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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/22/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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 1, 4, 6-8, 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Saito [JP 2009023402].
Regarding claim 1: Saito shows a steering system for a wheeled machine with at least two steered wheels, said steering system comprising:a rack (21),a steering casing (30) disposed around the rack (21) at least one member (40) for driving the axial sliding movement of the rack inside the steering casing (30), two steering tie rods (24R, 24L) having an end that is coupled to an end of the rack (21) by an articulated connection and an opposite end that is couplable to one of the steered wheels of the machine, two bellows (26R, 26L) each protecting an articulated connection and each connecting a tie rod to the steering casing (30), the bellows (26R, 26L) and the steering casing (30) delimiting a volume that is closed in such a way as to be tight at least with respect to air, wherein the closed volume delimited by the bellows and the steering casing is at least partially pre-filled with a gas, called filling gas, wherein the steering system comprises a monitoring device, and in that this monitoring device comprises at least one sensor for determining a parameter representative of the tightness, at least with respect to gases, of the closed volume delimited by the bellows and the steering casing, which is a sensor (71) for determining the presence of, or the gas concentration of, said filling gas inside the closed volume (“…The pressure sensor 71 corresponds to atmospheric pressure detection means for detecting the pressure (atmospheric pressure) in the gear housing 30, and outputs a detection signal representing a detected atmospheric pressure value Px (hereinafter simply referred to as pressure Px) to the steering ECU 100…”), and wherein the steering system comprises, for the at least partial pre-filling of the volume delimited by the bellows and the steering casing with said filling gas, at least one closable gas intake orifice in communication with the volume, said filling gas being injected into the volume through said gas intake orifice, said gas intake orifice (70) being in the closed state when said volume is in the pre-filled state.
Regarding claim 4: Saito shows wherein the or at least one of the sensors (71) for determining a parameter representative of the tightness, at least with respect to gases, of the closed volume delimited by the bellows and the steering casing is disposed at the steering casing (see translated abstract: “…The inside of the gear housing 30 is maintained at a pressure higher than the atmosphere by supplying high pressure air from the check valve 70. The pressure (atmospheric pressure) in the gear housing 30 is detected by the pressure sensor 70, and when a condition where a detected pressure Px is lower than a determination reference value Pref continues for a determination reference time or longer, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in air-tightness in a turning part 20 and an alarm 111 is operated…”).
Regarding claim 6: Saito shows wherein the monitoring device comprises a device for emitting an audible (111) or luminous warning signal and a control unit, said control unit being configured to acquire data supplied by the at least one sensor (71) for determining a parameter representative of the tightness,at least with respect to gases, of the closed volume and to control the device for emitting an audible or luminous warning signal as a function of said data (“…when a condition where a detected pressure Px is lower than a determination reference value Pref continues for a determination reference time or longer, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in air-tightness in a turning part 20 and an alarm 111 is operated…”).
Regarding claim 7: Saito shows wherein the member (4) for driving the axial sliding movement of the rack inside the steering casing is a rotary member in meshed engagement with the rack (21), and in that the steering system comprises at least one member (4) for driving the rotation of the member for driving the axial sliding movement of the rack inside the steering casing.
Regarding claim 8: Saito shows A method for controlling a steering system for a wheeled machine with at least two steered wheels, said steering system comprising a rack (21), a steering casing (30) disposed around the rack (21), a member (4) for driving the axial sliding movement of the rack inside the steering casing, two steering tie rods (24R, 24L) having an end that is coupled to an end of the rack by an articulated connection and an opposite end that is couplable to one of the steered wheels of the machine, two bellows (26R, 26L) each protecting the articulated connection and each connecting a tie rod to the steering casing, the bellows and the steering casing delimiting a volume that is closed in such a way as to be tight at least with respect to air, wherein the steering system being as claimed in claim 1, said method comprises at least a step of determining a parameter representative of the tightness (the sensor 71 determines the tighness), at least with respect to gases, of the closed volume delimited by the bellows and the steering casing, and prior to the step of determining a parameter representative of the tightness, at least with respect to gases, of the closed volume delimited by the bellows and the steering casing, the method comprises a step of at least partially pre-filling the volume injecting at least one filling gas through a closable gas intake orifice in communication with the volume (“…The gear housing 30 is filled with high-pressure air and maintained at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure…”), and in that the step of determining a parameter representative of the tightness, at least with respect to gases, of the closed volume delimited by the bellows (26R, 26L) and the steering casing is a step of determining the presence or the gas concentration of said filling gas inside the closed volume.
Regarding claim 10: Saito shows wherein, the monitoring device comprising a device for emitting an audible (111) or luminous warning signal and a control unit, said method comprises a step of acquiring, by said control unit (ECU100), data supplied by the sensor for determining a parameter representative of the tightness, at least with respect to gases, of the closed volume and a step of controlling the device for emitting an audible or luminous warning signal as a function of said data (“…a steering part abnormality detection process executed by the steering ECU 100 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a steered portion abnormality detection routine executed by steering ECU 100...”).
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.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saito [JP 2009023402] in view of Klein [US Pub # 2010/0023221].
Regarding claim 5: Saito shows wherein the or at least one of the sensors (71) for determining a parameter representative of the tightness, at least with respect to gases, of the closed volume delimited by the bellows (26R, 26L), Saito does not explicitly disclose and the steering casing is an infrared measurement sensor. However, Klein teaches that the sensor is infrared sensor (see [0025]).
It would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the
effective filling date to have replaced the sensor in Sikora reference with infrared sensor which
offers the advantage of non-contact measurement, high sensitivity and remote detection
capabilities.
PNG
media_image1.png
806
728
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZAKARIA ELAHMADI whose telephone number is (571)270-5324. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 10-6 EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minnah Seoh can be reached on 571-270-7778. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ZAKARIA ELAHMADI/
Examiner, Art Unit 3618
Prosecution Insights