DETAILED ACTION
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the term “are disclosed” is stated in line 1. 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).
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.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 22-33 are objected to because of the following informalities: the tick marks (-) in lines 11-13 should be removed. See the format of claim 34. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 22-40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by FR’118 (FR 3078118).
With respect to claim 1, FR’118 discloses a nut retaining device, comprising: a housing 31 defining an interior receptacle, the housing including attachment structure configured for fixing the housing to a base structure; a nut 2 received within the receptacle and having screw threads adapted to engage a correspondingly threaded fastener 4; anti-rotation structure 16, 23 between the housing and the nut; the anti-rotation structure constraining the nut against rotation relative to the housing about a screwing axis of the nut; the anti-rotation structure configured to provide a clearance movement between the nut and the housing in at least one of: a rotation direction rotationally about the screwing axis of the nut, or an axial direction parallel to the screwing axis of the nut, or a radial direction relative to the axial direction that is parallel to the screwing axis of the nut; and retaining structure 19 engageable with the nut and retaining the nut within the receptacle. See Figs. 1-4, and the corresponding translated description, especially the par. including “a radial clearance of the order of 0.5 mm (therefore 1 mm over the diameter) between the intermediate element 19 and the body 12 is suitable in certain applications. However, the invention is not limited to specific designs.”
With respect to claim 22, FR’118 teaches wherein at least one of: the clearance movement rotationally about the screwing axis is less than or equal to 7 degrees; or the clearance movement in the axial direction is less than or equal to 1.5 mm; or the clearance movement in the radial direction is less than or equal to 1.0 mm. See especially the par. including “a radial clearance of the order of 0.5 mm (therefore 1 mm over the diameter) between the intermediate element 19 and the body 12 is suitable in certain applications. However, the invention is not limited to specific designs.”
With respect to claim 23, FR’118 teaches wherein the anti-rotation structure comprises: first anti-rotation structure 16 on the housing; and second anti-rotation structure 23 on the nut; the first and second anti-rotation structures cooperating to constrain the nut against rotation relative to the housing.
With respect to claim 24, FR’118 teaches further comprising: an intermediate anti-rotation element 19 received in the receptacle; the intermediate anti-rotation element comprising third anti-rotation structure 28 complementary to the first anti-rotation structure on the housing, and fourth anti-rotation structure 22 complementary to the second anti-rotation structure on the nut; whereby the third anti-rotation structure engages the first anti-rotation structure to provide the clearance movement between the nut and the housing; and the fourth anti-rotation structure engages the second anti-rotation structure to constrain the nut against rotation relative to the intermediate anti-rotation element. See Figs. 1-4.
With respect to claim 25, FR’118 teaches wherein the intermediate anti- rotation element is deformed to secure the intermediate anti-rotation element to the nut. See Figs. 1-4. See par. “A nut with a standard connection conformation could be a nut other than a fluted nut, for example a hexagon nut, in which case the intermediate element could have as a complementary conformation a hexagon socket or a twelve hexagon socket. The cap could be replaced by crimping a deformable part of the body, or alternatively by an elastic retaining ring, of the Circlip type, inserted into the bore of the body. If a cap is used, it could be fixed not by crimping, but for example by welding, in particular by spots, or even by shrinking. The body such as 12 could be crimped or snapped onto the part such as 6, in which case the ears such as 13 would not necessarily be present.”
With respect to claim 26, FR’118 teaches wherein the intermediate anti- rotation element at least one of press fit, interference fit, welded, or shrink-fit onto the nut. See Figs. 1-4.
With respect to claim 27, FR’118 teaches wherein at least one of:(a) the first anti-rotation structure on the housing comprises a plurality of grooves extending along an axial direction parallel to the screwing axis of the nut, between a second end of the housing adjacent the attachment structure in a direction toward a first end of the housing opposite the second end, and the third anti-rotation structure on the intermediate anti-rotation element comprises a plurality of radially outwardly extending protrusions; or (b) the second anti-rotation structure comprises a plurality of radially outwardly extending splines on the outer surface of the nut, and the fourth anti-rotation structure on the intermediate anti-rotation element comprises a plurality of radially inwardly extending protrusions on an inner surface thereof and configured to inter-engage the radially outwardly extending splines on the nut. See Figs. 1-4.
