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 .
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 4-8 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 4, line 23, recites “assembling the pedal and the housing main body through the first bearing” which is indefinite because it is unclear how the pedal and the housing main body can be assembled through the first bearing when the pedal and the housing main body do not go through the first bearing. The housing main body houses the first bearing, and the first bearing is located inside the housing thus it is unclear how the housing main body can be assembly through the first bearing.
Claim 4, line 26, recites “assembling the pedal and the cover through the second bearing” which is indefinite because it is unclear how the pedal and the cover can be assembled through the second bearing when the pedal and the cover do not go through the second bearing. The cover is attached to the housing, and the second bearing is located inside the housing thus it is unclear how the cover can be assembly through the second bearing.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 and 3-8, as best understood, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kita et al. (US 2018/0135726 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kita et al. discloses a pedal device comprising:
a pedal (30) that is configured to be depressed by an operator;
a rotatable shaft (20) that has a central axis (C1);
a housing (10, 18, 19) that includes a cover (18, 19) and a housing main body (10), wherein the housing main body is placed on one side relative to the cover in an axial direction (left-to-right in Figure 3) that is an extending direction (the direction along the axial centerline of C1) of the central axis;
a first bearing (the inner wall of the housing which forms the opening 120 serves as a bearing; see Paragraph 0031);
a second bearing (the inner wall of the cover that forms the concave space 180 serves as a bearing; see Paragraph 0030); and
a sensor (25) that is configured to sense a rotational angle of the rotatable shaft, wherein the rotatable shaft includes:
a first projection (the part of 20 that is inside 120 as shown in Figure 3) that projects from one of the pedal and the housing main body toward another one of the pedal and the housing main body; and
a second projection (the part of 20 that is inside 180 as shown in Figure 1) that projects from one of the pedal and the cover toward another one of the pedal and the cover, wherein the first projection and the second projection extend in the axial direction (see Figure 1);
the first bearing is supported by the another one of the pedal and the housing main body and rotatably supports the first projection of the rotatable shaft (see Figure 3);
the second bearing is supported by the another one of the pedal and the cover and rotatably supports the second projection of the rotatable shaft (see Figure 3);
the pedal is supported by the rotatable shaft to enable rotation of the pedal relative to the housing (see Paragraph 0032); and
the cover and the housing main body are fixed relative to each other in an adjusted state (see Figure 3) where a position of the cover and a position of the housing main body are adjusted such that a radial position of a central axis (the axial centerline of 120) of the first bearing in a radial direction and a radial position of a central axis (the axial centerline of 180) of the second bearing in the radial direction coincide with each other, wherein the radial direction is a direction perpendicular to the central axis (the axial centerline of the first bearing opening, the second bearing opening, and C1 are aligned with each other in both the axial direction and the radial direction because 20 is a shaft member thus is longitudinal).
Regarding claim 3, Kita et al. discloses that the cover includes:
a first split cover portion (18) that supports the second bearing; and
a second split cover portion (19) that covers the housing main body from another side (19 is to the right of 10), which is opposite to the one side, in the axial direction; and
the first split cover portion and the housing main body are fixed relative to each other in an adjusted state where a position of the first split cover portion and the position of the housing main body are adjusted such that the radial position of the central axis of the first bearing and the radial position of the central axis of the second bearing coincide with each other (the axial centerline of 120 and 180 are in-line with each other thus meeting the claim limitation).
