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 § 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 7 and 15-20 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
With respect to claims 7 and 15, the recitation of " a collar (715) positioned between the inner surface (725) of the inner sleeve and the resilient locking member" in claim 7 renders the claim indefinite because it appears to contradict the feature "the resilient locking member (345) to engage the inner surface (320) of the inner sleeve (325)" of independent claim 1. Similar objection for the feature "collar (715) positioned between the inner surface (725) of the inner sleeve (705) and the resilient locking member (345)" in claims 15 and the feature "frictional engagement between the resilient locking member (345) and an inner surface (320) of the inner sleeve (325)" of independent claim 11.
With respect to claim 16, the recitation that the stem has a head portion “and a reduced diameter body portion extending from the body portion” renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear how the reduced diameter body portion extends from itself. If the reduced diameter body portion and the body portion are separate components, then “the body portion” lacks proper antecedent basis.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5, 6, 8-11, 14, and 16-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Guy (US 5,964,313).
With respect to claim 1, Guy discloses a control arm lock assembly (Fig 3) for a material handling vehicle (100), the control arm lock assembly comprising: an inner sleeve (304) defining a central opening; an actuator (302); a stem (303) arranged within the central opening, the stem to be selectively actuated via the actuator; a bushing (portion surrounding stem 303 in Fig 3) arranged within the central opening between the stem and an inner surface of the inner sleeve (Fig 3); and a resilient locking member (306) arranged within the central opening, the resilient locking member axially constrained between a head (305) of the stem and the bushing (Fig 3); wherein actuation of the stem via the actuator compresses the resilient locking member between the head and the bushing; and wherein compression of the resilient locking member causes the resilient locking member to engage the inner surface of the inner sleeve to lock the stem to the inner sleeve (column 6, lines 61-67 – column 7, lines 1-10).
With respect to claim 5, wherein the head of the stem defines a cone-shaped profile including angled surfaces, and wherein actuation of the stem causes the resilient locking member to be pushed away from the stem, into contact with the inner surface of the inner sleeve, via the angled surfaces of the head (Fig 3).
With respect to claims 6, 14, and 19 wherein the inner surface of the inner sleeve defines a smooth, continuous, surface profile (Fig 3).
With respect to claim 8, further comprising: an outer sleeve (308) circumferentially arranged around the inner sleeve; a ledge (310) extending from the inner sleeve towards the outer sleeve; a gap formed between the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve via the ledge; and a biasing element (307) arranged within the gap (Fig 3).
With respect to claim 9, wherein the biasing element opposes a braking force of a deadman brake system when the inner sleeve is locked to the stem such that a control arm of the material handling vehicle is locked into a position set by an operator of the material handling vehicle Fig 3 and column 5, lines 61-67 – column 6, lines 1-10).
With respect to claim 10, wherein actuation of the outer sleeve, via actuation of a control arm of the material handling vehicle, compresses the biasing element within the gap (column 5, lines 33-67 – column 6, lines 1-10).
With respect to claim 11, the apparatus discussed above meets the method limitations.
With respect to claim 16, Guy discloses the claimed invention discussed above as well as the stem having a head portion (305) and a reduced diameter body portion (303) extending from the body portion (Fig 3), and the actuator is operably connected to the stem to move the stem between a first position, where the inner sleeve is moveable with respect to the stem, and a second position, where movement of the inner sleeve with respect to the stem is locked (column 5, lines 33-67 – column 6, lines 1-10).
With respect to claim 17, wherein, in the second position, the stem compresses the resilient locking member so that the resilient locking member engages an inner surface of the inner sleeve to lock the stem to the inner sleeve (column 5, lines 33-67 – column 6, lines 1-10).
With respect to claim 18, wherein, in the second position, the resilient locking member is compressed between the head portion of the stem and an end of the bushing (column 5, lines 33-67 – column 6, lines 1-10).
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 2, 3, 12, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guy in view of Young et al. (US 9,010,710).
With respect to claims 2 and 12, Guy discloses the claimed invention discussed above and that the locking member is a cylindrical O-ring but does not disclose wherein the resilient locking member is a resilient O-ring. Young et al., disclose an O-ring (176) that is resilient (column 14, lines 2-4 and column 15, lines 63-65). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to modify the invention of Guy in view of the teachings of Young et al. to use a resilient O-ring as the locking member, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. It also would have been obvious to form the resilient member with a rectangular cross section in the form of a washer, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the shape of a component, and it would have been old and well known in the art to substitute a washer for the o-ring while expecting it to yield nothing more than predictable results, namely, a washer or an o-ring would enable locking of the stem to the inner sleeve. A change in shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Claim 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guy.
With respect to claim 4, wherein the head of the stem defines profile forming a pocket between the head and the bushing, the pocket configured to receive the resilient locking member (Fig 3) but does not disclose that the head is disk-shaped. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to modify the head such that it is disk-shaped, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the shape of a component. A change in shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 15, and 20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DREW J BROWN whose telephone number is (571)272-1362. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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DREW BROWN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
/DREW J BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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