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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 16-21 and 23-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 6,644,006 B1 to Merritt et al., hereinafter “Merritt”.
Regarding claim 16, Merritt discloses a transmission unit for a round baler (transmission gear unit 51 in Fig. 1; col. 6, line 51), the transmission unit comprising:
a drive part comprising a drive shaft (drive shaft 50 in Fig. 1-7; col. 6, line 46-47) which is configured to couple in a drive torque, the drive shaft being rotatable about a drive shaft axis of rotation;
a press roller driven part which is configured to have the drive part be coupled thereto in a driving manner and to at least indirectly drive a pressing roller so as to act on a crop material in a pressing chamber (drive shaft 50 in Fig. 1 has a driving part which drives starter pressing roller 26 which is shown drivingly mounted thereon; col. 5, line 63-65);
a cutting rotor driven part which is configured to at least indirectly drive a cutting rotor so as to convey the crop material towards the pressing chamber (cutting rotor driven part drive wheel 54 in Fig. 2-7 drives conveying rotor 18 in Fig. 1; col. 6, line 35-55); and
a coupling mechanism which is configured to selectively couple and decouple the drive part and the cutting rotor driven part (coupling mechanism assembly 56 in Fig. 2-5; col. 6, line 59),
wherein
the coupling mechanism comprises a first coupling gearwheel which is non-rotatably connected to the drive shaft and which is configured to be adjustable axially with respect thereto (first coupling gearwheel member 60 is splined to drive shaft 50 and is configured to axially adjust with respect thereto as shown in the progression from Fig. 6 to Fig. 7; col. 6, line 56-col. 8, line 2), the first coupling gearwheel being configured so as to be,
selectively drivingly coupled to the cutting rotor driven part in a coupling position (Fig. 6 shows gearwheel member 60 is selectively drivingly coupled to cutting rotor driven part drive wheel 54) and to be decoupled from the cutting rotor driven part in a release position (Fig. 7 shows member 60 is decoupled from drive wheel 54), and
drivingly coupled to the press roller driven part both in the coupling position and in the release position (gearwheel member 60 is drivingly coupled to drive shaft 50 and starter pressing roller 26).
Regarding claim 17, Merritt anticipates the transmission unit as recited in claim 16 as explained above. Merritt further discloses
the cutting rotor driven part comprises a second coupling gearwheel which coaxially surrounds the drive shaft (cutting rotor driven part drive wheel 54 comprises second coupling gearwheel member 59 in Fig. 6 and 7 which coaxially surrounds drive shaft 50; col. 6, line 62-65), and
the first coupling gearwheel, in the coupling position, is further configured to non-rotatably connect the second coupling gearwheel to the drive shaft via a positive fit with the second coupling gearwheel (gearwheel member 60 in the coupling position shown in Fig. 6 connects gearwheel 59 to drive shaft 50 via the positive fit between teeth 72 and 74), while the second coupling gearwheel is freely rotatable relative to the drive shaft via a release of the positive fit in the release position (gearwheel member 59 is freely rotatable relative to drive shaft 50 when the positive fit between teeth 72 and 74 is released as shown in Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 18, Merritt anticipates the transmission unit as recited in claim 17 as explained above. Merritt further discloses
a transmission housing for a stationary arrangement on the round baler (housing frame assembly 40 in Fig. 1-5; col. 6, line 7-14),
wherein,
the drive shaft comprises a bearing section, the bearing section being rotatably mounted on the transmission housing (the portion of drive shaft 50 marked with reference number 50 is a bearing section), and
a cantilevered section, and the first coupling gearwheel and the second coupling gearwheel are each arranged on the cantilevered section (Figs. 2 and 3 show drive shaft 50 has a cantilevered section with gearwheel members 60 and 59 arranged thereon).
Regarding claim 19, Merritt anticipates the transmission unit as recited in claim 17 as explained above. Merritt further discloses
a press belt driven part (see “Press Belt Driven Part” annotation to Fig. 1 of Merritt reproduced below); and
a drive shaft gearwheel which is non-rotatably connected to the drive shaft and which is drivingly coupled to the press belt driven part (Fig. 1 shows drive shaft 50 has a gearwheel non-rotatable connected thereto which is drivingly couple to the Press Belt Driven Part through drive belt 53),
wherein,
the first coupling gearwheel is drivingly coupled to the press roller driven part (gearwheel member 60 is drivingly coupled to drive shaft 50 and starter pressing roller 26).
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Regarding claim 20, Merritt anticipates the transmission unit as recited in claim 19 as explained above. Merritt further discloses
an input shaft gearwheel via which a drive torque is transmittable to the drive shaft (Fig. 1 shows an input shaft gearwheel at 51; col. 6, line 45-55),
wherein,
the drive shaft gearwheel is configured to interact with the input shaft gearwheel (the input shaft gearwheel at 51 in Fig. 1 interacts with the gearwheel on drive shaft 50 through belt drive 53).
Regarding claim 21, Merritt anticipates the transmission unit as recited in claim 19 as explained above. Merritt further discloses
the press roller driven part is configured to at least indirectly drive the pressing roller in a feed area of the pressing chamber (drive shaft 50 has a driving part which drives starter pressing roller 26 in Fig. 1 in the feed area of pressing chamber 22), and
the press belt driven part is configured to at least indirectly drive a pressing belt which is configured to be driven circumferentially (the Press Belt Driven Part as annotated above is configured to drive pressing belt apron 24 circumferentially).