Regarding claim 4, Kita et al. discloses a method for manufacturing a pedal device that includes:
a pedal (30) that is configured to be depressed by an operator;
a rotatable shaft (20) that has a central axis (C1);
a housing (10, 18, 19) that includes a cover (18, 19) and a housing main body (10), wherein the housing main body is placed on one side relative to the cover in an axial direction (left-to-right in Figure 3) that is an extending direction (the direction along the axial centerline of C1) of the central axis;
a first bearing (the inner wall of the housing which forms the opening 120 serves as a bearing; see Paragraph 0031);
a second bearing (the inner wall of the cover that forms the concave space 180 serves as a bearing; see Paragraph 0030); and
a sensor (25) that is configured to sense a rotational angle of the rotatable shaft, wherein the rotatable shaft includes:
a first projection (the part of 20 that is inside 120 as shown in Figure 3) that projects from one of the pedal and the housing main body toward another one of the pedal and the housing main body; and
a second projection (the part of 20 that is inside 180 as shown in Figure 1) that projects from one of the pedal and the cover toward another one of the pedal and the cover, wherein the first projection and the second projection extend in the axial direction (see Figure 1);
the first bearing is supported by the another one of the pedal and the housing main body and rotatably supports the first projection of the rotatable shaft (see Figure 3);
the second bearing is supported by the another one of the pedal and the cover and rotatably supports the second projection of the rotatable shaft (see Figure 3);
the pedal is supported by the rotatable shaft to enable rotation of the pedal relative to the housing (see Paragraph 0032), the method comprising:
assembling the pedal and the housing main body through the first bearing in a manner that implements a state where the first projection is supported by the first bearing (as best understood in light of the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection above, the pedal (30) is placed in the housing (10) in the first step as disclosed in Paragraph 0057);
assembling the pedal and the cover through the second bearing in a manner that implements a state where the second projection is supported by the second bearing (as best understood in light of the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection above, the cover (which the second bearing is formed in) is placed on the housing (10) in a further step as disclosed in Paragraph 0061);
adjusting a position of the housing main body and a position of the cover such that a radial position of a central axis (the axial centerline of 120) of the first bearing in a radial direction and a radial position of a central axis (the axial centerline of 180) of the second bearing in the radial direction coincide with each other, wherein the radial direction is a direction perpendicular to the central axis (the axial centerline of the first bearing opening, the second bearing opening, and C1 are aligned with each other in both the axial direction and the radial direction because 20 is a shaft member thus is longitudinal); and
fixing the housing main body and the cover relative to each other in an adjusted state (see Figure 3) where the position of the housing main body and the position of the cover are adjusted (the step that involves tightening 181-183 into their respective holes in the housing).
Regarding claim 5, Kita et al. discloses that the cover has a through-hole (a through-hole that one of 181-183 passes through) that extends through the cover in the axial direction; and
the fixing of the housing main body and the cover relative to each other in the adjusted state where the position of the housing main body and the position of the cover are adjusted includes fixing the housing main body and the cover by a fastener component (181-183) in a state where the fastener component extends through the through-hole.
Regarding claim 6, Kita et al. discloses that the adjusting of the position of the housing main body and the position of the cover includes adjusting the position of the housing main body and the position of the cover by displacing the fastener component in the through-hole (adjusting the housing main body and the cover requires loosening the fastener component because if the fastener component were fully tightened there could be no adjustment).
Regarding claim 7, Kita et al. discloses that the housing main body has a first junction surface (the surface at the top of 10 that directly faces 19 as shown in Figure 3) that faces another side, which is opposite to the one side, in the axial direction;
the cover has a second junction surface (the surface at the top of 19 that directly faces 10 as shown in Figure 3) that faces the one side in the axial direction; and
the fixing of the housing main body and the cover relative to each other includes fixing the housing main body and the cover relative to each other by joining the first junction surface of the housing main body and the second junction surface of the cover together (as shown in Figure 3, the viewed first junction surface and the viewed second junction surface are in direct contact with each other).
Regarding claim 8, Kita et al. discloses that the cover includes:
a first split cover portion (18) that supports the second bearing; and
a second split cover portion (19) that covers the housing main body from another side (19 is to the right of 10), which is opposite to the one side, in the axial direction; and
the adjusting of the position of the housing main body and the position of the cover includes adjusting the position of the housing main body and a position of the first split cover portion such that a position of the central axis of the first bearing and a position of the central axis of the second bearing coincide with each other (the axial centerline of 120 and 180 are in-line with each other thus meeting the claim limitation).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kita et al. (US 2018/0135726 A1) in view of of Eiji (JP 2015-60959 A; see Applicant provided machine translation).
