CTNF 18/689,888 CTNF 87779 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. 12-151 AIA 26-51 12-51 Status of Claims This is the first action on the merits for application 18/689,888 filed on 03/07/2024. Claims 1-8 are pending. Priority 02-26 AIA Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/07/2024 has been considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TOKICO (JP6137880Y cited from IDS) in view of WU (CN 117108664 A) Claim 1: TOKICO discloses a cylinder device (Fig.1-2) comprising: a cylinder (1) in which a working fluid is sealed (chambers A, B contain oil ; see page 3-paragraph 7); a piston (4) slidably provided in the cylinder (1); a blocking member (8) provided on the side of an opening portion of the cylinder (1); a piston rod (9) having one end side connected to the piston (4) and the other end side inserted through the blocking member (8) and extending to the outside of the cylinder (1); and a cushion member (14,15) provided between the piston (4) and the blocking member (8) and abutting the blocking member (8) through extension of the piston rod (9), wherein the cushion member (14,15) has: a first member (14); and a second member (15) provided inside the first member (14) in the radial direction ( 15 is provided in the inner recess 14 of stopper member 14- see page 4, paragraph 3), abutting the blocking member (8) earlier than the first member (14) ( 15 protrudes axially and contacts bottom of recess 13 first; and 14 contacts end face 13b later, see page 4 paragraph 4 ) and having a hardness smaller than that of the first member ( 15 is elastic member which has hardness smaller than 14 which is metal ) , and the first member (14) and the second member apply a force to the blocking member in parallel ( as first member 14 contacts the end face 13b, both 15 and 14 resist further compression simultaneously because of their arrangement structure, Thereof, their forces are additive and act in parallel as claimed ) TOKICO does not disclose a second member having a hole passing through the second member in the axial direction or a groove partially formed in the second member so as to form a gap with respect to the piston rod or the first member. WU teaches elastic body (30; Fig.6) similar to second member of TOKICO; wherein the elastic body (30) having a hole passing through (35) the second member (30) in the axial direction (see Fig.6). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the elastic member (15-TOKICO) include axial through hole (35-WU) as taught by Wu, so as form a gap with respect to the piston rod (9- TOKICO) or the first member (14,TOKICO), in order to adjust spring rate and reduce stress concentration and potential damage during full compression. Claim 2 : TOKICO discloses a cylinder device (Fig.1-2) comprising: a cylinder (1) in which a working fluid is sealed (chambers A, B contain oil ; see page 3-paragraph 7); a piston (4) slidably provided in the cylinder (1); a blocking member (8) provided on the side of an opening portion of the cylinder (1); a piston rod (9) having one end side connected to the piston (4) and the other end side inserted through the blocking member (8) and extending to the outside of the cylinder (1); and a cushion member (14,15) provided between the piston (4) and the blocking member (8) and abutting the blocking member (8) through extension of the piston rod (9), wherein the cushion member (14,15) has: a first member (14); and a second member (15) having a hardness smaller than that of the first member (14)( 15 is elastic member which has hardness smaller than 14 which is metal ), and the cylinder device (Fig.1-2) has first load characteristics generated after the second member (8) abuts the blocking member (8) ( 15 protrudes axially and contacts bottom of recess 13 first-see page 4, paragraph 4 ), and second load characteristics generated after the second member (14) and the first member (15) abut the blocking member (8) and having a load greater than that of the first load characteristics ( as first member 14 contacts the end face 13b, both 15 and 14 resist further compression simultaneously because of their arrangement structure, Thereof, their forces are additive and greater than the first load characteristic ) TOKICO does not disclose second member having a hole passing through the second member in the axial direction or a groove partially formed in the second member so as to form a gap with respect to the piston rod or the first member. WU teaches elastic body (30; Fig.6) similar to second member of TOKICO; wherein the elastic body (30) having a hole passing through (35) the second member (30) in the axial direction (see Fig.6). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the elastic member (15-TOKICO) include axial through hole (35-WU) as taught by Wu, so as form a gap with respect to the piston rod (9- TOKICO) or the first member (14,TOKICO), in order to adjust spring rate and reduce stress concentration and potential damage during full compression. Claim 3 and 6 : TOKICO as modified by WU discloses wherein the first member (14) and the second member(15) are formed in an annular shape ( 14 is cup shape and 15 is cylindrical ), and the second member (15) is disposed on an inner circumferential side of the first member (14) ( 15 is provided in the inner recess 14 of stopper member 14-see page 4, paragraph 3) . Claim 4 and 7: TOKICO as modified by WU discloses wherein the first member (14) has a shaft length smaller than that of the second member (15) ( as shown in Fig.2, the height of 14 is smaller than the height of 15 ). Claim 5 and 8: TOKICO as modified by WU discloses wherein the first member (14) and the second member (15) are formed integrally with each other ( Note: ¶[0062] of the specification discloses that “formed integrally by fitting” is within the scope of “formed integrally”. TOKICO discloses 15 is fitted into the recess 14a of stopper member 14. Thereof, the two members are formed integrally with each other as claimed ). Prior Art 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure : Cummings (US 20080136076 A1) discloses jounce bumper with two members. Feldkamp (US 12241488 B1) discloses cylinder device with piston and cushion member. Conclusion 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. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. 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. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ERNESTO A SUAREZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3655 /LILLIAN T NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3655A Application/Control Number: 18/689,888 Page 2 Art Unit: 3655 Application/Control Number: 18/689,888 Page 3 Art Unit: 3655 Application/Control Number: 18/689,888 Page 4 Art Unit: 3655 Application/Control Number: 18/689,888 Page 5 Art Unit: 3655 Application/Control Number: 18/689,888 Page 6 Art Unit: 3655 Application/Control Number: 18/689,888 Page 7 Art Unit: 3655 Application/Control Number: 18/689,888 Page 8 Art Unit: 3655
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