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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oehler et al. (NO 154187 B; see provided machine translation) in view of Kao et al. (WO 2020/241401 A1; US patent 11,897,281 B2 is being used for translation purposes only).
Regarding claim 1, Oehler et al. discloses a wheel to be used in a railway vehicle, the wheel comprising:
a boss (1) that forms an inner circumferential portion (the bottom surface of 1 in Figure 1) of the wheel and into which an axle of the railway vehicle is to be inserted;
a rim (3) that forms an outer circumferential portion (the top surface of 3 in Figure 1) of the wheel and includes a tread (the surface to the left of the flange of 1 as shown in Figure 1) to come into contact with a top surface of a rail on which the railway vehicle travels and a flange (the member that the leader line from numeral 3 ends at in Figure 1) protruding outward from the tread in a radial direction of the wheel; and
a web (2) that has an annular shape and connects the boss and the rim (see Figure 1),
wherein a center (a vertical centerline through the center of 1) of the boss in an axial direction (the left and right direction in Figure 1) is disposed closer to the flange in the axial direction than a center (the centerline of 3 that is shown in Figure 1) of the rim in the axial direction, the axial direction being a direction in which a central axis of the wheel extends (see Figure 1),
a rim side face (the left side face of 3 in Figure 1) on a side opposite to the flange of the rim in the axial direction is disposed closer to the flange in the axial direction than a boss side face (the left side face of 1 in Figure 1) on a side opposite to the flange in the axial direction,
the web has a plate-thickness center line (the centerline of 2) having a linear shape when the wheel is viewed in a longitudinal section (see Figure 1), and
in a case where an angle (shown below) that is formed by the plate-thickness center line with the axial direction is taken as α, the angle being defined to be 90° when the plate-thickness center line is parallel to the radial direction, the angle being defined to be less than 90° when the plate-thickness center line is inclined with respect to the radial direction due to rotation of the plate-thickness center line about an inner end (shown below) in the radial direction from a 90° position toward a side opposite to the flange.
Oehler et al. does not disclose that in a case where a distance in the axial direction from the rim side face on the side opposite to the flange to an outer end of the plate-thickness center line in the radial direction is taken as Pw, a length of the rim in the axial direction is taken as Wr, and Pw/Wr is taken as L, a following Formula (1) is satisfied.
L> 0.053a - 3.8626 ...(1)
where the angle α is 90° or less.
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693
488
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Annotated Figure 1 of Oehler et al. (NO 154187 B)
Kato et al. teaches that a distance (PW2; discussed below) in a axial direction (the direction defined in Figure 1) from a side face (26) on a side opposite to a flange (22) to an outer end (Aa) of a plate-thickness center line (A) in a radial direction is taken as Pw, a length (Wr) of a rim (20) in the axial direction is taken as Wr, and Pw/Wr is taken as L, a following Formula (1) is satisfied.
L> 0.053a- 3.8626 ... (1) (an explanation of how Kato et al. meets this formula is discussed below)
where the angle a is 90° or less (85° as shown in Example 1 below) for the purpose of reducing a displacement of a rim in an axial direction and thermal stress occurring in the web at the same time during braking of the railway vehicle (Column 2 / Lines 6-10).
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355
476
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Table 3 from Kato et al. (US 11,897,281 B2)
This information is only using Example 1 above. PW in Kato et al. is the distance from a side surface closest to the flange to an outer end of a plate-thickness centerline in a radial direction. To find the total length of WR (the entire width of the rim in the axial direction) the formula 0.26 = 36/WR. With this formula, WR is found to be 138.46mm. The distance from the side surface furthest from the flange to the outer end of a plate-thickness centerline in the radial direction is viewed as PW2 (this is the same PW as in the current application; see the PW in Figure 1). Thus the formula, WR-PW is 138.46mm – 36mm thus PW2 is 102.46mm. When using Applicant’s formula above and using the numbers of Kato et al in a corresponding manner, PW2/WR (102.46/138.46) is equal to .74. PW2/WR is taken as L thus L is .74. Therefore, Applicant’s formula would be .74 ≥ 0.053(85) – 3.8626 which is a true statement because .74 is greater than or equal to .6424.
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 wheel of Oehler et al. to have in a case where a distance in the axial direction from the rim side face on the side opposite to the flange to an outer end of the plate-thickness center line in the radial direction is taken as Pw, a length of the rim in the axial direction is taken as Wr, and Pw/Wr is taken as L, a following Formula (1) is satisfied.
L> 0.053a - 3.8626 ...(1)
where the angle α is 90° or less for the purpose of reducing a displacement of a rim in an axial direction and thermal stress occurring in the web at the same time during braking of the railway vehicle, as taught by Kato et al.
Regarding claim 2, Oehler et al. in view of Kato et al. discloses that the angle is less than 90° (85° as shown in Example 1 above; Kato et al.).
Regarding claim 3, Oehler et al. in view of Kato et al. discloses that the web has a plate thickness that decreases as the web extends outward in the radial direction until a point inward from the outer end of the plate-thickness center line and has a minimum plate thickness at the point (30 tapers as it gets closer to 20 as shown in Figure 1 thus meeting the claim limitation; Kato et al.).
Regarding claim 4, Oehler et al. in view of Kato et al. discloses that the web has a plate thickness that decreases as the web extends outward in the radial direction until a point inward from the outer end of the plate-thickness center line and has a minimum plate thickness at the point (30 tapers as it gets closer to 20 as shown in Figure 1 thus meeting the claim limitation; Kato et al.).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-4 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ioannides et al. (US 6,488,324 B1) discloses a wheel that is comprised of a boss, a rim with a tread and a flange, a web that connects the boss and the rim, and both side faces of the rim are within the outer boundary of the boss.
Murawa et al. (US 5,899,517 A) discloses a wheel that is comprised of a boss, a rim with a tread and a flange, a web that connects the boss and the rim, both side faces of the rim are within the outer boundary of the boss, and the web tapers from the boss to the rim.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/ADAM D ROGERS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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