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 .
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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) 1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 14 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2003-166696 (JP696) in view of Takizawa, USP 6,948,856.
Regarding claim 1, JP696 discloses a bearing device comprising: a bearing (1) including an outer ring (12), an inner ring (11), and a rolling element (13); and a retaining member (15), wherein the retaining member (15) is fixed to any one ring of the outer ring and the inner ring (fixed to 12), the retaining member (15) includes a side plate portion having a width in a radial direction (portion 15a, extends in the radial direction of the bearing) and extending in a circumferential direction (15 is an annular shield), and at least one gas sensor (21c), the at least one gas sensor detecting a state of the bearing.
JP696 discloses a wired connection to the computation unit 22 of the assembly but is silent with regards to how the unit is powered and collected date is transmitted and thus does not disclose at least part of a power supply that generates electric power and a circuit board are fixed to the retaining member, the circuit board is fixed to, in an axial direction, a surface of the side plate portion not facing the rolling element, and a wireless communication circuit are mounted on the circuit board, the wireless communication circuit wirelessly transmitting an output of the at least one gas sensor to outside.
Takizawa teaches a wireless sensor arrangement for a bearing that includes at least part of a power supply that generates electric power (column 8, lines 55-65 discloses that the unit can be wired powered or a power source can be integrated therein to exclude the need of a wire, more specifically a battery like 213 can be used) and a circuit board (65) are fixed to the retaining member (9), the circuit board (65) is fixed to, in an axial direction, a surface of the side plate portion not facing the rolling element (see figure 6a), and a wireless communication circuit are mounted on the circuit board, the wireless communication circuit wirelessly transmitting an output of the at least one sensor (64) to outside (see column 26, lines 36-37 which discloses that the output of the detected value is done wirelessly, thus a wireless communication circuit would be included within the sensor assembly/circuit board).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to modify JP696 and configure the sensor arrangement as a wireless sensor arrangement with at least part of a power supply that generates electric power and a circuit board are fixed to the retaining member, the circuit board is fixed to, in an axial direction, a surface of the side plate portion not facing the rolling element, and a wireless communication circuit are mounted on the circuit board, the wireless communication circuit wirelessly transmitting an output of the at least one gas sensor to outside, as taught by Takizawa, for the purpose and predictable result of excluding the need for wires and thus preventing any risk of entanglement and to allow the bearing to be positioned further from a monitoring device without the need of a network connecting the two components together (reduces the need for wire harnesses, connectors etc.) thus reducing the number of components simplifying manufacturing and assembly.
Regarding claim 2, JP696 in view of Takizawa discloses that the wireless communication circuit includes an operation unit (22 in JP696 is equivalent to the operation unit as disclosed in the instant application, the combination with Takizawa above would communicate the processed data in this unit wirelessly and thus it can be said that the resulting combination is a wireless circuit with an operation unit).
Regarding claim 4, JP696 in view of Takizawa discloses that the power
supply is a storage battery (213 in Takizawa is a battery and as shown in figure 25b this battery can be part of the retainer/circuit combination).
Regarding claim 6, JP696 further discloses that the bearing further includes a retainer (14) retaining a plurality of the rolling elements (13) at intervals in the circumferential direction, the retainer has a shape to be opened on a first end face side and coupled on a second end face side in the axial direction (see figure 1 which shows 14 as a crown or claw type cage which is a cage open on one side and closed on the other), and the retaining member is arranged at a position on the first end face side of the retainer relative to the rolling element (the open side faces 15 with sensor element 21c).
Regarding claim 7, JP696 further discloses that the retaining member (15) is made of metal (see paragraph 0017 of the translation provided by Applicant).
Regarding claim 8, JP696 discloses a bearing device comprising: a bearing (1) including an outer ring (12), an inner ring (11), and a rolling element (13); and a retaining member (15), wherein the retaining member (15) is fixed to any one ring of the outer ring and the inner ring (fixed to 12), the retaining member (15) includes a side plate portion having a width in a radial direction (portion 15a, extends in the radial direction of the bearing) and extending in a circumferential direction (15 is an annular shield), and at least one gas sensor (21c), the at least one gas sensor detecting a state of the bearing, the side plate portion (15a) has a through hole (15b) connecting a first surface facing the rolling element to a second surface located opposite to the first surface, and a porous membrane (21b, 21b is disclosed as a ceramic filter, this would be porous in order to allow the passage of the gas being detected, the recitation “membrane” is not structurally limiting the claim to any particular material or structure but is merely functioning as part of the name of the element) is attached so as to cover the through hole.
