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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a non-final First Office Action on the Merits in application 18/720,590, filed 6/14/2024.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 9, 12, 14-15, 17, 21, 23, 27, 29, 31, 36 and 39-40 are amended and claims 4, 6-8, 10-11, 13, 18-20, 22, 24-26, 28, 32-35, 37-38 and 41-43 are canceled in the preliminary amendment filed
Claims 1-3, 5, 9, 12, 14-17, 21, 23, 27, 29-31, 36, 39-40 and 44 are pending and examined.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/14/2024 is being considered by the examiner. The IDS filed 6/17/2024 is a duplicate IDS and the references on the form lined thru.
Claim Objections
Claims 14-15 are objected to because of the following informalities: claim 14 depends from canceled claim 6. Claim 14 will be considered dependent from claim 12, thereby giving antecedence for “first and second race members”, for examination purposes; and in claim 15, line 7, “a one-way” should be “the one-way” and “according claim” should be “according to claim”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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 1-3, 5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lou(CN211059253; cited on IDS filed 6/14/2024)
Lou discloses a one-way bearing(see Fig. 1) having a central axis comprising:
an inner race(1) comprising an outer surface(see Fig. 1);
an outer race(2) surrounding, considered in a plane transversal to the central axis, at least partially the inner race and comprising an inner surface(2-1, see Fig. 3), at least a portion of the inner surface being radially spaced apart from the outer surface of the inner race to define at least one coupling member-receiving chamber(2-4, see Fig. 3) therebetween; and
at least one unidirectional coupling member(4, see Figs. 1-3) provided in said at least one coupling member-receiving chamber(2-4, see Fig. 2-3);
wherein the outer surface of the inner race at least partially forms first and second tangential wall portions(of 1-1, see Fig. 1) at least partially delimiting said at least one coupling member-receiving chamber(see Figs. 2-3);
wherein said at least one unidirectional coupling member(4) engages with the inner surface of the outer race when the outer race is rotated about the central axis in a first direction(see “Specific implementation examples” of description), thus abutting one of the first and second tangential wall portions and rotating the inner race together with the outer race in the first direction; and
wherein said at least one unidirectional coupling member(4) slides along the inner surface of the outer race when the outer race rotates about the central axis in a second direction opposed to the first direction, thus allowing a free rotation of the outer race with respect to the inner race(see “Specific implementation examples” of description),
said at least one unidirectional coupling member(4) having an outer surface selectively engageable with the inner surface of the outer race when the outer race is rotated about the central axis (Fig. 3, see “Specific implementation examples” of description).
Regarding claim 2, Lou discloses the one-way bearing according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of indentations are formed along an entirety of a periphery of the inner surface of the outer race(see Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 3, Lou discloses the one-way bearing according to claim 2, wherein said at least one unidirectional coupling member comprises an inner race-facing side and an opposed outer race-facing side forming at least partially the outer surface. surface, and wherein a profile of the outer race-facing side of said at least one unidirectional coupling member corresponds substantially to a profile of the inner surface of the outer race(see Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 5, Lou discloses the one-way bearing according to claim 3, wherein the outer surface of the inner race(1) forms an actuating slope extending between the first and second tangential wall portions(see Figs. 1-3) wherein the actuating slope is inclined relative to a tangential direction defined at a point equidistant from inner end portions of the first and second tangential wall portions(see Figs. 1-3).
