Information Disclosure Statement
The listing of references in the PCT international search report is not considered to be an information disclosure statement (IDS) complying with 37 CFR 1.98. 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2) requires a legible copy of: (1) each foreign patent; (2) each publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; (3) for each cited pending U.S. application, the application specification including claims, and any drawing of the application, or that portion of the application which caused it to be listed including any claims directed to that portion, unless the cited pending U.S. application is stored in the Image File Wrapper (IFW) system; and (4) all other information, or that portion which caused it to be listed. In addition, each IDS must include a list of all patents, publications, applications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office (see 37 CFR 1.98(a)(1) and (b)), and MPEP § 609.04(a), subsection I. states, “the list ... must be submitted on a separate paper.” Therefore, the references cited in the international search report have not been considered. Applicant is advised that the date of submission of any item of information in the international search report will be the date of submission of the IDS for purposes of determining compliance with the requirements for the IDS with 37 CFR 1.97, including all timing statement requirements of 37 CFR 1.97(e). See MPEP § 609.05(a).
The listing of references in the specification as at paragraphs 0002-0004 is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because the word “cage” is misspelled at the second to last line of page 3.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it is not written in clear narrative form. It is instead written in the form of a claim. 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).
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because in the last line the word “shaft” should be inserted prior to “side”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claims 9-10 & 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hayashi, US 5,186,687.
Claims 9 & 12. Hayashi discloses a propeller shaft (col. 1, lines 7-9), the propeller shaft comprising:
a first propeller shaft (5) of the propeller shaft;
a second propeller shaft (6) provided at an opposite position to the first propeller shaft of the propeller shaft; and
a constant velocity joint disposed between the first propeller shaft and the second propeller shaft to connect the first propeller shaft and the second propeller shaft, the constant velocity joint including:
an outer race member (1) formed into a cylindrical shape (see Fig. 1), to which the first propeller shaft is connected;
a cage (4) provided on an inner peripheral side (13) of the outer race member and provided with a window portion (45, col. 4, line 68) that retains a ball member (3); and
an inner race member (2) provided on an inner peripheral side (43, col. 4, line 66) of the cage and connected to the second propeller shaft,
the outer race member including an outer race groove portion (15) provided at an inner periphery of the outer race member and provided in a recessed manner at a predetermined angle with respect to a rotational axis direction of the constant velocity joint (see Fig. 2),
the ball member being disposed in the outer race groove portion (see Fig. 1),
the inner race member including: an inner race groove portion (24) provided at an outer periphery of the inner race member in a recessed manner so as to intersect with the outer race groove portion, the inner race groove portion in which the ball member is disposed (see Fig. 4), and
a recessed portion (26) formed on the second propeller shaft side in a bottom portion of the inner race groove portion to have a smaller diameter (col. 4, lines 44-47) than rest of the bottom portion of the inner race groove portion,
wherein the recessed portion is so formed that distance between the recessed portion and a rotational axis of the constant velocity joint is decreased as the recessed portion approaches the second propeller shaft in the rotational axis direction (see Fig. 5), and
wherein the recessed portion is formed into an arc-like shape (col.4, lines 48-49).
Claim 10. Figs. 1 & 4-5 show the recessed portion (26) is provided in each of the bottom portion of the inner race groove portion (24) situated on the second propeller shaft (6) side and the bottom portion of the inner race groove portion situated on the first propeller shaft (5) side in the rotational axis direction.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 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:
Hayashi does not show or suggest its inner race member (2) with a small diameter portion and a jig engagement portion.
Okazaki, US 2021/0293282 appears top show its inner race (20) with a feature (22, 23) similar to small diameter portion and a jig engagement portion, but does not show or suggest a recessed portion formed in a bottom portion of the inner race groove portion (21) to have a smaller diameter than rest of the bottom portion of the inner race groove portion. Aoki, US 2024/0418224 shows similarly.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Each of Westercamp and Handa shows a constant velocity joint comprising a recessed portion
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/Greg Binda/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3679
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