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 .
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 10/7/25 and 12/6/24 were filed and the submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention (“Crane”) is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Shiya et al. (the Japanese Publication JP2022039774) (see IDS) in view of Katsuya (the Japanese Publication JPH11322274) (see IDS).
RE claim 1, Shiya et al. (the Japanese Publication JP2022039774) discloses a lifting crane (see Figs. 1-4) comprising: a vehicle body (1) having an upper body and a lower body (2) (see Fig. 1) that travels on a basis of power supplied from a power source (13); a hydraulic oil tank (see Fig. 2) provided in the traveling vehicle body; and a hydraulic oil supply device including a motor (12) driven by the power source and a pump part (11) driven by the motor and supplying hydraulic oil to a driven part, the hydraulic oil being supplied from the hydraulic oil tank, wherein the pump part is disposed below a liquid level of hydraulic oil in the hydraulic oil tank.
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Shiya et al. vehicle (the Japanese Publication JP2022039774) does not specifically show that the hydraulic oil being supplied from the hydraulic oil tank, wherein the pump part is disposed below a liquid level of hydraulic oil in the hydraulic oil tank. However, Katsuya (the Japanese Publication JPH11322274) teaches a mobile machine having a hydraulic tank constructed of two hydraulic tanks (66 and 68) providing a hydraulic oil lever driven by a hydraulic pump (60). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the mechanical engineering art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the desired oil level on the Shiya et al. (the Japanese Publication JP2022039774) as taught by Katsuya (the Japanese Publication JPH11322274) to provide the liquid level to a user.
RE claim 2, Shiya et al. vehicle (the Japanese Publication JP2022039774) does not specifically show a plurality of pumps even though Katsuya (the Japanese Publication JPH11322274) teaches two hydraulic tanks (66 and 68) providing a hydraulic oil lever driven by a hydraulic pump (60). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the mechanical engineering art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide a number of pumps on the Shiya et al. (the Japanese Publication JP2022039774) to empower the liquid level to a user.
RE claim 3, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the mechanical engineering art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the hydraulic oil supply device and the hydraulic oil tank are disposed beside a main frame of the traveling vehicle body and between a pair of front and rear axles to provide a desired location and physical safety to a user.
RE claims 5-8, Fig. 2 (the flow chart) of Shiya et al. vehicle (the Japanese Publication JP2022039774) shows that the motor (12) and the pump part (11) are connected in series. It is pointed out that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the mechanical engineering art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the connection (in series or parallel) or in perpendicular and the location on the Shiya et al. (the Japanese Publication JP2022039774) to provide a user’s preference.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL T CHIN whose telephone number is (571) 272-6922. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00-4:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Hodge, can be reached on (571) 272-2097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL T CHIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654
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