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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because in FIG. 6, elements 142 143 pointing toward outer planer surface of the thrust bearing 126. In specification 142 and 143 described as first inner surface and second inner surface.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Drew Head (US – 1,921,121).
As per claim 1, Drew Head discloses Shock Absorber comprising:
an adaptive shock absorber guide rod (11, Fig: 1-3) having a guide groove (13, Fig: 1-2, 4) formed in an outer surface thereof (Fig: 1-2, 4), and wherein the guide groove has a central portion (Attached figure and Fig: 4) and a first slanted or spiral portion at a first end of the central portion (Attached figure and Fig:4).
As per claim 3, Drew Head discloses a first valve disc (15, Fig: 1-2, 6) having a central through hole defined in part by a first valve disc first inner surface having an arcuate shape (Attached figure and Fig: 6) and a first valve disc second inner surface having an arcuate shape (Attached figure and Fig: 6) and a first valve disc first projection (15a, Fig: 6) extending from at least one of the first valve disc first inner surface or the first valve disc second inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 6), the first valve disc having a first valve disc set of a plurality of orifices (20a, 20b, 21a, 21b, Fig: 1, 6) formed therethrough, wherein the first valve disc first projection is received in the guide groove (13, Moreover these lugs are long enough to project beyond the slots, so that their tip ends engage and ride in the helical grooves 13, 13 on the surface of the sleeve 11 (Figure 4), Page 2, Ln: 53-56, fig: 4-6).
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-5, 7-9, 15-16 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Drew Head (US – 1,921,121).
As per claim 1, Drew Head discloses Shock Absorber comprising:
an adaptive shock absorber guide rod (6, Fig: 1-3) having a guide groove (10, Fig: 3) formed in an outer surface thereof (Fig: 3), and wherein the guide groove has a central portion (Attached figure and Fig: 3) and a first slanted or spiral portion at a first end of the central portion (Attached figure and Fig: 3).
As per claim 2, Drew Head discloses wherein the guide groove includes a second slanted or spiral portion at a second end of the central portion (Attached figure and Fig: 1, 3)
As per claim 4, Drew Head discloses a thrust bearing (2, Fig: 1, 5) having a central through hole (Fig: 5) defined in part by a thrust bearing first inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 5) having an arcuate shape and a thrust bearing second inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 5) having an arcuate shape and a thrust bearing projection (17, Fig: 5) extending from at least one of the thrust bearing first inner surface or the thrust bearing second inner surface, the thrust bearing having a thrust bearing set of a plurality of orifices formed therethrough (Fig: 5), wherein a portion of the guide rod is received in the central through hole formed in the thrust bearing (Fig: 1-6).
As per claim 5, Drew Head discloses a second valve disc (another 15, Fig: 1-2) having a central through hole (Fig: 6) formed therein defined in part by a second valve disc first inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 6) having an arcuate shape and a second valve disc second inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 6) having an arcuate shape and a second valve disc first projection (15a, Fig: 6) extending from at least one of the second valve disc first inner surface or the second valve disc second inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 6), the second valve disc having a second valve disc set of a plurality of orifices (20a, 20b, 21a, 21b, Fig: 1, 6) formed therethrough, wherein a portion of the guide rod is received in the central through hole of the second valve disc (Now assuming that under the deflection of the vehicle springs, the arm 3 is depressed or swung downwardly through a small angle, thereby rotating the shall 6 with it, the rotation of the latter being transmitted to the piston through the helical groove 10 and lug 17 connection to shift the piston to the left, this movement of the piston being accompanied by a relative rotation of the valve plates 15, 15 in a counter-clockwise direction from the position shown in Figure 2, Page 2, Ln: 140 – 149).
As per claim 7, Drew Head discloses a first valve disc (15, Fig: 1-2) having a central through hole (Fig: 6) defined in part by a first valve disc first inner surface having an arcuate shape (Attached figure and Fig: 6) and a first valve disc second inner surface having an arcuate shape (Attached figure and Fig: 6) and a first valve disc first projection (15a, Fig: 6) extending from at least one of the first valve disc first inner surface or the first valve disc second inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 6), the first valve disc having first valve disc set of a plurality of orifices (20a, 20b, 21a, 21b, Fig: 1, 6) formed therethrough, wherein a portion of the guide rod is received in the central through hole of the first valve disc (Fig: 1-2).
As per claim 8, Drew Head discloses a thrust bearing (2, Fig: 1, 5) having a central through hole (Fig: 5) defined in part by a thrust bearing first inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 5) having an arcuate shape and a thrust bearing second inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 5) having an arcuate shape and a thrust bearing first projection (17, Fig: 5) extending from at least one of thrust bearing first inner surface or the thrust bearing second inner surface, the thrust bearing having thrust bearing set of a plurality of orifices formed therethrough (Fig: 5).
