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 .
Status of Claims
This office action is in response to the amendments/remarks filed on 07/21/2026. Claims 1-7 are pending; claim 1 has been amended.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murakami (US 9175741) in view of KIM (US 9611912)
Claim 1: Murakami discloses a shock absorber (10; fig.2) including:
a cylinder (13) having a cylinder chamber (27a and 27b) and having a bottomed cylindrical shape in which a working fluid is sealed (see col.10 lines 24-37);
a piston (25) provided inside the cylinder (13) and dividing an inside of the cylinder into areas (27a, 27b);
a piston rod (14) to which the piston (25) is fastened; and
a reservoir chamber (32) in which the working fluid and a gas are sealed,
the shock absorber (10) comprising
a partition member partitioning the cylinder chamber (27a and 27b) in the cylinder (via 60 and 13c) and the reservoir chamber (32) and including: a first partition member (50) having a first flow path (50a, 50b, 60a, 60b, 41, 13c) which allows communication between the cylinder chamber (27) and the reservoir chamber (32); and
Murakami does not disclose a frequency sensitive part provided on a bottom part side of the cylinder with respect to the first partition member and to which the working fluid is supplied through the first flow path.
KIM teaches shock absorber (see title) having a partition member partitioning the cylinder chamber (upper and lower of cylinder 400) in the cylinder (400) and the reservoir chamber (450) and including: a first partition member (140) having a first flow path (p2) which allows communication between the cylinder chamber (chamber of 400) and the reservoir chamber (450) and a frequency sensitive part (700,300. As 300 is back pressure chamber receives working fluid through communication hole 735. The pressure in this chamber varies with flow rate which is function of both piston speed and frequency. Thereof, it is reasonable to interpret pilot chamber 300 and pilot valve 700 as a frequency sensitive part as claimed ) provided on a bottom part side of the cylinder (400) with respect to the first partition member (140) and to which the working fluid is supplied through the first flow path (p2).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the damping force generating device (40) of Murakami with the valve assembly (600, 100, 200, 300, 700, 800) as taught by Kim in order improving ride comfort by improving the degree of freedom of the adjustment in damping force and preventing the damping force from being rapidly changed (see col.1 lines 17-20 of KIM)
Claim 2: Murakami as modified by KIM discloses the shock absorber according to claim 1, wherein a second partition member (210-KIM) is disposed on the bottom part side of the cylinder (400-KIM) with respect to the frequency sensitive part (300,700-KIM), and an axial force of the cylinder (400-KIM) is applied to the second partition member (210-KIM).
Claim 3: Murakami as modified by KIM discloses the shock absorber according to claim 2, wherein the first partition member (140-KIM), the frequency sensitive part (300,700-KIM), and the second partition member (210-KIM) are fixed to a shaft member (600-KIM) penetrating the first partition member (140-KIM), the frequency sensitive part (300,700-KIM), and the second partition member (210-KIM).
Claim 4: Murakami as modified by KIM discloses the shock absorber according to claim 2, wherein a hole (120-KIM) is formed in the cylinder (400-KIM) between the first partition member (140-KIM) and the second partition member (210-KIM).
Claim 5 and 6: Murakami as modified by KIM does not disclose the shock absorber according to claim 2, wherein the first partition member and the second partition member have different hardnesses and different materials.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form first and second partition member from different materials and with different hardness properties, as selecting different materials and hardness for first and second partition member is a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. Such modification would have involve no more than routine optimization of known mechanical design parameters to achieve predictable results, such as reducing wear, improving durability of assembly.
Claim 7: Murakami as modified by KIM discloses the shock absorber according to claim 1, wherein a second partition member (210-KIM) is disposed on the bottom part side of the cylinder (400-KIM) with respect to the first partition member (140), the frequency sensitive part (300,700-KIM) is provided on the bottom part side of the cylinder (400-KIM) with respect to the second partition member (210-KIM), and an axial force of the cylinder (400-KIM) is applied to the second partition member (210-KIM).