Regarding claim 2, Kita et al. discloses a fastener component (181-183) that fixes between the housing main body and the cover (see Paragraph 0027),
wherein the cover has a through-hole forming portion (the hole(s) in 18 that the bolts pass through so that they can fasten into the housing) that forms a through-hole (the hole(s) in 18 that the bolts pass through so that they can fasten into the housing), wherein the through-hole extends through the cover in the axial direction (into the paper in Figure 1).
Kita et al. does not disclose a clearance, which is a gap between the fastener component and the through-hole forming portion, is set so as to enable that the radial position of the central axis of the first bearing and the radial position of the central axis of the second bearing coincide with each other.
Eiji teaches a cover (5) that fastens to a housing (4), the cover has a plurality of through holes (35a-35d) that are aligned with hole (25a-25d) in the housing, a diameter of each other through holes in the cover is larger than a diameter of the holes in the housing (see Paragraphs 0032 and 0036) such that a gap is formed between fastener components and the through-holes.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the through holes of Kita et al. to have a clearance, which is a gap between the fastener component and the through-hole forming portion, as taught by Eiji, for the purpose of allowing the positioning of the cover to be maneuvered to allow for a better fit in the event of the holes in the housing being out of tolerance. Once Kita et al. is modified by Eiji, the clearance would be set so as to enable that the radial position of the central axis of the first bearing and the radial position of the central axis of the second bearing coincide with each other.
IN AN ALTERNATIVE VIEWPOINT WHERE THE TERM “BEARING” IS VIEWED AS MEANING A PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OTHER THAN AN OPENING OR A WALL:
Claims 1 and 3-8, as best understood, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kita et al. (US 2018/0135726 A1) in view of Burgstaler et al. (US 7,108,444 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Kita et al. discloses a pedal device comprising:
a pedal (30) that is configured to be depressed by an operator;
a rotatable shaft (20) that has a central axis (C1);
a housing (10, 18, 19) that includes a cover (18, 19) and a housing main body (10), wherein the housing main body is placed on one side relative to the cover in an axial direction (left-to-right in Figure 3) that is an extending direction (the direction along the axial centerline of C1) of the central axis;
a first bearing (the inner wall of the housing which forms the opening 120 serves as a bearing; see Paragraph 0031);
a second bearing (the inner wall of the cover that forms the concave space 180 serves as a bearing; see Paragraph 0030); and
a sensor (25) that is configured to sense a rotational angle of the rotatable shaft, wherein the rotatable shaft includes:
a first projection (the part of 20 that is inside 120 as shown in Figure 3) that projects from one of the pedal and the housing main body toward another one of the pedal and the housing main body; and
a second projection (the part of 20 that is inside 180 as shown in Figure 1) that projects from one of the pedal and the cover toward another one of the pedal and the cover, wherein the first projection and the second projection extend in the axial direction (see Figure 1);
the first bearing part is supported by the another one of the pedal and the housing main body and rotatably supports the first projection of the rotatable shaft;
the second bearing part is supported by the another one of the pedal and the cover and rotatably supports the second projection of the rotatable shaft;
the pedal is supported by the rotatable shaft to enable rotation of the pedal relative to the housing (see Paragraph 0032); and
the cover and the housing main body are fixed relative to each other in an adjusted state (see Figure 3) where a position of the cover and a position of the housing main body are adjusted such that a radial position of a central axis (the axial centerline of 120) of the first bearing part in a radial direction and a radial position of a central axis (the axial centerline of 180) of the second bearing part in the radial direction coincide with each other, wherein the radial direction is a direction perpendicular to the central axis (the axial centerline of the first bearing opening, the second bearing opening, and C1 are aligned with each other in both the axial direction and the radial direction because 20 is a shaft member thus is longitudinal).
Kita et al. does not disclose a first bearing in the first bearing part, and a second bearing in the second bearing part.
