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 .
Responsive to correspondence
This office action is in response to correspondence filed on 01/31/2025.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 01/31/2025, 05/05/2026 were filed before the first action on the merits. This submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
Accordingly, the IDSs have been fully considered by the Office.
Abstract
The abstract filed 07/31/2025 appears to be acceptable.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by JP 05-042617 U to MASAHIRO et al. (MASAHIRO) .
Re: Claim 1:
MASAHIRO discloses:
An engine comprising:
a cylinder block front wall (See Figs. 1-3: chamber wall 33); a camshaft chamber front wall (See Figs. 1-3: rear chamber wall 39); and
a camshaft chamber (See Figs. 1-3: ¶0017: the fuel injection camshaft 7 is installed in the chamber 36) provided on a rear side of the camshaft chamber front wall (See Figs. 1-3: rear chamber wall 39) with an extending direction of a crankshaft (See Figs. 1-3: crank shaft 5) defined as a front-rear direction, one side in the front-rear direction defined as a front side, and another side in the front-rear direction defined as the rear side (See Figs. 1-3: the right side in fig. 1 is assessed as the front, and the left side is assessed as the rear),
wherein a camshaft (See Figs. 1-3: fuel injection camshaft 7) is housed in the camshaft chamber (See Figs. 1-3: chamber 36),
the camshaft chamber front wall (See Figs. 1-3: rear chamber wall 39) includes a front bearing hole (See Figs. 1-3: pipe insertion hole 46) of the camshaft (See Figs. 1-3: fuel injection camshaft 7) and a front hole (See Fig. 1 as annotated by the examiner: from hole FH) disposed below the front bearing hole (See Figs. 1-3: pipe insertion hole 46), and a camshaft chamber rear wall (See Figs. 1-3: front chamber wall 37) includes a rear hole (See Figs. 1-3: pipe insertion hole 46) concentric with the front hole (See Fig. 1 as annotated by the examiner: from hole FH),
the cylinder block front wall (See Figs. 1-3: chamber wall 33) includes an oil supply passage (See Figs. 1-3: oil passage 11) in which a passage outlet (See Fig. 1 as annotated by the examiner: a passage PO) is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the front hole (See Fig. 1 as annotated by the examiner: from hole FH),
a fitting component (See Figs. 1-3: lubricating oil injection pipe 8) that covers the passage outlet (8a) of the oil supply passage (See Figs. 1-3: oil passage 11) is fitted in the front hole (2e) of the camshaft chamber front wall (See Figs. 1-3: rear chamber wall 39), and the fitting component (See Figs. 1-3: lubricating oil injection pipe 8) includes a camshaft oil jet hole (See Figs. 1-3: lubricating oil injection port 9) that injects engine oil (See Figs. 1-3: lubricating oil 2) from the oil supply passage (See Figs. 1-3: oil passage 11) to the camshaft (See Figs. 1-3: ¶0015-¶0018: fuel injection camshaft 7).
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Re: Claim 2:
MASAHIRO discloses:
The engine according to claim 1, MASAHIRO discloses all the limitations of claim 1, and wherein the camshaft oil jet hole (See Figs. 1-3: lubricating oil injection port 9) is provided in an inner diameter portion (See Figs. 1-3: inner diameter portion of lubricating oil injection pipe 8) along an inner diameter of the fitting component (See Figs. 1-3: lubricating oil injection pipe 8)
Re: Claim 3:
MASAHIRO discloses:
The engine according to claim 1, MASAHIRO discloses all the limitations of claim 1, and further comprising:
a camshaft input gear (See Figs. 1-3: ¶0017: gear 42) of the camshaft (See Figs. 1-3:¶0017: camshaft 7) on the front side of the camshaft chamber front wall (See Figs. 1-3: ¶0017: gear 42 on the front side of rear chamber wall 39),
wherein the fitting component (See Figs. 1-3: lubricating oil injection pipe 8) includes a gear oil jet hole (See Figs. 1-3: lubricating oil injection port 9) that injects the engine oil (7) from the oil supply passage to the camshaft input gear (See Figs. 1-3: ¶0020)
Re: Claim 4:
MASAHIRO discloses:
The engine according to claim 3, MASAHIRO discloses all the limitations of claim 3, and wherein the camshaft oil jet hole (See Figs. 1-3: ¶0018: the lubricating oil 2 in the oil pan 21 pressure-fed and supplied to the bearing portion 6 of the crankshaft 5 via a part thereof is pressure-fed to the lubricating oil injection pipe 8 via the branch passage 11 as indicated by an arrow 16, as shown by the arrow 17, fuel is injected from the two front and rear lubricant injection ports 9 to the cam surface 1 of the camshaft 7) and the gear oil jet hole (See Figs. 1-3: lubricating oil injection port 9) are provided in the inner diameter portion (See Figs. 1-3: inner diameter portion of lubricating oil injection pipe 8) along the inner diameter of the fitting component (See Figs. 1-3: lubricating oil injection pipe 8).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAFIQ A MIAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4925. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 am to 6:30 pm (Monday thru Thursday).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MARK LAURENZI can be reached at (571) 270-7878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHAFIQ MIAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
August 11, 2026
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