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 .
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 (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 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 1-2, 6-8, 10-12 and 15-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DE 4226754 A1 to Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch) – cited by applicant in the IDS of 27 September 2024.
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With regard to claim 1, Bosch discloses an actuator assembly (Bosch, title, abstract), comprising:
a rod (as labeled in annotated fig. 15 above) configured to selectively move relative to a housing (this portion of Bosch is described as a piston accumulator 91 that is coupled with two diaphragms accumulators 92 and 93. A piston accumulator functions by selectively moving relative to a housing);
an oil chamber (as set forth in the annotated fig. 15 above “Also in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the volumes of the accumulators 91 , 92 , 93 can be of different sizes and also here the accumulators 91 , 92 , 93 can have different clamping pressures”); and
a piston (as labeled above in annotated fig. 15) separating a first gas chamber from the oil chamber (as shown in annotated fig. 15);
wherein, the first gas chamber is at least partially defined in or around the rod (as shown above in annotated fig. 15, the first gas chamber is defined in the interior of the rod, which allows the integrated system to be made advantageously smaller than previously provided).
With regard to claim 2, Bosch discloses the actuator of claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the first gas chamber is configured to provide a first pre-charge pressure that is selectively variable (from the English translation “The biasing pressure pv2 of the gas in the variable storage space 102 is substantially greater than the biasing pressure pv1 of the gas in the variable storage space 101 . The preload pressure pv2 is selected such that the piston 112 remains in the fully extended state in the region of low working pressures p50, ie the working pressure p50 in the working space 50 is less than the preloading pressure pv2 of the variable storage space 102 . The bias pressure pv1 of the variable storage space 101 is selected so that the pressure medium can actuate the piston 111 in the direction of the variable storage space 101 even in the range of small working pressures p50. That is, even in the range of small working pressures p50, the working pressure p50 is greater than the preload pressure pv1 of the variable storage space 101 . In the range of large working pressures p50, the working pressure p50 is greater than the preload pressure pv2 of the variable storage space 102 . The result of this is that in the region of small working pressures p50 alone the variable storage space 101 is effective, but in the region of larger working pressures p50 the variable storage space 102 is added as a resilient element.”).
With regard to claim 6, Bosch discloses the actuator of claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses comprising a fluid passage (156/56/46, fig. 15) fluidly coupling the oil chamber to a fluid input (as shown in fig. 15).
With regard to claim 7, Bosch discloses the actuator of claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the first piston is configured to move coaxially along a longitudinal axis of the rod (as shown in fig. 15).
With regard to claim 8, Bosch discloses the actuator of claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the first gas chamber is defined within the rod (as shown in the annotated fig. 15 above, the first gas chamber is within the rod).
With regard to claim 10, Bosch discloses the actuator of claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses comprising a diaphragm accumulator fluidly coupled to the oil chamber (102 or 103, fig. 15, the variable storage space fluidly connected in parallel to the oil chamber).
With regard to claim 11, Bosch discloses the actuator of claim 10 as set forth above, and further discloses comprising a valve (20, “control valve”, fig. 13 as applied to the arrangement set forth in the annotated fig. 15 above) on the diaphragm accumulator configured to selectively alter a pressure in a gas chamber of the diaphragm accumulator (the control valve identified above selectively places the hydraulic fluid of the system in contact with the pressure accumulators such that the accumulators are successively engaged. As the accumulators are engaged the pressure of the gas chambers of each of the accumulators is changed).
With regard to claim 12, Bosch discloses the actuator of claim 10 as set forth above, and further discloses comprising a first valve (20, fig. 13, as applied to the device of annotated fig. 15 above) fluidly coupled to the first gas chamber and a second valve (22, fig. 13) fluidly coupled to a second gas chamber of the diaphragm accumulator, wherein the first valve is configured to provide for selectively altering a first pressure in the first gas chamber and the second valve is configured to provide for selectively altering a second pressure in the second gas chamber (the first and second control valves allow the hydraulic storage system to be selectively engaged by different systems of the automobile and to engage the first gas chamber to a first pressure and to engage the second gas chamber to a second pressure when engaged by the different systems).
