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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The specification includes a listing of reference characters that is incomplete. Characters 11a, 11b and 11c are currently missing, either the list should be amended to include these reference characters or the list as a whole can be removed from the specification as the list is not a requirement in US practice.
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 6, 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DE202017106598 (DE598).
Regarding claim 6, DE598 discloses a bearing device for a vehicle wheel (figure 8), comprising: an outer member (2) that has an outer raceway surface (6a and 6b) formed on an inner periphery thereof, an inner member (3/8) that has an inner raceway surface (10a or 10b) formed to face the outer raceway surface; a plurality of rolling bodies (4) that are interposed in a rollable manner between both raceway surfaces of the outer member and the inner member; and a seal member (14) that closes an opening of an annular space formed between the outer member and the inner member, wherein the outer member has a chamfered section (see annotated figure below, item A) formed by chamfering a boundary portion between an outer-diameter outer surface and an end surface of the outer member, the seal member includes a core metal (17) and a seal section (18) fixed to the core metal, and the seal portion includes a projection (29) that protrudes toward the outer member in an axial direction to be in contact with the end surface of the outer member, and a protrusion (B) that is disposed radially outward of the projection and protrudes toward the outer member in the axial direction to be in contact with the chamfered section of the outer member.
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Regarding claim 8, DE598 discloses an inclination angle of the chamfered section of the outer member is 45º or less with respect to the axial direction (the chamfer A is clearly illustrated at a shallow inclination angle that is less than 45 degrees).
Regarding claim 9, DE598 discloses that surface of the protrusion in contact with the chamfered section is inclined to an axial center side at 20º or less with respect to an inclination angle of the chamfered section of the outer member (the lip feature B is shaped to contact the chamfer portion and thus matches the chamfered portion inclination in at least the assembled product, the frame of reference in the claim is the angle of the protrusion relative to the inclination angle of the chamfer, these two features are ultimately parallel in the assembled product which the claim is drawn to and thus the angle of the protrusion with respect to the chamfer is 0 degrees and therefore less than 20).
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) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE202017106598 (DE598).
Regarding claim 7, DE598, while disclosing the protrusion which ultimately has a protruding length in a direction toward the outer member, does not disclose that the length is 0.5 mm or more.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to modify DE598 and let the length of the protrusion to 0.5 mm or more, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed (bearing with a seal having the same structural elements) in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Claim(s) 10-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE202017106598 (DE598), in view of JPH0710631 (JP631).
Regarding claims 10-13, DE598 does not disclose any particulars of the protrusion and thus does not disclose that a surface of the protrusion in contact with the chamfered section has an uneven portion.
JP631 teaches a similar seal with a protrusion (at 21) that protrudes from a radially outer end region of seal and contacts a chamfered or inclined surface (at 20), wherein the protrusion includes an additional bump or protrusion on the axial end which makes the inner contact surface of the feature uneven in a manner similar to the bumps in the instant application that make the surface uneven.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to modify DE598 to include a protrusion or lip that has an uneven portion on the inner surface since substituting between a known linear contact sealing surface (formed by the shape of the protrusion in DE598) and a known lip that has a bump or protrusion creating an uneven surface provides the same predictable result of sealing the assembly against the chamfer. Regardless of the actual shape of the protrusion/lip as long as the seal feature maintains contact with the opposing surface the function of the device remains the same, the only change would be with respect to the sealing capacity which would be a design choice consideration.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
JP2014-101897 discloses a similar seal with both a projection and a protrusion, see figure 2.
DE102014203210 discloses a protrusion with a series of bumps similar to that of the instant application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES PILKINGTON whose telephone number is (571)272-5052. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 7-3.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Olszewski can be reached at 571-272-2706. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES PILKINGTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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