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 § 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 of this title, 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 1-15 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kunisawa et al. (JP 2021080708 – see IDS) in view of Miyachi et al. (US 6485088).
The cites to Kunisawa refer to the English translation found in the IDS.
Regarding claim 1: Kunisawa discloses a swivel working machine 1 (Figs. 23-25; abstr.; claim 1; pg. 4) Kunisawa discloses a swivel base 2 (Fig. 25; claim 1; pg. 4) Kunisawa discloses a battery 90 at a rear portion R of the swivel base (Fig. 11; claim 1; pg. 10) Kunisawa discloses a working device 20 in front of the swivel base and to be driven by electric power output from the battery (Figs. 24-25; abstr.; claim 1; pg. 4) Kunisawa discloses a rear portion exterior cover 70 at the rear portion of the swivel base to cover a side, facing rearward of a machine body, of a space in which the battery is provided (Figs. 23-25; pg. 4)
Kunisawa does not explicitly disclose a reinforcement structure inward of the rear portion exterior cover with respect to the machine body to prevent or reduce deformation of the rear portion exterior cover inward with respect to the machine body due to an external force. Miyachi discloses a reinforcement structure 1, 6, 7, 52, 53, 54, inward of the rear portion exterior cover with respect to the machine body to prevent or reduce deformation of the rear portion exterior cover inward with respect to the machine body due to an external force (Figs. 1A, 1B, 3; col. 1, lines 16-28; col. 2, lines 52-65). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art and the benefit of the cited art to have configured the machine of Kunisawa to comprise a reinforcement structure inward of the rear portion exterior cover with respect to the machine body to prevent or reduce deformation of the rear portion exterior cover inward with respect to the machine body due to an external force taught by Miyachi. As Kunisawa and Miyachi both teach swivel working machines, as it is known that such working machines need rear reinforcements to prevent or reduce deformation from contacting objects, as Kunisawa is silent regarding rear reinforcement structure, and as Miyachi explicitly discloses old and new forms of reinforcement, it would have been within routine skill to have selected a known rear reinforcement configuration from a finite selection of work machine rear reinforcement configurations. Such a simple substitution/addition, and configuration would have been predictable with a reasonable expectation of success and no unexpected results.
Regarding claim 2: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses a buffer between the reinforcement structure and the rear portion exterior cover (Kunisawa – Fig. 24; Miyachi – Fig. 1A, 3).
Regarding claim 3: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses that the rear portion exterior cover includes a sheet metal or resin (Miyachi – col. 3. Lines 9-13).
Regarding claim 4: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses that the reinforcement structure includes a central portion reinforcement structure and a pair of side portion reinforcement structures, the central portion reinforcement structure being provided at a center or substantially a center of the rear portion of the swivel base in a machine body width direction, the pair of side portion reinforcement structures being provided at the rear portion of the swivel base and spaced apart from each other in the machine body width direction (Kunisawa – Figs. 7-8, 23-25; Miyachi – Figs. 1A, 3).
Regarding claim 5: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses a support frame provided upright on the swivel base to support the rear portion exterior cover and that the central portion reinforcement structure is fixed to a rear portion of the support frame (Kunisawa – Figs. 7-8, 23-25; Miyachi – Figs. 1A, 3).
Regarding claim 6: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses that the support frame includes a rear frame portion provided upright rearward of the battery on the swivel base and the central portion reinforcement structure is fixed to a rear portion of the rear frame portion and provided rearward of the battery (Kunisawa – Figs. 7-8, 23-25; Miyachi – Figs. 1A, 3).
Regarding claim 7: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses that the reinforcement structure includes a substrate portion and a reinforcing plate portion, the substrate portion being fixed to a predetermined attachment portion, the reinforcing plate portion being provided on a rear portion of the substrate portion (Miyachi – Figs. 1A, 2, 3).
Regarding claim 8: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses that the side portion reinforcement structures are fixed to upright portions provided upright at left and right rear corner portions of the swivel base, respectively (Miyachi – Figs. 1A, 2, 3).
Regarding claim 9: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses that a sub-battery is located at a first side portion, which is one of opposite side portions in the machine body width direction, of the rear portion of the swivel base, and one of the side portion reinforcement structures that is located at a first side, which is one of opposite sides in the machine body width direction, is located rearward of the sub-battery (Kunisawa – top of page 2 – claimed subject matter is disclosed in Kunisawa’s cited prior art).
Regarding claim 10: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses an electric motor (Kunisawa – 91) to be driven by the electric power output from the battery, that the electric motor is located at a second side portion, which is one of opposite side portions in the machine body width direction, of the rear portion of the swivel base, and one of the side portion reinforcement structures that is at a second side, which is one of opposite sides in the machine body width direction, is located rearward of the electric motor (Kunisawa – Figs. 10, 24; page 5; Miyachi - reinforcement).
