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
The later-filed application must be an application for a patent for an invention which is also disclosed in the prior application (the parent or original nonprovisional application or provisional application). The disclosure of the invention in the parent application and in the later-filed application must be sufficient to comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, except for the best mode requirement. See Transco Products, Inc. v. Performance Contracting, Inc., 38 F.3d 551, 32 USPQ2d 1077 (Fed. Cir. 1994).
The disclosure of the prior-filed application, Application No. 18/211717, fails to provide adequate support or enablement in the manner provided by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for one or more claims of this application. Claims 2 and 3 disclose the second shaft moving axially within a hollow portion of the first shaft, or configured to slide axially within the larger diameter portion of the first shaft. However, claim 1, on which claims 2 and 3 depend, discloses the second shaft including a hollow larger-diameter portion that receives the first shaft. The drawings and specification do not show or describe an embodiment in which both first and second shafts have a larger-diameter portion in which the other of the first and second shaft is received and configured to slide axially within. Appropriate correction or clarification is needed.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the second shaft moving axially within a hollow portion of the first shaft (claim 2), and configured to slide axially within the larger diameter portion of the first shaft (claim 3), while also disclosing the second shaft including a hollow larger-diameter portion that receives the first shaft (claim 1 on which claims 2 and 3 depend) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 2 – 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claims 2 and 3 disclose the second shaft moving axially within a hollow portion of the first shaft, or configured to slide axially within the larger diameter portion of the first shaft. However, claim 1, on which claims 2 and 3 depend, discloses the second shaft including a hollow larger-diameter portion that receives the first shaft. The drawings and specification do not show or describe an embodiment in which both first and second shafts have a larger-diameter portion in which the other of the first and second shaft is received and configured to slide axially within. Appropriate correction or clarification is needed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 5, 7, 10 – 15, and 17 – 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Welschof et al. U.S. 6,390,928 (“Welschof”) in view of Olason, JR. U.S. 2021/0293283 (“Olason”). Welschof discloses a recreational vehicle (column 1, line 9) comprising:
a plurality of ground engaging members (wheel), each ground engaging member including a wheel (column 1, line 11),
a driveline (column 1, line 9),
a half-shaft assembly (11, column 1, line 6) configured to communicate power from the driveline to one of the plurality of wheels, the half-shaft assembly comprising:
an axial movement joint (axial plunging part arranged in the shaft part) having:
a first shaft (20) and a second shaft (14), wherein rotational input received on the first shaft is communicated to the second shaft (fig. 1), and wherein the axial movement joint allows axial movement of the first shaft relative to the second shaft (fig. 1), the axial movement joint having an axial boot cover 45) coupled to a first end of the first shaft (17) and on a second end (on 14) to the second shaft that accommodates axial movement of the first shaft relative to the second shaft, wherein the second shaft includes a hollow larger-diameter portion (14) that receives the first shaft, and wherein an interior of the axial boot cover (fig. 2) is in fluid communication with the hollow larger-diameter portion of the second shaft (second shaft of fig. 2); and
a plurality of ball bearings (40) retained within a cage (41) positioned between the first shaft and the second shaft to allow axial plunge or movement of the second shaft relative to the first shaft;
a first constant velocity (CV) joint (12) coupled to transmit rotational input received from the driveline to the first shaft, the first CV joint having a first CV boot cover (43); and
a second CV joint (13) coupled to transmit rotational output received from the second shaft to one of the plurality of wheels, the second CV joint having a second CV boot cover (44). Welschof does not disclose a frame. Olason teaches a frame [0003]; a plurality of trailing arms (38, fig. 4); wherein at least one wheel is secured to the frame via one of the trailing arms (fig. 4); an engine (86); and a driveline (abstract) connected to the engine. One of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would find modifying Welschof such that it comprised the frame and trailing arms in view of the teachings of Olason obvious so as to complete the off-road vehicle (abstract, fig. 1)
In reference to claims 4, 5, 7, 10, and 11, Welschof in view of Olason further teaches [claim 4]] the second shaft is an at least partially hollow shaft (Welschof fig. 1, 2, and 5), and wherein the first shaft moves axially within the hollow portion of the second shaft;
[[claim 5]] wherein the second shaft includes a larger diameter portion (14) and a small diameter portion (near 13), wherein the first shaft is configured to slide axially within the larger diameter portion of the second shaft;
[[claim 7]] wherein an interior of the axial boot cover (fig. 2) is in fluid communication with an at least partially hollow portion of the first shaft or the second shaft;
[[claim 10]] wherein the first CV joint and the second CV joint accommodate only angular deflections (α) and the axial movement joint accommodates only linear deflections (47); and
[[claim 11]] wherein the first CV boot cover and the second CV boot cover accommodate angular deflections (α) and the axial boot cover accommodates linear deflections (47).
