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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Iizuka (JP2007333133A).
With respect to claim 1, Iizuka discloses a disconnector apparatus comprising: a casing (3); a first clutch ring (15) having a first clutch part (21) disposed on an outer-diameter portion thereof; and a second clutch ring (17) having one end connected to the first clutch ring ([0022] of attached translation), the second clutch ring having a second clutch part (43) disposed at one side of the second clutch ring directed toward one side gear (27), which is mounted in the casing (Fig 2), wherein a sleeve (61) is coupled to an outer-diameter portion of the second clutch ring at another side of the second clutch ring (Fig 2), and wherein the first clutch ring connected to the second clutch ring is configured to be inserted into the casing by a first operation of the sleeve by a first operation of an actuator device (59) connected to the sleeve (Fig 2), and the first clutch part is configured to engage with a third clutch part (19) disposed on an inner-diameter portion of the casing at one side of the casing to implement four-wheel drive ([0026-0028] of attached translation).
With respect to claim 2, wherein in a state in which the first clutch part (21) and the third clutch part (19) engage, the second clutch ring (17) is configured to be moved toward the one side gear (27) by a second operation of the sleeve (61) by a second operation of the actuator device, and the second clutch part is configured to engage with a fourth clutch part (41) disposed at one side of the one side gear to restrict a differential ([0023-0026] of attached translation).
With respect to claim 5, wherein a support ring is disposed in the casing, a pinion gear (25) is disposed in the support ring (5), and the pinion gear is configured to engage with the one side gear (27) and an other side gear (29) disposed at two opposite sides of the pinion gear.
With respect to claim 10, wherein a power transmission member is disposed on an outer portion of the casing (right side of casing 3 in Fig 2).
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 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iizuka in view of Lee et al. (KR10-2462203).
With respect to claim 3, Iizuka discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein the first clutch ring is connected to the sleeve by a spacer extending in a direction from one side of the first clutch ring toward the sleeve. Lee et al., however, disclose a first clutch ring (47) that is connected to a sleeve (45) by a spacer (46) extending in a direction from one side of the first clutch ring toward the sleeve. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to modify the invention of Iizuka in view of the teachings of Lee et al. to connect the first clutch ring to the sleeve by a spacer in order to ensure a stable and smooth operation of the power disconnecting device.
Claims 4 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iizuka.
With respect to claim 4, Iizuka discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not specifically disclose wherein each of the first clutch part and the third clutch part has a spline clutch, and each of the second clutch part and the fourth clutch part has a dog clutch. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to modify the invention of Iizuka to try using spline clutches for the first and second clutch parts and dog clutches for the third and fourth clutch parts, since it was old and well known in the art to use splined and/or dog clutches in gearing arrangements since they both provide a direct, mechanical lock with no slip, zero power loss, and high torque capacity.
With respect to claim 11, Iizuka discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not specifically disclose wherein the power transmission member is a ring gear, the power transmission member being configured to transmit power from a power generation device to the casing. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to use a ring gear to transmit power from a power generation device to the casing, since it was old and well known in the art to use ring gears to provide high load capacity and compact packaging.
With respect to claim 12, wherein the power generation device is an engine (101) or a drive motor.
Claims 7 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iizuka in view of Lee et al. (USPub 2022/0389997).
With respect to claim 7, Iizuka discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein the sleeve is connected to a fork, and the fork is disposed on a transfer nut of the actuator device. Lee et al. disclose a disconnector device having a sleeve (270) that is connected to a fork (280), and the fork is provided on a transfer nut (250) of an actuator device. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to modify the invention of Iizuka in view of the teachings of Lee et al. to have the sleeve be connected to a fork, and the fork provided on a transfer nut in order to convert the rotational motion of the electric motor into the linear push-pull movement required to slide the gears.
With respect to claim 8, wherein the actuator device comprises: a housing; a motor (230) coupled to the housing; and a ball screw shaft (240) connected to the motor, and wherein the transfer nut (250) is coupled to the ball screw shaft and configured to move along the ball screw shaft while being guided by a guide rail (260) mounted in the housing, and the fork (280) extends from the transfer nut toward the sleeve (270). While Lee et al. do not specifically disclose the housing and that the fork extends through an opening portion of the housing, the fork being connected to the sleeve in the casing through a through-hole of the casing, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill to have it extend through a through hole in order to couple internal drive train with external components while protecting the internal components and preventing lubricants from escaping.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 9 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DREW J BROWN whose telephone number is (571)272-1362. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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DREW BROWN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
/DREW J BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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