DETAILED ACTION
This application is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. § 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 31 and 33-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 31: It is unclear whether the “optional gearbox wheel” (Line 3) forms part of the Claim; thus, the metes and bounds of Claim 31 are rendered unclear.
Claim 33: It is unclear whether the “optional gearbox wheel” (Lines 2-3) forms part of the Claim; thus, the metes and bounds of Claim 33 are rendered unclear.
Claim 34: The “spindle” (Line 5) lacks clear antecedent basis.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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.
Claims 18 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2019-0141675 to Breton et al., which discloses:
Claim 18: A gear unit 8, comprising:
a housing 6,
a gearwheel 4 disposed in the housing 6,
characterized by further comprising a bearing assembly 11-15 mounting the gearwheel 4 in the housing 6, whereby the gearwheel 4 is supported so as to be axially spring-elastic and mounted so as to be movable in relation to the housing (via preload element 15).
Claim 31: The gear unit as claimed in claim 18, wherein the gear unit is designed as an axial gear having axes of a drive wheel and of the gearwheel and of an optional gearbox wheel that run in parallel vertically above one another (see FIG. 1).
Claims 18-30 and 32-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0319420 to Huber et al., which discloses:
Claim 18: A gear unit, comprising:
a housing 63,
a gearwheel 71 disposed in the housing,
characterized by further comprising a bearing assembly 8, 91-95 mounting the gearwheel in the housing, whereby the gearwheel is supported so as to be axially spring-elastic and mounted so as to be movable in relation to the housing (see Paragraph [0144]).
Claim 19: The gear unit as claimed in claim 18, wherein a first bearing assembly 8, 91-95 comprises at least one first spring module 94 and at least one first bearing module 8, 91-93.
Claim 20: The gear unit as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first spring module and the first bearing module are designed as a resiliently mounted bearing for the gearwheel in the housing, and are disposed on at least one end of the gearwheel in such a manner that the gearwheel is supported so as to be axially spring elastic and mounted so as to be movable in relation to the housing (see FIGS. 3-5).
Claim 21: The gear unit as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first spring module is specified and disposed in such a manner that the gearwheel is disposed so as to be pre-loaded in the housing.
Claim 22: The gear unit as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first spring module is specified in such a manner that a corresponding spring force acts on the gearwheel by way of the first bearing module, on the one hand, and the gearwheel by way of the first spring module is supported in a spring-elastic manner on the housing, on the other hand.
Claim 23: The gear unit as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first spring module is designed as a spring ring having a running groove for balls of the first bearing module (for purposes of the rejection of Claim 23, elements 94 and 93 are analogized as a “first spring module” and 8/91/92 are analogized as a “first bearing module”).
Claim 24: The gear unit as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first bearing module is designed as a bearing with balls 91, and a ball raceway 92 for the balls is formed on the end side on the gearwheel 71.
Claim 25: The gear unit as claimed in claim 18, wherein provided is at least one second bearing assembly (right side of FIG. 5) which is designed in such a manner that the gearwheel 71 is supported axially as well as radially and mounted so as to be movable in relation to the housing 63 (see FIGS. 3-5).
Claim 26: The gear unit as claimed in claim 25, wherein the second bearing assembly for radial support comprises at least one friction bearing 8, and for axial support one second bearing module 91, 92 and one second spring module 93, 94.
Claim 27: The gear unit as claimed in claim 26, wherein the friction bearing 8 is disposed on at least one end of the gearwheel 72 in such a manner that the gearwheel 72 is supported radially and mounted so as to be movable (e.g., axially) in relation to the housing 63.
Claim 28: The gear unit as claimed in claim 26, wherein the friction bearing 8 is designed as a sliding bushing for absorbing radial loads.
Claim 29: The gear unit as claimed in claim 26, wherein the second bearing module 91, 92 is designed as a bearing with balls 91 which roll on a running surface 81 on the end side on the friction bearing 8.
