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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-8 are pending in the application.
Claims 4-6 have been withdrawn from current consideration, as being drawn to a non-elected species.
Claims 1-3 and 7-8 remain under current consideration by the Examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A (Figs. 3-6), corresponding to claims 1-3 and 7-8, in the reply filed on 15 July 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 4-6 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 15 July 2026.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tonges (US Patent 9,720,366).
Re Claim 1: Tonges discloses a gear connection structure (see Figs. 4-7) comprising:
(a) a rotary shaft (146) extending in an axial direction thereof;
(b) a parallel pin (160) inserted through a pin hole formed in the rotary shaft, the pin hole passing through the rotary shaft in a radial direction thereof orthogonal to the axial direction;
(c) a gear (end cap 150 in combination with drive coupler 152) including: a shaft hole (156) through which the rotary shaft (146) is passed; and a pin groove (158, 168; Fig. 5) inside which the parallel pin (160) is placed; and
(d) a biasing member (one of the snap features 164; for example, see annotated Fig. 6 below) that biases the parallel pin (160) placed inside the pin groove from a separate wall (see annotated Fig. 6 below) being one of a pair of walls (163, 163) of the pin groove toward a contacting wall (the surface of the arm 172 of the opposing snap feature 164; see annotated Fig. 6 below) being the other of the pair of walls to press the parallel pin (160) against the contacting wall and against a side of an inner periphery of the pin hole close to the contacting wall.
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Re Claim 2: Tonges discloses a gear connection structure (see Figs. 4-7), wherein the pin groove (158, 158) is formed to extend on radially opposite sides from the shaft hole (156), and
the biasing member (164) is provided radially away from the shaft hole on one side in the radial direction and on an upstream side of the pin groove in a rotational direction of the gear and biases the parallel pin toward downstream in the rotational direction.
Re Claim 3: Tonges discloses a gear connection structure (see Figs. 4-7), wherein the biasing member (164) includes an elastic portion (172; Fig. 6) formed integrally with the gear (at end cap 150) and disposed between the parallel pin (160) and the separate wall (see annotated Fig. 6 above), the elastic portion (172) contacting the parallel pin (160) with an elastic force.
Re Claim 7: Tonges discloses a drive device comprising:
the gear connection structure (see Figs. 4-7) according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above); and
a driver (the power source of the drive shaft 146; not shown) that rotates the rotary shaft (146).
Re Claim 8: Tonges discloses an image forming apparatus (100; Fig. 3) comprising the drive device according to claim 7 (see rejection of claim 7 above).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW R MCMAHON whose telephone number is (571)270-3067. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.
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, Amber Anderson can be reached at (571) 270-5281. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW R MCMAHON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3678
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