With respect to claim 28, FR’118 teaches wherein: the intermediate anti-rotation element is sized smaller than the interior dimensions of the receptacle such that a gap is defined between the receptacle and the intermediate element that accommodates the clearance movement in the radial direction.
With respect to claim 29, FR’118 teaches wherein: the first anti-rotation structure on the housing comprises a plurality of grooves and the third anti-rotation structure comprises a plurality of radially outwardly extending protrusions on the intermediate anti-rotation element; and the protrusions have a width in a plane perpendicular to the axial direction that is less than a width of the corresponding groove by an amount that provides the clearance movement in the radial direction. See Figs. 1-4.
With respect to claim 30, FR’118 teaches wherein: the receptacle defines a length in the axial direction relative to the retaining structure that is greater than the dimensions of the intermediate anti-rotation element in the axial direction such that a gap is provided that accommodates the clearance movement in the axial direction. See Figs. 1-4.
With respect to claim 31, FR’118 teaches wherein the retaining structure is received within the receptacle and has an outer surface configured to frictionally engage at least a portion of an inner surface of the housing that defines the receptacle such that, when installed within the receptacle, the nut is prevented from being removed from the receptacle. See Figs. 1-4.
With respect to claim 32, FR’118 teaches further comprising: a radially inwardly extending protrusion within the receptacle and defining an axial stop against which the retaining structure is engaged to position the retaining structure within the receptacle. See Figs. 1-4.
With respect to claim 33, FR’118 teaches wherein the retaining structure comprises structure on at least a portion of the housing that is deformable to create an interference that prevents the nut from being removed from the receptacle. See par. “A nut with a standard connection conformation could be a nut other than a fluted nut, for example a hexagon nut, in which case the intermediate element could have as a complementary conformation a hexagon socket or a twelve hexagon socket. The cap could be replaced by crimping a deformable part of the body, or alternatively by an elastic retaining ring, of the Circlip type, inserted into the bore of the body. If a cap is used, it could be fixed not by crimping, but for example by welding, in particular by spots, or even by shrinking. The body such as 12 could be crimped or snapped onto the part such as 6, in which case the ears such as 13 would not necessarily be present.”
With respect to claim 34, FR’118 discloses a method of making a nut retaining device, the method comprising: engaging an intermediate anti-rotation element 16, 23 with a nut 2, the nut having internal screw threads adapted to engage a correspondingly externally threaded fastener 4 and defining a screwing axis; inserting the intermediate anti-rotation element and the nut into a receptacle of a housing 31, the housing including an attachment structure configured for fixing the housing to a base structure 12; and inserting a retaining structure 19 into the receptacle so that the intermediate anti- rotation element and the nut are retained within the receptacle and the nut is capable of clearance movement relative to the housing in at least one of: a rotation direction rotationally about the screwing axis of the nut, or an axial direction parallel to the screwing axis of the nut, or a radial direction relative to the axial direction that is parallel to the screwing axis of the nut. See Figs. 1-4, and the corresponding translated description, especially the par. including “a radial clearance of the order of 0.5 mm (therefore 1 mm over the diameter) between the intermediate element 19 and the body 12 is suitable in certain applications. However, the invention is not limited to specific designs.”
With respect to claim 35, FR’118 teaches wherein the intermediate anti-rotation element is generally ring shaped, defines a radially inner surface, and comprises a plurality of radially inwardly extending protrusions on the inner surface; wherein the nut comprises an outer surface and a plurality of radially outwardly extending splines on the outer surface; and wherein engaging the intermediate anti-rotation element with the nut comprises engaging the radially inwardly extending protrusions of the intermediate anti-rotation element with the radially outwardly extending splines of the nut. See Figs. 1-4.