With regard to claim 15, Bosch discloses the actuator of claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses comprising a valve assembly (20/22, fig. 13 as applied to the arrangement set forth in annotated fig. 15 above) configured to selectively alter the pressure of fluid provided to the oil chamber from a hydraulic system (the system of Bosch provides a reserve pressure supply to the various hydraulic systems of the vehicle, each having different operating pressures that correspond to the pressure of the fluid provided to the oil chamber of the actuator when engaged to each different system).
With regard to claim 16, Bosch discloses an accumulator assembly (Bosch, title, abstract), comprising:
a rod (as labeled in annotated fig. 15 above) configured to selectively move relative to a housing (this portion of Bosch is described as a piston accumulator 91 that is coupled with two diaphragms accumulators 92 and 93. A piston accumulator functions by selectively moving relative to a housing);
an oil chamber configured to have a variable oil chamber volume to selectively reposition the rod relative to the housing (as set forth in the annotated fig. 15 above);
a first gas chamber (as labeled in annotated fig. 15 above) defined in, or around, the rod and configured to have a variable first volume and to contain a first pre-charge pressure (as shown in annotated fig. 15 above, the first gas chamber is formed within the rod structure in order to make the entire assembly as small as possible); and
a piston (as labeled in annotated fig. 15 above) separating the oil chamber from the first gas chamber (as shown in annotated fig. 15 above).
With regard to claim 17, Bosch discloses the accumulator of claim 16 as set forth above, and further discloses comprising a second gas chamber (the second gas chamber is the gas chamber of the first diaphragm accumulator 92/102) configured to have a variable second volume and to contain a second pre-charge pressure, wherein as the variable oil chamber volume increases, one of the variable first volume or the variable second volume is substantially reduced before the other of the variable first volume or the variable second volume is substantially reduced (the accumulators are designed to be engaged at different initial pressures in order to provide a broad range of pre-pressure to the hydraulic systems that are selectively engaged with the system).
With regard to claim 18, Bosch discloses the accumulator of claim 17 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the second gas chamber comprises a diaphragm separating the oil chamber from the second gas chamber (the gas chamber of diaphragm accumulator 92/102 shown in annotated fig. 15 above).
With regard to claim 19, Bosch discloses the accumulator of claim 16 as set forth above, and further discloses comprising a valve configured to selectively fluidly couple the first gas chamber to a pressure source to selectively alter the first pre-charge pressure (20, fig. 13 as applied to the configuration of annotated fig. 15 above).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 3-5, 9, 13-14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE 4226754 A1 to Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch) – cited by applicant in the IDS of 27 September 2024 in view of United States Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0397127 to Weigand et al. (Weigand).
Weigand and Bosch are commonly owned and applied to similar problems.
With regard to claims 3-5, 9, 13-14 and 20, Bosch discloses the actuator of claims 1 and 2 as set forth above, but does not disclose the structure of the first gas chamber being formed around the rod instead of inside the rod and to be configured to include an annular disc shaped piston that creates a first gas chamber below the piston and between the walls of the cylinder of the assembly. It further fails to disclose a pre-charging pressure valve coupled to the first gas chamber, wherein the valve is coupled to the rod or in the alternative to the housing (when the annular space between the rod and housing is used to define the first gas chamber).
Weigand discloses a hydrostatic accumulator having an annular disc shaped piston (8, figs. 1-2). The annular disc shaped piston allows the device of Weigand to make use of the annular space between axially arranged members and demonstrating that an annular disc shaped piston is a functional equivalent of a disc shaped piston for separating a gas chamber for an oil chamber. The substitution of a known equivalent one for the other involved only routine skill in the art. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to try the annular disc shaped piston of Weigand as the boundary between the oil and a first gas chamber in order to test the suitability of the different configurations for use as intended. It would be further obvious to provide the first, second and third gas chambers with a valve accessible to a source of pressurized gas in order to facilitate testing of the device at different pressures in the different gas chambers.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art of record of the related divisional case 17/489,918 is considered the most relevant to the currently claimed device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID R DEAL whose telephone number is (469)295-9216. The examiner can normally be reached M-F generally 8-4 pm CST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached at: Craig M Schneider (571) 272-3607 and Ken Rinehart (571) 272-4881. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID R DEAL/Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3753
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