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 .
This Office Action is in response to papers filed on 6/16/2026. Amendments made to the claims and the Applicant's remarks have been entered and considered.
Claims 1, 6, 12 have been amended. Claim 17 is cancelled. Claims 21-22 are newly added.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 6/16/2026 have been considered but are moot because the new grounds of rejection do not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Newly applied Schafer et al. (US 2005/0199201 A1) shows the features of claims 1, 2, 4, 6, 8-10, 12, 13, 15, 19, 20.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “only the intermediate bearing is fixed against movement relative to the housing” recited in claim 6 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as based on a disclosure which is not enabling. The disclosure does not enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention without all of the bearings being fixed against movement relative to the housing, which is/are critical or essential to the practice of the invention but not included in the claim(s). See In re Mayhew, 527 F.2d 1229, 188 USPQ 356 (CCPA 1976). Claim 6 recites “only the intermediate bearing is fixed against movement relative to the housing” which is contrary to how one of ordinary skill in the art would understand a bearing to function. All bearings are fixed against movement relative to a stationary frame in a radial direction. All the bearings shown in the Applicant’s figures are fixed against movement relative to the housing in a radial direction.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 6, 8-10, 12, 13, 15, 19-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Schafer et al. (US 2005/0199201 A1, hereinafter Schafer).
As to claim 1, Schafer shows (FIG. 1, 7-11) An electric axle comprising:
a housing 3 including a central portion 39, a motor end cap 38 and a gearbox end cap 14;
an electric motor having a rotor including a rotor body 34 and an output shaft 13;
a first bearing 44 supported in the motor end cap 38 for supporting the rotor body 34;
a second bearing 10 supported in the gearbox end cap 14 for supporting an end of the output shaft 13; and
an intermediate bearing 45 fixed in the central portion 39 of the housing 3 supporting the rotor at a position between the first 44 and second 10 bearings;
wherein at least one of the end caps 38 is located to the central portion of the housing 3 with at least one pin 72 received in a slotted hole 69 such that the at least one endcap 38 can pivot a limited amount relative to the central portion 39 to prevent over constraint of the first 44 or second 10 bearing (para [0080]).
As to claim 2/1, Schafer further shows (FIG. 1, 7, 11) wherein the first bearing 44 is supported in the housing 3 for limited axial movement.
As to claim 4/1, Schafer further shows (FIG. 1, 7, 11) wherein the second bearing 10 is supported in the housing 3 for limited axial movement.
As to claim 6, Schafer shows (FIG. 1, 7-11) An electric axle comprising:
a housing 3;
an electric motor having a rotor including a rotor body 34 and an output shaft 13;
a first bearing 44 supporting the rotor body in the housing 3;
a second bearing 10 supporting an end of the output shaft 13 in the housing 3; and
an intermediate bearing 45 fixed to the housing 3 supporting the rotor at a position between the first 44 and second 10 bearings;
wherein only the intermediate bearing 45 is fixed against movement relative to the housing 3; and
wherein at least one of the first 44 or second 10 bearings is located to the housing 3 with at least one pin 72 received in a slotted hole 69 (para [0080]).
As to claim 8/1, Schafer further shows (FIG. 1, 7, 11) a pinion gear 7 coupled to the output shaft 13 and a gearset driven by the pinion gear 8 (para [0063]).
As to claim 9/8/1, Schafer further shows (FIG. 1, 7, 11) the second bearing 10 and the intermediate bearing 45 are on opposite axial sides of the pinion gear 7.
As to claim 10/1, Schafer further shows (FIG. 1, 7, 11) the intermediate bearing 45 is larger than the first 44 and second 10 bearings.
As to claim 12, Schafer shows (FIG. 1, 7-11) A method of supporting an electric motor in a housing 3 of an electric axle comprising:
supporting a rotor body 34 of a rotor of the electric motor at a first end with a first bearing 44;
supporting an end of an output shaft 13 of the rotor of the electric motor with a second bearing 10; and
supporting the rotor at with a single intermediate bearing 45 at a position between the first 44 and second 10 bearings;
wherein the housing 3 includes a central portion 39, a motor end cap 38 and a gearbox end cap 14:
wherein the first bearing 44 is supported in the motor end cap 38;
wherein the second bearing 10 is supported in the gearbox end cap 14; and
wherein at least one of the end caps 38 is located to the central portion of the housing 3 with at least one pin 72 received in a slotted hole 69 such that the at least one endcap 38 can pivot a limited amount relative to the central portion 39 to prevent over-constraint of the first 44 or second 10 bearing (para [0080]).
As to claim 13/12, Schafer further shows (FIG. 1, 7-11) wherein the first bearing 44 is supported in the housing 3 for limited axial movement.
As to claim 15/12, Schafer further shows (FIG. 1, 7-11) wherein the second bearing 10 is supported in the housing 3 for limited axial movement.
As to claim 19/12, Schafer further shows (FIG. 1, 7-11) a pinion gear 7 coupled to the output shaft 13 and a gearset driven by the pinion gear 7 (para [0063]).
As to claim 20/19/12, Schafer further shows (FIG. 1, 7-11) the second bearing 10 and the intermediate bearing 45 are on opposite axial sides of the pinion gear 7.
As to Claims 21, 22, the intermediate bearing is fixed in radial and axial direction (see figure 1). Note if the bearing is not fixed, the device will not function as intended.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 3 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schafer et al. (US 2005/0199201 A1, hereinafter Schafer) in view of Taniguchi et al. (US 2021/0257950 A1).
As to claims 3/2/1 and 14/13/12, Schafer was discussed above except for a wave washer
adjacent the first bearing.
Taniguchi shows a wave washer adjacent the bearing (para [0061]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of
the claimed invention to modify the first bearing 44 of Schafer to have a wave washer adjacent the first
bearing 44 as taught by Taniguchi, for the advantageous benefit of eliminating the influence of vibration
on the first bearing 44 as taught by Taniguchi (para [0061]).
Claim(s) 5 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schafer et al. (US 2005/0199201 A1, hereinafter Schafer) in view of Koch et al. (US 2023/0208251 A1).
As to claims 5/4/1 and 16/15/12, Schafer was discussed above except for a shim adjacent the
second bearing.
Koch shows a shim adjacent the bearing (para [0008]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of
the claimed invention to modify the second bearing 10 of Schafer to have a shim adjacent the second
bearing 10 as taught by Koch, for the advantageous benefit of axially positioning the second bearing 10 as taught by Koch (para [0008]).
Claim(s) 7 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schafer et al. (US 2005/0199201 A1, hereinafter Schafer) in view of Iwata et al. (US 2022/0045574 A1).
As to claims 7/1 and 18/12, Schafer was discussed above except for the intermediate bearing is
fixed in the housing with a snap ring.
Iwata shows the bearing is fixed in the housing with a snap ring (para [0004]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of
the claimed invention to modify the intermediate bearing of Schafer to have the intermediate bearing B
is fixed in the housing 10 with a snap ring as taught by Iwata, for the advantageous benefit of locking the
intermediate bearing B as taught by Iwata (para [0004]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art does not show or suggest these features in combination with the elements recited in the independent claim 1.
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 ROBERT E MATES whose telephone number is (571)270-5293. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 12:00pm to 8pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, TULSIDAS PATEL can be reached at (571)272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT E MATES/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/TULSIDAS C PATEL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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