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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group III (Claims 10, 13, 14, 17) in the reply filed on 12/04/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 11-12, 14-16, 18-21 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/04/2025.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/14/2024 has been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because:
Reference character “2” has been used to designate both a first “attachment part” and a second “attachment part” in Fig. 1.
While they both point to an eye coupling structure, they are claimed as two distinct structures, and should therefore have two different reference characters to distinguish the first eye coupling structure from the second eye coupling structure.
Reference character “3” has been used to designated both a “piston rod” and “a closure part” in Fig. 1.
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. 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 Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
“a coupling module for coupling to a device to be actuated for the transmission of force” in claim 1
The non-structural generic place holder of “a coupling module” is paired with the function of “for coupling to a device to be actuated for the transmission of force”
The specification discusses the corresponding structure with:
“The attachment part is a coupling module designed to be coupled to a device to be actuated in order to transmit force. When the working cylinder is used as intended, the coupling module is connected to a device to be actuated, usually in the form of a hinged connection, for which the coupling module is designed as a joint bearing, also referred to as a rod-eye or joint head. However, the coupling module can also be designed in a different way.”
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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) 10, 13, 14, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mickelson et al. (US 20040143953), ‘hereinafter’ Mickelson’ in view of Keller et al. (US 9429021), hereinafter ‘Keller’.
Mickelson discloses
Claim 10 (new). A weld-coupled working cylinder (Fig. 1), comprising:
a working cylinder component being a piston rod or a closure part (102);
an attachment part being a coupling module (104) for coupling to a device to be actuated for the transmission of force; and a weld seam (106).
Mickelson does not disclose wherein the weld seam is constructed as a step-wise produced hybrid weld seam having a lower weld seam zone and an upper weld seam zone; in said lower weld seam zone, said working cylinder component having a lower working cylinder component weld seam surface and said attachment part having a lower attachment part weld seam surface, and said lower weld seam surfaces having a butt joint, and said lower weld seam zone being constructed as a laser weld seam; in said upper weld seam zone said working cylinder component having an upper working cylinder component weld seam surface and said attachment part having an upper attachment part weld seam surface, said upper weld seam surfaces having a surface separation defining an upper weld seam space, said upper weld seam zone constructed as a laser hybrid weld seam having a filling of welding filler metal in said upper weld seam space.
However, Keller discloses a welding technique applicable to Mickelson and pertinent to the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Keller discloses wherein the weld seam (Keller Fig. 2) is constructed as a step-wise produced hybrid weld seam having a lower weld seam zone (Keller 33) and an upper weld seam zone (Keller 32 and/or 31);
in said lower weld seam zone, said working cylinder component having a lower working cylinder component weld seam surface and said attachment part having a lower attachment part weld seam surface, and said lower weld seam surfaces having a butt joint (Keller butt joint at 33), and said lower weld seam zone being constructed as a laser weld seam (Col. 3 lines 51-67 discloses laser welding for melting the root 33, two structures 26, 27 include respective weld seam surfaces);
in said upper weld seam zone said working cylinder component having an upper working cylinder component weld seam surface and said attachment part having an upper attachment part weld seam surface, said upper weld seam surfaces having a surface separation defining an upper weld seam space (Keller, see 31, weld seam space between the two parts 26, 27),
said upper weld seam zone constructed as a laser hybrid weld seam having a filling of welding filler metal in said upper weld seam space (Keller, Col. 5 lines 16-27 discloses a laser hybrid welding process or filling up the weld seam in 31; Col. 4 discloses that various combinations of welding techniques can be combined).
Since simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is an exemplary rationale that supports a conclusion of obviousness, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the device of Mickelson to have used a weld seam that is constructed as a step-wise produced hybrid weld seam having a lower weld seam zone and an upper weld seam zone; in said lower weld seam zone, said working cylinder component having a lower working cylinder component weld seam surface and said attachment part having a lower attachment part weld seam surface, and said lower weld seam surfaces having a butt joint, and said lower weld seam zone being constructed as a laser weld seam; in said upper weld seam zone said working cylinder component having an upper working cylinder component weld seam surface and said attachment part having an upper attachment part weld seam surface, said upper weld seam surfaces having a surface separation defining an upper weld seam space, said upper weld seam zone constructed as a laser hybrid weld seam having a filling of welding filler metal in said upper weld seam space, as taught by Keller. Using the welding technique taught by Keller to achieve the weld between the two structures of Mickelson would only yield the predictable result of a functioning weld-coupled working cylinder assembly since the weld of Keller and Mickelson both couple together two structures together.
The combination of Mickelson and Keller further renders obvious:
Claim 13 (new). The weld-coupled working cylinder assembly according to claim 10, wherein the lower weld seam zone surface is formed as an inner circular surface or as a ring surface and said upper weld seam zone surface is an outer ring surface which radially encloses said lower weld seam zone surface (Keller Fig. 2, axis 34, lower weld seam zone 33 is an inner circular/ring surface, upper weld seam zone 31 is an outer ring surface that radially encloses the lower weld seam zone 33 with respect to axis 34).
Claim 14 (new). A weld-coupled working cylinder assembly, comprising:
a working cylinder component being a cylinder tube;
an attachment part being a closure part or a further closure part; and
a weld seam constructed as a step-wise produced hybrid weld seam having a lower weld seam zone and an upper weld seam zone;
in said lower weld seam zone, said working cylinder component having a lower working cylinder component weld seam surface and said attachment part having a lower attachment part weld seam surface, said lower weld seam surfaces having a butt joint, and said lower weld seam zone being constructed as a laser weld seam;
in said upper weld seam zone, said working cylinder component having an upper working cylinder component weld seam surface and said attachment part having an upper attachment part weld seam surface, said upper weld seam surfaces having a surface separation defining an upper weld seam space,
said upper weld seam zone being constructed as a laser hybrid weld seam having a filling of welding filler material in said upper weld seam space (see claim 10 rejection for equivalent limitation mapping and discussion).
Claim 17 (new). The weld-coupled working cylinder assembly according to claim 14, wherein the lower weld seam zone surface is formed as an inner circular surface or as a ring surface and said upper weld seam zone surface is an outer ring surface which radially encloses said lower weld seam zone surface (see claim 13 rejection for equivalent limitation mapping and discussion).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kuhnen (US 5532454) discloses a pertinent welding disclosure
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Dustin T Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)270-0163. The examiner can normally be reached M - F: 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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/DUSTIN T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745 January 28, 2026
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