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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Lines 7 – 8, “remaining one of the sliding rings” should read - - a remaining one of the two sliding rings - -.
Lines 10 – 11, “the one of the sliding rings” should read - - the remaining one of the two sliding rings - -.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Wang USP 6152452.
Claim 1, Wang discloses a sliding component (stationary ring 2)(Fig. 10)(col. 4, l. 35) which is one of two sliding rings that rotate relative to each other and partition a sealed fluid space (high pressure side, i.e. upstream side H)(col. 6, l. 53) and a leakage space (low pressure side, i.e. downstream L)(col. 6, ll. 54 – 55), wherein the sliding component includes a dynamic pressure generating groove (Fig. 14) configured to generate a dynamic pressure, the dynamic pressure generating groove includes an inclined groove (downstream spiral groove 12)(col. 7, l. 28) and a reverse groove (upstream spiral groove 11)(col. 7, l. 24), the inclined groove extends from the leakage space L toward the sealed fluid space H with an inclination in a forward rotation direction D which is a relative rotation direction (col. 5, ll. 66 – 67 to col. 6, l. 1: “[i]f the spiral grooves are disposed on the stationary ring, the rotational direction of the rotating ring is the direction of D”) of a remaining one of the two sliding rings (rotating ring 2)(col. 4, ll. 34 – 35), and has a first dynamic pressure generating end portion 11a (see annotated Fig. 14), and the reverse groove extends from a backward rotation direction side of the inclined groove in a backward rotation direction (clockwise direction or counter to rotation direction D) which is a relative rotation direction of the remaining one of the two sliding rings, and has a second dynamic pressure generating end portion 12a.
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Claim 4, Wang discloses the first dynamic pressure generating end portion 12a being disposed on a side of the leakage space L in relation to the second dynamic pressure generating end portion 11a.
Claim 7, Wang discloses the first dynamic pressure generating end portion 11a being defined by lines crossing each other at an acute angle when viewed from an axial direction.
Claim 9, Wang discloses the second dynamic pressure generating end portion 12a being defined by lines crossing each other at an acute angle when viewed from an axial direction.
Conclusion
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/PHILLIP A JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617