DETAILED ACTION
Application Status
Claims 1-12 are pending and have been examined in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on 12/11/2024 has been reviewed and considered.
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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph [0005], the specification makes reference to claims 1 and 11. The specification should not reference specific claims as the numbering of the claims are subject to change throughout prosecution.
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 2-9 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 2 recites, “ring-like shape”. The phrase renders the claim indefinite as it is unclear which shapes are considered “ring-like”. For example, it is unclear if a hollow triangle shape would be considered to be “ring-like”. For further example, it is unclear if a shape having a circular circumference and triangular through-bore would be considered to be “ring-like”.
In claim 3, the phrase, “preferably” makes it unclear whether the limitations that follow are required claim features or merely preferred embodiments of the invention.
In claims 3-5 and 7-9, the phrase, “in particular” makes it unclear whether the limitations that follow are required claim features or merely preferred embodiments of the invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 10-12 allowed.
Claims 2-9 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1, the closest prior art made of record is Raither (US 20220048561 A1) in view of Span (US 20210171096 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Raither discloses: a steering gear for a steer-by-wire device (“steer-by-wire”, abstract) and with a steering rod (16, Fig. 2), wherein the steering rod is connected to an electric drive (5, Fig. 1) by means of a transmission device (10/11, 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 (see paragraph [0032]) in the axial direction of a central longitudinal axis of the steering rod, and with a steering rod housing (8) in which the steering rod is partially arranged, wherein a bearing device (19, Fig. 4) is arranged between the steering rod housing and a steering rod portion of the steering rod, and the steering rod portion and the bearing device engage in one another in such a way that a rotational movement of the steering rod is blocked (see “anti-twist”, paragraph [0015]) and a translational displacement of the steering rod in the axial direction of the central longitudinal axis of the steering rod is allowed.
Regarding the allowance of axial movement of the steering rod (16), the steering rod would not be able to function as a steering rod if axial movement was not permitted.
Raither is silent in teaching that the bearing device is fixedly attached or held on the steering rod housing and in teaching a sensor device for determining a force and/or a torque of the steering rod about the central longitudinal axis of the steering rod is arranged in the region of the bearing device.
Span teaches a steering gear for a steer-by-wire device comprising a steering rod (12, Fig. 1) and a steering rod housing (14), and further comprising a bearing device (10) arranged between the steering rod housing and a steering rod portion of the steering rod, wherein the bearing device is fixedly attached or held on the steering rod housing (see paragraph [0034] and [0087]), and the steering rod portion and the bearing device engage in one another in such a way that a rotational movement of the steering rod (see paragraph [0013]) is blocked and a translational displacement of the steering rod in the axial direction of the central longitudinal axis of the steering rod is allowed.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Raither in view of Span by substituting the bearing device disclosed by Raither for the bearing device taught by Span. Since both bearing devices serve to limit rotational movement of a steering rack while permitting axial translation of the same rack, such a person would predict that the modified device would perform substantially similarly to the original device. Further, such a person would have been motivated to make such a modification to reduce wear on the outer surface of the bearing device caused by friction between the bearing device and the housing.
Neither Raither nor Span teach or otherwise suggest a sensor device for determining a force and/or a torque of the steering rod about the central longitudinal axis of the steering rod. Further, since resistive torques are generated by the interaction between the anti-rotation feature and the housing and prevents the steering rod from rotating, known torque sensors would not be able to be applied directly to the steering rod to sense a torque about a longitudinal axis of the steering rod. Other suggestions to modify Raither in view of Span to arrive at the claimed invention were not reasonably found in the prior art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and discloses steer-by-wire steering gears in general.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Matthew D Lee whose telephone number is (571)272-6087. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Fri. (7:30 - 5:00 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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/MATTHEW D LEE/ Examiner, Art Unit 3617
/JOHN OLSZEWSKI/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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