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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: L12.
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.
The drawings are objected to because the line quality is poor resulting in missing lines and line sections (e.g. in Fig. 2 L2 is missing entirely & tank line downstream of RE1 is partially missing; L3 is missing in Fig. 15, please check all Figs.).
The drawings are objected to because reference number L16 (Figs. 2 & 7-16) points to the eighteenth line (L18). L16 should point to the line including AC2.
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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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 Objections
Claims 2 & 16 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 2, Line 4, “the engine” should be --the hydraulic motor--;
Claim 16, Line 7, “twelfth” should be --thirteenth--, (e.g. Fig. 16);
Claim 16, Line 7, “thirteenth” should be --twelfth--, (e.g. Fig. 12).
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.
Claims 1-6, 9-11, 13, 15-20, & 22-25 are 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.
Claim 1 is indefinite (see MPEP 2173.05(p)(II)) for reciting an apparatus (i.e. a boom energy and swing energy recovery system) and the method steps of using the apparatus (i.e. a mobile device held by a user; and a controller linked to the mobile device and configured to control an operation of the construction machine based on an operation signal).
Claim 1 recites “an engine configured to provide the flow of oil to the boom cylinder and connected at its shaft to a main pump” in lines 5-6, which renders the claim indefinite because the “main pump”, not the “engine”, is “configured to provide the flow of oil to the boom cylinder”.
Claims 2-6, 9-11, 13, 15-20, & 22-25 are rejected due to their dependence from Claim 1.
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.
Claims 1-3 & 15, as far as they are definite, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kajita et al (US 20160238041 A1) in view of Sano et al (US 20210010229 A1).
Kajita et al disclose a boom energy and swing energy recovery system (e.g. Fig. 1) for mobile-linked construction machinery, which is installed in a construction machine (e.g. Fig. 4) to recover energy, wherein the construction machine comprises a boom cylinder (e.g. 7c1, 7c2) comprising a rod raised and lowered by means of a flow of oil, a large chamber, and a small chamber formed on the large chamber (e.g. as shown in Fig. 1), an engine (e.g. 11) configured to provide the flow of oil to the boom cylinder and connected at its shaft to a main pump (e.g. 12, 13), a boom (e.g. 7) driven up/down by the boom cylinder by means of the flow of oil, and a body (e.g. 1) installed on a drive unit (e.g. 2) of the construction machine to swing horizontally by driving of a swing motor (e.g. 3m), the boom energy and swing energy recovery system comprising: a main control valve (e.g. 26) connected to the boom cylinder to selectively control the flow of oil provided to the boom cylinder; a hydraulic motor assembly comprising a hydraulic motor (e.g. 15) connected to the engine to generate a rotational force by means of oil introduced thereinto and connected at its rotary shaft to the shaft of the engine for provision of the rotational force, and at least one pipe (e.g. 68) for inflow and outflow of oil therethrough; a boom energy recovery unit (e.g. 31, 61) configured to recover oil wasted during boom-down by the boom cylinder; a swing energy recovery unit (e.g. 121, 125) configured to recover oil wasted during swing of the body; and a controller (e.g. Para. [0041]) configured to control an operation of the construction machine based on an operation signal, wherein boom energy generated by means of the oil recovered by the boom energy recovery unit and swing energy generated by means of the oil recovered by the swing energy recovery unit are reused. Kajita et al do not explicitly teach a mobile device held by a user; or a controller linked to the mobile device.
Sano et al teach a construction machine (e.g. Fig. 11, 100) including a mobile device (e.g. 200) held by a user; and a controller (e.g. 30) linked to the mobile device (e.g. Para. [0224]-[0026]).
Kajita et al and Sano et al all seek to provide a construction machine, thus it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the boom energy and swing energy recovery system of Kajita et al to have a mobile device held by a user; and a controller linked to the mobile device, as taught by Sano et al, for the purpose of enabling remote control of the construction machine operation.
Regarding Claims 2-3, Kajita et al, as modified, further teach the main control valve comprises a spool (e.g. 26) operated to allow oil to flow toward the large chamber or the small chamber in the boom cylinder, a main valve line (e.g. 22) through which oil flows to the main control valve, a boom-up valve line (e.g. Para. [0022]) connected to the spool, the boom-up valve being opened so that oil flows to the large chamber by movement of the spool to allow the boom to be moved up, and a boom-down valve line (e.g. Para. [0022]) connected to the spool, the boom-down valve being opened so that oil flows to the small chamber by movement of the spool to allow the boom to be moved down; and the boom energy recovery unit comprises an accumulator (e.g. 61) connected to the boom cylinder to accumulate oil introduced from the boom cylinder and to discharge the accumulated oil to the boom cylinder and the engine, a boom energy valve assembly (e.g. 31) comprising a plurality of lines for oil to flow therethrough and at least one valve installed in a selected one of the plurality of lines to control a flow rate of oil, and at least one oil tank provided to store oil introduced thereinto or discharge the stored oil therefrom. Kajita et al, as modified, do not explicitly teach the boom-up valve line includes a boom-up valve; or the boom-down valve line includes a boom-down valve.
Sano et al teach a construction machine (e.g. Fig. 11, 100) including a boom-up valve line connected to the spool (e.g. Fig. 10, 17) and in which a boom-up valve (e.g. 60) is placed, the boom-up valve being opened so that oil flows to the large chamber by movement of the spool to allow the boom to be moved up, and a boom-down valve line connected to the spool and in which a boom-down valve (e.g. 62) is placed, the boom-down valve being opened so that oil flows to the small chamber by movement of the spool to allow the boom to be moved down.
Kajita et al, as modified, and Sano et al all seek to provide a construction machine, thus it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to further modify the boom energy and swing energy recovery system of Kajita et al, as modified, to have the boom-up valve line includes a boom-up valve; and the boom-down valve line includes a boom-down valve, as taught by Sano et al, for the purpose of controlling the raising and lowering of the boom.
Regarding Claim 15, Kajita et al, as modified, further teach the swing energy recovery unit comprises a high-pressure accumulator (e.g. 125) connected to a swing motor (e.g. 3m) connected to the main pump (e.g. via 111) of the engine to accumulate oil introduced along with rotation of the swing motor and to discharge the accumulated oil to the hydraulic motor assembly, a low-pressure accumulator (e.g. 21 via 116, Para. [0037]; known equivalent alternate structure) connected to the swing motor connected to the main pump of the engine to provide oil to the swing motor, thereby preventing cavitation of the swing motor, a swing energy valve assembly (e.g. C) comprising a plurality of lines for oil to flow therethrough and at least one valve installed in a selected one of the plurality of lines to control a flow rate of oil, and at least one oil tank (e.g. 21) provided to store oil introduced thereinto or discharge the stored oil therefrom.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6, 9-11, 13, 16-20, & 22-25 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Additional references listed on form PTO-892 are cited for their relevance to the disclosed invention and demonstration of the state of the art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL LESLIE whose telephone number is (571)272-4819. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 8 am - 4-30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathaniel Wiehe can be reached at (571)272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL LESLIE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745
February 20, 2026
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