In reference to claim 12, Welschof discloses a plurality of ground engaging members (wheel), each ground engaging member including a wheel (column 1, line 11),
a driveline (column 1, line 10); and
a half-shaft assembly (fig. 2) configured to communicate power from the driveline to one of the plurality of wheels, the half-shaft assembly comprising a first constant velocity (CV) joint (abstract) having a CV housing (abstract), a plurality of ball bearings (40), a cage (41), and an inner race (38);
a first shaft (20) having a first end (near 42) and a second end (near M12), the first end coupled to the inner race of the first CV joint;
a first CV boot cover (12) having a first end (near 16) and a second end (near 20), the first end secured to the CV housing of the first CV joint and its second end secured to a first shaft (near 14 or 182);
a second CV joint (13) having a CV housing (fig. 2), a plurality of ball bearings (34), a cage (32), and an inner race (28);
a second shaft (14) having a smaller diameter portion (near 30) and a larger diameter portion (15), the smaller diameter portion coupled to the inner race of the second CV joint (fig. 2), wherein the larger diameter portion of the second shaft is hollow (14), wherein the first shaft and the second shaft allow axial plunge of the second shaft relative to the first shaft, and wherein the axial plunge corresponds to arcuate motion such that the axial plunge varies;
a second CV boot cover (612) having a first end (near 640) and a second end (near 564), the first end secured to the CV housing of the second CV joint and the second end secured to the smaller diameter portion of the second shaft (fig. 11E);
a ballspline mechanism (15) that includes a plurality of ball bearings (40) retained within a cage (41), wherein the ballspline mechanism is located between an inner surface of the larger diameter portion of the second shaft (14) and an outer surface of the first shaft (36); and
and an axial boot cover (452, or fig. 3) coupled on a first end (172, fig. 2 or 3) to the first shaft and on a second end (left, fig. 2 or 3) to the second shaft (at 38); wherein an interior of the axial boot cover is in fluid communication with the hollow larger diameter portion of the second shaft (fig. 2).
Welschof is silent to the other parts of the recreational vehicle. Olason teaches a recreational vehicle [0001] comprising: a frame (abstract); a plurality of trailing arms (fig. 4); wherein at least one wheel is secured to the frame via one of the trailing arms (fig. 4); an engine (86); the trailing arm arcs about a trailing arm pivot axis (fig. 4) as a function of trailing-arm angular displacement. One of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would find modifying Welschof such that it comprised the frame and trailing arms in view of the teachings of Olason obvious so as to complete the suspension of the off-road vehicle (abstract, fig. 1).
In reference to claims 13 - 15, 17, and 18, Welschof in view of Olason further discloses [[claim 13]] the smaller diameter portion of the second shaft is hollow (Welschof, fig. 2);
[[claim 14]] wherein the interior of the axial boot cover is in fluid communication with an interior of the second CV boot cover (fig. 2) via the hollow portions of the second shaft;
[[claim 15]] wherein axial plunge of the first shaft relative to the second shaft is determined by the connection of the trailing arm to the respective wheel (Olason fig. 4);
[[claim 17]] wherein the first CV joint and the second CV joint accommodate only angular deflections and the ballspline mechanism accommodates only linear deflections (fig. 2); and
[[claim 18]] wherein the first CV boot cover and the second CV boot cover accommodate angular deflections and the axial boot cover accommodates linear deflections (fig. 2); and
[[claim 19]] wherein the plurality of trailing arms is laterally constrained relative to the frame (Olason fig. 4).
Claim(s) 8, 9 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Welschof in view of Olason as applied to claims 1, 7, and 12 above, and further in view of Jacob et al. 5,611,733 (“Jacob”). Welschof as modified does not disclose both the first shaft and the second shaft are hollow. Jacob teaches [[claims 8 ]] wherein either the first shaft or the second shaft is fully hollow (both shafts), and wherein the interior of the axial boot cover is in fluid communication with an interior of either the first CV boot cover or the second CV boot cover via the hollow shaft (first CV boot, fig. 2);
[[claim 9]] a first (27) and second shaft (21) being both hollow, wherein the interior of an axial boot cover (25) is in fluid communication with an interior of the hollow first shaft (fig. 1) and an interior of the hollow second shaft (21); and
[[claim 16]] wherein both the first shaft and the second shaft are hollow, wherein the interior of the axial boot cover is in fluid communication with an interior of the hollow first shaft and an interior of the hollow second shaft, (Welschof fig. 2, when modified by Jacob). One of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would find modifying Welschof in view of Olason such that it comprised both shafts to be hollow in view of the teachings of Jacob obvious so as to reduce the weight and material used for the shafts journals (abstract).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 12 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAREN BECK whose telephone number is (571)272-6212. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday from 8:30AM - 4:00PM.
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KAREN BECK
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3614
/KAREN BECK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614
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