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 Objections
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 7 recites “according to claim 1 rotatable supporting a roller”. Perhaps Applicant intended --according to claim 1 rotatably supporting a roller--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-17 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 1 recites “high temperature-resistant” for both the grease and the seal. It is unclear what structure/limitation this imparts, if any. It is unclear what temperatures would be considered “high” temperatures. It is further unclear what metrics are required for “temperature-resistant”. For example, must the element (grease or seal) “resist” a specific temperature for a specific amount of time?
Claim 1 recites the “lubricating grease fills 50-95% of a sealed space”. It is unclear if the seal space includes or excludes the rolling elements. For example, how could a grease fill 95% of the space if that space also includes the rollers. This would limit the space of the rollers to 5% of the sealed space. As written, the metes and bounds of the claim are indefinite.
Claim 2 recites “said bearing is configured for” following a list of device in which the bearing could operate. The devices are outside the scope of the “bearing” and thus the scope of the claim of claim 2 is rendered indefinite. It is further unclear what structure, if any, is imparted by “configured for”. If the devices listed in the claim do not impart any structural difference to the bearing, then the claim does not further limit claim 1. If it does impart a structural difference depending on the environment, the it is unclear what such a structural difference would be and if it is the same for all the devices or if each device provides its own unique structural differences.
Claim 17 recites “the bearing is not provided with a cooling system”. The limitation is unclear and indefinite. The metes and bounds of the claim are unclear. For example, what constitutes a “cooling system”. Must the cooling system be only for cooling? For example, lubrication systems that cycle through old lubricant can be considered cooling. Still further, any device that subjected to a temperature difference must inherently have a passive cooling system. For example, Applicant’s illustrated bearing can be considered to have a passive cooling system, since heat is transferred from the bearing to the housing and then into the environment or support structures that contact the housing.
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, 7 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yagi JP 2007-285498 in view of Duckworth U.S. 2011/0048809 and Kawamura U.S. 2017/0152891.
Re clm 1, Yagi discloses a bearing configured for a machine in which at least part of said bearing will be subjected to a temperature of at least 150°C during use of said machine, said bearing comprising: a bearing outer ring (2) and a bearing inner ring (3), rolling elements (4s) disposed between the bearing outer ring and the bearing inner ring, a lubricating grease comprising a thickener (lines 57-61) and synthetic base oil (lines 89-92), and at last one seal (13s), and the rolling elements are disposed within the sealed space.
Yagi does not disclose a high temperature-resistant lubricating grease, said high temperature-resistant lubricating grease having a dropping point of at least 250°C and an NLGI consistency grade of 1.0 to 1.5.
Duckworth teaches a grease ([0002]) for a bearing comprising a high temperature-resistant lubricating grease, said high temperature-resistant lubricating grease having a dropping point of at least 250°C (claim 14) and an NLGI consistency grade of 1.0 to 1.5 (claim 15) for the purpose of sustaining the useful life of the bearing whilst being subjected to severe operating conditions such as constant and repetitive shock loads exerted to the interior portions of bearing surfaces with pressure in excessive of 15 MPa and temperature above 150°C ([0005] and [0006]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Yagi and provide a high temperature-resistant lubricating grease, said high temperature-resistant lubricating grease having a dropping point of at least 250°C and an NLGI consistency grade of 1.0 to 1.5 for the purpose of sustaining the useful life of the bearing whilst being subjected to severe operating conditions such as constant and repetitive shock loads exerted to the interior portions of bearing surfaces with pressure in excessive of 15 MPa and temperature above 150 °C.
Yagi is silent as to the material of the seal and does not disclose at least one high temperature resistant seal.
Duckworth teaches a high temperature resistant seal ([0004]) for the purpose of preventing debris from entering the bearing.
Since both Yagi and Duckworth disclose seals, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to substitute the unknown sealing material of Yagi with that of Duckworth and provide at least one high temperature resistant seal to achieve the predictable result of preventing debris from entering the bearing.
As another rationale and separate for the modification of the seal, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to substitute the unknown material of Yagi with the high temperature resistant seal material of Duckworth, since it has been held that the selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intended purpose would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945). See MPEP § 2144.07.
