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.
Claim(s) 1 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being Anticipated by Bernhardt et al. (2019/0162143).
Regarding claim 1, Bernhardt et al. shows an injection assembly (fig 2) for a fuel injector, the injection assembly comprising: an injection housing (34, 36) comprising a housing sealing surface (78) defining a cavity (90) configured to receive fuel; and an injection body (82) disposed at least partially within the injection housing, the injection body comprising: a plunger (38) comprising a plunger sealing surface (62) configured to interface with the housing sealing surface to create a fuel-tight seal, and an extension member (46) coupled to the plunger, the extension member configured to translate the plunger in an axial direction; and a plunger sealing member (64) coupled to the plunger sealing surface, the plunger sealing member configured to engage with the housing sealing surface.
Regarding claim 13, further comprising a biasing member disposed circumferentially around at least a portion of the extension member (the spring in fig 2).
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) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bernhardt et al. (2019/0162143) in view of Stroia et al. (2024/0167436)
Regarding claim 14, Bernhardt et al shows all aspects of the applicant’s invention as in claim 1, but fails to disclose that plunger sealing member comprises nitrile.
Nitrile is a well-known material often used for sealing elements in valves. Stroia et al. teaches using nitrile in a fuel injector seal [0030].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was effectively filed to use nitrile for the plunger sealing member, in order to create a fluid tight seal, providing durability and chemical resistance in harsh environments.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-12 and 15-20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2 and its dependent claims, the prior art fails to disclose or render obvious the fuel injector details of claim 2 in combination with the injection assembly of claim 1. Mainly the injection housing disposed at least partially within the inner housing in combination with the remainder of claim 2.
Regarding claim 15 and it dependent claims, the prior art fails to disclose or render obvious the injection assembly of claim 1 in combination with the fuel injector details of claim 15. Specifically, the bearing structure in combination with the rest of claim 15.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON J BOECKMANN whose telephone number is (571)272-2708. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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/JASON J BOECKMANN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752 9/29/2026
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