DETAILED ACTION
This is the first Office action on the merits of Application No. 18/960,138 filed November 26, 2024. Claims 1-9 are currently pending.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on November 26, 2024 has been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on November 26, 2024. These drawings are acceptable.
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 1-9 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.
In claim 1, lines 4-7 are not clear as to the conditions which cause the clutch part to transmit torque or to not transmit torque. As described in paragraphs [0028] - [0029] of the specification, centrifugal force acting on the clutch part (clutch shoe 3) when the drive plate 2 rotates causes the shoe to frictionally engage the clutch outer 4 such that torque is transmitted between the drive plate and the clutch outer, and when the drive plate stops being rotated the centrifugal force is reduced such that torque is prevented from being transmitted between the drive plate and the clutch outer. However, this is not particularly pointed out by the current claim language.
In claim 3, lines 2-4 are not clear regarding the direction in which the first surface (423a) and the second surface (521) face. The current claim language appears to recite that the second surface faces in the same axial direction as the first surface. However, as shown in Fig. 2 and described in paragraph [0055] the second surface (521) faces the first surface (423a). Thus, the first surface faces in one axial direction (toward the “first side” in Fig. 2) while the second surface faces in an opposite axial direction (toward the “second side” in Fig. 2). It is not clear how the first and second surfaces 423a and 521 can be said to face in the same axial direction.
Claims 2 and 4-9 are indefinite since they depend from claim 1.
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 4,106,605 (Winchell).
Regarding claim 1, Winchell discloses a centrifugal clutch device in Figs. 1-3 comprising: a drive plate (hub part 19); a clutch outer (clutch drum 51); a clutch part (clutch shoe 29) configured to selectively transmit a torque therethrough between the drive plate and the clutch outer (see column 7, lines 11-13), the clutch part also configured so as to not transmit the torque therethrough between the drive plate and the clutch outer (see column 7, lines 27-29); an output member (output gear 66) configured to output the torque toward a drive wheel (see column 3, lines 50-54); a one-way clutch (41) disposed (in a torque transmission path) between the drive plate and the clutch outer, the one-way clutch configured to selectively transmit the torque therethrough from the clutch outer to the drive plate (when starting the vehicle by pushing the vehicle, torque is transmitted from the output gear 66 to the input shaft 17 and the drive plate 19 secured thereto via the one-way clutch 41 as described in column 7, lines 19-27), the one-way clutch also configured so as not to transmit the torque therethrough from the drive plate to the clutch outer (when the inner race and input shaft overruns or runs at a faster speed than the outer race as described in column 3, lines 11-24); and a torque limiter (friction clutch 60) configured not to transmit the torque therethrough between the clutch outer and the output member when the torque has a magnitude greater than or equal to a predetermined value (the amount of torque that can be transmitted through the friction clutch 60 is dependent upon the magnitude of the urging force provided by the spring 73, the coefficient of friction of the friction material facings 65 and the area of the contacting friction surfaces).
Regarding claim 2, the torque limiter (60) includes a first friction plate (disk portion 58) configured to be unitarily rotated with the clutch outer (51), and a second friction plate (disk portion 62) configured to be unitarily rotated with the output member (66), the second friction plate engaged by friction with the first friction plate.
Regarding claim 3, the clutch outer (51) includes a first surface (the surface of disk portion 52 facing toward the disk portion 62) facing an axial direction, the output member (66) includes a second surface (an axial end of the output gear 66) facing the axial direction, the first friction plate (58) and the second friction plate (62) are disposed between the first surface and the second surface, and the torque limiter includes an urging member (Belleville spring 73), the urging member urging the first friction plate and the second friction plate such that the first friction plate and the second friction plate are pressed against each other (see column 6, lines 43-53).
Claims 1, 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by GB 801,559 A (Renault).
Regarding claim 1, Renault discloses a centrifugal clutch device (see Figs. 1 and 2 and page 1, lines 45-47), comprising: a drive plate (flywheel 2); a clutch outer (drum 6); a clutch part (centrifugal mass 3) configured to selectively transmit a torque therethrough between the drive plate and the clutch outer, the clutch part also configured so as to not transmit the torque therethrough between the drive plate and the clutch outer; an output member (output shaft 7) configured to output the torque toward a drive wheel; a one-way clutch (freewheel 8, 9, 10) disposed between the drive plate and the clutch outer, the one-way clutch configured to selectively transmit the torque therethrough from the clutch outer to the drive plate, the one-way clutch also configured so as not to transmit the torque therethrough from the drive plate to the clutch outer (see page 1, line 88 to page 2, line 11); and a torque limiter (10, 11, 12) configured not to transmit the torque therethrough between the clutch outer and the output member when the torque has a magnitude greater than or equal to a predetermined value (see page 1, lines 71-79).
Regarding claim 7, the one-way clutch (8, 9, 10) is disposed to overlap with the torque limiter (10, 11, 12) as seen in the axial direction (since the element 10 is common to the one-way clutch and the torque limiter).
Regarding claim 8, the clutch outer (6) includes a cover part (the axially extending portion engaged by the centrifugal masses 3) and an attachment part (the radially extending portion, the attachment part being attached (integrally) to a radially inner side of the cover part, and the one-way clutch (8, 9, 10 is disposed between the attachment part and the drive plate (2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 and 9 would be allowable if rewritten 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 and to include 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:
None of the prior art discloses or renders obvious both of the first and second contact surfaces set forth in claim 4 together with the other claim limitations; or the one-way clutch disposed between a first axially extending cylindrical portion of the drive plate and a second axially extending cylindrical portion of the clutch outer that overlaps with the first cylindrical portion as seen in a radial direction as set forth in claim 9 together with the other claim limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent No. 3,255,855 discloses a clutch system in Fig. 3 including centrifugal clutch with bobweights 11, 12, a one-way clutch 18 and a friction clutch 19.
U.S. Patent No. 4,494,637 discloses a power transmission system for vehicles including a one-way clutch C1, a friction clutch C2 and a centrifugally actuated direct coupling clutch C3.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Richard M. Lorence whose telephone number is 571-272-7094. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday-Thursday from 11:00 AM-7:00 PM.
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/RICHARD M LORENCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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