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 .
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because “The content of a patent abstract should be such as to enable the reader thereof, regardless of his or her degree of familiarity with patent documents, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection of the abstract the nature and gist of the technical disclosure and that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains.” (MPEP 608.01(b)I.A.) The supplied abstract does not describe the claimed invention. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: the reference numeral 620 is used in [0089] to refer to a “gap filler” (line 6 (x2)) and “oil” (x7 in the lines after line 6), in [0090] as “oil”, in [0091] as “seal”, in [0092] as “oil” (lines 3, 6, 7) and “seal” (line 6), in [0093] as “oil” (lines 1, 3), in [0095] as “oil”, and in [0096] as “gap filler” (x3). Figure 6C, which is described in these paragraphs, appears to show the reference numeral 620 pointing to a gap filler, reference numerals 612 and 614 (which do not appear to be mentioned in the specification) appear to point to the oil (accumulated and flowing, respectively), and reference numeral 622 points to the seal.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 28 and 38 are objected to because of the following informalities: in the last line of each of claims 28 and 38, it appears “the gap between the ring gear.” should be --the gap between the ring gear and the gearbox casing.--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 19-22 and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Carlton, U. S. Patent 8,556,761.
Carlton shows a gear system in figure 1F.
A ring gear 22, best shown in figure 1G, is mounted on a gearbox casing 1.
A gap 22G (fig. 1G) is between the ring gear 22 and the gear box casing 1 (col. 9, lines 26-27).
A seal 24 is configured to obstruct flow of oil to cause the oil to accumulate within the gap between the ring gear and the gearbox casing (col. 14, lines 32-35), wherein the accumulated oil thermally couples the ring gear 22 to the gearbox casing 1 and operates to wick heat away from the ring gear 22 to the gearbox casing 1. As described in column 14, lines 42-45, when the oil is in the gap 22G between the ring gear 22 and the gearbox casing 1, “it is under pressure” and as such is simultaneously in contact with both the ring gear 22 and the gearbox casing 1, thermally coupling the two.
(claim 19)
The seal 24 is disposed on a lower side of the ring gear 22. As shown in figure 1G, there is a seal 24 at each end of the gap 22G. Column 14, lines 18-20 discloses the gearbox may tilt up to 43o22’ with respect to horizontal, such that one seal 24 or the other is on a lower side of the ring gear 22 depending on whether the gearbox is tilted up or down.
(claim 20)
The accumulated oil fills one of the entirety or a portion of the gap 22G between the ring gear 22 and the gearbox casing 1 (col. 14, lines 42-45).
(claim 21)
The seal 24, being an o-ring (col. 14, line 34), is made of a flexible material and is compliant with other components of the gear system.
(claim 22)
One or more oil drain back points 22A disposed along the ring gear 22 (fig. 3) are configured to allow the oil to flow therethrough out of the gap 22G between the ring gear 22 and the gearbox casing 1 to control the amount of accumulated oil within the gap between the ring gear and the gearbox casing (col. 14, lines 42-47).
(claim 24)
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(s) 28-32, 34, and 38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlton in view of Rauscher, DE 198 53 459, a machine translation of the description of which is attached as an Office Action Appendix.
Carlton discloses a method of removing heat from a gear system, shown in figure 1F, comprising:
accumulating oil within a gap 22G between a ring gear 22 and a gearbox casing 1, wherein the ring gear 22 is mounted on the gearbox casing 1, wherein accumulating the oil within the gap 22G between the ring gear 22 and the gearbox casing 1 includes obstructing a flow of the oil using a seal 24 to cause the oil to accumulate within the gap between the ring gear and the gearbox casing (col. 14, lines 32-35).
The oil accumulated in the gap 22G is configured to wick heat away from the ring gear 22 to the gearbox casing 1.
(claim 29)
The seal 24 is disposed on a lower side of the ring gear 22. As shown in figure 1G, there is a seal 24 at each end of the gap 22G. Column 14, lines 18-20 discloses the gearbox may tilt up to 43o22’ with respect to horizontal, such that one seal 24 or the other is on a lower side of the ring gear 22 depending on whether the gearbox is tilted up or down.