JP696 discloses a wired connection to the computation unit 22 of the assembly but is silent with regards to how the unit is powered and collected date is transmitted and thus does not disclose at least part of a power supply that generates electric power and a circuit board are fixed to the retaining member, the circuit board is fixed to, in an axial direction, a surface of the side plate portion not facing the rolling element, and a wireless communication circuit are mounted on the circuit board, the wireless communication circuit wirelessly transmitting an output of the at least one gas sensor to outside.
Takizawa teaches a wireless sensor arrangement for a bearing that includes at least part of a power supply that generates electric power (column 8, lines 55-65 discloses that the unit can be wired powered or a power source can be integrated therein to exclude the need of a wire, more specifically a battery like 213 can be used) and a circuit board (65) are fixed to the retaining member (9), the circuit board (65) is fixed to, in an axial direction, a surface of the side plate portion not facing the rolling element (see figure 6a), and a wireless communication circuit are mounted on the circuit board, the wireless communication circuit wirelessly transmitting an output of the at least one sensor (64) to outside (see column 26, lines 36-37 which discloses that the output of the detected value is done wirelessly, thus a wireless communication circuit would be included within the sensor assembly/circuit board).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to modify JP696 and configure the sensor arrangement as a wireless sensor arrangement with at least part of a power supply that generates electric power and a circuit board are fixed to the retaining member, the circuit board is fixed to, in an axial direction, a surface of the side plate portion not facing the rolling element, and a wireless communication circuit are mounted on the circuit board, the wireless communication circuit wirelessly transmitting an output of the at least one gas sensor to outside, as taught by Takizawa, for the purpose and predictable result of excluding the need for wires and thus preventing any risk of entanglement and to allow the bearing to be positioned further from monitoring device without the need of a network connecting the two components together (reduces the need for wire harnesses, connectors etc.) thus reducing the number of components simplifying manufacturing and assembly.
Regarding claim 10, JP 696 discloses that the porous membrane (21b) is arranged in the through hole (15a) so as to close a cross section intersecting a direction of extension of the through hole (plugs the hole just like in the instant application).
Regarding claim 14, JP696 further discloses that the bearing further includes a retainer (14) retaining a plurality of the rolling elements (13) at intervals in the circumferential direction, the retainer has a shape to be opened on a first end face side and coupled on a second end face side in the axial direction (see figure 1 which shows 14 as a crown or claw type cage which is a cage open on one side and closed on the other), and the retaining member is arranged at a position on the first end face side of the retainer relative to the rolling element (the open side faces 15 with sensor element 21c).
Regarding claim 15, JP696 further discloses that the retaining member (15) is made of metal (see paragraph 0017 of the translation provided by Applicant).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2003-166696 (JP696) in view of Takizawa, USP 6,948,856, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Benkert, USP 9,328,766.
Regarding claim 3, JP696 in view of Takizawa discloses and internal battery power supply and thus does not disclose that the power supply is an electromagnetic generator including a magnetic ring fixed to the other ring different from the any one ring of the outer ring and the inner ring, and a coil attached to the retaining member so as to face the magnetic ring in a radial direction of the bearing.
Benkert teaches a known internal power generating structure for a bearing that includes an electromagnetic generator including a magnetic ring (106) fixed to one of the rings and a coil (111) attached to a retaining member (112), secured to the other ring of the bearing, so as to face the magnetic ring in a radial direction of the bearing.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to modify JP696 in view of Takizawa and replace the battery style power supply with any other known power supply, including an electromagnetic generator including a magnetic ring fixed to the other ring different from the any one ring of the outer ring and the inner ring, and a coil attached to the retaining member so as to face the magnetic ring in a radial direction of the bearing, as demonstrated by Benkert, since substituting between a battery and a self-generating power supply provides the predictable of removing the need to service the bearing in order to replace the battery and to provide a power source that is constantly regenerating without needing to be connected to an form of an outside power source.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2003-166696 (JP696) in view of Takizawa, USP 6,948,856, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of JP 2005-030588 (JP588).
