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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “each pocket has an angular width of about 45°” and “recesses of substantially square section” of claim 1 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
The amendment filed 09 July 2026 is objected to under 35 U.S.C. 132(a) because it introduces new matter into the disclosure. 35 U.S.C. 132(a) states that no amendment shall introduce new matter into the disclosure of the invention. The added material which is not supported by the original disclosure is as follows: Fig. 5.
Applicant is required to cancel the new matter in the reply to this Office Action.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required: “each pocket has an angular width of about 45°” of claim 1 is not found in the specification.
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 1-5 and 8-10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanimoto U.S. 6,315,456 in view of Asae JP 2002303326 and Ishikawa U.S. 2012/0051680.
Re clm 1, Tanimoto discloses a bearing unit (Fig. 4) having a central rotation axis and comprising: a radially outer ring (2), a radially inner ring (1), a retaining cage (4) configured to retain a plurality of rolling bodies (3) between the inner ring and the outer ring, the retaining cage being centered on the radially outer ring and comprising: a one-piece annular body (Fig. 1) including a first ring (left axial side) connected to a second ring (right axial side) by a plurality of bridges (between pockets 6), and a plurality of pockets (6) in the annular body each configured to house and retain one of the plurality of rolling bodies, the pockets being framed by the first ring and the second ring and located between adjacent pairs of the bridges, wherein each of the plurality of pockets has a side wall having a circumference and a surface area (shown in Fig. 1 and 4).
Tanimoto does not disclose exactly four circumferentially spaced circumferentially extending recesses of substantially square section are located in the side wall of each pocket, wherein each pocket has an angular width of about 45°.
Asae teaches a cage comprising exactly four circumferentially spaced circumferentially extending recesses (at R1, Fig. 8) of substantially square section are located in the side wall of each pocket, wherein each pocket has an angular width of about 45° for the purpose of reducing the noise of the cage while keeping the rotational torque of the ball earing low and stable ([0027]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Tanimoto and provide exactly four circumferentially spaced circumferentially extending recesses of substantially square section are located in the side wall of each pocket, wherein each pocket has an angular width of about 45° for the purpose of reducing the noise of the cage while keeping the rotational torque of the ball earing low and stable.
It is noted that “about 45°” is shown by Fig. 8 since the angular width is reasonably close to 45°.
Tanimoto in view of Asae does not disclose the recesses being of substantially square and a proportion of the surface area of the side wall outside the plurality of pockets is about 50%.
Ishikawa teaches a plurality of circumferentially spaced circumferentially extending recesses (7/10, Fig. 1 and 8) of substantially square section ([0101]).
Since both Asae and Ishikawa disclose recesses in cages, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute the undisclosed section shape of Asae with any well-known section shape, such as the square section of Ishikawa to achieve the predictable result of retaining lubrication.
Tanimoto in view of Asae does not disclose a proportion of the surface area of the side wall outside the plurality of pockets is about 50%.
Ishikawa teaches the proportion of the surface area of the side wall in contact with the ball as a result effective variable ([0018]-[0020]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Tanimoto in view of Asae and provide a proportion of the surface area of the side wall outside the plurality of pockets is about 50%, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). See MPEP 2144.05(II)(A).
It is further noted that circumferential length L (corresponding to the angular width of the claims) is not limited to any specific value so long as the contact area is optimized ([0018]-[0020] and [0053]).
Re clm 2, the improvement of Asae further discloses the recesses are circumferentially equidistant from each other (Fig. 8).
Re clm 3, Tanimoto in view of Asae further discloses the side wall of each of the plurality of pockets lies on a first cylinder (pocket surface of Tanimoto), and wherein each recess has a bottom surface lying on a second cylinder (bottom surface of pocket is parallel to surface of ball, Asae Fig. 8; providing the constant depth recess of Asae to the pocket of Tanimoto would provide the claimed feature).
Re clm 4, the improvement of Asae further discloses the second cylinder has a radius larger than a radius of the first cylinder and is coaxial with the first cylinder (shown in Fig. 2 of Ishikawa).
Re clm 5, the improvement of Ishikawa further discloses first and second parallel side walls (shown in Fig. 2) extend from the bottom surface toward the pocket, and wherein first and second arcuate end walls (left and right ends of upper/lower walls are curved) extend from the bottom surface toward the pocket.
Re clm 8, the improvement of Asae further discloses an equatorial plane including the central rotation axis and a polar plane perpendicular to the equatorial plane divide each pocket into four quadrants, and wherein each recess is centered between the equatorial plane and the polar plane (shown in Fig. 8).
Re clm 9, the limitation “the annular body is formed by an additive manufacturing process” is a product-by-process limitation. "[E]ven though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process." In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d 695, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985). See MPEP § 2113.
Re clm 10, Tanimoto further discloses the annular body is formed from cotton fibers impregnated with a phenolic resin (col. 1: lines 26-30).
Re clm 12, the improvement of Asae further discloses the plurality of recesses are filled with grease ([0007]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Drawings
Regarding the drawings, Figure 5 is now considered new matter. Fig. 4 shows curved corners of the rectangular shaped recess. The only portion that is shown as rectangular or square is the outer perimeter of the recess. The newly added Figure 5 is incongruent with what is shown in Fig. 4. It is clear from the drawing of Fig. 4 that the surface on which the arrowhead of 45 is located must be curved and cannot be flat as shown in the drawing of Fig. 5. It is apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that practically all surfaces of the recess shown are configured as arcuate surfaces and not as the linear surfaces depicted in Fig. 5.
Prior Art Rejection
Applicant has provided new combinations of limitations not previously presented. The current rejection includes a new combination of the prior art references which addresses all the limitations of the claims.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALAN B WAITS whose telephone number is (571)270-3664. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday from 6-4 EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John R Olszewski can be reached at 571-272-2706. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ALAN B WAITS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
Prosecution Insights