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 .
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) 1-2, 6 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oe (JP 2017180737 A).
Regarding claim 1, Oe discloses (in figs. 1-2) a cage (4) for a rolling bearing (fig. 1) that holds a plurality of rolling elements (3) in a rolling bearing and is guided by an inner ring (1) or an outer ring (2), the cage (4) comprising:
a cage body (7) having an annular shape and including a pocket hole (9) for accommodating each of the rolling elements (3);
a first resin portion (8a) formed at least in a portion on which each of the rolling elements (3) slides in an inner surface of the pocket hole (9) of the cage body (7);
and a second resin portion (8b) having a composition different from a composition of the first resin portion (8a) and formed in a guide portion of the cage body sliding on the inner ring (1) or the outer ring (2, and para. [0023] discloses that the second portion 8b and first portion 8a have the same resin component, but the proportions of the components are different so they have different composition).
Regarding claim 2, Oe discloses the cage for a rolling bearing according to claim 1, wherein the cage body (7) includes a metal portion (7 and para. [0017] discloses the metal portion can be made of aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, and magnesium alloys.)
Regarding claim 6, Oe discloses the cage for a rolling bearing according to claim 2, wherein the cage (4) is an outer ring guided cage guided on an inner circumferential surface of the outer ring (2), the first resin portion (8a) is formed on an inner diameter side of the metal portion (7), and the second resin portion (8b) is formed on an outer diameter side of the metal portion (7).
Regarding claim 11, Oe discloses the cage for a rolling bearing according to claim 2, wherein a metal constituting the metal portion (7) is an aluminum alloy, a titanium alloy, a stainless alloy, or Inconel (para. [0017]).
Regarding claim 12, Oe discloses a rolling bearing (fig. 1) comprising an inner ring (1) and an outer ring (2), a rolling element (3) interposed between the inner ring (1) and the outer ring (2), and a cage (4) configured to hold the rolling element (3), wherein the cage (4) is the cage (4) for a rolling bearing (3) according to claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oe (JP 2017180737 A) in view of Nakamura (WO 2020203361 A1; US 20220186776 A1 as English equivalent).
Regarding claim 7, Oe discloses the cage for a rolling bearing according to claim 6 but does not disclose the metal portion includes a portion constituting a three-dimensional network lattice, and a void of the portion constituting the three-dimensional network lattice is filled with a part of the first resin portion.
Nakamura teaches (in figs. 2B, 3A, 3B and para. [0040]), the metal portion (16a) includes a portion constituting a three-dimensional network lattice (16c), and a void of the portion constituting the three-dimensional network lattice is filled with a part of the first resin portion (25) for the purpose of having a cage that has a high degree of freedom in design, is easy to manufacture, has sufficient strength, can increase the ratio of a solid lubricant in a resin layer, and reduce direct contact between the rolling elements and the base material constituting the retainer (para. [0011]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the cage with metal portion constituting a three-dimensional network lattice with the void being filled with a resin portion, as taught by Nakamura, in the cage of Oe for the purpose of having a cage that has a high degree of freedom in design, is easy to manufacture, has sufficient strength, can increase the ratio of a solid lubricant in a resin layer, and reduce direct contact between the rolling elements and the base material constituting the retainer (para. [0011]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3-5 and 8-10 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: the prior art of record does not disclose nor render obvious the combination set forth in claims 3 and 9.
In particular, for claim 3, the prior art of record does not disclose nor render obvious the cage comprising the metal portion includes a first metal portion having an annular shape and positioned on an inner diameter side, and a second metal portion having an annular shape, positioned on an outer diameter side, and to which the first metal portion is fitted, the first resin portion is formed in the first metal portion, and the second resin portion is formed in the second metal portion in combination with the other claim limitations.
In particular, for claim 9, the prior art of record does not disclose nor render obvious the cage comprising a content of the polytetrafluoroethylene resin in the second resin portion is smaller than a content of the polytetrafluoroethylene resin in the first resin portion, and a content of the fibrous reinforcing material in the second resin portion is larger than a content of the fibrous reinforcing material in the first resin portion in combination with the other claim limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kokumai (US 20160108965 A1) discloses a cage made with two different materials.
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/AIMEE TRAN NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3617
/JOHN OLSZEWSKI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3617