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 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Brockhaus, U.S. 4,675,940.
Re: claim 1, Brockhaus discloses a fixing or hinge assembly having a clevis (fig 1, hinge pin 5; col. 3, lines 28-40) having a first arm (hinge eye 10; col. 3, lines 57-61) having a bore (bore for pin 5) and a second arm (other hinge eye 10) having a bore (bore for pins 5), a tang (wing 11, hinge eye 9; col. 3, lines 28-32) having a bore (bore for pin 5) extending between the first arm (hinge eye 10 opposite hinge eye 10) and the second arm (eye 10), a clevis pin (hinge pin 5) extending through the bore of the first arm, the bore of the tang and the bore of the second arm, the clevis pin connecting the tang to the clevis, and a first contact assembly (fig 1, upper hinge assembly 2; col. 3, lines 4-14) having a first cylinder (bore of cylindrical bushing 18; col. 3, lines 57-61) having a bore and a first flange (col. 7, lines 44-53) and a second cylinder (fig 2, lining 21; col. 4, lines 27-33) having a bore and a second flange (col. 7, lines 44-53), the first cylinder (bushing 18) extending into the bore of the first arm (bore of hinge eye 10) from a first side (any side of eye 10) of the first arm and the second cylinder (lining 21) extending into a portion of the bore of first cylinder (fig 2, lining 21 is radially within the bushing 18) located inside the bore of the first arm (eye 10) from a second side (side at 34, fig 2) of the first arm (10), the first flange or the second flange axially facing or contacting a first lateral face (at recess 36) of the tang (hinge eye 9 faces both elements directly or indirectly), and wherein a first axial space (fig 2, space between 25 and 36) exists between the first arm (eye 10) and the first lateral face of the tang (hinge eye 9).
As to claim 2 the reference discloses a second contact assembly (fig 3, the other hinge eye 10) having a third cylinder (cylindric of bushing 17) having a bore and a third flange (flange at 14 or 15, fig 3) and a fourth cylinder (sleeve cylinder 22) having a bore and a fourth flange (fig3, both ends include flanges), the third cylinder (bushing 17) extending into the bore of the second arm (lower eye 10 at wing 13) from a first side of the second arm (10) and the fourth cylinder (22) extending into a portion of the bore of the third cylinder (17) located inside the bore of the second arm (10) from a second side of the second arm, the third flange or the fourth flange (flanges 14 or 15) axially facing or contacting a second lateral face of the tang (one of the sides of hinge eye 9 is facing the flanges of the flanges of 17 and 22), wherein a second axial space (fig 3, space between 15 and 14 and the bushing and sleeve) exists between the second arm (10) and the second lateral face of the tang (9).
As to claim 3, the reference discloses in figure 3 the first flange or the second flange (14 or 15) has a contact surface contacting the first lateral face of the tang (9), and wherein the third flange or the fourth flange has a contact surface contacting the second lateral face of the tang (one of the two sides of the eye 9).
As to claim 4, the reference discloses the first flange or the second flange (flanges 14 or 15) has a bearing surface contacting the first side or the second side of the first arm (10), and wherein the third flange or the fourth flange (flanges 14 or 15) has a bearing surface contacting the first side or the second side of the second arm (10).
As to claim 5, the reference discloses the first lateral side (upper or lower distal end of 9) of the tang (9) faces the second side of the first arm (a lower or upper of eye 10 faces the tang 9, fig 3, 2) and the second lateral side of the tang faces the first side of the second arm.
As to claim 6, the reference discloses the first flange (one of flanges of 22 or 21) has a contact surface contacting the first lateral side of the tang (9) and a bearing surface (surfaces of 22 or 21 facing 18 or 17) contacting the second side of the first arm (10) and the second flange (flanges of 22 or 21) has a contact surface contacting the first side of the first arm (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 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brockhaus, U.S. 4,675,940.
Brockhaus discloses use of suitable high strength material of steel or a woven or knitted fabric of carbon fibers or the like, but does not specifically state the first and second arms are a thermoplastic matrix reinforced by carbon fibers or a thermoset matrix reinforced by the carbon fibers nor the tang is aluminum or an aluminum alloy.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to arrange for the elements to be formed from the claimed material since the selection of a known material based on it’s suitability is a design consideration within the skill of one having ordinary skill in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 8 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
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7 August 2026
/KENNETH L THOMPSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3676
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