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 .
Status of Claims
This is the first action on the merits for application 19/112,081 filed on 03/14/2025. Claims 10-14 are pending; claim 1-9 are canceled.
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 03/14/2025, 10/10/2025 have been considered by the examiner.
Note: PCT/EP2023/074832 and DE102022123602.1 are lined through and have not been considered because they were improperly listed in U.S. Patent Application section of IDS rather than as foreign patent documents.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Fig.2: reference number “45” is damping element; however, it points at axle shaft instead of damping element.
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 Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 10 recites “adjustable to counter to a closing direction for a closed position in a restoring movement”. The wording of this limitation is grammatically awkward. Examiner suggests applicant to reword it.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 11 is 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 11 recites “the actuator operated sliding sleeve is further adjustable into the closed position” in line 10. It is unclear “closed position” in the regular closing operation or fault state.
Claim 11 recites “in the fault state…the actuator operated sliding sleeve is incorrectly adjusted into the closed position” in line 18-19. It is unclear whether the closed position in fault state is the same as closed position in regular operation since the sliding dog remains in tooth to tooth contact rather than entering positively locking connection.
Claim 11 recites “which results in creation of axial dynamics” . It is unclear what does it mean by “creation of axial dynamic” (e.g. does axial dynamics refer to axial force, or acceleration or vibration), what structural or operation condition constitutes the claimed “in creation of axial dynamic”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 12-14 are allowed.
Claim 11 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The prior art of record alone or in combination neither discloses nor renders obvious a clutch assembly; specifically, “the damping element is a plastically deformable damping body, which is connected to a carrier element fastened to the first shaft portion, so that the shock energy of the sliding dog is reduced as the damping element is plastically deformed, and so that, in the fault state, the dog clutch is prevented from unintentionally closing on account of excessive shock energy of the sliding dog.” and in combination with the remaining structure of claim 10.
The closest prior art RUSSEL (US 3265173 A) discloses shaft 29 carries sliding dog 51, teeth 54 engage with 67 fixed on gear 68; damping element 63, carrier element 64; however, 64 does not fastened to the first shaft portion 29 and 63 is resilient means, which means 63 is not permanent deformed or plastically deformed in the fault state, the dog clutch is prevented from unintentionally closing on account of excessive shock energy of the sliding dog as claimed. Also, FARKAS (DE 102021104788 A1) discloses shaft portions 17 and 19, damping element 73 has elastomer bodies, attached to 41 which is part of the clutch instead of carrier.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Albrecht (US 9016453) discloses sliding dog 5 with impact damper 17 provide for the stop 16.
Loker (US 4244455 A) discloses the slide element 84 is provided with helical and retaining grooves 104, 106 corresponding to those earlier described and cooperates with a plunger 110 to effect axial movement of the slide element and the associated driven component flange 92 away from the driving component 88 so as to withdraw the force transmitting elements 94.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lillian T Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)270-5404. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5pm.
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, 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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/LILLIAN T NGUYEN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3655a
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