Regarding claim 23, Merritt anticipates the transmission unit as recited in claim 17 as explained above. Merritt further discloses the cutting rotor driven part further comprises a cutting rotor gearwheel which is configured to non-rotatably connect to the cutting rotor (cutting rotor gearwheel 210 in Fig. 8 is fixed to rotate with rotor drive shaft 220 which has rotor 18 mounted thereon; col. 8, line 14-27) and to interact, either directly or indirectly, via at least one intermediate gearwheel (intermediate transmission gearwheel 200 in Figs. 2-3 and 8), with the second coupling gearwheel (member 59 in Figs. 6 and 7).
Regarding claim 24, Merritt anticipates the transmission unit as recited in claim 16 as explained above. Merritt further discloses
a coupling spring element which is configured to preload the first coupling gearwheel in a direction of the coupling position (Figs. 6 and 7 show a coupling spring element which is configured to preload gearwheel member 60 in the direction of the coupling position shown in Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 25, Merritt anticipates the transmission unit as recited in claim 16 as explained above. Merritt further discloses
a switch mechanism which comprises at least one shift element (switch mechanism assembly 56 in Figs. 2-5 moves shift element link member 64; col. 7, line 31-43),
wherein,
the at least one shift element is configured to be adjustable between a passive position (shown in Figs. 3 and 5) and an active position (shown in Figs. 2 and 4) and, when the at least one shift element is adjusted to the active position, to engage axially laterally on the first coupling gearwheel so as to adjust the first coupling gearwheel to the release position (shift element 64 moves member 60 axially laterally from the active position shown in Figs. 2 and 4 to the passive position shown in Figs. 3 and 5 by disengaging teeth 72 and 74 and shown in Figs. 6 and 7).
Regarding claim 26, Merritt anticipates the transmission unit as recited in claim 25 as explained above. Merritt further discloses the at least one shift element (shift element link member 64 in Figs. 2-5) is adjustable between the active position and the passive position by pivoting about a shift element pivot axis (see “Pivot Axis” annotation to Fig. 4 of Merritt reproduced below) so as to engage with at least one shift section (shift section 60 in Figs. 2-5) which is spaced from the shift element pivot axis on the first coupling gearwheel (gearwheel member 60 in Figs. 6 and 7).
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Regarding claim 27, Merritt anticipates the transmission unit as recited in claim 26 as explained above. Merritt further discloses the switch mechanism further comprises an actuating element (actuating element arm member 70 in Figs. 2-5; col. 7, line 15-43) which is configured to act on the at least one shift element (link member 64 in Figs. 2-5) so as to move the at least one shift element into the active position (arm 70 moves link 64 as shown in the progression from Fig. 2 to 3 and from Fig. 4 to 5).
Regarding claim 28, Merritt anticipates the transmission unit as recited in claim 27 as explained above. Merritt further discloses
the actuating element (arm 70 in Figs. 2-5) is pivotable about an actuating element pivot axis (arm 70 pivots about gear support shaft 80 in Figs. 2-5) and comprises an eccentric section (see “Eccentric Section” annotation to Fig. 4 below) which is configured to interact with an actuating section (see “Actuating Section” annotation) of the at least one shifting element, and
the actuating section is spaced apart from the shifting element pivot axis and from the at least one shifting section (the Actuating Section is spaced apart from the annotated Pivot and from shifting section 60).
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Regarding claim 29, Merritt anticipates the transmission unit as recited in claim 27 as explained above. Merritt further discloses the actuating element further comprise a drive profile (see “Drive Profile” annotation to Fig. 2 of Merritt reproduced below) which is arranged outside a transmission housing for a positive engagement with a tool (the Drive Profile is arranged outside transmission housing 40 in Fig. 2).
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Regarding claim 30, Merritt discloses a round baler comprising:
a frame (Frame 11 in Fig. 1; col. 5, line 27);
a press element which is configured to be driven relative to the frame and to act on a harvested material in a pressing chamber (press element apron 24 in Fig. 1; col. 5, line 43);
a cutting rotor which is configured to be driven relative to the frame and to convey the harvested material towards the pressing chamber (cutting conveying rotor 18 in Fig. 1; col. 6, line 7-11); and
the transmission unit as recited in claim 16 (see explanation of rejection of claim 16 above),
wherein,
the press roller driven part is coupled at least indirectly driving to the press element (starter pressing roller 26 in Fig. 1 at least indirectly drives press element apron 24 through belt 53; col. 6, line 45-55), and
the cutting rotor driven part is coupled at least indirectly driving to the cutting rotor (cutting rotor driven part drive wheel 54 in Figs. 2-7 drives cutting conveying rotor 18 in Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 22 is 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 22 claims the press roller driven part has a press roll gearwheel connected to the pressing roller. Merritt appears to be the closest prior art. Merritt’s interpreted pressing roller 26 in Fig. 1 is shown to be drivingly mounted on drive shaft 50 which has been interpreted as being the transmission drive shaft of claim 16. Therefore, Merritt does not disclose a gearwheel and intermediate gearwheel as claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL DEREK PRESSLEY whose telephone number is (313)446-6658. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30am to 3:30pm Eastern.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Templeton can be reached at (571) 270-1477. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/P DEREK PRESSLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3725
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