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 .
Status of the Claims
Applicant’s amendment filed 5/28/26 (hereinafter Response) has been entered. Examiner notes that claims 1 and 4-6 have been amended and claim 3 has been cancelled. Claims 1, 2, and 4-7 remain pending in the application.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1,2, and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE 10 2014 104284 A1 to Füchsel et al (hereinafter Füchsel) in view of JP 2017-082860 A to Wakukawa.
Regarding claim 1, Füchsel discloses a gear (200) (Fig. 7) comprising:
a [plastic] sleeve (204) having a disc shape (Fig. 7 & [0018] and [0060]. See also Figs. 2 & 4.); and
a [plastic] toothing (208) that covers an outer peripheral portion of the sleeve (204) and includes a plurality of gear teeth (208) arranged at equal intervals in a circumferential direction (Fig. 7 & [0018] and [0060]. See also Figs. 2 & 4.), wherein:
the sleeve (204) includes:
a plurality of protrusions (204a) arranged on an outer peripheral surface at equal intervals in the circumferential direction (Fig. 7 & [0060]. See also Figs. 2,4 & [0049] and [0053].),
a plurality of recesses (B) arranged on the outer peripheral surface at equal intervals in the circumfrential direction between the plurality of protrusions (204a) (Annotated Fig. 7 & [0060]. See also Figs. 2,4 & [0049] and [0053].) and
a plurality of ribs (204) arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction at positions on a radially inner side of the protrusions (204a) (Fig. 7 & [0060]. See also Figs. 2,4 & [0049] and [0053].);
a first installation location count of the protrusions (204a) in the circumferential direction and a second installation location count of the plurality of ribs (204) in the circumferential direction are equal to each other and are integral multiples of a third installation location count of the gear teeth (208) in the circumferential direction (Fig. 7 & [0060]. See also Figs. 2,4 & [0049] and [0053]).
Füchsel does not explicitly disclose that the plastic sleeve and toothing are resin sleeve and toothing;
at least one line in a radial direction;
each of the at least one line extends through a corresponding recess of the plurality of recesses; and
each of the at least one line is within a width of a corresponding rib of the plurality of ribs in the radial direction.
Wakukuawa teaches that it was old and well known in the art of gears of steering devices, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for the plastic sleeve and toothing are resin sleeve (37) and toothing (36) ([0019] and [0021] teach the sleeve and toothing are both made of resin);
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at least one line in a radial direction; each of the at least one line extends through a corresponding recess (C) of the plurality of recesses; and each of the at least one line is within a width of a corresponding rib (D) of the plurality of ribs in the radial direction (Wakukuawa Annotated Fig. 9).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of gears of steering devices before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the gear of the steering device disclosed by Füchsel to incorporate for the plastic sleeve and toothing are resin sleeve and toothingat least one line in a radial direction; each of the at least one line extends through a corresponding recess of the plurality of recesses; and each of the at least one line is within a width of a corresponding rib of the plurality of ribs in the radial direction as taught by Wakukuawa in order to suppress occurrence of dimensional defects and to ensure rigidity and strength, e.g., see Wakukuawa [0004] and [0030], and because doing so could be readily and easily performed by any person of ordinary skill in the art, without undue experimentation or risk of unexpected results.
Regarding claim 2, depending on claim 1, Füchsel further discloses wherein the first installation location count and the second installation location count are equal to the third installation location count (Fig. 7 & [0060]. See also Figs. 2,4 & [0049] and [0053].).
Regarding claim 4, depending on claim 3, the modified combination of Füchsel/ Wakukuawa further discloses wherein each of the at least one line (Wakukuawa - B) is equidistant in the circumferential direction between two adjacent ribs (Wakukuawa - D) of the plurality of ribs (Wakukuawa - D) (Wakukuawa annotated Fig. 9).
It would have been obvious to have modified Füchsel in view of the teachings of Wakukuawa for at least the same reasons discussed above in claims 1 and 3, and because doing so could be readily and easily performed by any person of ordinary skill in the art, without undue experimentation or risk of unexpected results.
Regarding claim 5, depending on claim 1, Füchsel further discloses wherein:
the plurality of ribs (204) includes a plurality of first ribs (204) provided on one principal surface of the sleeve (204) (Fig. 7 & [0060]. See also Figs. 2,4 & [0049] and [0053].), and a plurality of second ribs provided on the other principal surface of the sleeve (204) (Fig. 7 & [0060]. See also Figs. 2,4,5 & [0049] and [0053] depicting cross-sectional views of the gear where both the first and second sides of the gear include a plurality of ribs at the same location, therefore the view shown in Fig. 7 is interpreted of being representative of the opposite side of the gear shown in Fig. 7.); and
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at least one central line central line (E) of a gear tooth in the radial direction is present at a position in the axial direction between a first hole (G) that is present between the plurality of first ribs (204,74) in the circumferential direction and a second hole (F) that is present between the plurality of second ribs in the circumferential direction (Annotated Fig. 4, Fig. 7 & [0060]. See also Figs. 2,4,5 & [0049] and [0053]).
Regarding claim 6, depending on claim 5, Füchsel further discloses wherein each of at least one central line (E) of the gear tooth is equidistance in the circumferential direction between the first hole (G) and the second hole (F) in the radial direction (see above rejection of claim 5 and Annotated Fig. 4, Fig. 7 & [0060]. See also Figs. 2,4,5 & [0049] and [0053]).
Regarding claim 7, the modified combination of Füchsel/Wakukuawa further discloses steering system (Füchsel - Fig. 7 & [0001]/ Wakukuawa – Fig. 1 & [0010]) comprising:
an electric motor (Wakukuawa - 19) to be driven based on steering of a steering member (Wakukuawa - 2) (Füchsel - Fig. 7 & [0001]/ Wakukuawa – Fig. 1 & [0010], [0014]); and
a speed reducer (20) including the gear (22) according to claim 1 and configured to reduce a speed of output rotation of the electric motor (19) by the gear (22) and transmit the output rotation to a steering mechanism (6) (Füchsel - Fig. 7 & [0001]/ Wakukuawa – Fig. 1 & [0010], [0014]. See above rejection of claim 1 regarding mapping of the gear of claim 1).
It would have been obvious to have modified Füchsel in view of the teachings of Wakukuawa for at least the same reasons discussed above in claim 1, to provide power steering to a steering member, and because doing so could be readily and easily performed by any person of ordinary skill in the art, without undue experimentation or risk of unexpected results.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed in the Response directed toward the 35 USC §103 rejection of the claims have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. See Response pp. 4-7.
Applicant takes the position that the combination of Füchsel/Wakukuawa does not disclose the amended claim limitations, specifically the claimed relationship of an imaginary line extending through a recess and a rib. See Response pp. 6-7. Examiner disagrees. As shown above, there are several lines that can be drawn on the gear of Wakukuawa that meet this limitation and thus Applicant’s argument is not persuasive and the rejection is maintained.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER B WEHRLY whose telephone number is (303)297-4433. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30 - 4:30 MT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Valentin Neacsu can be reached at (571) 272-6265. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER B WEHRLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3611
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