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 § 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-9 and 11-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sumita et al. (US PUB 2004/0103733), hereinafter Sumita, and further in view of Braghiroli et al. (US PUB 2017/0023442), hereinafter Braghiroli.
With respect to claim 1, Sumita discloses a rotary position sensor (See [21] in figure 1 in view of paragraphs [0067] and [0068] of Sumita) comprising: a rotating body having an axis of rotation (See [17] in figure 1 of Sumita) extending in a first direction (See the lateral direction of [17] in figure 1 of Sumita), the rotating body including: a cylindrical shaft body (See [25b] in figure 2B of Sumita) having a shaft hole (See [25d] in figure 2B of Sumita); and a flange continuously connected to the shaft body and extending outward in a radial direction of the rotating body (See [18B1] in paragraph [0099] of Sumita); a housing (See [1A] in figure 1 of Sumita) including a bearing through which the cylindrical shaft body of the rotating body is inserted (See the bearing [21b] in figure 1 of Sumita); but fails to disclose a measuring unit configured to measure a relative position of the rotating body to the housing, wherein the flange includes an engaging portion on a periphery thereof. However, Braghiroli does disclose a measuring unit (See [88] in figure 6 of Braghiroli) configured to measure a relative position of the rotating body to the housing (See paragraph [0121] of Braghiroli in view of paragraph [0175] of Braghiroli), wherein the flange includes an engaging portion on a periphery thereof (See paragraph [0183] of Braghiroli). Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the device disclosed by Sumita to include the features disclosed by Braghiroli because doing so enables enhanced detection accuracy.
With respect to claim 2, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to claim 1, wherein the shaft hole (See [25d] in figure 2B of Sumita) has a holder for receiving and holding (See the element [30b] in figure 5 of Sumita) an operating shaft (See [17c] in figure 5 of Sumita) having a non-circular cross section viewed from the first direction (See the non-circular cross section of [25d] in figure 2A of Sumita).
With respect to claim 3, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 1, wherein the engaging portion includes a first engaging portion (See [25] in figure 1 of Sumita) and a second engaging portion disposed on opposite sides of the axis of rotation of the rotating body (See [21] in figure 1 of Sumita), such that the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion are line-symmetry with respect to an imaginary line extending in the radial direction of the rotating body viewed from the first direction (See that [21] and [25] in figure 1 of Sumita are aligned along the same imaginary axis in the longitudinal axis).
(figure 5 of Sumita is provided with annotations below for the applicant’s convenience)
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With respect to claim 4, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 1, wherein the engaging portion includes an extending portion extending outward in the radial direction of the rotating body viewed from the first direction (See the annotated [X] in figure 5 of Sumita).
With respect to claim 5, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 4, wherein the extending portion includes a protruding portion protruding in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the extending portion extends viewed from the first direction (See the annotated [Y] in figure 5 of Sumita).
With respect to claim 6, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 5, wherein the protruding portion is formed as a curve viewed from the first direction (See the curved profile connecting the [X] and [Y] portions in figure 5 of Sumita above).
With respect to claim 7, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 4, the flange (See [18B1] in figure 12 of Sumita) includes a partially recessed portion (See that [18B1] is recessed behind [25] in figure 12 of Sumita) continuously connected to the extending portion viewed from the first direction (See the continuous bordering of [18B1] and [25] in figure 12 of Sumita).
With respect to claim 8, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 1, wherein the engaging portion has a line-symmetric shape (See that the shape of [25] in figure 5 of Sumita has a line-symmetric shape with respect to [Z]) with respect to an imaginary line extending along the radial direction of the rotating body and passing through the engaging portion viewed from the first direction (See the imaginary line [Z] in annotated figure 5 of Sumita above).
With respect to claim 9, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 1, wherein the housing includes a protrusion having an overlapping portion overlapping with the engaging portion when the rotating body is positioned at a reference position viewed from the first direction (See paragraphs [0023] and [0024] of Sumita).
With respect to claim 11, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 1, wherein the measuring unit includes: a fixed measuring unit mounted on the housing (See [85] in figure 6 of Braghiroli); and a movable measuring unit mounted on the rotating body (See [84] in figure 6 of Braghiroli).
With respect to claim 12, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 11, wherein the fixed measuring unit includes a resistor (See paragraphs [0158] and [0159] of Braghiroli), and wherein the movable measuring unit includes a sliding element that comes into sliding-contact with the resistor (See [81] in figure 6 of Braghiroli).
With respect to claim 13, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 11, wherein the movable measuring unit includes a resistor (See [84] in paragraph [0158] of Braghiroli), and wherein the fixed measuring unit (See paragraphs [0158] and [0159] of Braghiroli) includes a sliding element that comes into sliding-contact with the resistor (See [81] in figure 6 of Braghiroli).
With respect to claim 14, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 1, further comprising a crush rib provided on an inner wall of the shaft hole (See paragraph [0178] of Braghiroli).
With respect to claim 15, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 1, wherein the engaging portion is configured to engage with an operating jig (See [202] in paragraph [0183] of Braghiroli) of a functional inspection apparatus for inspecting the measuring unit (See paragraph [0183] of Braghiroli in view of paragraphs [0184] and [0185] of Braghiroli).
With respect to claim 16, the combination of Sumita and Braghiroli discloses the rotary position sensor according to Claim 1, wherein the engaging portion is configured to receive an external force, thereby allowing the rotating body to rotate (See paragraph [0041] of Braghiroli).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 is 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:
With respect to claim 10, the prior art of record neither shows nor suggests the combination of structural elements wherein the protrusion includes a portion extending outward beyond the engaging portion viewed from the first direction.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US PAT 6,912,791 discloses a rotation angle detector.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TEMILADE S RHODES-VIVOUR whose telephone number is (571)270-5814. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (flex schedule).
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/TEMILADE S RHODES-VIVOUR/ Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/GIOVANNI ASTACIO-OQUENDO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858 5/29/2026
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