DETAILED ACTION
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 following must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s):
The first bearing member of the outer ring member and the inner ring member of claim 1;
The second bearing member of the outer ring member and the inner ring member of claim 1.
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(a)
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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 1, the specification fails to adequately disclose which first bearing member of the outer ring member is fixed to the wheel. As disclosed, it appears that no part of the outer ring member is fixed to the wheel. The lack of adequate written description support leads one to conclude that at the time the application was filed, Applicant was not in possession of the claimed invention.
Further regarding claim 1, the specification fails to adequately disclose which second bearing member of the inner ring member is fixed to the base section. As disclosed, it appears that no part of the inner ring member is fixed to the base section. The lack of adequate written description support leads one to conclude that at the time the application was filed, Applicant was not in possession of the claimed invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the scope of the claim is indefinite, because the drawings fail to show the first bearing members or the second bearing members, and because the specification fails to adequately describe the first bearing member and second bearing member. It is not possible to ascertain the scope of the claim without knowing the information missing from the drawings and the specification.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tatsuya, JP 2006258572 A (hereinafter Tatsuya).
Regarding claim 1, Tatsuya teaches a detection device for vehicles comprising:
a base section fixed to a body of a vehicle (base section 3, Fig. 5); and
a bearing having an outer ring member (5, Fig. 5), an inner ring member (4, Fig. 5), and rolling elements disposed between the outer ring member and the inner ring member (5c, Fig. 5), the bearing rotatably supporting a wheel of the vehicle against the base section; wherein
a first bearing member of the outer ring member and the inner ring member is fixed to the wheel (inner ring member fixed to wheel, Fig. 5), and a second bearing member of the outer ring member and the inner ring member is fixed to the base section (out ring member fixed to base section 3, Fig. 5);
the detection device for vehicles further comprising:
a disk-shaped rotating section for detection that is disposed to rotate integrally with the first bearing member and extends radially outward of the bearing with respect to the first bearing member (disk shaped section 4a, Fig. 5); and
a displacement detection section that is disposed in a non-contact state with the rotating section for detection at a position of the base section that is distant from the bearing in the radial direction and opposite to the rotating section for detection in the axial direction of the bearing and that outputs a signal in response to an axial displacement of the rotating section for detection (detector 51, Fig. 5).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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:
Regarding claim 2, the claim is deemed to be directed to a nonobvious difference over JP 2006258572 A. Claim 2 comprises a planar receiving coil that is fixed to the base section and disposed at a position opposite to the detection target section in the axial direction and extending in a direction that intersects the axial direction, and an excitation coil to which an AC excitation voltage is supplied, wherein the receiving coil is voltage induced when the excitation voltage is supplied to the excitation coil, and a processing section is provided to calculate the axial displacement of the rotating section for detection\, so as to optimize the determination of axial displacement of the rotating section for detection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20090236157 A1 discloses a sensor equipped axle unit having an in-wheel type motor built therein, in which a hub bearing assembly (A), an electric motor (B), a reduction gear unit (C) and a brake assembly (D) are arranged coaxially on a center axis of a vehicle drive wheel. Sensors (80, 81 and 82) are provided for measuring forces Fx, Fy and Fz acting at a point of contact of the vehicle drive wheel (70) and a road surface in three axis directions perpendicular to each other, respectively, from the status of at least one of the hub bearing assembly (A), the electric motor (B), the reduction gear unit (C) and the brake assembly (D). Results of such measurement are utilized for a suspension control, an ABS control and any other control.
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/LEO T HINZE/
Patent Examiner
AU 2853
20 August 2026
/STEPHEN D MEIER/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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