(claim 30)
The accumulated oil fills one of the entirety or a portion of the gap 22G between the ring gear 22 and the gearbox casing 1 (col. 14, lines 42-45).
(claim 31)
The seal 24, being an o-ring (col. 14, line 34), is made of a flexible material and is compliant with other components of the gear system.
(claim 32)
One or more oil drain back points 22A disposed along the ring gear 22 (fig. 3) are configured to allow the oil to flow therethrough out of the gap 22G between the ring gear 22 and the gearbox casing 1 to control the amount of accumulated oil within the gap between the ring gear and the gearbox casing (col. 14, lines 42-47).
(claim 34)
Carlton discloses a gear system as discussed above in the rejection of claim 19, including the oil accumulated in the gap 22G being configured to perform the function of operating to wick heat away from the ring gear to the gearbox casing, but does not disclose the amount of heat wicked away from the ring gear to the gearbox casing being higher than an amount wicked away through the ring gear to the gearbox casing due to the mounting of the ring gear to the gearbox without the accumulated oil.
Though the oil accumulated in the gap of the gear system of Carlton is configured to perform the function of operating to wick heat away from the ring gear to the gearbox casing, Carlton does not disclose a step of wicking away heat from the ring gear to the gearbox through the accumulated oil, wherein the accumulated oil thermally couples the ring gear to the gearbox casing.
Rauscher shows a gear system in figure 1, which like the gear system of Carlton, includes a gap between a ring gear and a gearbox casing for the accumulation of oil.
A ring gear 35 is mounted on a gearbox casing 9 (ring gear 35 is mounted on teeth 42 of the device 43 attached to the housing cover 1 [0030] at the right end of the ring gear in fig. 1, with a centering collar 39 of the ring gear resting in the centering shoulder 34 of the housing shell 9 [0031] at the left end of the ring gear in fig. 1).
A gap 44 is between the ring gear 35 and the gear box casing 9 (“a coolant space 44 formed between the outer circumference of the ring gear 35 and the inner wall of the housing shell 9” [0031]).
Oil is caused to accumulate within the gap 44 between the ring gear 35 and the gearbox casing 9, wherein the accumulated oil thermally couples the ring gear 35 to the gearbox casing 9 and operates to wick heat away from the ring gear 35 to the gearbox casing 9 (“The oil transfers the heat absorbed in the gearbox, in particular heat absorbed by the ring gear 35, to the housing shell 9.” [0031]).
(claim 19)
An amount of heat wicked away from the ring gear 35 to the gearbox casing 9 due to the accumulated oil within the gap 44 between the ring gear 35 and the gearbox casing 9 is higher than an amount of heat wicked away through the ring gear 35 to the gearbox casing 9 due to the mounting of the ring gear 35 to the gearbox casing 9 without the accumulated oil within the gap 44 between the ring gear 35 ([0003] “improved heat dissipation”).
(claims 28 and 38)
Rauscher discloses a method of removing heat from a gear system comprising:
accumulating oil within a gap 44 between a ring gear 35 and a gearbox casing 9, wherein the ring gear 35 is mounted on the gearbox casing 9 (fig. 1), at least at the bottom of gap 44 as shown in figure 2 (gap shown between portion 39 of ring gear 35 and gearbox casing 9); and
wicking away heat from the ring gear 35 to the gearbox 9 through the accumulated oil, wherein the accumulated oil thermally couples the ring gear 35 to the gearbox casing 9 (“The oil transfers the heat absorbed in the gearbox, in particular the heat absorbed by the ring gear 35, to the housing shell 9.” [0031]).
(claim 29)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include wicking away heat from the ring gear to the gearbox of Carlton through accumulated oil by an amount greater than an amount of heat wicked away without accumulated oil in view of Rauscher to allow a gear system to operate in continuous operation at high loads using a simplified and cost-effective design that ensures increased stability (Rauscher [0002]-[0003]).