Regarding claim 5, JP696 in view of Takizawa discloses an internal battery power supply and thus does not disclose that the power supply is a feeding device including a power reception circuit and a power transmission circuit that transmits a signal to the power reception circuit in a contactless manner, and the power reception circuit is mounted on the retaining member (in other words a wirelessly power supply).
JP588 teaches a bearing sensor power structure that includes a power reception circuit (5) and a power transmission circuit (24) that transmits a signal to the power reception circuit in a contactless manner (via antenna 12 and 26), and the power reception circuit is mounted on the retaining member (5 is part of unit 6 which in figure 14 is shown as mounted on a retainer member 75).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to modify JP696 in view of Takizawa and replace the battery style power supply with any other known power supply, including a power supply that is a feeding device including a power reception circuit and a power transmission circuit that transmits a signal to the power reception circuit in a contactless manner, and the power reception circuit is mounted on the retaining member, as taught by JP588, since substituting between a battery and a wireless power supply provides the predictable removing the need to service the bearing itself in order to replace the battery and to provide a power source that is constantly regenerating without needing to be connected to an form of an outside power source with wires.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2003-166696 (JP696) in view of Takizawa, USP 6,948,856, as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of JP 2021-127831 (JP831).
Regarding claim 9, JP696 in view of Takizawa does not disclose that the circuit board is covered with a non-metallic lid.
JP831 teaches that a sensor/circuit board assembly mounted on a similar retainer member can be covered by a non-metallic lid (18, see the description of embodiment 1 in the attached translation) for the purpose of protecting the circuit board (purpose of lid disclosed in the description of embodiment 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to modify JP696 in view of Takizawa and provide the assembly with a non-metallic lid covering the circuit board, as taught by JP831, for the purpose and predictable result of protecting the circuit board.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2003-166696 (JP696) in view of Takizawa, USP 6,948,856, as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of JP 2009-172519 (JP519).
Regarding claim 12, JP696 discloses a ceramic filter (21b) as the porous membrane and thus does not disclose the porous membrane mainly contains a fluororesin.
JP519 teaches a sensor filter member (14) in the form of a porous membrane made of a fluororesin in place of a ceramic filter (see paragraph 0027 of the translation provided by Applicant).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to modify JP696 and use a fluororesin instead of the ceramic filter to make the porous membrane, as taught by JP519, since substituting between different known alternative filter materials provides the same predictable result filtering the gas entering the space and it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2003-166696 (JP696) in view of Takizawa, USP 6,948,856, as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of WO2017/188314 (WO314).
Regarding claim 13, JP696, while disclosing an air/gas sensor, does not discloses that the sensor is specifically one that detects at least any of an aldehyde and a carboxylic acid with a carbon number of 8 or less.
WO314 teaches gas sensors in bearings that specifically detect aldehyde compounds (see attached translation).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to modify JP696 and use any previously known gas sensor, including one that detects aldehyde, as taught by WO314, or alternatively one that detects carboxylic acid with a carbon number of 8 or less, since substituting between different known gas sensors provide the predictable result of detecting a specific element within the gas, the type of gas sensor would be selected based in the gases that would be generated with in the bearing (if lubricant is one that breaks down during operation to release water a humidity gas sensor like in JP696 would be useful, if the lubricant is different and releases other compounds as it breaks down then the appropriate sensor to detect that compound should be used).
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:
Regarding claim 11, the prior art of record does not explicitly teach the configuration of the gas sensor and the porous member as set forth in the claim and absent impermissible hindsight reconstruction there is no reason to modify JP696 and remove the ceramic filter plug element from the hole and reconfigure it as a member spaced from and overlapping the hole.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES PILKINGTON whose telephone number is (571)272-5052. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 7-3.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Olszewski can be reached at 571-272-2706. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned 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.
/JAMES PILKINGTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617