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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
As concerns Claim 1, line 3 presently recites "right and left side rails, and arm support portions". Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, this reads as though the arm support portions may be a separate entity from the right and left side rails. In order to remedy this, Examiner suggests that the claim be amended to reads "right and left side rails including arm support portions,".
Appropriate correction is required.
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 of this title, 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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kroger et al (US 8,590,908) in view of Shimizu (US 2018/0312198).
Kroger et al (US 8,590,908) discloses:
1. A vehicle lower part structure, comprising:
a suspension member (at least 1, 2, and 5) installed in a vehicle and including a cross member (5), a pair of right and left side rails (1, 2), and arm support portions (3), the side rails being connected to the cross member and extending in a vehicle front-rear direction, and each of the arm support portions being provided on an intermediate portion in a front-rear direction of a corresponding one of the side rails and supporting a corresponding one of lower arms (that attach to 3 / not shown) that support front wheels whose steering angle changes when a steering wheel is steered; and
a shear panel (13) located between rear portions of the side rails as viewed in plan and including a front closed-section structure portion (Figure 2), the front closed-section structure portion extending along a straight line connecting the right and left arm support portions as viewed in plan, and connected to the side rails.
Kroger fails to specify the connection of a battery.
Shimizu (US 2018/0312198) teaches:
1. A vehicle lower part structure, comprising:
a suspension member (20) installed in a vehicle and including a cross member (24), a pair of right and left side rails (22), and arm support portions, the side rails being connected to the cross member and extending in a vehicle front-rear direction, rear ends of the side rails being connected to a battery (46), and each of the arm support portions being provided on an intermediate portion in a front-rear direction of a corresponding one of the side rails and supporting a corresponding one of lower arms (not shown, attaching to brackets at ends of 24, as shown in Figure 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to modify Kroger as taught my Shimizu to include a battery being connected to the rear of the side rails for the expected benefit of providing pathway for deformation during collision of the vehicle that manages the inertial load of the battery during collision, to obtain the invention as specified in the claim.
2. The vehicle lower part structure according to claim 1, wherein:
each of the side rails (Kroger - 1, 2) includes a connected portion connected to a corresponding one of front side members (not shown - attaching at 7) and located rearward of a corresponding one of the arm support portions (3); and
the shear panel (Kroger - 13) includes
a first intermediate closed-section structure portion (annotated in red) connecting a right end of the front closed-section structure portion and the connected portion of the left side rail as viewed in plan and connected to the connected portion of the left side rail, and
a second intermediate closed-section structure portion (annotated in orange) connecting a left end of the front closed-section structure portion and the connected portion of the right side rail as viewed in plan and connected to the connected portion of the right side rail.
PNG
media_image1.png
543
1405
media_image1.png
Greyscale
3. The vehicle lower part structure according to claim 2, further comprising:
a first rear closed-section structure portion (Kroger - annotated in blue) extending from a right end of the second intermediate closed-section structure portion obliquely rearward to left as viewed in plan; and
a second rear closed-section structure portion (Kroger - annotated in green) extending from a left end of the first intermediate closed-section structure portion obliquely rearward to right as viewed in plan, a rear end of the second rear closed-section structure portion being connected to a rear end of the first rear closed-section structure portion and the battery.
4. The vehicle lower part structure according to claim 1, wherein each of the side rails (Kroger - 1, 2) includes a bent portion located forward of the front closed-section structure portion. (Kroger - Column 5, Lines 35-51)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AARON L LEMBO whose telephone number is (571)270-3065. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7am-4pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicole Coy can be reached on (571) 272-5405. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AARON L LEMBO/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3679
Prosecution Insights