Response to Amendment/Arguments
The previous rejections under 35 USC§ 112(b) have been withdrawn in light of the amendment to claim 1.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1-7 under 35 USC §103 have been considered but are not persuasive for the following reasons:
1-“The Examiner identifies elements "300" and "700" of Kim as constituting a frequency-sensitive part (Id.). However, in Kim, element 300 is a pilot chamber and the element 700 is a pilot valve composed of a disc valve. These elements merely have a configuration in which a valve body flexes in response to the pressure of a working fluid to open and close a flow passage, and thus constitute nothing more than a pressure-based valve opening/closing mechanism..”
--In response to applicant’s arguments above, examiner respectfully disagrees the claim does not require any particular structure for “frequency sensitive part” and applicant’s specification does not define “frequency sensitive part”; the claim only requires “a frequency sensitive part provided on a bottom part side of the cylinder with respect to the first partition member and to which the working fluid is supplied through the first flow path.” Frequency sensitive does not require sensing frequency directly. In hydraulic shock absorbers, a frequency sensitive is commonly achieved through back pressure chambers with restricted inlets and pilot valves. Turn over to Kim, Kim’s pilot chamber 300 and pilot valve 700 achieve the frequency sensitive part as claimed because chamber 300 receives fluid through a restricted communication hole 735 and accumulates pressure over time (col.5 lines 44-50 and Fig.2), which achieves function of frequency sensitivity part because pressure buildup depends on the rate of fluid inflow which varies with piston movement/frequency (col.7 lines 48-58 “during the high-speed compression stroke, since the second communication hole 735 is opened in a wide width, the pilot chamber 300 is filled with a large amount of the working fluid through the second communication hole 735. At this time, since the main valve module 800 is opened while the internal pressure of the pilot chamber 300 increases above the set pressure range, the second damping passage P2 is formed while the pilot chamber 300 communicates with the reservoir chamber 450 through the opened compression communication passage 201.”. This describes if the stroke is short (high frequency), the pressure may not reach the set point and if the stroke is long (low frequency), the pressure builds and opens the main valve. This confirms that the pilot chamber does what frequency sensitive requires to do which is vary flow in response to frequency/piston movement.) Furthermore, applicant’s specification discloses a frequency sensitive part (335) that operates through same mechanism a back pressure chamber (301) with restricted orifice (242,262) and valve member (131) (see ¶[00147]-0150] from USPGPUB version). Thereof, the arguments are not persuasive.
2- Applicant argues “In contrast, the claimed invention realizes a configuration in which the inside of the cylinder is partitioned by a partition member into a back-pressure chamber and another chamber, and the partition member includes a frequency-sensitive part that can vary the flow of working fluid in response to the frequency of the piston. Kim does not disclose any structure corresponding to the claimed frequency-sensitive and cannot be combined with Murakami to arrive at the claimed invention”
In response to this argument, examiner respectfully disagrees, because the claim does not require any particular structure for “frequency sensitive part” and applicant’s specification does not define “frequency sensitive part”; the claim only requires “a frequency sensitive part provided on a bottom part side of the cylinder with respect to the first partition member and to which the working fluid is supplied through the first flow path.” Further, applicant’s argument attacks Kim individually rather than proposed combination of Murakami in view of Kim. Murakami discloses shock absorber, cylinder chambers, reservoir chamber and partition member (see rejection of claim 1 above), while Kim is relied to teach a frequency sensitive part provided on a bottom part side of the cylinder with respect to the first partition member and to which the working fluid is supplied through the first flow path (see rejection of claim 1 above). Thereof, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the damping force generating device (40) of Murakami with the valve assembly (600, 100, 200, 300, 700, 800) as taught by Kim in order improving ride comfort by improving the degree of freedom of the adjustment in damping force and preventing the damping force from being rapidly changed (see col.1 lines 17-20 of KIM). For those reasons, the rejections of claims 1-7 are maintained.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lillian T Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)270-5404. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at (571)270-5565. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERNESTO A SUAREZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3655
LILLIAN T NGUYEN
Examiner
Art Unit 3655A
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