With respect to claim 36, FR’118 teaches wherein engaging the intermediate anti-rotation element with the nut comprises at least one of press fitting, interference fitting, welding, or shrink fitting the intermediate anti-rotation element onto the nut. See Figs. 1-4.
With respect to claim 37, FR’118 teaches wherein: the intermediate anti-rotation element is generally ring shaped, defines a radially outer surface, and comprises a plurality of radially outwardly extending protrusions on the radially outer surface; the receptacle of the housing is defined by an inner surface of the housing and comprises a plurality of grooves extending along an axial direction; and inserting the intermediate anti-rotation element and the nut into the receptacle of the housing comprises slidably engaging the radially outwardly extending protrusions of the intermediate anti-rotation element with the grooves of the receptacle of the housing. See Figs. 1-4.
With respect to claim 38, FR’118 teaches wherein: the retaining structure comprises an internal retaining ring; the receptacle of the housing is defined by an inner surface of the housing; and inserting the retaining structure into the receptacle comprises positioning the retaining structure in frictional engagement with at least a portion of the inner surface of the housing. See Figs. 1-4.
With respect to claim 39, FR’118 teaches wherein inserting the retaining structure into the receptacle comprises inserting the retaining structure into the receptacle so that the intermediate anti-rotation element and the nut are movable relative to the receptacle within at least one of a circumferential gap corresponding to clearance movement in the rotational direction, an axial gap corresponding to clearance movement in the axial direction, or a radial gap corresponding to clearance movement in the radial direction. See Figs. 1-4.
With respect to claim 40, FR’118 teaches wherein: the intermediate anti-rotation element is generally ring shaped, defines a radially outer surface, and comprises a plurality of radially outwardly extending protrusions on the radially outer surface; the receptacle of the housing is defined by an inner surface of the housing and comprises a plurality of grooves extending along an axial direction; and inserting the intermediate anti-rotation element and the nut into the receptacle of the housing comprises engaging the radially outwardly extending protrusions of the intermediate anti-rotation element with the grooves of the receptacle of the housing to form at least one of the circumferential gap, the axial gap, or the radial gap. See Figs. 1-4.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2022/0389951 teaches a nut cap assembly for securing an first component to a second component, the nut cap assembly comprising: a seal cap having a base and a shroud extending from the base, the base including a mounting flange configured to be mounted to the internal component, the base including an opening at a mounting end of the base configured to be mounted to the internal component, the base including a seal groove surrounding the opening configured to receive a seal, the seal groove being open at the mounting end to interface the seal with the internal component, the shroud including a nut pocket having a cap anti-rotation feature; and a nut received in the nut pocket, the nut including a threaded bore configured to threadably receive a threaded fastener used to secure the internal component to the external component, the nut including a nut anti-rotation feature interfacing with the cap anti-rotation feature.
CN 105745483 teaches a hydraulic connector assembly, comprising: a nut thread engaging with the inner screw thread of the outer screw thread main body, the external thread body comprises the outer thread body radially outwardly extending stop block; the inner screw thread nut around the central axis and includes a recess formed on the outer surface of the inner screw thread nut, anti-rotating belt, the anti-rotating engagement with the internally threaded nut and surrounding the inner threaded nut extends tangentially to define the proximal edge of the rotating belt. said anti-rotating belt includes a protrusion of the base portion and a protruding portion from the inner surface of the recess in the base of the anti-rotating belt extend radially inwardly and is disposed between the internally threaded nut, the protruding portion of the protrusion on the direction parallel to the central axis extends beyond the proximal edge of the anti-rotating belt, and connected with the anti-rotation of the retaining ring, the retaining ring fixes the protrusion portion is kept to be located for engagement with said stop block orientation, wherein the internal thread nut relative to the external thread body of rotation causes the anti-running band rotate together with the inner thread nut, and the stop block causes the protrusion of the protruding portion with the outer screw thread of the main body engage, thereby preventing further rotation of the internally threaded nut.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZAKIYA W BATES whose telephone number is (571)272-7039. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am - 5pm.
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/ZAKIYA W BATES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3674 7/17/2026
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