Burgstaler et al. teaches a pedal assembly (see Figure 1) that has a first bearing part (the hole in 4) that includes a first bearing (6), and a second bearing part (the hole in 4A) that includes a second bearing (6A).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the first bearing part and the second bearing part of Kita et al. to have a respective first bearing and a second bearing, as taught by Burgstaler et al., for the purpose of reducing friction between the bearing parts and the rotatable shaft.
Regarding claim 3, Kita et al. discloses that the cover includes:
a first split cover portion (18) that supports the second bearing; and
a second split cover portion (19) that covers the housing main body from another side (19 is to the right of 10), which is opposite to the one side, in the axial direction; and
the first split cover portion and the housing main body are fixed relative to each other in an adjusted state where a position of the first split cover portion and the position of the housing main body are adjusted such that the radial position of the central axis of the first bearing and the radial position of the central axis of the second bearing coincide with each other (the axial centerline of 120 and 180 are in-line with each other thus meeting the claim limitation).
Regarding claim 4, Kita et al. discloses a method for manufacturing a pedal device that includes:
a pedal (30) that is configured to be depressed by an operator;
a rotatable shaft (20) that has a central axis (C1);
a housing (10, 18, 19) that includes a cover (18, 19) and a housing main body (10), wherein the housing main body is placed on one side relative to the cover in an axial direction (left-to-right in Figure 3) that is an extending direction (the direction along the axial centerline of C1) of the central axis;
a first bearing (the inner wall of the housing which forms the opening 120 serves as a bearing; see Paragraph 0031);
a second bearing (the inner wall of the cover that forms the concave space 180 serves as a bearing; see Paragraph 0030); and
a sensor (25) that is configured to sense a rotational angle of the rotatable shaft, wherein the rotatable shaft includes:
a first projection (the part of 20 that is inside 120 as shown in Figure 3) that projects from one of the pedal and the housing main body toward another one of the pedal and the housing main body; and
a second projection (the part of 20 that is inside 180 as shown in Figure 1) that projects from one of the pedal and the cover toward another one of the pedal and the cover, wherein the first projection and the second projection extend in the axial direction (see Figure 1);
the first bearing part is supported by the another one of the pedal and the housing main body and rotatably supports the first projection of the rotatable shaft (see Figure 3);
the second bearing part is supported by the another one of the pedal and the cover and rotatably supports the second projection of the rotatable shaft (see Figure 3);
the pedal is supported by the rotatable shaft to enable rotation of the pedal relative to the housing (see Paragraph 0032), the method comprising:
assembling the pedal and the housing main body through the first bearing part in a manner that implements a state where the first projection is supported by the first bearing part (as best understood in light of the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection above, the pedal (30) is placed in the housing (10) in the first step as disclosed in Paragraph 0057);
assembling the pedal and the cover through the second bearing part in a manner that implements a state where the second projection is supported by the second bearing part (as best understood in light of the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection above, the cover (which the second bearing is formed in) is placed on the housing (10) in a further step as disclosed in Paragraph 0061);
adjusting a position of the housing main body and a position of the cover such that a radial position of a central axis (the axial centerline of 120) of the first bearing part in a radial direction and a radial position of a central axis (the axial centerline of 180) of the second bearing part in the radial direction coincide with each other, wherein the radial direction is a direction perpendicular to the central axis (the axial centerline of the first bearing opening, the second bearing opening, and C1 are aligned with each other in both the axial direction and the radial direction because 20 is a shaft member thus is longitudinal); and
fixing the housing main body and the cover relative to each other in an adjusted state (see Figure 3) where the position of the housing main body and the position of the cover are adjusted (the step that involves tightening 181-183 into their respective holes in the housing).
Kita et al. does not disclose a first bearing in the first bearing part, and a second bearing in the second bearing part.
Burgstaler et al. teaches a pedal assembly (see Figure 1) that has a first bearing part (the hole in 4) that includes a first bearing (6), and a second bearing part (the hole in 4A) that includes a second bearing (6A).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the first bearing part and the second bearing part of Kita et al. to have a respective first bearing and a second bearing, as taught by Burgstaler et al., for the purpose of reducing friction between the bearing parts and the rotatable shaft.
