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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information referred to in the information disclosure statements filed on July 30, 2024 and May 5, 2025 has been considered as to the merits.
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.
Claim(s) 1-10, 12 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ito (US 8,424,970). With respect to claim 1, Ito discloses a fitting for a vehicle seat (see Figure 4), the fitting having a first fitting part (1), a second fitting part (2) and an eccentric (66)(7a)(7b) pivoting the first fitting part (1) and the second fitting part (2) eccentrically with respect to each other about an eccentricity, the first fitting part (1) having a toothed ring (12) and the second fitting part having a gear wheel (22), the toothed ring (12) and the gearwheel (22) being in meshing engagement with each other, where, in order to drive a relative rolling contact motion of the gearwheel (22) and the toothed ring (12), the eccentric (66)(7a)(7b) is rotatable about an axis of rotation, wherein at least one supporting ring segment (75a) which rotates together with the eccentric (66)(7a)(7b) is arranged radially outside the eccentric, an in the event of an overload acting on the fitting, in particular in the event of an overload torque acting about the axis of rotation, the first fitting part (1) and the second fitting part (2) can be supported radially against each other by the at least one supporting ring (75a).
With respect to claim 2, the eccentric (66)(7a)(7b) has two wedge segments (7a)(7b) and a driver segment (66).
With respect to claim 3, the at least one supporting ring segment (75a) is connected to the driver segment (66) by the press fit ring (23).
With respect to claim 4, the at least one supporting ring (75a) is arranged radially opposite the two wedge segments (7a)(7b) given that the ring (75a) is full circular while the wedge segments (7a)(7b) on extend along an arc.
With respect to claim 5, the at least one supporting ring segment (75a) has at least one first supporting surface (i.e. an end/bottom wall of the ring segment (75a) in contact with surface (15) of first fitting part (1)) for radially supporting at least one step (15) of the first fitting part (1).
With respect to claim 6, the at least one step (15) of the first fitting part (1) is formed circumferentially.
With respect to claim 7, the at least one supporting ring element (75a) has at least one second supporting surface surrounding by press fitting ring (23), wherein the second supporting surface radially supports at least one step (79), by way of ring (23), of the second fitting part (20.
With respect to claim 8, the at least one step of the second fitting part is formed circumferentially.
With respect to claim 9, at least one spring (9) preloads the at least one supporting ring (75a) by way of wedges (7a)(7b) against the step (79) of the second fitting part or against the step (15) of the first fitting part (1).
With respect to claim 10, the at least one supporting ring (76) is formed separately from the driver segment (66).
With respect to claim 12, the at least one supporting ring segment (75a) is connected to a driver segment (66) of the eccentric by an annular connecting element (23).
With respect to claim 15, a vehicle seat (see Figure 1) having at least one fitting as claimed in claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11 and 13-14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Vogel (8,985,887); Chae (8,911,319); Cha (8,360,525) and Eppert (7,753,450).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARAH B. MCPARTLIN whose telephone number is (571)272-6854. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am - 5 pm.
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, Eileen Lillis can be reached at 571-272-6928. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SARAH B MCPARTLIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3993