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 .
DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This is the first Office action on the merits for Application No. 19/054,089, filed 02/14/2025. Claims 1-10 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) received on 02/14/2025 has been considered by the examiner.
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 1-4 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kehr et al. (US 2022/0203815 A1, from IDS filed 02/14/2025).
Regarding claim 1, Kehr discloses an articulated rigid axle of a vehicle (1000), comprising:
an axle bridge (100) with at least one electric machine (EM) as drive;
at least one drive output shaft (1,2) connected by way of at least one gear ratio step to at the axle bridge (100);
a steerable vehicle wheel (20) is mounted on the axle bridge of each drive output shaft (1,2; para. [0034]); and
a gear ratio step in the form of a bevel gear transmission stage (fig. 5; paras. [0032] and [0047]), i.e., a gear ratio step of bevel differential gear 10) is configured to compensate an axis offset between a wheel axis (i.e., axis of wheel 20) of each steerable vehicle wheel (20) and a drive axle (1a,2a) of the at least one electric machine (EM).
Regarding claim 2, Kehr discloses the articulated rigid axle according to claim 1, comprising: gearwheels with straight, oblique, and/or curved teeth in the bevel gear transmission stage (fig. 5; paras. [0010] – [0012], [0032], [0034] and [0047], i.e., bevel differential gear 10)
Regarding claim 3, Kehr discloses the articulated rigid axle according to claim 1, wherein at least one gearwheel of the bevel gear (10) is in the form of a bevel gear (paras. [0014], [0032] and [0047]).
Regarding claim 4, Kehr discloses the articulated rigid axle according to claim 1, wherein the bevel gear transmission stage (fig. 5, i.e., bevel differential gear 10) comprises a bevel gear (paras. [0032] and [0047]) and a spur gear (See para. [0032], annotated Figure 4 below, i.e., spur gear 13) that meshes with the bevel gear (paras. [0032] and [0047]).
Regarding claim 6, Kehr discloses the articulated rigid axle according to claim 1, wherein each drive output shaft (1,2) is arranged in the axle bridge (100) at a predetermined axis angle (A) relative to the wheel axis (i.e., axis of wheel 20).
Regarding claim 7, Kehr discloses the articulated rigid axle according to claim 6, wherein an end of each drive output shaft (1,2) is directed toward the vehicle wheel (20), and
wherein the articulated rigid axle further comprises a constant-velocity joint (18a,18b,18c,18d; paras. [0013], [0016]) configured to compensate the axis angle (A).
Regarding claim 8, Kehr discloses the articulated rigid axle according to claim 1, wherein each drive output shaft (1,2) is coupled to an electric machine (EM) via at least one bevel gear transmission stage as a gear ratio, in order to be driven separately (paras. [0003], [0032] and [0047]).
Regarding claim 9, Kehr discloses the articulated rigid axle according to claim 1, wherein the two drive output shaft (1,2) are each coupled via at least one bevel gear transmission stage (paras. [0032] and [0047]) to a differential gear system (fig. 5, para. [0032], i.e., made up of at least spur gears 13 and bevel gear differential 10) to be driven in common by an electric machine (EM).
Regarding claim 10, Kehr discloses a vehicle (1000) having at least one articulated rigid axle according to claim 1.
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Annotated Figure 4
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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kehr as applied to claims 1-4 and 6-10 above and further in view of Beton (US 5,106,350 A).
Regarding claim 5, Kehr discloses the articulated rigid axle according to claim 3, wherein each gearwheel of the bevel gear transmission stages (10, i.e., stages between spur gear 13 and input bevel gear and between the bevel gears, respectively) is mounted on a respectively associated drive output shaft (1,2) or on a rotation axis arranged coaxially with the drive axle (1a,2a) but does not specifically teach that each gear wheel are mounted by means of roller bearings on both sides. Bearings, particular roller bearings are well known in the art for providing high radial loads and proper alignment under heavy loads.
Beton discloses a differential gear includes roller bearings 23,24 and bevel gears 9,10 each mounted on its associated drive shaft (11,12) by the roller bearings 23,24, respectively. See Figure 1; Column 2, lines 42 - 55.
It would have obvious to an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Kehr, with reasonable expectation of success, to have the roller bearings positioned between each gearwheel and the respective output shaft as taught by Beton in order to provide structural rigidity and reduce noise by minimizing deflecting of the output shafts under underload condition.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and applicable to the applicant's disclosure and claims.
Fuechtner (US 2011/0259657 A1) discloses a vehicle having an electric drive/machine 3 coupled to a transmission 4 connected to an angular gear and a cardan shaft 5 arranged in the axile direction and connected to the wheel 2, See Figures 3.1, 3.4, 4.3 and 4.7;
Meingassner et al. (DE 102021/122043 A1) disclose a drive axle for a motor vehicle with a drive axle includes an electric motor 2 disposed between gearboxes 9,10 or 37,38 and driving wheels 13,14, See Figures 1-3; and
Becker (CA 2,380,247 A1) discloses an improvement of steering capability includes a central/differential gear mechanism 1 mounted in such a way that it can rotate around a vertical axis, See Figures 1-7.
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/TINH T DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655 August 31, 2026
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