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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent Application 2020/0182323 to Ott et al.
Re: claim 1. Ott et al. show in figure 1 a vibration frequency adjustment system, characterized in that wherein the vibration frequency adjustment system comprises: a vibratable component 124, the vibratable component being configured to be connected to a vibration source described in paragraph [0020], the vibration source having an operating frequency range as any vibration source would during operation, and the vibratable component having a natural vibration frequency as any object would; at least one counterweight 126, the at least one counterweight being configured to be movable along the vibratable component 124; at least one drive device 120, the at least one drive device being configured to enable the at least one counterweight to be maintained at or moved to various counterweighting positions on the vibratable component as described in paragraph [0023]; and a controller 110, 140, the controller being communicatively connected to the at least one drive device as shown in figure 1.
Re: claims 2-4. Ott et al. show in figure 1 the limitation wherein when the vibratable component 124 vibrates, the vibratable component has at least one maximum vibration displacement position or the max position on the beam before the vibratable component would decouple from the beam i.e. the free end thereon; and the controller 110, 140 is configured to be capable of controlling the at least one drive device 120, when the vibratable component vibrates, to enable the at least one counterweight 126 to be maintained at or moved to a position deviating from the at least one maximum vibration displacement position on the vibratable component 124 as described in paragraph [0023].
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) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ott et al. in view of CN-107525576 (CN’576).
Re: claim 5. Ott et al. disclose the controller controlling the at least one drive device but are silent with regard to the C-shaped and S-shaped vibration mode.
CN’576 teaches in figures 6 and 7 the "C-shaped" vibration mode (figure 6) and "S-shaped" vibration mode (figure 7) of a vibratable component.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the vibration frequency adjustment system of Ott et al. to have included the various counterweighting positions comprising "C-shaped" vibration mode counterweighting positions (figure 6) and an "S-shaped" vibration mode counterweighting position (figure 7); when the vibratable component vibrates in the "C-shaped" vibration mode, the at least one counterweight or object to be maintained at or moved to the "C-shaped" vibration mode counterweighting position; or when the vibratable component vibrates in the "S-shaped" vibration mode, the controller controls the at least one drive device to enable the at least one counterweight to be maintained at or moved to the "S-shaped" vibration mode counterweighting position, in view of the teachings of CN’576, in order to provide different motion patterns of a counterweight along the vibratable component i.e. smoother, rolling motion during C-shape vibration mode and aggressive, changing motion during S-shaped vibration mode depending on the particular application.
Re: claim 6. Ott et al., as modified, teach in figures 6 and 7 of CN’576 wherein, when the vibratable component vibrates in the "C-shaped" vibration mode, the vibratable component has one "C-shaped" vibration mode maximum vibration displacement position, as labeled, and the "C-shaped" vibration mode counterweighting positions are separated by a certain distance from the "C-shaped" vibration mode maximum vibration displacement position; and when the vibratable component vibrates in the "S-shaped" vibration mode, the vibratable component has one "S-shaped" vibration mode minimum vibration displacement position, as labeled, and two "S-shaped" vibration mode maximum vibration displacement positions, as labeled, the two "S-shaped" vibration mode maximum vibration displacement positions are an "S-shaped" vibration mode first maximum vibration displacement position and an "S-shaped" vibration mode second maximum vibration displacement position, respectively, and the "S-shaped" vibration mode
[AltContent: textbox (Min vibration displacement position S-shape (S-shape counterweighting position))][AltContent: textbox (Max vibration displacement position C-shape)]
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[AltContent: textbox (C-shape first counterweighting position )][AltContent: textbox (C-shape second counterweighting position )][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow]
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[AltContent: textbox (Max vibration displacement positions S-shape)]
counterweighting position is separated by a certain distance from the two "S-shaped" vibration mode maximum vibration displacement positions in order to provide different motion patterns of a counterweight along the vibratable component i.e. smoother, rolling motion during C-shape vibration mode and aggressive, changing motion during S-shaped vibration mode depending on the particular application.
Re: claims 7-9. Ott et al., as modified, teach in figures 6 and 7 of CN’576 wherein: the "C-shaped" vibration mode counterweighting positions comprise a "C-shaped" vibration mode first counterweighting position, as labeled, and a "C-shaped" vibration mode second counterweighting position, as labeled; the "C-shaped" vibration mode first counterweighting position is located on one side of the "C-shaped" vibration mode maximum vibration displacement position, and the "C-shaped" vibration mode second counterweighting position is located on the other side of the "C-shaped" vibration mode maximum vibration displacement position; and the "S-shaped" vibration mode counterweighting position is located at the "S-shaped" vibration mode minimum vibration displacement position as shown in order to provide different motion patterns of a counterweight along the vibratable component i.e. smoother, rolling motion during C-shape vibration mode and aggressive, changing motion during S-shaped vibration mode depending on the particular application. With regard to claim 9, the limitation is met particularly when the predetermined displacement value is set very high.
