notch (40); the fastening bolt (2) a fastening outer hexagon screw head (hexagonal head portion) and a fastening screw (threaded portion), and one end of the fastening screw (2) is coaxially connected with the fastening outer hexagon screw head, and the other end can be screwed into the positioning internal thread blind hole (20); a large hole part of the left primary stepped hole (6) can be used for placing the positioning nut (1); a large hole part of the right primary stepped hole (4) is in a shape of an inner hexagon adapted to the fastening outer hexagon screw head, and small hole parts of the right primary stepped hole (4) and the left primary stepped hole (6) can be penetrated by the fastening screw (2). Wang (CN106320285A) teaches a similar drum assembly and further teaches left and right through holes that are respectively arranged on the left and right annular convex wall (24; Figure 1) for fastening the convex walls (24) of the drums together. However, Topper and Wang fail to teach a left primary stepped hole and a right primary stepped hole are respectively arranged on the left annular convex wall and the right annular convex wall; a large hole part of the left primary stepped hole is arranged towards the belt groove; a large hole part of the right primary stepped hole is arranged towards the belt groove, thus would not be obvious to combine the teachings of Topper and Wang with the teaching of Ma.
Claim 8 would be allowable over the prior art of record because the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest the entire combination of elements set forth including for disclosing wherein the end faces of the left and right ends of the guide wheels are respectively provided with grid grooves.
Ma is the closest prior art and further teaches wherein when the guide wheels are sequentially glued together by glue in pairs, but fails to teach wherein the end faces of the left and right ends of the guide wheels are respectively provided with grid grooves.
Claims 2-7, 10-15, and 18-20 would be allowable because they are dependents of claim 2.
Claim 16 would be allowable because it is a dependent of claim 8.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Additional references listed on form PTO-892 are cited for their relevance to the disclosed invention and demonstration of the state of the art.
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/H.S./Examiner, Art Unit 3654
/ANNA M MOMPER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3619
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