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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on December 4, 2025 has been entered.
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)(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) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Thompson (US 12,214,821).
Claim 1
Thompson discloses an electric crawler vehicle, comprising:
a pair of left and right traveling crawlers (“track” and “tracks” referred to throughout specification and would be understood to be powered by elements 8);
a traveling electric motor (12a and/or 12b) that generates traveling power to be transmitted to the pair of left and right traveling crawlers; and
a turning electric motor (11) that generates turning power to be transmitted to the pair of left and right traveling crawlers,
wherein the traveling electric motor (12a and/or 12b) and the turning electric motor (11) are disposed on one lateral side (left side in FIG. 1) of the electric crawler vehicle, and
wherein the traveling electric motor (12a and/or 12b) and the turning electric motor (11) are disposed adjacent one another in a direction perpendicular to a width direction of the electric crawler vehicle (see FIG. 1 illustrating no intervening elements between the motors in the top to bottom direction).
Claim 2
Thompson discloses a single speed reducer (gearbox 20; or alternatively only portion 40) to which the traveling electric motor (12a and/or 12b) and the turning electric motor (11) are assembled.
Claim 3
Thompson discloses wherein the traveling electric motor (12a and/or 12b) and the turning electric motor (11) are disposed on the one lateral side (left side in FIG. 1) with respect to the speed reducer (20 or 40) (see FIG. 1).
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) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thompson in view of Irie et al. (JP 2013-193469A; hereinafter "Irie").
Claim 4
Thompson does not disclose a driver's seat on which an operator is seated, wherein the speed reducer is disposed below the driver's seat. However, Irie discloses a driver's seat (11) on which an operator is seated, wherein at least part of the transmission (e.g., 22, 24) is disposed below the driver's seat (see FIG. 1). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success to have modified Dorgan to add a driver's seat over the transmission in order to provide a safe place for a driver to operate the vehicle and also to provide a small footprint in incorporating this seat.
Claim(s) 5, 6, and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thompson in view of Hosozawa (US 2024/0262206).
Claim 5
Thompson does not disclose a power take off electric motor that generates PTO power for driving a work machine, wherein when the speed reducer is assumed to be a first speed reducer, a PTO speed reducer to which the PTO electric motor is assembled is further provided as a second speed reducer. However, Hosozawa (see FIG. 1 or 3) discloses a power take off electric motor (7) that generates PTO power for driving a rotary work machine (45), wherein when the speed reducer is assumed to be a first speed reducer, a PTO speed reducer (35, 36, 41, 42) to which the PTO electric motor (7) is assembled is further provided as a second speed reducer. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success to have modified Dorgan to include an additional motor used to supply power to a PTO and an associated speed reducer as in Hosozawa in order to provide power to a rotary work machine not dependent on the state of the motors supplying power to the tracks.
Claim 6
Thompson as modified to include the additional motor for a PTO/rotary working machine based on Hosozawa discloses wherein the PTO electric motor is disposed on the one lateral side with respect to the second speed reducer (see Hosozawa, FIG. 3 illustrating all of the motors on the same side of the associated transmissions/speed reducers; this would be the same as incorporated into Thompson).
Claim 8
Thompson as modified discloses wherein the PTO electric motor (Hosozawa, 7) is disposed on a rear (there is no interrelation of rear and therefore the rear direction is interpreted as the direction from the two motors in Thompson to the motor added to Thompson, i.e., toward the PTO) of the traveling electric motor (Dorgan, 10) and the turning electric motor (Thompson, 11).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 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 combination of claim 7 including the two speed reducers, three motors, work machine, and interactions and layout set forth in the combination is not disclosed by the prior art. While the prior art may disclose one or more of the features no single reference discloses all of the features. In addition, it would not have been obvious to have modified the closest reference multiple times in multiple ways using more than one secondary reference since this would be an improper reconstruction and hindsight reasoning.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 7,497,796 that discloses “he drive motor 14 and the steer motor 16 are positioned to allow accessible space on the left sides thereof” (see column 6, lines 33-35). US 7,326,141 discloses two sets of motors each of which are on one lateral side of the vehicle and adjacent in a front-back direction.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STACEY A FLUHART whose telephone number is (571)270-1851. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9AM-7PM.
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/STACEY A FLUHART/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655