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
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.
Claims 1-5, 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue [CN 111016647] in view of Volpert [US Pat # 20150285375].
Regarding claim 1: Xue shows a drive unit for a vehicle, comprising an electric motor with a rotor shaft (16); a transmission with at least one first shaft (1) and a shift element (5) arranged radially inside the rotor shaft (16); an elastic spring element (3) on the shift element (5); and a guide element (20b) between the rotor shaft (16), the elastic spring element (3), and the shift element (5), wherein the guide element (20b) is configured to guide the shift element (5) during a shifting operation in the rotor shaft (16),wherein the shift element (5) is arranged to connect at least the first shaft (1) to the rotor shaft (16) in a rotationally fixed manner in a first shifting position in order to feed a drive power of the electric motor into the transmission, and wherein the elastic spring element (3) is arranged for centering the shift element (5) in the rotor shaft (16) in a no-load state of the electric motor and enabling a compensating movement of the shift element (5) in the rotor shaft (3) in a loaded state of the electric motor.
Xue does not explicitly disclose that the elastic spring element is arranged to enable an elastic deformation to center the shift element. However Volpert shows the elastic spring (28) element is arranged to enable an elastic deformation to center the shift element (7).
It would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skills in the art at the time of the effective filling date to have added the spring to align the shift shaft and prevent misalignment.
Regarding claim 2: Xue shows wherein the shift element (5) defines a circumferential groove () and wherein the guide element (20b) and the elastic spring element (3) are arranged at least partially in the circumferential groove.
Regarding claim 3: Xue shows wherein the guide element (20b) is configured to come to rest at least partially on the rotor shaft (16), on the elastic spring element (3), and on the shift element (5), and wherein the elastic spring element (3) is configured to come to rest on the guide element (20b) and on the shift element (5).
Regarding claim 4: Xue shows wherein the guide element (20b) and the elastic spring element (3) are configured as a composite ring.
Regarding claim 5: Xue shows wherein the shift element (5) is configured as a sliding sleeve (5) with a plurality of shifting positions and is axially displaceable into the respective shifting position by an actuator.
Regarding claim 8: Xue shows wherein the rotor shaft (16) is rotatably mounted on a stationary component via a first bearing (see fig 3), and wherein the first shaft (1) is rotatably mounted on the stationary component via a second bearing (see fig 3).
Regarding claim 9: Xue shows wherein the elastic spring element (3) is formed from an elastomer and has a restoring force which is greater than the sum of a weight force and an unbalance force of the shift element (5) in order to center a center of mass of the shift element (5) in the rotor shaft (16).
Regarding claim 10: Xue shows a vehicle comprising at least one drive unit according to Claim 1.
Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue [ CN 111016647] in view of Chen [CN 110014826].
Regarding claim 6: Xue shows wherein a first gearing (2d) section for engagement with the first shaft (1) is arranged at a second axial end section of the sliding sleeve (5), and wherein a second gearing section (19a) for engagement on the rotor shaft (16) is arranged on a third section of the sliding sleeve (5) arranged between the first and the second axial end section, Xue does not explicitly shows wherein a shifting fork of the actuator is arranged at a first axial end section of the sliding sleeve, However Chen shows a shifting fork (106) of the actuator (102) is arranged at a first axial end section of the sliding sleeve.
It would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filling date to have shift fork to enable precise and smooth gear changes in transmission.
Regarding claim 7: Xue shows a second shaft (7), wherein a third gearing section (6b) is provided on the sliding sleeve for engagement with the second shaft (7) and is arranged at a position between the second axial end section and the third section of the sliding sleeve (5).
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZAKARIA ELAHMADI whose telephone number is (571)270-5324. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 10-6 EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minnah Seoh can be reached on 571-270-7778. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZAKARIA ELAHMADI/
Examiner, Art Unit 3618
Prosecution Insights