Regarding claim 11: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses a hydraulic pump P to deliver hydraulic fluid in response to driving of the electric motor, a hydraulic actuator C5 to be driven by a hydraulic pressure of the hydraulic fluid to actuate the working device, that the hydraulic pump is located at the second side portion, and the one of the side portion reinforcement structures that is at the second side is provided rearward of the electric motor and the hydraulic pump (Kunisawa – Figs. 4, 10, 23, 24; page 4; Miyachi - reinforcement).
Regarding claim 12: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses an electric motor (Kunisawa – 91) to be driven by the electric power output from the battery, a hydraulic pump (Kunisawa – P) to deliver hydraulic fluid in response to driving of the electric motor, an inverter 92b to regulate electric power to be output to the electric motor, a harness (Kunisawa – cables) to transmit electric power and connect the inverter and the electric motor to each other, a support frame provided upright on the swivel base to support the rear portion exterior cover, that the rear portion exterior cover covers the side, facing rearward of the machine body, of the space in which the battery, the electric motor, the hydraulic pump, the inverter, and the harness are provided; and the harness is fixed to the support frame (Kunisawa – Figs. 4, 10, 16, 23, 24; pgs. 10, 15; Miyachi - reinforcement).
Regarding claim 13: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses that the harness extends along an inner surface of a rear portion cover of the swivel base (Kunisawa – Figs. 12, 13, 16, 23, 24; pgs. 10, 15).
Regarding claim 14: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses that the battery is provided in a rear room at the rear portion of the swivel base, the support frame includes a rear frame portion provided upright in a rear portion of the rear room, and the harness extends forward of the rear frame portion in the rear room (Kunisawa – Figs. 12, 13, 16, 23, 24; pgs. 10, 15).
Regarding claim 15: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses that the battery is provided at the rear portion of the swivel base, the electric motor is at one side of the battery on the swivel base, the inverter is provided above the battery, and the harness extends from the inverter, via a space located upward and rearward of the battery, to the electric motor (Kunisawa – Figs. 12, 13, 16, 23, 24; pgs. 10, 15).
Regarding claim 20: Kunisawa, as modified by Miyachi, discloses a controller (Kunisawa – 5c) configured or programmed to control the electric power to be output from the battery, an electrical box to house electrical equipment, and that the controller and the electrical box are attached to a support frame provided upright on the swivel base via a single bracket. (Kunisawa – Figs. 11, 23-25; pgs. 23-25).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-19 are 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.
Working machines including those with a swiveling base and associated structure/components are very well known in the art. Further electric working machines (swiveling and other) are very well known in the art. Representative art which appears close to the claimed invention includes Kunisawa et al. (JP 2021080708 – see IDS), Miyachi et al. (US 6485088), Muneda et al. (JP 5421225 – see IDS), Noguchi et al. (JP 6516795 – see IDS),Shioiri et al. (US 20250305248), Tsuji et al. (US 10626895), Takaki (US 20220289073), Kunizawa et al. (US 20220275601), Springer (US 11821166), Rushton et al. (US 20200277175), Yunoue et al. (US 20130071212), Otsuru et al. (US 12611944), Fukuda (US 20210047802), and Takemura et al. (US 6772544). In general, this art, alone or in combination, discloses various recited features, including but not limited to, a swivel working machine, a swivel base; a battery at a rear portion of the swivel base, a working device in front of the swivel base and driven by electric power output from the battery, a rear portion exterior cover at the rear portion of the swivel base to cover a side, facing rearward of a machine body, of a space in which the battery is provided, and a reinforcement structure inward of the rear portion exterior cover with respect to the machine body to prevent or reduce deformation of the rear portion exterior cover inward with respect to the machine body due to an external force. Thus, upon reviewing these cited publications and their included references, it appears that the claimed subject matter might teach a generally known concept. However, this art fails to disclose or fairly suggest the specifically combined structure as being claimed in the instant application. Specifically, the detailed structural limitations together with the specific positional relationships of the recited structures when combined with the independent claim. It could be argued that the individual structure is generally known in the art and thus, could just be assembled to disclose the claimed invention but such is not easily conceived from this art. The instant invention clearly and specifically recites structural relationships and combinations, which require a greater effort than just cobbling together known structures. Further, the claimed structures are sufficiently detailed to be distinguishable when configured as claimed. The examiner can find no motivation to combine or modify the references which would define a fully functioning apparatus as claimed in the instant application. Thus, it would not have been within routine skill to glean the specifically combined limitations of the instant invention, from the art, without the benefit of hindsight reasoning or extensive experimentation.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TARAS P BEMKO whose telephone number is (571)270-1830. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00 (EDT/EST).
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/Taras P Bemko/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3672
6/5/2026
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