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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/9/24 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claim 1-7 in the reply filed on 11/18/25 is acknowledged.
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.
Claim(s) 1,2,6, and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kehoe et al., U.S. Patent Publication 20160252112 A1 (hereinafter “Kehoe”) in view of T.J Little, U.S. Patent 1104519 (hereinafter “Little”)
In Reference to Claim 1;
Kehoe discloses A rotary shear seal valve, comprising: a valve body (34; See Annotated Figure as well);a first tooth (60) extending radially from the valve body in a first angular direction; a second tooth (64) extending radially from the valve body in a second angular direction; and a shear seal disc (not labeled, but shown in annotated figure).
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Kehoe fails to disclose wherein the Rotary shear valve has a valve body containing a first and second pair of teeth.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Rotary valves, Little discloses a rotary valve wherein the control of the valve is controlled by a pawl 26 engaging a pair of teeth 16. The pair of teeth designated for precise rotational control of the desired open and close positions for said valve acting as a stop for fully open and fully closed.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Kehoe such that it contains a pair of teeth as taught by Little instead of a single tooth because such a modification would allow for more precise rotational control serving as a end of rotation position for the bidirectional valve (as done in Little).
In Reference to Claim 2:
Kehoe as modified further discloses wherein the first angular direction of the first pare teeth retains a rotational orientation of the valve body in a clockwise direction and the second angular direction of the second pair of teeth retains a rotational orientation of the valve body in a counterclockwise direction. See, Annotated Figure above which illustrates the tooth being angled clockwise and counter clockwise.
In Reference to Claim 6:
Kehoe as modified further discloses wherein the first pair of teeth extend from the valve body at a first axial position and the second pair of teeth extend from the valve body at a second axial position. See, Kehoe which discloses that the first tooth and the second tooth of the valve body are offset and See, Little which illustrates the concept of such pair being approximately 90 degrees apart see Figure 5 or 6.
In Reference to Claim 7:
Kehoe as modified further wherein the first pair of teeth are angled from the valve body in an opposite direction of the second pair of teeth. See, Annotated Figure above which shows given the placement and shape of the pawls that said teeth of the valve are angled in opposite directions.
Claim(s) 3-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kehoe et al., U.S. Patent Publication 20160252112 A1 (hereinafter “Kehoe”) in view of T.J Little, U.S. Patent 1104519 (hereinafter “Little”) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Morris, U.S. Patent 6161583 (hereinafter “Morris”).
In Reference to Claim 3-5:
Kehoe as modified discloses all the limitations of claim 1, but fails to explicitly disclose ,wherein the shear seal disc is one of a plurality of shear seal discs positioned on an axial end of the valve body, wherein the valve body moves between a first position and a second position to provide four fluid passageways through four corresponding ports and wherein hydraulic fluid flows to a fluid reservoir in both the first position and the second position; due to the fact the Kehoe valve is a simple on/off rotary shear valve for the exhaust port of said actuator it is part of.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Morris discloses a rotary valve for a double acting piston wherein the valve body moves between a first position and a second position to provide four fluid passageways through four corresponding ports and wherein hydraulic fluid flows to a fluid reservoir in both the first position and the second position. See, Figure 9 and 10 which illustrates the four fluid passageways with four corresponding ports and wherein the hydraulic fluid flows to a fluid reservoir in both the first and second position (inherent in the operation of the double actuating piston as one of the two chambers of the cylinder must be exhausted while the opposing one is filled to create movement). As such, it is known in the fluid handling art that different valves ar adaptable to different fluid conditions for direction flow based on certain requirements being met (on/off valve such as Kehoe for a single acting piston and multi port rotary valve of Morris for a double acting piston).
Therefore it would have been obvious to person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Kehoe, such that the valve of Kehoe is a multi port valve as taught by Morris with a shear valve disc for each port for the purpose of applying the valve to other known fluid handling configurations such as making the rotary valve of Kehoe being capable of operating a double acting piston (such as Morris) instead of a single acting piston (Kehoe in its original configuration).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL S. COLLINS whose telephone number is (313)446-6535. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 8:00-5:30.
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/DANIEL S COLLINS/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
/NATHANIEL E WIEHE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3745