Regarding claim 9, Lou discloses the one-way bearing according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of coupling-member receiving chambers are defined between the inner surface of the outer race and the outer surface of the inner race(see Fig. 2-4), and wherein the plurality of coupling-member receiving chambers are regularly distributed along a periphery of the outer surface of the inner race(see Fig. 4.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Archbambault(WO2020/160651; cited on IDS filed 6/14/2024)
Archambault discloses a one-way bearing(see Fig. 25) having a central axis (X2) comprising:
an inner race(630, see Figs. 25-26) comprising an outer surface;
an outer race surrounding(see Fig. 25, dark gray), considered in a plane transversal to the central axis, at least partially the inner race(630) and comprising an inner surface, at least a portion of the inner surface being radially spaced apart from the outer surface of the inner race to define at least one coupling member-receiving chamber(358) therebetween; and
at least one unidirectional coupling member (658) provided in said at least one coupling member-receiving chamber;
wherein the outer surface of the inner race at least partially forms first and second tangential wall portions at least partially delimiting said at least one coupling member-receiving chamber (638, see Fig. 25);
wherein said at least one unidirectional coupling member(658) engages with the inner surface of the outer race when the outer race is rotated about the central axis in a first direction(see Fig. 25), thus abutting one of the first and second tangential wall portions and rotating the inner race together with the outer race in the first direction; and
wherein said at least one unidirectional coupling member slides along the inner surface of the outer race when the outer race rotates about the central axis in a second direction opposed to the first direction, thus allowing a free rotation of the outer race with respect to the inner race(see Fig. 26),
said at least one unidirectional coupling member(638) having an outer surface selectively engageable with the inner surface of the outer race when the outer race is rotated about the central axis (see Figs. 25-26).
Claims 30, 39 and 44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schorling(U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. 2021/0238922; cited on IDS filed 6/14/2024).
Regarding claims 30 and 44, Schorling discloses a roller blind friction-creating assembly(5, see para. [0029]) for a roller blind system(see Fig. 1) mountable to a roller blind support(3) and comprising a roller blind tube(1) rotatable about a tube longitudinal axis into opposed winding and unwinding directions, the friction-creating assembly comprising:
a support-mounting shaft system(6) having a shaft axis and being fixedly mountable to the roller blind support(see Figs. 2-3);
a tube-coupling bearing(10) having a first portion(25) angularly couplable with the roller blind tube(see Figs. 2-3) and a second portion(24) rotatably mounted onto the support-mounting shaft system(see Fig. 2), the first and second portions being rotatable together around the support-mounting shaft system in a first rotating direction about the shaft axis upon rotation of the roller blind tube in one of the winding and unwinding directions; and
a friction- creating system(9, 7) mounted to the support-mounting shaft system(see Fig. 2) and having at least one friction-creating surface(9) contacting the tube- coupling bearing(10, see Fig. 2);
wherein the friction-creating system provides a friction couple(L) to the tube-coupling bearing via said at least one friction- creating surface upon rotation of the first and second portions of the tube-coupling bearing in said first rotating direction(see Fig. 4) and
a roller blind tube(1) with a cavity therein at least partially receiving the friction creating assembly(9, 7), wherein the first portion of the tube-coupling bearing is angularly coupled with an inner surface of the roller blind tube at least partially delimiting the mechanism- receiving cavity(see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 39, Schorling discloses the friction-creating assembly according to claim 30, wherein the tube-coupling bearing(10) is a bidirectional bearing, the first and second portions being rotatable together about the shaft axis in opposed first and second rotating directions upon rotation of the roller blind tube respectively in the winding and unwinding directions(see para. [0032]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12, 14-17, 21, 23, 27, 29, 31, 36 and 40 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.
No prior art of record shows a one-way bearing having an inner and outer race with the specifics of the inner and outer races having a chamber for receiving a coupling member and first and second race members removably mounted to one another and enclosing the coupling member therebetween, as in claim 12, or a roller blind assembly having a support shaft, a one-way bearing having an inner and outer race with the specifics of the inner and outer races having a chamber for receiving a coupling member, and friction system interrelated to the bearing, as in claim 15, or a roller blind assembly having a support shaft, a bearing having a first and second portion rotatable with respect to one another, and a friction system with biasing member and friction adjuster, as in claim 31, a roller blind assembly having a support shaft, a bearing having a first and second portion rotatable with respect to one another, a friction system, and pads interrelated with the shaft, as in claim 36, or a roller blind assembly having a support shaft, a bearing having a first and second portion rotatable with respect to one another, a friction system, and the bearing being a one-way bearing, as in claim 40, nor any motivation to do so.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BETH A. AUBREY whose telephone number is (571)272-1851. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8a-4:30p.
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BETH A. AUBREY
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3633
/Beth A Aubrey/