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 .
This communication is in response to application No. 18/920, 027; Steering Gear for a Steering Device and Steer-By-Wire Steering Device with such a Steering Gear; filed on 10/18/2024. Claims 1 - 10 are currently pending and have been examined. Claims 1, and 8-10 have been rejected as follows. Claims 2-7 have been objected to as follows.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Paragraph 36, line 1 of the Specification, describes the spindle nut element as feature number (6). This is incorrect and should be changed to feature number (9).
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1, and 8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wolfram (DE 10 2018 124905 A1) in view of Vortmeyer (DE 10 2016 200102 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Wolfram discloses;
A steering gear for a steer-by-wire steering device and with a steering rod (rod 16; fig. 4),
wherein the steering rod is connected to an electric drive (steering actuator 5; fig. 1) by means of a transmission device (ball screw drive 10; fig. 2), and the transmission device is designed to convert a rotational movement of the electric drive into a translational movement of the steering rod in the axial direction of a central longitudinal axis (longitudinal axis 100) of the steering rod,
and with a steering rod housing (housing 8) in which the steering rod is at least partially arranged,
and with a slide bearing bush (plain bearing bush 19; fig. 4) arranged between the steering rod housing and a steering rod portion (end region 18) of the steering rod,
wherein the slide bearing bush is fixedly attached to the steering rod housing (fig. 6, paragraph 10), and the steering rod portion and the slide bearing bush engage in one another in such a way that a rotational movement of the steering rod is blocked and a translational displacement of the steering rod in the axial direction of the central longitudinal axis of the steering rod is possible, (Paragraph 10 describes the slide bearing bush as functioning to permit the translational movement of the steering rod while resisting rotation of the rod.)
the slide bearing bush forming a first anti-rotation component is arranged between the steering rod housing and the steering rod, (Fig. 4 illustrates the position of the bushing (26) to function as an anti-rotation component.)
Wolfram does not describe a second anti-rotation device or describe a fail-safe functionality. However, Vortmeyer teaches;
the slide bearing bush forming a first anti-rotation component (first anti-twist device 10; fig. 1) and a second anti-rotation component (second anti-twist device 11) is arranged between the steering rod housing and the steering rod, wherein by means of the second anti- rotation component a fail-safe protection is realized in the event of a defect in the first anti-rotation component. (Vortmeyer describes a second anti-rotation sliding bushing (11) in addition to a first anti-rotation sliding bushing (10), both are arranged between the housing and the steering rod. Should one of the anti-rotation bushings fail, the other anti-rotation bushing would still function to resist the rotation of the steering rod.)
A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to modify Wolfram to include a second anti-rotation component arranged between the steering rod housing and the steering rod, as taught by Vortmeyer, as the references and the claimed invention are directed to steering gears for steer-by-wire systems. As disclosed by Vortmeyer, it is well known for a steering gear to include a second anti-rotation component arranged between the steering rod housing and the steering rod. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wolfram to include a second anti-rotation component arranged between the steering rod housing and the steering rod as taught by Vortmeyer, as such a modification would provide the ability to resist rotation of the steering rod. (Paragraph 6 of Vortmeyer).
Regarding claim 8, Wolfram in view of Vortmeyer discloses;
wherein an outer circumference of the second anti- rotation component (plain bearing bush 19; fig. 4, Wolfram) has a component-side retaining contour (web 29; fig. 5A) which cooperates with a housing-side retaining contour (groove 28; fig. 6) of the steering rod housing (housing 8) designed to correspond to the component-side retaining contour for fixing the second anti-rotation component to the steering rod housing in particular the housing-side retaining contour is formed on an inner side and/or front side of the steering rod housing. (Fig. 6 of Wolfram illustrates the grooves (28) as formed on the inside surface of the housing (8). The modification of Wolfram, under the teaching of Vortmeyer, would result in first and second anti-rotation components and the corresponding component-side and housing-side retaining features.)
Regarding claim 9, Wolfram in view of Vortmeyer discloses;
wherein the component-side retaining contour (web 29; fig. 5A, Wolfram) has multiple projections (fig. 6 illustrates multiple webs 29) and/or recesses alternating in the circumferential direction around the central longitudinal axis (longitudinal axis 100), wherein the housing-side retaining contour (groove 28; fig. 6) has further housing-side recesses (fig. 6 illustrates multiple grooves) and/or further projections corresponding to the component-side projections and/or recesses,
in particular the second anti-rotation component is fixed due to the interaction of the component-side projections (web 29; fig. 5A, Wolfram) and/or recesses with the housing-side further recesses (groove 28; fig. 6) and/or further projections for blocking a rotational movement around the central longitudinal axis. (The modification of Wolfram, under the teaching of Vortmeyer, would result in first and second anti-rotation components with the corresponding component-side and housing-side retaining features.)
Regarding claim 10, Wolfram discloses;
A steer-by-wire steering device with a steering gear according to claim 1. (Paragraph 1 describes a steer-by-wire steering system utilizing the described steering gear.)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, and 4-7 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.
None of the cited references either alone or in combination disclose the combination of limitations as claimed.
Specifically, regarding claim 2 the references fail to disclose;
wherein the second anti-rotation component (16) is designed in the form of a ring or an annular disk and/or the second anti-rotation component (16) has an outer circumference and an inner circumference directed radially to the central longitudinal axis (5), wherein the inner circumference has a component-side inner contour (18) which is designed to correspond to a steering rod-side (17) outer contour of the steering rod (4).
Regarding claim 3 the references fail to disclose;
wherein during normal operation of the first anti-rotation component (15) there is a free gap (19) between the component-side inner contour (18) and the steering rod-side outer contour (17), and the second anti-rotation component (16) does not interact with the steering rod (4) during normal operation of the first anti-rotation component (15).
Claims 4-7 depend from claim 2.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT LAWRENCE STRICKLER whose telephone number is (703)756-1961. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Fri. 9:30am to 5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vivek Koppikar can be reached at 571-272-5109. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SCOTT LAWRENCE STRICKLER/ Examiner, Art Unit 3612
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