DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
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 and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20080271693 A1 to Edelmayer et al. (Edelmayer).
Edelmayer discloses:
Regarding claim 1:
A rocker system (figures 1-5) for an internal () combustion engine (¶0003), the rocker system comprising:
at least one input rocker lever (12) rotatable about an engine component (rocker shaft within 84 as mentioned in ¶0012) in response to motion received from at least one camshaft lobe (lobe on camshaft that urges roller 40 as indicated in ¶0021) of a camshaft (camshaft mentioned in ¶0021);
at least one output rocker lever (14) rotatable about the engine component, wherein the at least one output rocker lever (14) is configured to control opening and closing of at least one exhaust valve or at least one intake valve associated with a cylinder (part of the internal combustion engine as indicated in the abstract) of the internal combustion engine (¶0003 indicates the system opens and closes engine valves);
at least one valve lift switch (76/74/72) comprising bores (120 and the bore surrounding 74 and 72 as shown in figure 4) formed in each of the at least one input rocker and the at least one output rocker (as shown in figure 4 one is located in 14 and the other is located in 12) and at least one pin (72) slidably disposed in the bores (¶0020), the at least one valve lift switch operable to:
connect the at least one input rocker lever (12) and the at least one output rocker lever (14) to one another for transferring motion from the at least one camshaft lobe to the at least one exhaust valve or the at least one intake valve (activated position as mentioned in ¶0020 where the input and output rocker levers are fixedly connected to each other);
disconnect the at least one input rocker lever (12) and the at least one output rocker lever (14) from one another (deactivate position as mentioned in ¶0020 where the input and output rocker levers are free to move relative to each other);
a biasing mechanism (20) in contact with the at least one input rocker lever (12) and the at least one output rocker lever (14) (as shown in figure 1) and configured to bias the at least one input rocker lever (12) into direct or indirect contact with the at least one camshaft lobe (“lost motion spring” as indicated in ¶0019 which indicates the spring absorbs the motion of roller 40 while keeping it in contact with the cam); and
a first stop member (22 or 64) and a second stop member (64 or 22) configured to contact the first stop member (as shown in figure 5) to align the bores (as shown in figure 4 where 120 and the hole surrounding 42 are aligned to allow 72 to engage with 120) of the at least one input rocker lever (12) and the at least one output rocker (14).
Regarding claim 4:
The rocker system of claim 1, wherein the at least one output rocker lever (14) is configured to receive motion from at least one additional camshaft lobe on the camshaft (this limitation is interpreted as intended use since the structure of the camshaft an cam lobes is not positively claimed and further since this is beyond the scope of the rocker system; further, the output rocker lever is capable of this function since it includes a roller that could be actuated by another camshaft lobe.).
Regarding claim 5:
The rocker system of claim 1, wherein the first stop member (22) comprises a stop pin (22 as shown in figure 4).
Regarding claim 6:
The rocker system of claim 1, wherein the second stop member (64) comprises a stop member projection (see the projection 64 as shown in figure 4).
Regarding claim 7:
The rocker system of claim 1, wherein the first stop member (64) is deployed on each of the at least one input rocker lever (12) and the second stop member (22) is deployed on each of the at least one output rocker lever (14)(as shown in figure 2).
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.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20080271693 A1 to Edelmayer et al. (Edelmayer) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 5080054 A to Nakamura.
Regarding claim 2:
Edelmayer fails to disclose:
The rocker system of claim 1, further comprising a lash adjuster that connects the at least one of the at least one exhaust valve or the at least one intake valve to the at least one output rocker lever.
Nakamura teaches:
A rocker system (figures 1 and 2) that include an input rocker lever (2) and output rocker lever (1) . The system also includes a biasing mechanism (27/25) and a hydraulic lash adjuster (10) arranged between the output rocker lever and the valve (9). The lash adjuster is included to reduce the clearance between the output rocker lever and the valve (column 2, lines 10-16).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Edelmayer to further include a lash adjuster between the exhaust/intake valve and the output rocker lever as taught by Nakamura in order to remove the clearance between the output rocker arm and the valve and allow for the proper actuation of the exhaust/intake valve (Nakamura, column 2, lines 10-16).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 8/17/26, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-2 and 4-7 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Edelmayer.
Regarding the 35 USC 103 rejection of the claim3:
The applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome the rejection of claim 3 and for this reason it is indicated as allowable above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WESLEY HARRIS whose telephone number is (571)272-3665. The examiner can normally be reached M to F, 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Tsai can be reached on (571) 270-5246. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WESLEY G HARRIS/Examiner, Art Unit 3783
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