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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rai et al. (US 20230373563 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Rai discloses a vehicle frame structure (Fig. 1) comprising: a pair of opposed wall portions (see annotated Fig. 8) extending in a front-rear direction (Fig. 5, the walls are the webs that extends in the front-rear direction) of a vehicle body (Fig. 1 and 5); a coupling wall portion (see annotated Fig. 8) extending in the front-rear direction (Fig. 5 and 8, same as the opposed walls) of the vehicle body and coupling the pair of opposed wall portions to each other (see annotated Fig. 8); a plurality of bridging ribs (see annotated Fig. 8) formed so as to couple the pair of opposed wall portions to the coupling wall portion; and a fragile portion (see annotated Fig. 8, beads/recesses on both opposed walls) formed on the opposed wall portions and/or the coupling wall portion, wherein the fragile portion is formed to be located between two adjacent ones of the bridging ribs (see annotated Fig. 8) in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body.
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Figure 1 Annotated Fig. 8 from Rai
Regarding claim 8, Rai discloses the vehicle frame structure according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle frame structure is a side frame disposed outward of a wheel house in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body (Fig. 4-5, the structure is side frame outward to the rear side of the wheel house 155).
Regarding claim 9, Rai discloses the vehicle frame structure according to claim 8, wherein the vehicle frame structure integrally includes the wheel house (claim 21 and Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 10, Rai discloses the vehicle frame structure according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle frame structure is formed by an aluminum die casting method (claim 19 and 22).
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.
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) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rai as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Baccouche et al. (US 20230415687 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Rai discloses the vehicle frame structure according to claim 1, wherein a gap between the pair of opposed wall portions widens (Rai, Fig. 10, can have tapering such that the gap widens).
Rai fails to disclose widens toward an inner side in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body.
Baccouche teaches widens toward an inner side in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body (Baccouche, Fig. 9-10 and paragraph 46).
Baccouche is considered to be analogous art because it is in the same field of vehicle side frames near wheels with crash mitigating structures as Rai.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the structure as taught by Rai to incorporate the teachings of Baccouche with a reasonable expectation of success have the tapering arranged such that the gap widens towards an inner side. Doing so provides progressive crushing behavior to absorb the maximum amount of energy.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The primary reason for the allowance of the claims is the inclusion in the claims of the limitations directed to a parallel rib formed at an intermediate portion of the coupling wall portion in a vehicle width direction so as to couple the plurality of bridging ribs to each other. Such limitations, in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claims, are not disclosed or suggested by the prior art of record. The closest prior art is Rai, which discloses claim 1 limitations as mapped in the rejection of claim 1 above. Rai discloses a frame structure in Fig. 7 that has a parallel rib (mid web) and opposed walls (top web and bottom web). However, claim 2 requires that the parallel rib be formed at an intermediate portion of the coupling wall portion in a vehicle width direction, wherein Fig. 3 and Fig. 7 of Rai shows that the parallel rib (mid web) is formed in an intermediate portion of the coupling wall portion (vertical web) in a vehicle vertical direction. It would not be obvious to rearrange or reorientate the frame structure 90 degrees to meet the claim limitation as there are no teachings in the prior art to do so. Furthermore, doing so would change the dimension of the frame structure which interferes with other vehicle components, and would alter the impact energy absorbing behavior of the vehicle frame structure as intended by the inventors.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited references that are not relied upon all disclose vehicle frame structure with ribs and walls.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Wenwei Zhuo whose telephone number is (571)272-5564. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. EST.
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/WENWEI ZHUO/Examiner, Art Unit 3612
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