DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to preliminary amendments filed on 06/13/2024. Claims 1-10 are pending.
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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/14/2025 & 01/29/2026 were filed after the mailing date of the application. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Onishi et al. PCT/JP2018/019585 via US 20210237794 A1 (Hereinafter “Onishi”).
Regarding Claim 1, Onishi teaches a servo motor device (Fig. 2, 10) comprising:
a main body (Fig. 2, 7a) including a motor (Fig. 2, 7);
an output shaft (Fig. 2, 11) protruding from the main body and rotatably held by the main body to output power of the motor; and
a through hole (Fig. 2, 7b) penetrating the main body.
Regarding Claim 2, Onishi teaches the servo motor device according to claim 1, wherein the main body is in a plate shape (Fig. 2, 7a), and the through hole (Fig. 5, 7b) penetrates the main body in a thickness direction.
Regarding Claim 3, Onishi teaches the servo motor device according to claim 1, wherein the through hole has a bearing (Fig. 2, 12) inside thereof.
Regarding Claim 4, Onishi teaches the servo motor device according to claim 3, wherein the bearing has an inner ring (Fig. 3, 12a), and an inner hole (Fig. 3, 121) that is a hole portion formed inside of the inner ring is a rotation shaft (Fig. 1, 101) portion insertion hole into which a rotation shaft portion of a steering wheel of a model car (Examiner’s Note: Model car is being interpreted very broadly. It can be interpreted as a prototype model or scaled miniature model, in which both have all elements as a production car) is inserted ([0029]).
Regarding Claim 5, Onishi teaches a movable mechanism (Fig. 1) comprising:
a servo motor device (Fig. 2, 10); and
a driven portion (Fig. 1, 1 & 101), wherein the servo motor device includes:
a main body (Fig. 2, 7a) including a motor (Fig. 2, 7);
an output shaft (Fig. 2, 11) protruding from the main body and rotatably held by the main body to output power of the motor; and
a through hole (Fig. 2, 7b) penetrating the main body, and wherein the driven portion is driven based on the power of the motor ([0039]-[0040]).
Regarding Claim 6, Onishi teaches the movable mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the main body is in a plate shape (Fig. 2, 7a), and the through hole (Fig. 5, 7b) penetrates the main body in a thickness direction.
Regarding Claim 7, Onishi teaches the movable mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the through hole has a bearing (Fig. 2, 12) inside thereof.
Regarding Claim 8, Onishi teaches the movable mechanism according to claim 7, wherein the movable mechanism is configured as a steering mechanism of a model car ([0029]),
the bearing has an inner ring (Fig. 3, 12a), and
a rotation shaft portion (Fig. 1, 101) of a steering wheel of the model car is inserted into an inner hole (Fig. 3, 121) that is a hole portion formed inside of the inner ring.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-10 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.
Pettey US 7891902 B2 teaches an output shaft adapter assembly 30 is configured to engage output shaft 12 of servo motor 10. Output shaft adapter assembly 30 is further configured to accept and be engaged with an auxiliary shaft 32 (shown in FIG. 2). Splined output shaft 12 and auxiliary shaft 32 are coupled along a longitudinal axis 35. In one embodiment, splined output shaft 12 has approximately 23 to 25 teeth. However, output shaft 12 can have any number of teeth. Output shaft 12 has a threaded orifice 14 that extends into the splined output shaft 12 from a distal end 16 of the splined output shaft 12.
Nakano et al. JP 2018-113270 via US 20210323600 A1 teaches a fixing hole 40 is formed, so as to have a circular shape, on the outer periphery of a through hole 41 which is formed in the vicinity of the center of the end surface portion 15 and through which the rotation shaft 23 passes, and the outer peripheral surface forming the hollow portion of the lid member 35 is press-fitted to the inner periphery of the fixing hole 40 or fixed thereto with a fixing method, such as bonding. A ball bearing 44 is interposed to the through hole 41, and the rotation shaft 23 is rotatably and pivotally supported on the ball bearing 44. Therefore, basically, the housing space Sm of the motor housing 11 is water-tightly separated from the housing space Sh formed inside the metal cover 12 by the end surface portion 15 and the lid member 35.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CORTEZ M COOK whose telephone number is (571)270-7954. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30-5pm.
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/CORTEZ M COOK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846