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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species D, FIGS. 12 and 15 (claims 1, 3, 4, 5, and 10) in the reply filed on February 24, 2026 is acknowledged.
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 “sliding region” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. No reference number is included for the sliding region and therefore it’s unclear what structure is intended to be included by the sliding region.
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 5, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention. Claim 1 recites “a sliding region formed with a main load portion and a sub load portion in a circumferential direction on the outer circumferential surface, the main load portion receiving a large load from the planetary gear member when the sliding region slides against the sliding member provided on the planetary gear member, the sub load portion receiving a smaller load than the main load portion when the sliding region slides against the sliding member.”
The specification describes the two load portions as references 31 and 32 and illustrates numerous possible shapes of these two regions. However, structurally it is unclear what these regions may entail in order to achieve the function of actually receiving a different load while the planetary gear rotates. If a planetary gear with an even outer surface, as illustrated in the figures, is rotated the load will apply equally to all parts of that gear as those parts contact the adjacent gear. If the gear itself is structurally the same circumferentially, and the sub load instead refers to the shape of the contact area between gears (which will move on the gear as the gear rotates), this is not clearly recited in the claims. As such, there is no direction or guidance provided by inventor as to how to make the two loads as these are recited.
In order to promote compact prosecution, the Examiner is interpreting the sub load portion as including any indented region and the main load portion as being any non-indented portion.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 5, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “the opposing inner surface.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for this feature and it is unclear to which surface this refers. Claim 1 recites “a sliding region formed with a main load portion and a sub load portion in a circumferential direction on the outer circumferential surface, the main load portion receiving a large load from the planetary gear member when the sliding region slides against the sliding member provided on the planetary gear member, the sub load portion receiving a smaller load than the main load portion when the sliding region slides against the sliding member.” While the shapes of these two load portions are clearly illustrated in the drawings, it is unclear whether this refers to the contact area, which moves on the gear, or a specific area on the gear that would always under all circumstances receive less load. It is also unclear how this would occur as noted above in the rejection under 112(a).
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, 3, 4, and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Martin (US 2023/0054545).
Claim 1
Martin discloses a planetary gear unit comprising (see e.g., FIG. 42):
a planetary gear member (132);
a sliding member (bushing 136) that has a cylindrical inner circumferential surface and is provided on an inner circumferential side of the planetary gear member (132) (see FIG. 12); and
a shaft member (24; or alternatively 24 in combination with pin support 54) having an outer circumferential surface, the outer circumferential surface having a total axial length longer than the inner circumferential surface (see FIG. 1, illustrating the overall structure in combination with FIG. 12 which illustrates only part of the structure), the outer circumferential surface having a part in an axial direction, the part being opposed to the inner circumferential surface,
wherein the shaft member (24) includes:
a sliding region (outer circumference of 24) formed with a main load portion (see annotated FIG. 8, main load is the outer surface that does not include the grooves and therefore receives the majority of the force) and a sub load portion (see annotated FIG. 8, sub load portion are those areas in the grooves) in a circumferential direction on the outer circumferential surface, the main load portion receiving a large load from the planetary gear member when the sliding region slides against the sliding member provided on the planetary gear member, the sub load portion receiving a smaller load than the main load portion when the sliding region slides against the sliding member;
an opening (66C, 70aB, 54A, 70B, and/or 64B) that is open on the sub load portion;
a connecting passage portion (46) that is provided inside the shaft member and has one end connected to the opening (see FIG. 2 or 3); and
a groove portion (see annotated FIG. 8 below) that is provided so as to be recessed radially inward from the outer circumferential surface, the groove portion extending from the opening toward at least one end in an axial direction (up-down direction in FIG. 8) of the shaft member, the groove portion having a groove end on an opposite side of the opening, the groove end (86A or 86B) being located axially outward relative to the opposing inner circumferential surface.
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Claim 3
Martin discloses wherein the groove portion is provided in the sub load portion (see annotated FIG. 8 above).
Claim 4
Martin discloses wherein the groove portion and the connecting passage portion have different cross-sectional areas (see FIGS. 2, 3, or 8).
Claim 5
Martin discloses wherein the groove portion has a circumferential groove portion (78C) extending from the opening (66C) in a circumferential direction of the shaft member, and an axial groove portion (axial grooves 76 with bottoms 84) extending from the circumferential groove portion in an axial direction of the shaft member (see FIG. 8).
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) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Martin in view of Simard-Bergeron (US 12,084,981).
Claim 10
Martin discloses a planetary gear device comprising (see FIG. 11):
a sun gear (128);
one or more of the planetary gear units (126) according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1), the planetary gear units each meshing with the sun gear on an inner circumferential side, the planetary gear units each meshing with an internal gear (130) on an outer circumferential side (see FIG. 11); and
a carrier (carrier 22) to which the shaft members of the planetary gear units are fixed (at locations 36 in FIG. 11).
Martin does not disclose the input and output shafts to/from the planetary gearset and thus does not disclose the sun provided on a first shaft or the carrier connected to a second shaft member. However, Simard-Bergeron discloses a planetary gearset that includes a sun gear (21) on a first shaft (20) and a carrier (flange of 22 supporting pins for the planet gears) connected to a second shaft member (shaft of 22) (see FIG. 2). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success to have modified Martin to add a first shaft connected to the sun gear and a second shaft connected to the carrier in order to provide easier input and output of torque to and from the planetary gearset.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 12,392,327 discloses a gear shaft with an axial groove connected to a radial opening. CN 107763197A disclose a pin with two cavities and axial openings. US 9,879,723 discloses a pin with radial openings that connect with both an internal center channel and outer axial grooved areas that extend to the axial end. US 6,056,442 discloses an opening and groove in FIG. 3.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STACEY A FLUHART whose telephone number is (571)270-1851. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9AM-7PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at 571-270-5565. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STACEY A FLUHART/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655