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 § 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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Smith (US 1,990,570).
Claim 1: Smith discloses a bearing disassembly device (as depicted in Figure 1) that includes an urging assembly (5 of Figure 1) configured to engage with a bearing base housing an outer sleeve (1,2 of Figure 1); a displacement assembly (3 of Figure 1) connected to the urging assembly and capable of being driven by the urging assembly to displace away from the bearing base (displaced by rotating threaded shaft 6); and a clamping assembly (9 of Figure 1) including a plurality of clamping members (three members are depicted in Figure 4) each connected to the displacement assembly (connected by pins 10) and including a clamping surface (11 of Figure 1), each of the plurality of clamping members being adjustable to move in a radial direction of the outer sleeve so that the clamping surfaces of the plurality of clamp members clamp the outer sleeve (Page 1, Lines 16-36).
Claim 2: Smith further discloses that the urging assembly includes at least one column (4 of Figure 1), the displacement assembly is slidably disposed on the at least one column (as depicted in Figure 1, 3 surrounds and slides along 4), and the at least one column is configured to abut the bearing base (4 is in contact with 1).
Claim 3: Smith further discloses that the urging assembly further includes a base (5 of Figure 1) and a threaded rod (6 of Figure 1) rotatably disposed through the base, the at least one column is connected to the base (connected at 23,24 of Figure 1), and the threaded rod is screwed to the displacement assembly (screwed at threaded portion of 3).
Claim 4: Smith further discloses that the displacement assembly includes a pulling member (threads of 3) and a main body (3 of Figure 1), the pulling member and the main body are connected to each other, the at least one column is disposed through at least one of the pulling member and the main body (disposed through the main body), and the threaded rod is screwed to the pulling member (as depicted in Figure 1, 6 is threaded to the threaded portion of 3).
Claim 5: Smith further discloses that the urging assembly further includes at least one guide rod (21 of Figure 1), the base includes at least one recession (hole in 4 through which 21 passes), the at least one guide rod is inserted in the at least one recession and fixed to the base (fixed by 24 and threaded portion of the 21).
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.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith (US 1,990,570) in view of Hugh (US 3,964,149).
Claim 8: Smith fails to disclose that the clamping assembly further includes a plurality of bolts, the plurality of bolts are threadedly and rotatably connected to the displacement assembly, and the plurality of bolts are rotatably connected to the plurality of clamping members, respectively.
However, Hugh teaches a puller that includes clamping assemblies that include bolts (9 of Figure 1) that are threadedly and rotatably connected to displacement assembly (3 of Figure 1), and the plurality of bolts are rotatably connected to the plurality of clamping members (4 of Figure 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of Smith such that included a bolted connection as taught by Hugh such that the clamping assembly of Smith was capable of being reversed to gripper the outer edge of a bearing component as opposed to the inner edge as performed by Smith.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 and 9-10 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 9,802,302 B1 to Colson discloses a puller that includes sliding adjustable clamping members (33 of Figure 1). US 7,272,886 B2 discloses a puller included clamping members with bolts (9,7 of Figure 1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON L VAUGHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5704. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday 8:30 - 5:00.
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/JASON L VAUGHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726
