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 .
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, 3 and 5-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gastaldello EP 3782887 in view of Barish U.S. 2,230,989.
Re clm 1, Gastaldello discloses a bearing, comprising: a plurality of rolling elements (33, Fig. 3-4) disposed on the cage; an inner ring (34); and an outer ring (30); a containing space is provided between the outer ring and the inner ring; and a bearing bowl, wherein: the bearing bowl comprises an inner bearing bowl (26) and an outer bearing bowl (at 25, Fig. 3); the inner ring and the outer ring are disposed in an accommodation space which is formed between the inner bearing bowl and the outer bearing bowl: the inner bearing bowl is located radially inward relative to the outer bearing bowl: and the inner bearing bowl has a recess (26b) formed by recessing from an inner peripheral wall of the inner bearing bowl.
Gastaldello does not disclose a cage being an annular structure and having a cutout; the plurality of rolling elements disposed on the cage; the inner ring comprising a plurality of inner ring sections, wherein the plurality of inner ring sections jointly surround to form the inner ring; and the outer ring comprising a plurality of outer ring sections, wherein the plurality of outer ring sections jointly surround to form the outer ring; the cage is located in the containing space.
Barish teaches an angular bearing assembly comprising a cage (21) being an annular structure and having a cutout (cut formed in 21, Fig. 3); and a bearing ring (17 and 19) comprising a plurality of ring sections (17 and 19), wherein the plurality of ring sections jointly surround to form the bearing ring; and the cage is located in the containing space for the purpose of equally spacing the rolling elements and making assembly of the bearing onto a shaft easier. Segmenting bearing rings is well-known for allowing installation of bearings on components without having to completely disassemble the components.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Gastaldello and provide a cage being an annular structure and having a cutout; the plurality of rolling elements disposed on the cage; and provide any of the bearing rings as segmented rings including the inner ring comprising a plurality of inner ring sections, wherein the plurality of inner ring sections jointly surround to form the inner ring; and the outer ring comprising a plurality of outer ring sections, wherein the plurality of outer ring sections jointly surround to form the outer ring; the cage is located in the containing space for the purpose of equally spacing the rolling elements and making assembly of the bearing onto a shaft easier and for allowing installation of bearings on components without having to completely disassemble the components.
Re clm 3, Gastaldello further discloses the inner peripheral wall of the inner bearing bowl abuts against an outer peripheral surface of the inner ring (shown in Fig. 3); an inner annular wall of the outer bearing bowl abuts against an outer annular surface of the inner ring; an inner peripheral wall (one of 25 or 30, Fig. 3) of the outer bearing bowl abuts against an outer peripheral surface of the outer ring; an inner annular wall (other of 25 or 30) of the outer bearing bowl abuts against an outer annular surface of the outer ring.
Re clm 5, Gastaldello further discloses the inner bearing bowl is formed integrally (as shown in Fig. 4).
Re clm 6, Gastaldello further discloses the outer bearing bowl is formed integrally (shown in Fig. 1 and 5).
Re clm 7, Gastaldello further discloses a side of the inner ring facing the containing space has an inner annular groove (ball raceway) which is in contact with the plurality of rolling elements (Fig. 3).
Re clm 8, Gastaldello further discloses a side of the outer ring facing the containing space has an outer annular groove (ball raceway) which is in contact with the plurality of rolling elements (Fig. 3).
Re clm 9, the improvement of Barish further discloses the plurality of inner ring sections comprise two inner ring sections, and each of the two inner ring sections is semicircular (Fig. 2-3).
Re clm 10, the improvement of Barish further discloses the plurality of outer ring sections comprise two outer ring sections, and each of the two outer ring sections is semicircular (the modification of Barish in the rejection above applies segmenting of the rings to any of the bearing rings).
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, Fortier U.S. 5,826,898 is no longer used to reject the claims and has been replaced by Gastaldello EP 3782887.
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.
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/ALAN B WAITS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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