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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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, 5, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Aoki et al. (20210140144). Aoki et al. discloses (claim 1) a hydraulic drive apparatus that supplies a working fluid to a travel motor 11 and a loading actuator 12, the hydraulic drive apparatus comprising: a hydraulic pump 13 that discharges the working fluid, a travel system hydraulic circuit (,21,23,24) that is connected to a first passage 15 branching from a pump passage connected to the hydraulic pump 13 and controls a flow of the working fluid to the travel motor 11; a loading system hydraulic circuit 31,33,34 that is connected to a second passage 16 branching from the pump passage and controls a flow of the working fluid to the loading actuator 12, and a flow rate control valve 32 that is interposed in the second passage and controls an opening degree of the second passage according to a travel-end supply pressure (sensed by signal pressure supply line 18) that is a pressure being supplied to the travel motor 11 and a loading-end supply pressure (sensed from load end port 32a) that is a pressure being supplied to the loading actuator 12.
Regarding claim 5, Aoki et al. discloses that the flow rate control valve 32 receives the travel-end supply pressure (sensed by signal pressure supply line 18) and the loading-end supply pressure (sensed from load end port 32a) in directions toward each other (Fig. 1), and when the travel-end supply pressure increases, restricts the second passage 16 (paragraph [0029]).
Regarding claim 7, Aoki et al. discloses a hydraulic drive apparatus that supplies a working fluid to a travel motor 11 and a loading actuator 12, the hydraulic drive apparatus comprising a hydraulic pump 13 that discharges the working fluid, a travel system hydraulic circuit 21,23,24 that is connected to a first passage leading 15 to a pump passage connected to the hydraulic pump 13 and controls a flow of the working fluid to the travel motor 11, a loading system hydraulic circuit 31,33,34 that is connected to a second passage 16 leading to the pump passage via the first passage 15 and controls a flow of the working fluid to the loading actuator 12, and a flow rate control valve 32 that is interposed in the second passage 16 and controls an opening degree of the second passage 16 according to a travel-end supply pressure (sensed by signal pressure line 18) that is a pressure being supplied to the travel motor 11 and a loading-end supply pressure (sensed from input port 32a) that is a pressure being supplied to the loading actuator 12.
Prior Art
Prior art made of record but not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure for showing other hydraulic drive apparatus with travel motors, loading actuators, and supply pressure selection circuits.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 and 6 are 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 improvements comprise (claim 2) a supply pressure selection circuit that selects and outputs a maximum pressure among the travel-end supply pressure and the loading-end supply pressure, wherein the flow rate control valve receives, in directions toward each other, the maximum pressure that is output from the supply pressure selection circuit and a downstream pressure of the flow rate control valve, and when the maximum pressure increases, restricts the opening degree of the second passage, and (claim 6) a supply pressure selection circuit that includes: a travel-end circuit portion that outputs a travel-end maximum pressure that is a maximum pressure among a pressure being supplied to the first travel motor and a pressure being supplied to the second travel motor, and a loading-end circuit portion that outputs a loading-end maximum pressure that is a maximum pressure among pressures being supplied to the plurality of loading actuators.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the examiner should be directed to Thomas Lazo whose telephone number is (571) 272-4818. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor Nathaniel Wiehe, can be reached on (571) 272-8648. The fax phone number for this Group is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THOMAS E LAZO/Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 3745
February 7, 2026