Claim 30: The gear unit as claimed in claim 26, wherein the second bearing module 91, 92 and the friction bearing 8 are designed as separate units.
Claim 32: A geared motor comprising at least one motor 65 having a motor shaft (see FIG. 18) and the gear unit as claimed in claim 18, wherein a drive wheel 66 is coupled, or able to be coupled, directly or indirectly to the motor shaft, and the gearwheel 72 is coupled, or able to be coupled, directly or indirectly to the drive wheel 66.
Claim 33: The geared motor as claimed in claim 32, wherein the gearwheel 72 of the gear unit has an external nut profile, wherein the motor shaft and/or an optional gearbox wheel have/has a corresponding external profile which is operatively connected directly to the external nut profile of the gearwheel 72, wherein the gearwheel 72 is an output wheel and is operatively connected to a spindle 62 of a longitudinal adjuster for a vehicle seat1.
Claims 18 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 8,453,529 to Birker et al., which discloses:
Claim 18: A gear unit 60, 20, comprising:
a housing 30, 32,
a gearwheel 20 disposed in the housing 30, 32,
characterized by further comprising a bearing assembly 40 mounting the gearwheel in the housing, whereby the gearwheel is supported so as to be axially spring-elastic and mounted so as to be movable in relation to the housing (see Col. 1, Lines 35-45 and Col. 4, Line 36 to Col. 5, Line 13).
Claim 32: A geared motor comprising at least one motor (“electric motor” Col. 2, Line 59) having a motor shaft (inherent) and the gear unit as claimed in claim 18, wherein a drive wheel 60 is coupled, or able to be coupled, directly or indirectly to the motor shaft, and the gearwheel 20 is coupled,or able to be coupled, directly or indirectly to the drive wheel 60.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 103
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 34 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 8,453,529 to Birker et al., as applied to Claim 32 above, further in view of U.S. Patent No. 8,113,074 to Wohrle et al.
Claim 34: Birker discloses the geared motor as claimed in claim 32, wherein an internal thread of the gearwheel 20 is operatively connected to an external thread of [a] spindle 10, wherein the gearwheel 20 is mounted so as to be rotatable on the spindle 10 and movable along the spindle 10.
Birker does not expressly disclose a longitudinal adjuster for a vehicle seat, comprising at least one pair of rails which has a seat rail and a floor rail on which the seat rail is displaceably guided; wherein the geared motor is a drive device for adjusting the seat rail relative to the floor rail.
Birker cites to German Patent Publication No. 10 2005 001 333 to Wohrle et al., which is the parent to U.S. Patent No. 8,113,074 to Wohrle et al. Wohrle teaches a longitudinal adjuster for a vehicle seat, comprising at least one pair of rails which has a seat rail and a floor rail on which the seat rail is displaceably guided, and a geared motor which is a drive device for adjusting the seat rail relative to the floor rail.
Because Birker cites to Wohrle and because the transmissions disclosed in Birker and Wohrle appear very similar, the Office finds that it would have been obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of filing that Birker is used in the art of longitudinal adjusters for vehicle seats, comprising at least one pair of rails which has a seat rail and a floor rail on which the seat rail is displaceably guided, such that the geared motor disclosed by Birker is a drive device for adjusting a seat rail relative to a floor rail, wherein the internal thread of the gearwheel 20 is operatively connected to an external thread of [a] spindle 10, wherein the gearwheel 20 for longitudinally adjusting the seat rail is mounted so as to be rotatable on the spindle 10 and movable along the spindle 10.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RANDELL J KRUG whose telephone number is (313) 446-6577. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 9:00-14:00 AZ time.
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/RANDELL J KRUG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
1 The italicized language is interpreted as intended use; the “longitudinal adjuster” and/or “vehicle seat,” which are preceded by prepositions (“of” / “for”), are not positively recited such that Claim 33 requires these elements. See MPEP 2114. A claim containing a "recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus" if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1987).