ELECTRIC WORK VEHICLE

Application No. 18/742,037

• Filed: Jun 13, 2024
• Priority: Dec 24, 2021 — JP 2021-211639
  • Oct 28, 2022 — continuation of PCTJP2022040432
• Examiner: GURARI, EREZ
• Art Unit: 3615
• Tech Center: 3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
• Assignee: Kubota Corporation
• OA Round: 1 (Non-Final)

Office Action

DETAILED ACTION
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.

Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamaguchi et al. (US 2024/0317079).
In re claim 1, Yamaguchi teaches an electric work vehicle comprising: a travel motor (M) provided in a traveling body; a battery (4) provided at a front portion of the traveling body to supply electric power to the motor (clear from figs. 1-4); a cable (54) to extract electric power from the battery (par. 117); and a cover (12) to cover the battery and the cable; wherein the cable extends from a front portion of the battery (fig. 5).
In re claim 2, Yamaguchi teaches the motor is provided below a rear portion of the battery (figs. 2, 4).
In re claim 3, Yamaguchi teachesan inverter (14) connected to the cable and the motor; wherein the inverter is provided below the battery on a body frontward side relative to the motor (fig. 2).
In re claim 4, Yamaguchi teaches a cover (2) to cover the motor and the inverter from below (fig. 2, 7).
In re claim 5, Yamaguchi teaches the cover includes a top plate covering the battery from above; and a front portion of the top plate has a shape that slopes downward toward the front (figs. 2, 4).
In re claim 6, Yamaguchi teaches a front motive power extraction shaft (FT) provided at a front portion of the traveling body to extract motive power from the motor (fig. 2).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EREZ GURARI whose telephone number is [phone]. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00AM-6:30PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marc Jimenez can be reached at [phone]. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EREZ GURARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615

Prosecution Timeline

• Jun 13, 2024: Application Filed
• Jun 17, 2026: Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)