Regarding claim 5, Kita et al. discloses that the cover has a through-hole (a through-hole that one of 181-183 passes through) that extends through the cover in the axial direction; and
the fixing of the housing main body and the cover relative to each other in the adjusted state where the position of the housing main body and the position of the cover are adjusted includes fixing the housing main body and the cover by a fastener component (181-183) in a state where the fastener component extends through the through-hole.
Regarding claim 6, Kita et al. discloses that the adjusting of the position of the housing main body and the position of the cover includes adjusting the position of the housing main body and the position of the cover by displacing the fastener component in the through-hole (adjusting the housing main body and the cover requires loosening the fastener component because if the fastener component were fully tightened there could be no adjustment).
Regarding claim 7, Kita et al. discloses that the housing main body has a first junction surface (the surface at the top of 10 that directly faces 19 as shown in Figure 3) that faces another side, which is opposite to the one side, in the axial direction;
the cover has a second junction surface (the surface at the top of 19 that directly faces 10 as shown in Figure 3) that faces the one side in the axial direction; and
the fixing of the housing main body and the cover relative to each other includes fixing the housing main body and the cover relative to each other by joining the first junction surface of the housing main body and the second junction surface of the cover together (as shown in Figure 3, the viewed first junction surface and the viewed second junction surface are in direct contact with each other).
Regarding claim 8, Kita et al. discloses that the cover includes:
a first split cover portion (18) that supports the second bearing; and
a second split cover portion (19) that covers the housing main body from another side (19 is to the right of 10), which is opposite to the one side, in the axial direction; and
the adjusting of the position of the housing main body and the position of the cover includes adjusting the position of the housing main body and a position of the first split cover portion such that a position of the central axis of the first bearing and a position of the central axis of the second bearing coincide with each other (the axial centerline of 120 and 180 are in-line with each other thus meeting the claim limitation).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kita et al. (US 2018/0135726 A1) in view of Burgstaler et al. (US 7,108,444 B2) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Eiji (JP 2015-60959 A; see Applicant provided machine translation).
Regarding claim 2, Kita et al. discloses a fastener component (181-183) that fixes between the housing main body and the cover (see Paragraph 0027),
wherein the cover has a through-hole forming portion (the hole(s) in 18 that the bolts pass through so that they can fasten into the housing) that forms a through-hole (the hole(s) in 18 that the bolts pass through so that they can fasten into the housing), wherein the through-hole extends through the cover in the axial direction (into the paper in Figure 1).
Kita et al. in view of Burgstaler et al. does not disclose a clearance, which is a gap between the fastener component and the through-hole forming portion, is set so as to enable that the radial position of the central axis of the first bearing and the radial position of the central axis of the second bearing coincide with each other.
Eiji teaches a cover (5) that fastens to a housing (4), the cover has a plurality of through holes (35a-35d) that are aligned with hole (25a-25d) in the housing, a diameter of each other through holes in the cover is larger than a diameter of the holes in the housing (see Paragraphs 0032 and 0036) such that a gap is formed between fastener components and the through-holes.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the through holes of Kita et al. in view of Burgstaler et al. to have a clearance, which is a gap between the fastener component and the through-hole forming portion, as taught by Eiji, for the purpose of allowing the positioning of the cover to be maneuvered to allow for a better fit in the event of the holes in the housing being out of tolerance. Once Kita et al. in view of Burgstaler et al. is modified by Eiji, the clearance would be set so as to enable that the radial position of the central axis of the first bearing and the radial position of the central axis of the second bearing coincide with each other.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sturzer et al. (WO 2018/109031 A1) discloses an accelerator pedal assembly that consists of a housing member, a pedal member, a rotatable shaft mounted in the housing, the rotatable shaft is supported at each axial end by a bearing, and a position sensor assembly and a control unit interact with the accelerator pedal assembly to determine the location of the pedal member.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM D ROGERS whose telephone number is (571)272-6561. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 6AM-2:00PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Olszewski can be reached at (571)272-2706. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ADAM D ROGERS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617