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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04 August 2026 has been entered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the character of the lines, numbers, and letters are not sufficiently dense and dark, uniformly thick and well-defined as required by MPEP §608.02(V)(l). Fig. 1-3 have numerals and lead lines of poor quality. These elements are hand written making them difficult to read. The elements are as lighter than the other elements in the figure.
The examiner points out that the USPTO website has guidelines on how to submit drawing images for the best results. See https://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/applying-online/efs-web-pdf-guidelines. Specifically, see the section which states:
It is recommended to use images saved in a lossless format (e.g., TIFF, PNG, GIF, BMP). It is strongly recommended that the PDF creation software does not downsample images during the PDF creation process, as this could degrade the quality of the image.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1-2, 5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee KR 101620784 in view of Kremer U.S. 6,092,634.
Re clm 1, Lee discloses a bearing cage (Fig. 1-4) comprising: a first ring element (120, Fig. 3-4) having a first diameter, a second ring element (110) having a second diameter, and a plurality of bridges (140) connecting the first ring element to the second ring element such that the first ring element and the second ring element and the plurality of bridges form a plurality of pockets (130) configured to receive at least one rolling body, wherein an outer edge region of the first ring element and/or an inner edge region of the first ring element includes at least one recess (122 and 123) configured to increase a radially flexibility of the first ring element, wherein the at least one recess comprises a first plurality of recesses (123s) extending radially inward into the first ring element from a radially outer side of the first ring element to a first recess closed end (radial bottom of 123s) and a second plurality of recesses (122s) extending radially outward into the first ring element from a radially inner side of the first ring element to a second recess closed end (radial top of 122s), wherein each of the first plurality of recesses extends axially through the first ring element and each of the second plurality of recesses extends axially through the first ring element, and wherein a first axial end of a respective one of each of the first plurality of recesses and a first axial end of a respective one of each of the second plurality of recesses opens into each of the plurality of pockets (as shown by Fig. 3 and 4), wherein each of the first plurality of recesses includes a first first recess side wall facing a second first recess side wall (parallel walls of 123s) and each of the second plurality of recesses includes a first second recess side wall facing a second second recess side wall (parallel walls of 122s).
Lee does not disclose each of the first recess closed ends is formed by a first curved surface extending from the first first recess side wall to the second first recess side wall, and the each of the second recess closed ends is formed by a second curved surface extending from the first second recess side wall to the second second recess side wall.
Kremer teaches a similar recess structure (54 and 56, Fig. 6) for increasing flexibility of cage parts in which each of the recess closed ends is formed by a curved surface extending from the first recess side wall to the second recess side wall.
Since both Lee and Kremer disclose recesses for increasing flexibility in cage elements, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to substitute the known notch shape of Lee with any well-known notch shape for increasing flexibility, such as the shape disclosed by Kremer to achieve the predictable result of modifying the flexibility of cage parts. Furthermore, providing curved slots remove sharp interior corners which are known failure points due to the generate large stress concentrations at the corner.
Re clm 2, Lee further discloses the first diameter is less than the second diameter (Fig. 3).
Re clm 5, Lee further discloses the first ring has a radial thickness, and wherein a radial depth of each of the first plurality of recesses is greater than one half of the radial thickness (as shown in Fig. 4), and a radial depth of each of the second plurality of recesses is greater than one half the radial thickness (as shown in Fig. 4).
Re clm 9, Lee further discloses at least one notch (one of 123 can be considered a notch) extending axially through the first ring element (shown in Fig. 3 and 4).
Claims 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee KR 101620784 in view of Kremer U.S. 6,092,634 as applied to claim 2 above, further in view of Tao CN 111022504.
Lee in view of Kremer discloses all the claimed subject matter as described above.
Assuming the recess must be of a different design than the notch:
Re clm 9¸ Lee ’784 does not disclose at least one notch extending axially along the first ring element, a maximum radial depth of the at least one notch being less than a radial thickness of the first ring element.
Tao teaches at least one notch (13, Fig. 1-2) extending axially along the first ring element, a maximum radial depth of the at least one notch being less than a radial thickness of the first ring element (shown in Fig. 1) for the purpose of reducing the amount of plastic used as well as to make the wall thickness of the beam more uniform and more stably shrink.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Lee ‘784 and provide at least one notch extending axially along the first ring element, a maximum radial depth of the at least one notch being less than a radial thickness of the first ring element for the purpose of reducing the amount of plastic used as well as to make the wall thickness of the beam more uniform and more stably shrink.
Re clm 10, the improvement of Tao further discloses the at least one notch extends into one of the plurality of bridges (shown in Fig. 1 and 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 19-22 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection. Specifically, Applicant’s arguments are drawn to Lee alone. Applicant has amended the claims to include new limitations. Kremer has been added to Lee to teach the newly amended claim features.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALAN B WAITS whose telephone number is (571)270-3664. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday from 6-4 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John R Olszewski can be reached at 571-272-2706. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALAN B WAITS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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