Yagi does not disclose the high temperature-resistant grease fills 50-95% of a sealed space defined, at least in part, by the bearing outer ring, the bearing inner ring and the at least one high temperature-resistant seal.
Kawamura teaches filling the bearing space by 95% ([0095]). Kawamura also teaches the filling percentage as a result effective variable ([0093]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Yagi and provide the high temperature-resistant grease fills 50-95% of a sealed space defined, at least in part, by the bearing outer ring, the bearing inner ring and the at least one high temperature-resistant seal, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). See MPEP 2144.05(II)(A).
The limitation “in which at least part of said bearing will be subjected to a temperature of at least 150°C during use of said machine” is considered intended use of the bearing and therefore is given little or no patentable weight. Furthermore, the bearing is at least capable of operating in the requisite temperature range.
Re clm 2, Yagi further discloses said bearing is configured for a continuous casting machine (lines 13-14).
Re clm 3, the improvement of Duckworth further discloses said thickener of said high temperature-resistant lubricating grease comprises at least one compound or material selected from the group consisting of: polyurea (claim 10), a calcium sulfonate complex (claim 7; [0021]; [0047] and [0048]), and lithium complex (claim 8).
Re clm 4 and 12, the improvement of Duckworth further discloses said synthetic base oil of said high temperature-resistant lubricating grease comprises at least one oil selected from the group consisting of: a polyalphaolefin ([0056]).
Re clm 5 and 13¸the improvement of Duckworth further discloses wherein said at least one high temperature-resistant seal comprises a hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) ([0004]).
Re clm 7, Yagi further discloses a machine (Fig. 1) comprising at least one bearing (2-4, Fig. 2) according to claim 1 rotatably supporting a roller (26).
Re clm 11, Yagi further discloses the machine is a continuous casting machine (lines 13-14).
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yagi JP 2007-285498 in view of Duckworth U.S. 2011/0048809 and Kawamura U.S. 2017/0152891 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Asai U.S. 2017/0343045.
Yagi in view of Duckworth and Kawamura disclose all the claimed subject matter as described above.
Re clm 14, although Duckworth discloses various synthetic oils and thickeners, Duckworth does not explicitly disclose a synthetic fluorinated oil and a PTFE thickener.
Asai discloses a high temperature grease comprising a synthetic fluorinated oil (PFPE; [0018]) and a PTFE thickener ([0019]) for the purpose of providing a grease in which favorable low-speed torque is kept and favorable lubrication characteristics are kept in long-term use in a high-temperature environment ([0006]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to substitute the synthetic oil and thickener of Duckworth with any well-known high temperature-resistant syntenic oil and thickener, such as the PFPE and PTFE of Asai, since it has been held that the selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intended purpose would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945). See MPEP § 2144.07.
Re clm 15, the improvement of Duckworth further discloses wherein said at least one high temperature-resistant seal comprises a hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) ([0004]).
Claims 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yagi JP 2007-285498 in view of Duckworth U.S. 2011/0048809 and Kawamura U.S. 2017/0152891 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Johansson WO 2014/007714.
Yagi in view of Duckworth and Kawamura disclose all the claimed subject matter as described above.
Re clm 16, Yagi in view of Kawamura discloses filling 50-95% of the sealed space of the bearing according to claim 1 with the high temperature-resistant lubricating grease, and operating a roller (26) that is rotatably supported by the bearing.
Yagi is silent as to the specific operating conditions of the device and thus does not explicitly disclose subjecting at least part of the bearing to a temperature of at least 150°C.
Johansson teaches continuous casting machines in which bearings are exposed to temperatures of over 200°C (page 3: lines 12-17).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Yagi and use the bearing of Yagi in any applicable operating condition in which the bearing is known or even capable of functioning such as an environment with a temperature of at least 150°C, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). See MPEP 2144.05(II)(A).
Re clm 17, Yagi further discloses the bearing is not provided with a cooling system (Fig. 2).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. JP H066751 discloses a bearing used in a hot leveler and a rolling mill of a continuous casting facility. Baker discloses bearings used in cast rolls for plate mills, hot mills, and all mills rolling flat products ([0036]). Deibl U.S. 7,325,586 discloses a width of the product being greater than 2 m. Ito U.S. 2022/0373033 discloses a thickness of greater than 5 mm.
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/ALAN B WAITS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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