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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/24/2024 was considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 15, 20, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yasumasa JP2014163148.
Claim 15. Yasumasa discloses a friction damper comprising: a pressure-contact-plate stack in which a plurality of pressure-contact plates (11, 21, 31) are stacked on each other and slide against each other to generate a frictional force between the plurality of pressure-contact plates (P); a bolt (41b) that extends through the pressure-contact-plate stack; a nut (41n) that is screwed onto the bolt at a position on a side opposite to a head portion of the bolt; a first disc spring set (43) that is disposed between the pressure-contact-plate stack (21) and one of the head portion and the nut; and a second disc spring set (43) that is disposed between the pressure-contact-plate stack (31) and another one of the head portion and the nut (41n), the frictional force being adjusted by a spring load-bearing force of the first disc spring set, a contact area of the second disc spring set with the pressure-contact-plate stack (31) being larger than a contact area of the first disc spring set with the pressure-contact-plate stack (21 – Note hole 33 in plate 31 is smaller than hole 23 in plate 21 resulting in the contact area 43 and 31 large than 43 and 21).
Claim 20. Yasumasa discloses a contact region of the first disc spring set (43) with the pressure-contact-plate stack (31) corresponds to an outer peripheral edge portion of the first disc spring set (shown in the Figures).
Claim 22. Yasumasa discloses the first disc spring set is a stack of a predetermined number of disc springs (three -3- in the Fig.5), and the second disc spring set has one disc spring or disc springs (one -1- in Fig.5), the number of the disc springs being fewer than the predetermined number (as illustrated in Fig.5).
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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 16, 18, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102((a)(1)) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Yasumasa JP2014163148, in view of Sugisawa JP6053530.
Claim 16. Yasumasa discloses a first washer (denoted 46 above) that is disposed between the pressure-contact-plate stack (31) and the one of the head portion and the nut (41n), wherein the first disc spring set (43) is disposed between the pressure-contact-plate stack (31) and the first washer (illustrated above).
Also, Sugisawa before the filing date of the instant invention discloses friction damper with a first washer (19) disposed between the pressure-contact-plate stack (16) and the one of the head portion and the nut (18), wherein a first disc spring set (20) is disposed between the pressure-contact-plate stack and the first washer (Fig.3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to provide a nut with the intention of a effectively applying a resilient force to the pressure contact plate as taught by Sugisawa, as a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue known options within his or her technical grasp.
Claim 18. Yasumasa discloses a second washer (46 above) that is disposed between the pressure-contact-plate stack (21) and the other one of the head portion and the nut, wherein the second disc spring set (43) is disposed between the pressure-contact-plate stack (21) and the second washer (illustrated in Fig.5).
Also, Sugisawa before the filing date of the instant invention discloses friction damper with a first washer (19) disposed between the pressure-contact-plate stack (16) and the one of the head portion (denoted 17) and the nut, wherein a second disc spring set (20) is disposed between the pressure-contact-plate stack and the first washer (Fig.3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to provide a nut with the intention of a effectively applying a resilient force to the pressure contact plate as taught by Sugisawa.
Claim 23. Yasumasa fails to disclose the second disc spring set is a stack of a plurality of the disc springs. Sugisawa before the filing date of the instant invention discloses a friction damper with a first and second disc spring set with a stack of a plurality of the disc springs (20). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to provide more than one disc spring for increasing the resilient force to the pressure contact plate as suggested by Sugisawa.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17, 19, and 21 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 closest prior art of record fails to teach or adequately suggest the combination of characteristics specified in the independent claim, especially the requirement of a substance concerning washer including a flange that comes into contact with the one of the head portion and the nut and a guide ring that is disposed inside the disc spring set; and/or a contact region of the second disc spring set with the pressure-contact-plate stack extends from an outer peripheral edge portion of the second disc spring set to an inner peripheral edge portion of the second disc spring set, hence there is no cogent reasoning that is unequivocally independent of hindsight that would have led one of ordinary skill in the art at the time.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to attached NOTICE OF REFERENCE CITED.
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BABAJIDE A. DEMUREN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3633
/BABAJIDE A DEMUREN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3633
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