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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 09/15/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant amendment filed 08/17/2026 has been entered and is currently under consideration. Claims 1 and 3-10 remain pending in the application.
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) 1, 3-4, 6, and 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schlachter et al. (US3090992) hereinafter Schlachter in view of Goessling (US2359839 of record).
Regarding claim 1, Schlachter teaches:
An injection unit (Fig 1) comprising:
a cylinder (Fig 1: bushing 3);
a screw at least a part of which is housed inside the cylinder and that is rotatable and movable in an axial direction of the cylinder (Fig 1: screw 2; col 2, ln 51-53, ln 55-57);
a drive shaft that drives the screw (Fig 1: extension piece 15; col 2, ln 63-65);
a connecting shaft that connects the screw and the drive shaft (Fig 1: drive shaft 13; col 2, ln 49-50, ln 63-65);
a support member that is located between the screw and the drive shaft, that allows rotation and movement in the axial direction of the connecting shaft, and that supports the connecting shaft at least in a vertical direction (Fig 1, Annotated Schlachter Fig 1; col 2, ln 51-53, ln 55-57); and
a spacer member that is connected to the cylinder and that encloses the connecting shaft (Fig 1, Annotated Schlachter Fig 1),
the drive shaft is driven in the axial direction (Fig 1; col 2, ln 63-65), the screw and the connecting shaft are driven in the axial direction by the drive shaft (col 2, ln 49-50, ln 63-65), and the connecting shaft has a connecting part and the connecting part is connected with the screw by splines (Fig 1: keyway coupling 11; col 2, ln 49-50; Schlachter uses the term keyway, but Fig 1 clearly shows keyway coupling 11 possessing the plurality of cuts characteristic of splines).
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Schlachter does not teach wherein the support member includes a bush fitted to the connecting shaft and an attachment part for the bush attached to the spacer member.
In the same field of endeavor regarding extrusion, Goessling teaches a support member including a bush fitted to a connecting shaft and an attachment part for the bush attached to a spacer member for the motivation of slidably supporting the connecting shaft (Fig 1, Annotated Goessling Fig 1: bushing 7; col 1, ln 32-41).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the support member as taught by Schlachter with the bush as taught by Goessling in order to slidably support the connecting shaft.
Regarding claim 3, Schlachter in view of Goessling teaches the apparatus of claim 1.
Goessling further teaches wherein the bush is fitted into the attachment part (Fig 1, Annotated Goessling Fig 1).
Regarding claim 4, Schlachter in view of Goessling teaches the apparatus of claim 1.
Goessling further teaches wherein the attachment part includes a holding part that holds a tip of the bush that is closer to the screw (Fig 1, Annotated Goessling Fig 1).
Regarding claim 6, Schlachter in view of Goessling teaches the apparatus of claim 1.
Schlachter further teaches wherein the connecting shaft has a constant diameter that is the same as a diameter of the connecting part, wherein the connecting part connects with the screw in a section in which the support member can face the connecting shaft (Fig 1, Annotated Schlachter Fig 1).
Regarding claim 9, Schlachter in view of Goessling teaches the apparatus of claim 1.
Goessling further teaches a hopper for supplying material to be injected, the hopper being provided on the cylinder (Fig 1, Annotated Goessling Fig 1: hopper 21).
Regarding claim 10, Schlachter in view of Goessling teaches the apparatus of claim 9.
Schlachter further teaches wherein the spacer member is attached to the cylinder (Fig 1, Annotated Schlachter Fig 1).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schlachter in view of Goessling as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hammon (US3582157).
Regarding claim 5, Schlachter in view of Goessling teaches the apparatus of claim 1.
Schlachter in view of Goessling does not teach wherein the bush is an oilless bush.
In art attempting to solve a similar problem of providing bushings for slidable movement, Hammon teaches a bushing comprising metal with a coating of synthetic resin material, i.e., oilless, for the motivation of providing a bushing with self-lubricating properties (col 2, ln 42-75).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the bush as taught by Schlachter in view of Goessling with the bush as taught by Hammon in order to provide a bushing with self-lubricating properties.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schlachter in view of Goessling as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Uehara et al. (US2020/0206995 of record) hereinafter Uehara.
Regarding claim 7, Schlachter in view of Goessling teaches the apparatus of claim 1.
Goessling further teaches an injection molding machine comprising the injection unit according to claim 1 (Fig 1, Annotated Goessling Fig 1).
Schlachter in view of Goessling does not teach a mold clamping unit.
In the same field of endeavor regarding injection molding, Uehara teaches a mold clamping unit for the motivation of opening and closing the molds (Fig mold clamping cylinder 12; [0059, 0074]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the apparatus as taught by Schlachter in view of Goessling with the mold clamping unit as taught by Uehara in order to open and close the molds.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 08/17/2026 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.
For at least the above reasons, the application is not in condition for allowance.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER A WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-5361. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8 am-4 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alison Hindenlang can be reached at 571-270-7001. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEXANDER A WANG/Examiner, Art Unit 1741
/ALISON L HINDENLANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1741