Re: claim 10. Ott et al., as modified, are silent with regard to the at least one drive device comprising a first and second drive device and the at least one counterweight comprising first and second counterweights.
CN’576 teaches in figure 2 the use of first and second counterweights 200.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the system of Ott et al., as modified, to have included a second counterweight, in view of the teachings of CN’576, in order to provide better balance which can reduce structural stress.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the system of Ott et al., as modified, to have included a second drive device in order to provide redundancy to enable adjustment of at least one counterweight in the case of failure of the drive for the other counterweight.
Examiner notes that Ott et al., as modified, would result in the limitation when the vibratable component vibrates in the "C-shaped" vibration mode, the first counterweight is maintained at or moved to the "C-shaped" vibration mode first counterweighting position, and the second counterweight is maintained at or moved to the "C-shaped" vibration mode second counterweighting position; or when the vibratable component vibrates in the "S-shaped" vibration mode, both the first counterweight and the second counterweight are maintained at or moved to the "S-shaped" vibration mode counterweighting position.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ott et al. in view of CN-107525576 (CN’576) as applied above, and further in view of CN-104533717 (CN’717).
Ott et al., as modified, are silent with regard to the limitation of the comparison of the current vibration frequency to the natural vibration frequency.
CN’717 teaches in paragraph [0030] the use of a vibration adjustment system in which there is a comparison of the current vibration frequency to the natural vibration frequency of a vibratable component.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the system of Ott et al., as modified, to have compared the current vibration frequency to the natural vibration frequency of the vibratable component, in view of the teachings of CN’717, in order to provide a means of actively controlling the vibration adjustment to make adjustments particular to the actual environment to provide more precise vibration control.
Claim(s) 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ott et al. in view of US Patent 3866480 to Elliston.
Re: claims 16 and 18. Ott et al. show in figure 1 wherein the at least one counterweight 126 is of an annular structure, but is silent with regard to the inner side of the structure being provided with a rolling device in the form of rollers.
Elliston teaches in figures 1 and 2 a counterweight 44 of an annular structure being provided with a rolling device in the form of rollers 46.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the annular structure inner side of Ott et al. to have been provided with rollers, in view of the teachings of Elliston, in order to provide a means of reducing friction to facilitate translation.
Re: claim 17. Ott et al., as modified, are silent with regard to the annular structure being an eccentric ring.
Elliston teaches in figure 5 the use of an annular structure 119 being an eccentric ring with respect to element 122.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the annular structure of Ott et al., as modified, to have been an eccentric ring, in view of the teachings of Elliston, in order to provide a means of shifting resonance frequencies away from operating ranges.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ott et al. in view of US Patent 314650 to Campbell.
Ott et al. are silent with regard to the structure of the at least one drive device.
Campbell teaches in figure 2 the use of at least one drive device comprising a pneumatic or steam actuating element N, a cylinder body D, a push rod F retractably fixed in the cylinder body and coupled to a counterweight L.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the at least one drive device of Ott et al. to have included the claimed structure, in view of the teachings of Campbell, in order to provide a means of adjusting the amount of gas or steam to easily tweak the actuation capacity depending on the particular application.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ott et al. in view of CN’576 and CN-203962403 (CN’403).
Ott et al. are silent with regard to the vibration source being a screw compressor and the vibratable component being an exhaust pipe.
CN’576 teaches in the paragraph beginning “As shown in Fig. 3” the use of a vibration source being a compressor 100 and a vibratable component being an outlet or exhaust pipe 100 (must be type to use the same number for different components but they are both taught in description).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the vibration source and vibratable component of Ott et al. to have been a compressor and an exhaust pipe, respectively, in view of the teachings of CN’576, in order to provide components of a vibration adjustment system particular to a vehicle to improve ride feel.
CN’403 teaches in claim 10 the use of a compressor coupled with an exhaust pipe and a counterweight in the form of a joint for reducing vibration with the compressor being in the form of a screw compressor.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the compressor of Ott et al., as modified, to have been a screw compressor, in view of the teachings of CN’403, in order to provide a compressor that runs continuously instead of in pulses resulting in higher efficiency.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-15 are 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 8044629, FR 3064037, and DE 102012004808 teach the use of similar vibration adjustment systems.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MELODY M BURCH whose telephone number is (571)272-7114. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 6:30AM-3PM, generally.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Siconolfi can be reached at 571-272-7124. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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mmb
July 25, 2026
/MELODY M BURCH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
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