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 IV, Figs. 8-10 in the reply filed on 3/11/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 5-6 and 10-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 3/11/2026.
While Applicant indicated that all of claims 1-13 read on the elected species, the examiner disagrees.
Claim 5 is drawn to species 5, Fig. 11, which depicts the claimed hole into which a transmission shaft is inserted.
Claim 6 is drawn to species 7, Fig 14, which depicts the claimed driven pully.
Claims 10-11 are drawn to species 3, Fig. 7, which depicts the claimed recess amount.
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 3/3/2025 has been considered by the examiner.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because “A nut of the present disclosure includes…” is language which can be implied. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “in a case where number of the partial flanges is one” which is grammatically awkward. An appropriate correction would be - -in a case where a number of the partial flanges is one - -.
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-3 and 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2014-92223 A (hereinafter D1) in view of JP 2021-95924 A (hereinafter D2).
D1 discloses ball screw device having a screw and nut comprising: a plurality of balls (40); a cylindrical nut main body (44) penetrated by a screw shaft (48); a plurality of inner peripheral raceway surfaces (44a) and an S-shaped groove surfaces (44b) recessed to an outer side in a radial direction from an inner peripheral surface of the nut main body; and a flange (44c) that protrudes to the outer side in the radial direction from an outer peripheral surface of the nut main body, wherein the flange has at least one or more partial flanges (each of 44c) extending only in a part of a circumferential direction along the outer peripheral surface of the nut main body, a space between one end and another end of the partial flange in the circumferential direction in a case where number of the partial flanges is one, and a space (44d) between the partial flanges adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction in a case where the number of the partial flanges is two or more is a relief space (44d considered a relief space) to which a thick portion of the nut main body is released, and the S-shaped groove surface is arranged on an inner side in the radial direction of the relief space (see Fig. 4); and wherein the flange has two or more (4 each of 44c, see Figure 4(b)) of the partial flanges arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction; a protrusion (46) that protrudes in an axial direction (see Fig. 4) and comes into contact with a stopper (56) that does not perform a relative rotation with the screw shaft is provided on one end surface of the nut main body, and the S-shaped groove surface (44b) arranged closest to the protrusion in the axial direction among the plurality of S-shaped groove surfaces is arranged in a manner of being shifted (see Figs. 4(a) and 4(c)) in the circumferential direction with respect to the protrusion.
D1 does not disclose a plurality of S-Shaped groove surfaces, wherein the plurality of S-shaped groove surfaces is arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction.
D2 discloses a plurality of S-shaped groove surfaces (25), wherein the plurality of S-shaped groove surfaces is arranged at equal intervals (see Fig. 4) in the circumferential direction.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to have modified the ball screw device of D1 to have a plurality of equally dispersed S-shaped groove surfaces, in order to improve the rigidity and load bearing capacity by splitting the ball bearing members into a plurality of independent and recirculation loops that evenly load the screw and nut.
Claim(s) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2014-92223 A (hereinafter D1) in view of JP 2021-95924 A (hereinafter D2) and further in view of Iwasaki (USPN 9,927,011).
The combination of D1 and D2 disclose the claimed invention, except for the partial flange being a single partial flange having a D shape, where each end surface of the single flange are linearly connected to define a linear side surface.
Iwasaki discloses a D shaped flange (see Fig. 11) on a ball nut (7).
It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to have modified the ball screw device of the combination of D1 and D2 to have a D shaped single flange, in order to simplify the manufacturing process of the ball nut.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 9 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAKE COOK whose telephone number is (571)272-5968. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-4:00 PM.
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, Minnah Seoh can be reached at (571) 270-7778. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JAKE COOK
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3618
/Jake Cook/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618