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:
Claim 1, line 10, “to” should be - -by- -.
Claim 1, either line 11 should be amended to insert - -side- - after “end” or in line 16 “side” should be deleted so that the phrasing remains consistent in the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claim 3 is 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 3, it is unclear where the recitation “and on at least one of both sides of the recess in a circumferential direction” is requiring the groove to be placed. The recess itself it an annular feature or at least includes an annular feature and the bearing itself is also annular, what is the “circumferential direction” being defined relative to? What are the sides in the circumferential direction? Annular features are normally not said to have a plurality of sides in the circumferential direction thus it is further unclear what “sides” the claim is actually referencing, annular features have sides in the axial direction but normally form rings which have no sides in the circumferential direction.
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) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Irie, JP2006207731, in view of Hiroshi, JPS39-12218.
Regarding claim 1, Irie discloses a roller bearing, comprising: an inner ring (2) including an outer peripheral surface having an inner ring raceway surface (surface in contact with the rolling surface of 3); an outer ring including an inner peripheral surface having an outer ring raceway surface (not illustrated, however all rolling elements include an outer element that forms the outer rolling surface for the roller, this would be the outer ring member); and a plurality of rollers (3) disposed such that the rollers are capable of rolling between the inner ring raceway surface and the outer ring raceway surface, wherein: a flange (projection on the bottom of 2 in figure 1 that contacts the end face of the roller 3) integrated with the inner ring is formed at one end of the inner ring in an axial direction; a flange member (6) separate from the inner ring is fastened to [by] a fastening member (8) extending in the axial direction at the other end of the inner ring in the axial direction; and the flange member includes: a base (main body where bolt 8 passes) abutting against the inner ring in the axial direction and on which a head of the fastening member (8) is seated.
Irie does not disclose the use of a caulking portion pressing the head of the fastening member from the other end side in the axial direction.
Hiroshi teaches the use of a caulking portion (5) around a bolt hole (3) that presses the head (2) of the fastening member (1) from the end in which the bolt is inserted for the purpose of providing a means that removes slack and acts as a stopper (page 2 of 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 Irie and add a caulking portion pressing the head of the fastening member from the other end side in the axial direction, as taught by Hiroshi, for the purpose of providing a means that removes slack and acts as a stopper. The use of a caulking portion to retain a bolt in its hole is not new or novel as demonstrated by the prior art of record, the use of such feature provides the predictable result of preventing the screw/bolt from backing out of the assembly thus preventing accidental separation of the parts.
Regarding claim 2, Irie in view of Hiroshi discloses that the flange member (6 Irie) includes a recess recessed from the other end surface of the base in the axial direction toward one side in the axial direction and on which the head of the fastening member is seated (the hole that holds the bolt/screw head is the recess); and the base of the flange member includes a groove recessed from the other end surface of the base in the axial direction toward one side in the axial direction at a position separated from the recess and on a radially outer side of the recess (the caulking portion as taught by Hiroshi is formed by a groove 4 that is radially outside the recess 3 that holds the bolt head).
Regarding claim 3, Irie in view of Hiroshi, as best understood, discloses that the flange member (6 Irie) includes a recess recessed from the other end surface of the base in the axial direction toward one side in the axial direction and on which the head of the fastening member is seated (the hole that holds the bolt/screw head is the recess); and the base of the flange member includes a groove recessed from the other end surface of the base in the axial direction toward one side in the axial direction at a position separated from the recess and on at least one of both sides of the recess in a circumferential direction (the caulking portion as taught by Hiroshi is formed by a groove 4 that is radially outside the recess 3 that holds the bolt head, this groove surrounds the bolt head recess and thus, as best understood, is “on at least one of both sides of the recess in the circumferential direction”).
Regarding claim 4, Irie in view of Hiroshi discloses that the base of the flange member is provided with a groove on a side opposite to the head of the fastening member with the caulking portion interposed therebetween, and recessed from the other end surface of the base in the axial direction toward one side in the axial direction (the caulking portion taught by Hiroshi is formed by bending a portion of material that is separated from the rest of the base by a groove 4, the groove being opposite the head of the fastening relative to the caulking portion and the groove is recessed from the other end side toward the one end side in the axial direction in the combination).
Regarding claim 5, Irie in view of Hiroshi discloses that the flange member includes a recess recessed from the other end surface of the base in the axial direction toward one side in the axial direction and on which the head of the fastening member is seated (the recess that holds the bolt head in Irie); and the caulking portion extends from at least a part of an edge of the recess and extends so as to overlap the head of the fastening member (as taught by Hiroshi the caulking portion surrounds the recess, and thus defines an edge of the recess, and is bent so as to overlap the head of the bolt/screw).
Regarding claim 6, Irie in view of Hiroshi discloses that the caulking portion (5 taught by Hiroshi) extends from a whole circumference of the edge of the recess and extends so as to overlap a whole circumference of the head of the fastening member (5 in Hiroshi extends around the whole bolt head).
Regarding claim 7, Irie discloses that the other end of the inner ring in the axial direction is formed with an inner ring boss (at 10) protruding from the inner ring raceway surface toward the other end side in the axial direction; the flange member (6) is fastened to the inner ring boss by the fastening member (8); and the fastening member does not overlap the inner ring raceway surface in the axial direction (figure 1a appears to show an overlap while figure 1b does not, figure 2b also shows a configuration where there is no overlap between the bolt and the raceway, the abstract of the reference also states that “10 is set to be greater than the axial length of the bolt 7”, if this the case it would not be possible of the bolt and the raceway to overlap).
Conclusion
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/JAMES PILKINGTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617