As per claim 9, Drew Head discloses a second valve disc (another 15, Fig: 1-2) having a central through hole (Fig: 6) formed therein defined in part by a second valve disc first inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 6) having an arcuate shape and a second valve disc second inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 6) having an arcuate shape and a second valve disc first projection (15a, Fig: 6) extending from at least one of the second valve disc first inner surface or the second valve disc second inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 6), the second valve disc having a second valve disc set of a plurality of orifices formed therethrough (20a, 20b, 21a, 21b, Fig: 1, 6).
As per claim 15, Drew Head discloses Shock Absorber comprising:
providing a piston rod (11, Fig: 1-4) having an outer surface and an inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 4), the piston rod having a first slot (12, Fig: 4) and a second slot (13, fig: 4) formed therein at a first end of the piston rod (Fig: 4),
a first valve disc (15, Fig: 1-2, 6) having a central through hole defined in part by a first valve disc first inner surface (Attached figure and Fig: 6) having an arcuate shape and a first valve disc second inner surface having an arcuate shape (Attached figure and Fig: 6) and a first valve disc first projection (15a, fig: 1-2, 6) extending from at least one of the first valve disc first inner surface or the first valve disc second inner surface (Fig: 6), the first valve disc having first valve disc set of a plurality of orifices formed therethrough (20a, 20b, 21a, 21b, Fig: 1, 6); and
placing the first valve disc (15) over the outer surface of the piston rod (11) so that a portion of the first valve disc first projection is received in the second slot formed in the piston rod (Fig: 1-2).
As per claim 16, Drew Head discloses providing a thrust bearing (2, Fig: 1, 5) having a central through hole (Attached figure and Fig: 5) defined in part by a thrust bearing first inner surface having an arcuate shape (Attached figure and Fig: 5) and a thrust bearing second inner surface having an arcuate shape (Attached figure and Fig: 5) and a thrust bearing first projection (17, Fig: 5) extending from at least one of thrust valve first inner surface or the thrust second inner surface (Fig: 5), the thrust bearing having thrust bearing set of a plurality of orifices formed therethrough (Fig: 5);
wherein the first slot (12, Fig: 4) has a width and height sufficient to firmly receive the thrust bearing first projection and prevent the thrust bearing from rotating (Fig: 4-5); and
prior to placing the first valve disc (15) over the outer surface of the piston rod (Fig: 1-2), placing the thrust bearing (2) over the outer surface of the piston rod so (Fig: 1-2) that the thrust bearing first projection (17) is received in the first slot (12) formed in the piston rod (Fig: 1-2).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-14 are allowed.
Prior art fails to disclose wherein the first slot has a width and height sufficient to firmly receive the second valve disc first projection and prevent the second valve disc from rotating which recited in independent claim 13.
Claim 14 depends on claim 13.
Claims 6, 10-12, and 17-20 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.
Prior art fails to disclose wherein the first slot has a width and height sufficient to firmly receive the second valve disc first projection and prevent the second valve disc from rotating (Claim 6), wherein the first slot has a width and height sufficient to firmly receive the thrust bearing first projection and prevent the thrust bearing from rotating and to firmly receive the second valve disc first projection and prevent the second valve disc from rotating, (Claim 10), wherein the first slot has a width and height sufficient to firmly receive the second valve disc first projection and prevent the second valve disc from rotating (Claim 17).
Claims 11-12 depend on claim 10 and claims 18-20 depend on claim 18.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
A: Carlton (US – 3,967,707),
B: Herbert D Curchack (US – 3,628,638),
C: A. L. Zanow et al. (US – 3,033,384),
D: Lohken et al. (US – 2023/0018695 A1),
E: BOHRER et al. (UUS – 2017/0350466 A1),
F: Kruedener et l. (US – 2017/0037668 A1),
G: Heo (US – 2004/0231934 A1),
H: Alexander McNab (US – 1,855,921),
I; L. L. LOMAR (US – 1,759,266),
J: LIU, YU-TING (CN – 117847135 A),
K: Oleg (WO – 2013/151461 A1),
L: Migli C (WO – 2010/070624 A1),
M: Allegre Jean Marc (WO – 2014/195608 A1),
N: E. S. Aker (US – 1,484,859), and
O: B. H. Wile (US – 1,863,144).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAN M AUNG whose telephone number is (571)270-5792. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Siconolfi can be reached at 571-272-7124. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAN M AUNG/Examiner, Art Unit 3616
/NICHOLAS J LANE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
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