Claim(s) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlton in view of Jin et al., CN 213540724, a translation of which is attached.
Carlton discloses a gear system as discussed in the rejection of claim 19 above, the gear system being used in a roadheader (col. 1, line 10), but does not disclose the seal 24 is made of a material configured to withstand high temperatures.
Jin et al. discloses a seal 13 used in a roadheader (first sentence of “Background”). The third to the last paragraph of “Embodiment 1” describes the seal 13, including “contact sealing ring 13 is made of PTFE material or other similar wearable, high temperature resistant self-lubricating sealing material.”, thus describing a seal made of a material configured to withstand high temperatures.
(claim 23)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to make the seal of Carlton a material configured to withstand high temperatures in view of Jin et al. because roadheaders/earth-boring machines are heavy duty machines that create a high temperature environment when operating and the components need to be able to withstand such an environment.
Claim(s) 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlton in view of Rauscher as applied to claim 29 above, and further in view of Jin et al.
Carlton in view of Rauscher discloses a gear system as discussed in the rejection of claim 29 above, both disclosing the gear system being used in a high temperature environment (Carlton “A roadheader…experiences high axial and radial loads” col. 1, lines 10-11; Rauscher “the heat generation of such gearboxes is not insignificant, which leads to difficulties, especially in continuous operation (at higher loads).” [0002]) but does not disclose the seal 24 is made of a material configured to withstand high temperatures.
Jin et al. discloses a seal 13 used in a roadheader (first sentence of “Background”). The third to the last paragraph of “Embodiment 1” describes the seal 13, including “contact sealing ring 13 is made of PTFE material or other similar wearable, high temperature resistant self-lubricating sealing material.”, thus describing a seal made of a material configured to withstand high temperatures.
(claim 33)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to make the seal of Carlton in view of Rauscher a material configured to withstand high temperatures in view of Jin et al. because roadheaders/earth-boring machines are heavy duty machines that create a high temperature environment when operating and the components need to be able to withstand such an environment.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 25-27 and 35-37 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. Richards, CA 02816504, discloses an example of a gear system including a ring gear 38 mounted to a gearbox casing 24 using a mount 40, described as “linkages 40”, and shown in figure 2 as a flexure mount that includes a flexure. The mounting of the ring gear by the linkages 40 would not permit accumulation of oil in any gap between the ring gear and the gearbox casing.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U. S. Patent 2,420,764 (Zuck) May 1947 - a ring gear 29 is mounted on a gearbox casing 38 shell portion 50 through bearings 26 and 27. "Proper lubrication may be retained in the bearings 26 and 27 by means of a grease retaining ring 31 and a grease retaining felt 32. An annular sealing ring 32' is likewise provided on the outside of the bearing member." These sealing members enclose an annular chamber 50' formed by the shell portion 50.
DE 41 05 907 (Briehl) August 1992 - "Each ring gear 1 is optionally with its own circumferential outer jacket 6 to form an annular channel 7 for guiding a tempering medium - that is, for cooling or heating the relevant planetary gear drive."
CN 202545769 (Feng et al.) November 2012 - "internal gear 203 through water cooling cavity II (204) is set between the machine body II (201) and the machine body III 202 joint"
CN 110645344 (Wang et al.) January 2020 - "gear 32 outer wall and the inner wall of the cavity 12 against the gear 32 are matched to form a second cooling cavity 3 with the second groove 31."
U. S. Patent 11,187,315 (Barnes et al.) November 2021 - "FIG. 3 shows a close-up view of a portion of the cross section of the ring gear assembly shown in FIG. 2, including the gap 310 between the ring gear 110 and the gear box case 120." The connection of the ring gear to the gearbox casing is a flexible connection including openings preventing the accumulation of oil.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHERRY LYNN ESTREMSKY whose telephone number is (571)272-7090. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am-4:30pm.
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SLE
/SHERRY L ESTREMSKY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655