DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
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 .
Status of Claims
This is the first Office Action on the merits for application no. 19/044,740 filed on February 4th, 2025. Claims 1-6 are pending.
Priority
Examiner acknowledges the Applicant’s claim to priority of applications JP 2024-015936 and JP 2024-199897 filed on February 5th, 2024 and November 15th, 2024, respectively. Certified copies were received on March 31st, 2025.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 4th, 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement was considered by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Regarding Claim 3 (lines 1-2), please change the recitation of “wherein a clutch hub fitted to one of the pair of right and left axles” to - - wherein a clutch hub fitted to the one of the pair of right and left axles - - as antecedent basis has already been established in claim 1 (line 11).
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Cheng (US 2025/0144998).
Regarding Claim 1, Cheng teaches an axle driving device (Figs. 6 and 9-10, “front differential assembly” 132) with a locking differential gear assembly (“one or more pinion or planetary gears” 63 and “two semi-axle gears” 64) having a clutch pack (“clutch” 67) for restricting a differential function of a pair of right and left axles (not shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 2, “left and right half shafts” 133) in an axle housing (“differential housing” 65) for rotatably bearing-supporting a differential case (“inner housing” 622) in which the pair of right and left axles (see Figs. 2 and 6) are disposed,
wherein the clutch pack (67) includes a clutch housing (“outer ring” 671), a first friction plate (inner “friction plates” 673), a second friction plate (outer 673), and a reaction plate (“tray” 681),
the clutch housing (671) is engaged with the differential case (622) so as to be relatively non-rotatable and axially movable (via “interior splines” 675 and “exterior splines” 627),
the second friction plate (outer 673) is engaged with the clutch housing (671) and the first friction plate (inner 673) is engaged with one (left) of the pair of right and left axles (not shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 2, 133) so that the first friction plate (inner 673) and the second friction plate (outer 673) are relatively non-rotatable and axially movable and are arranged in a superposing manner ([0040] – “interleaved friction plates 673 include one or more friction plates which are toothed to rotate with the inner ring 672 alternating between one or more friction plates which are toothed to rotate with the outer ring 671”),
the reaction plate (681) is disposed adjacent to the first friction plate (inner 673) and the second friction plate (outer 673) and is capable of freely pressing the first friction plate (inner 673) and the second friction plate (outer 673; [0043] – “preferred embodiment uses six balls 683 in rolling contact with the left sidewall 651 of the differential housing 65. A solenoid 684 (shown only in FIGS. 2, 6 and 13) or motor is used against a peripheral extension 685 (shown only in FIG. 4) of the tray 681 to rotate the tray 681 up to about 100° about the differential transverse axis 66. As rotation of the ramp raceways 682 increases, the balls 683 each roll from a region with a large depression depth to a region with a small depression depth on their ramp raceways 682, such that the position of the tray 681 shifts rightwardly toward the clutch 67, so as to push the tray 681 to press against the interleaved friction plates 673”), and
the clutch housing (671) is disposed opposite to the reaction plate (681) across the first friction plate (inner 673) and the second friction plate (outer 673) so as to face a wall (“midwall” 657) of the axle housing (65), and a first thrust bearing (at least “outer compressible gasket” 696) is disposed therebetween (see Figs. 6 and 9-10).
Regarding Claim 2, Cheng teaches the axle driving device according to claim 1,
wherein the differential case (Fig. 9, 622) includes an end (left axial end of 622 seen in Fig. 9) that extends farther outward than the wall (657) of the axle housing (65) that rotatably bearing-supports the differential case (622), and
the clutch housing (671) is connected to the end (left axial end of 622) so as to be relatively non-rotatable and axially movable (via 675 and 627).
Regarding Claim 4, Cheng teaches the axle driving device according to claim 1,
wherein a ball ramp mechanism (Figs. 6 and 9, “clutch engagement apparatus” 68) that generates a pressing force to press the first friction plate (inner 673) and the second friction plate (outer 673) when the reaction plate (681) is rotated is provided between the reaction plate (681) and the axle housing (65; see [0043] passage above),
and an energizing member (not shown) is provided to hold the reaction plate (681) at a position away from the first friction plate (inner 673) and the second friction plate (outer 673) when the reaction plate (681) is at a rotational position where the reaction plate (681) does not press the first friction plate (inner 673) and the second friction plate (outer 673; [0043] – “If desired, a spring (not shown) can be added to automatically reset, returning the tray 681 and its ramp raceways 682 to the fully unlocked position whenever the solenoid 684 is not energized”), and to release the holding of the reaction plate (681) when the reaction plate (681) is at a rotational position where the reaction plate (681) presses the first friction plate (inner 673) and the second friction plate (outer 673; see [0043] passages above).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 5-6 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.
Reasons for allowance, if applicable, will be the subject of a separate communication to the Applicant or patent owner, pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.104 and MPEP § 1302.14.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, Applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure. The prior art of Pump (US 2015/0057125), Adams (US 2009/0093333), Krisher (US 7,390,278), Guarino (US 10,697,534), Cooper (US 9,476,492), Nahrwold (US 9,885,415), Imafuku (US 10,234,009), Kenmotsu (US 12,372,146) and Zeich (US 10,571,007) listed in the attached "Notice of References Cited" disclose similar differentials comprising clutch packs related to various aspects of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James J. Taylor II whose telephone number is (571)272-4074. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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JAMES J. TAYLOR II
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3655
/JAMES J TAYLOR II/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655