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 .
Election/Restrictions
Group 2, Claims 9 - 13 and Group 3, Claims 14 - 20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 09/01/2026.
Applicant elects with traverse Group 1, Claims 1 – 8.
Applicant argues: “there is no combination identified in the specification or claims for which either cited tool [identified as a subcombination] can be added to form the unidentified combination.”
In the instant case, subcombination Group 1 has separate utility such as: it does not require a pointer, and subcombination Group 2 has separate utility such as: it does not require a laser.
Examiner has shown that Group 1 and Group 2 have a utility other than the disclosed combination.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Prior art of Record
The prior art made of record in this office action shall be referred to as follows;
U.S. 2022/0340305 Chris Allen Brooks (‘Brooks hereafter), App 17/241966
U.S. 2023/0382562 Chasteau et al. (‘Chasteau hereafter), App 18/324796
U.S. 9,108,730 Victor A. Grossman (‘Grossman hereafter), App 13/649266
U.S. 2016/0318630 John Wesley Crow, Jr (‘Crow hereafter), App 14/701151
U.S. 4,524,929 David F. Gebhard (‘Gebhard hereafter), Filed 09/30/1982
U.S. 2,930,547 W. H. Hogan (‘Hogan hereafter), Filed 06/17/1955
U.S. 4,345,727 Brown et al. (‘Brown hereafter), Filed 12/26/1979
U.S. 2,584,832 G. E. Beringer (‘Beringer hereafter), Filed 04/07/1945
U.S. 2016/0375989 Simonneaux et al. (‘Simonneaux hereafter), App 15/190335
U.S. 2018/0154715 Brunckhorst et al. (‘Brunckhorst hereafter), App 15/367981
U.S. 2,773,703 L. G. Ferguson et al. (‘Ferguson hereafter), Filed 02/05/1954
The above references will be referred to hereafter by the names or numbers indicated above.
Claim status:
Claims 1 - 20 are currently being examined.
Claims 9 - 20 have been withdrawn.
No Claims have been canceled.
Claims 2 – 8 are objected to for allowable subject matter.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. 2,773,703 L. G. Ferguson et al. (‘Ferguson hereafter).
Regarding Claim[s] 1, ‘Ferguson discloses all the claim limitations including: A tool (10) for aligning a nose tire on a F-35 aircraft (‘Ferguson, is capable of being used as a tool for aligning a nose tire, see Fig 1 (below) #1 (assembly), #2 (aircraft), it is an intended use limitation “on a F-35 aircraft (see below)),
the tool (10) defining a longitudinal axis (LA) (‘Ferguson, Figs 1 & 2 (below) show #1 (assembly) longitudinal axis is through the center, but not shown) and comprising:
an elongate breaker bar (12) (‘Ferguson, Fig 2 (below));
a yoke (11) (‘Ferguson, Fig 2 (below)) having two opposed arms (11a) (‘Ferguson, Fig 2 (below)) extending outwardly from a common proximal end (11p) (‘Ferguson, Fig 2 (below)) to two distal end (11d)s (‘Ferguson, Fig 2 (below)) remote therefrom and defining a space (34) therebetween (‘Ferguson, Fig 2 (below)),
the yoke (11) being joined to the breaker bar (12) proximate the common proximal end (11p) (‘Ferguson, Fig 2 (below));
a trunnion juxtaposed with each distal end (11p) (‘Ferguson, Fig 2 (below), #12 (extensions/ trunnion)),
each trunnion extending towards the longitudinal axis (LA) (‘Ferguson, Fig 2 (below)) and being adapted to fit into a gudgeon (33) (‘Ferguson, Fig 2 (below),as shown #12 is fit into a gudgeon on #3 (axle/ gudgeon)) of a F-35 landing gear (‘Ferguson, is capable of being used for a F-35 landing gear, however, it is an intended use limitation “of a F-35 aircraft (see below)); and
an index (22) (‘Ferguson, Fig 2 (below), #31 (lateral pin/ index)) coincident the longitudinal axis (LA) and adapted to designate the center of a notch (32) (‘Ferguson, Fig 2 (below), #32 (slot/ notch)) of a collar (‘Ferguson, Fig 5 (below), #11 (outsides diameter of portion/ collar)) of the F-35 landing gear (“of the F-35 landing gear,” is an intended use limitation (see below)).
A recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. In a claim drawn to process of making, the intended use must result in a manipulative difference as compared to the prior art. See In re Casey, 152 USPQ 235 (CCPA 1967) and In re Otto, 136 USPQ 458,459 (CCCPA 1963).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim[s] 2 is/are allowed. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art does not anticipate nor render obvious the combination set forth in the independent or dependent claims, specifically does not show: “the index (22) comprises a laser oriented towards the space (34) between the opposed arms (11A).”
The closest prior art is as cited were ‘Ferguson, ‘Chasteau, ‘Grossman, ‘Crow, ‘Gebhard, ‘Hogan, ‘Brown, ‘Beringer, ‘Simonneaux and ‘Brunckhorst.
‘Ferguson, does not teach a laser oriented towards the space between the arms.
‘Chasteau, ‘Grossman, ‘Crow, ‘Gebhard, ‘Hogan, ‘Brown, ‘Beringer, ‘Simonneaux and ‘Brunckhorst.
To modify the prior art would require improper hindsight and furthermore would destroy the workability of the references cited. Claims 3 - 8, are also allowed because they are dependent on claim 2.
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[AltContent: connector]U.S. 2,773,703 Figure 2
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U.S. 2,773,703 Figure 1
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U.S. 2,773,703 Figure 1
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
U.S. 2022/0340305 Chris Allen Brooks (‘Brooks hereafter) – Airplane Jack
U.S. 2023/0382562 Chasteau et al. (‘Chasteau hereafter) – Cradle for an aircraft landing gear assembly.
U.S. 9,108,730 Victor A. Grossman (‘Grossman hereafter) – Rapid Store Load System For Aircraft and Method of Operation Thereof.
U.S. 2016/0318630 John Wesley Crow, Jr (‘Crow hereafter) – Nose Landing Gear Rigging Alignment Took Holding Fixture.
U.S. 4,524,929 David F. Gebhard (‘Gebhard hereafter) - Short Take Off Jump Mode For Airplane Landing Gear Struts
U.S. 2,930,547 W. H. Hogan (‘Hogan hereafter) - Landing Gear Steering Mechanism.
U.S. 4,345,727 Brown et al. (‘Brown hereafter) – Body-braced Main Airplane Landing Gear
U.S. 2,584,832 G. E. Beringer (‘Beringer hereafter) – Method of making a trunnion for an aircraft landing gear.
U.S. 2016/0375989 Simonneaux et al. (‘Simonneaux hereafter) - METHOD OF PRELOADING AN AIRCRAFT ASSEMBLY, A PRELOADING TOOL AND AN AIRCRAFT ASSEMBLY
U.S. 2018/0154715 Brunckhorst et al. (‘Brunckhorst hereafter) - Trailer-Mounted Mock Landing Gear
Examiner encourages Applicant to fill out and submit form PTO-SB-439 to allow internet communications in accordance with 37 CFR 1.33 (MPEP 02.03). Should the need arise to perfect applicant-proposed or examiner’s amendments, authorization for e-mail correspondence would have already been authorized and would save time.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAWRENCE AVERICK whose telephone number is (571)270-7565. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00AM - 3:00PM M- F ET.
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/LAWRENCE AVERICK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
09/23/2022
