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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/2/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 ‘output shaft’ of claims 2-4 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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 4, 7, and 11 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.
A broad range or limitation together with a narrow range or limitation that falls within the broad range or limitation (in the same claim) may be considered indefinite if the resulting claim does not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the patent protection desired. See MPEP § 2173.05(c).
-In the present instance:
Claim 4 recites the broad recitation “at least one consumer,” and the claim also recites “preferably a differential, a hydraulic pump, a coupling and/or a generator,”
Claim 7 recites the broad recitation “wherein at least one cable,” and the claim also recites “preferably at least one electrical cable or at least one optical fiber arrangement”
Claim 11 recites the broad recitation “herein the exactly one electric motor is a propulsion unit of the construction machine,” and the claim also recites “preferably the sole propulsion unit”
which is the narrower statement of the range/limitation. The claim(s) are considered indefinite because there is a question or doubt as to whether the feature introduced by such narrower language is (a) merely exemplary of the remainder of the claim, and therefore not required, or (b) a required feature of the claims.
Examiner will interpret claims with the narrower limitations.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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)(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) 1-2, 6-10, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yonekura et al. (US 2023/0265639).
In claim 1, Yonekura discloses a construction machine (100) with a power transfer system (400; Fig. 1-10), the power transfer system (400) comprising:
- a rotor shaft (414) arranged partly in an upper carriage (300) and partly in a lower carriage (200) of the construction machine (100), wherein the rotor shaft (414) is partly arranged within a center of rotation of the construction machine (100; Fig. 5, 7); and
- at least one stator (424) arranged in the upper carriage (300) and/or in the lower carriage (200) of the construction machine (100).
In claim 2, Yonekura discloses the power transfer system (400) further comprising at least one output shaft (422) connected to the rotor shaft (414).
In claim 4, Yonekura discloses wherein at least one consumer (430), a coupling (430), is connected to the at least one output shaft (422).
In claim 6, Yonekura discloses wherein the rotor shaft (414) is a hollow shaft.
In claim 7, Yonekura discloses wherein at least one cable ([0047]), preferably at least one electrical cable ([0047]) in the hollow shaft (414).
In claim 8, Yonekura discloses wherein the hollow shaft (414) is able and arranged to be used as light guide.
In claim 9, Yonekura discloses wherein the construction machine (100) exactly one electric motor ([0024]), preferably coupled to the power transfer system (400) or comprising the rotor shaft (414).
In claim 10, Yonekura discloses wherein the exactly one electric motor ([0032]) is arranged in the upper carriage (300).
In claim 12, Yonekura discloses wherein the construction machine (100) is an excavator ([0030]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Williams et al. (US 12241228) teaches an electric or hybrid working machine includes a ground engaging structure, an electrical source of power, an electric motor arrangement, one or more hydraulically actuated devices, and a hydraulic pump configured to supply hydraulic fluid to the one or more hydraulically actuated devices.
Kuras et al. (US 2012/0283919) teaches a swing drive system for an upper structure of a machine including an electric motor that receives electrical power and a torque command signal.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RASHAD H JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)272-1231. The examiner can normally be reached 10am-6pm.
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, Christopher Koehler can be reached at 571-272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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RASHAD H. JOHNSON
Examiner
Art Unit 2834
/RASHAD H JOHNSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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