DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
Claims 1, 3, 5-6, 8, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Arai US 20080060864 A1.
Regarding independent claim 1, Arai discloses [an exhaust system of a straddled off-road traveling vehicle 10,] (Fig. 1; Paragraph 0027)
the exhaust system comprising:
[an exhaust passage 24 extending from an exhaust port 42 of an internal combustion engine 20 of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle and including a lateral portion passing through a lateral space of the internal combustion engine;] (Fig. 2; Paragraph 0027 and 0030)
[a silencer 22 connected to the exhaust passage at a position downstream of the lateral portion in a flow direction of an exhaust gas;] (Fig. 1-2; Paragraph 0027)
[a main catalyst 58 located inside the silencer;] (Fig. 2; Paragraph 0036) and
[a precatalyst 60 located at the lateral portion and having a heat capacity smaller than a heat capacity of the main catalyst.] (Fig. 3; Paragraph 0036)
Regarding claim 3, Arai further discloses [wherein the precatalyst 60 is located at a position within 1,000 millimeters from the exhaust port 42 along the exhaust passage 24.] (Fig. 2; As shown in Fig. 2, Arai illustrates wherein the precatalyst 60 is located at a position within 1,000 millimeters from the exhaust port 42 along the exhaust passage 24.)
Regarding claim 5, Arai further discloses [wherein the precatalyst 60 is located at an upward position relative to a lower end of the internal combustion engine 20 in a height direction of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle.] (Fig. 1-2; As shown in Fig. 1-2, Arai illustrates wherein the precatalyst 60 is located at an upward position relative to a lower end of the internal combustion engine 20 in a height direction of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle.)
Regarding claim 6, Arai further discloses [wherein in a side view of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle 10, the precatalyst 60 is located so as not to project forward in a front-rear direction of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle beyond a down frame of a vehicle body frame of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle, the down frame being located at a forward position relative to the internal combustion engine 20 and extending downward from a head pipe of the vehicle body frame.] (Annotation of Fig. 2; As shown in the annotation of Fig. 2 below, Arai illustrates wherein the precatalyst 60 is located so as not to project forward in a front-rear direction of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle 10 beyond a down frame of a vehicle body frame of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle, the down frame being located at a forward position relative to the internal combustion engine 20 and extending downward from a head pipe of the vehicle body frame.)
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Annotated Fig. 2 of Arai
Regarding claim 8, Arai further discloses [wherein the heat capacity of the precatalyst 60 is not more than 50% of the heat capacity of the main catalyst 58.] (Fig. 2; As shown in Fig. 2, Arai illustrates wherein the heat capacity of the precatalyst 60 is not more than 50% of the heat capacity of the main catalyst 58.)
Regarding claim 10, Arai further discloses [the exhaust system according to claim 1; and the internal combustion engine 20.] (Fig. 1; Paragraph 0027)
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arai in view Matsumoto US 11840947 B2.
Regarding claim 2, Arai does not disclose wherein the precatalyst is located at a position closer to the exhaust port than a middle point of the exhaust passage in the flow direction of the exhaust gas.
Matsumoto teaches [wherein the precatalyst is located at a position closer to the exhaust port than a middle point of the exhaust passage in the flow direction of the exhaust gas] (Fig. 1-5; As shown in Fig. 1-5, Matsumoto illustrates wherein the precatalyst 71 is located at a position closer to the exhaust port 36 than a middle point of the exhaust passage in the flow direction of the exhaust gas.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to alternatively use the precatalyst positioning of Matsumoto with the exhaust system of Arai with a reasonable expectation of success because it would allow for the precatalyst to be closer to the exhaust port which permits the precatalyst to reach its activation temperature more quickly due to higher exhaust gas temperature near the engine, thus improving exhaust gas purification performance during engine start-up and other low-temperature operating conditions.
Regarding claim 4, Arai does not disclose wherein in a side view of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle, the precatalyst is located at a forward position relative to a rear end of a cylinder block of the internal combustion engine in a front-rear direction of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle.
Matsumoto teaches [wherein in a side view of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle, the precatalyst is located at a forward position relative to a rear end of a cylinder block of the internal combustion engine in a front-rear direction of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle.] (Fig. 2; As shown in Fig. 2, Matsumoto illustrates wherein in a side view of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle, the precatalyst 71 is located at a forward position relative to a rear end of a cylinder block of the internal combustion engine 31 in a front-rear direction of the straddled off-road traveling vehicle.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to alternatively use the forward precatalyst positioning of Matsumoto with the exhaust system of Arai with a reasonable expectation of success because it would allow for the precatalyst to be placed closer to the engine which permits the precatalyst to reach its temperature more quickly, thus improving emission performance, particularly during engine start-up and warm-up conditions,
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arai in view of Masuda et al. JP H09264125 A (page/line numbering used for foreign references below corresponds to the machine-translation preceding the original patent, as attached to the present Office Action – note page numbers of the translation are marked as TP-1, TP-2, etc.).
Regarding claim 7, Arai does not disclose wherein: the main catalyst includes divided main catalysts; and the heat capacity of the precatalyst is smaller than a heat capacity of each of the divided main catalysts.
Masuda et al. teaches [wherein: the main catalyst includes divided main catalysts; and the heat capacity of the precatalyst is smaller than a heat capacity of each of the divided main catalysts.] (Fig. 4; Page 5, lines 26-33)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to alternatively use the divided main catalysts of Masuda et al. with the exhaust system of Arai with a reasonable expectation of success because it would allow for the main catalyst to be divided into multiple larger-capacity catalyst elements while maintaining a smaller capacity precatalyst which allows the precatalyst to heat up and become catalytically active more quickly while the downstream divided main catalysts provide additional exhaust purification after warming, thus improving overall emission control and catalyst warm-up performance.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 9 contains the limitation wherein purifying performance of the precatalyst per unit volume for purifying the exhaust gas is higher than purifying performance of the main catalyst per unit volume for purifying the exhaust gas. The closest prior art, Arai US 20080060864 A1, discloses an exhaust system comprising a pre-catalyst and a main catalyst configuration, but does not disclose wherein purifying performance of the precatalyst per unit volume for purifying the exhaust gas is higher than purifying performance of the main catalyst per unit volume for purifying the exhaust gas.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Shinohara et al. US 20030155108 A1 – comprises heat exchangers are sequentially disposed within an exhaust port, within a pre-catalytic device, and on the downstream of a main catalytic device; the exhaust port, the pre-catalytic device, and the main catalytic device being provided in an exhaust passage of an internal combustion engine. With regard to the heat transfer surface densities (heat transfer area/volume) of these heat exchangers, that of the heat exchanger on the upstream side of the exhaust passage is the lowest, and that of the heat exchanger on the downstream side is the highest. The heat transfer surface density becomes low in a section on the upstream side of the exhaust passage where the temperature of the exhaust gas is high, and the heat transfer surface density becomes high in a section on the downstream side of the exhaust passage where the temperature of the exhaust gas becomes low, thereby maintaining a uniform heat transfer performance across all of the heat exchangers.
Kubo et al. US 20200291843 A1 – comprises an attachment structure for an exhaust gas sensor, wherein an exhaust gas sensor is attached to a downstream connection pipe part of an exhaust pipe so as to be disposed, in a side view of a motorcycle, in a spatial region between a footrest and a brake pedal provided to the motorcycle.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mohamed Medani whose telephone number is (703)756-1917. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 11:00 am - 7:30 pm.
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/Mohamed M Medani/Examiner, Art Unit 3611 /VALENTIN NEACSU, Ph.D./Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3611
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