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 March 31, 2025 and January 23, 2026 have been considered by the Examiner.
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.
Claims 1, 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Trivedi et al. (US 10,053,763).
Trivedi discloses and shows a mechanical component made of steel subjected to quenching and tempering (col. 5:63-67), the mechanical component comprising:
a carbonitrided layer on a surface thereof (col. 2:20-24), wherein
the steel is one of S15C, S25C, S45C, S5OC, S53C, S55C, SCM415, SCM418, SCM420, SCM435, SCM440, SCM445, SCr415, SCr420, SCr435 and SNCM420 defined under JIS standards, W1-8, 1015, 1025, 1045, 1050, 4130, 4135, 4140, 4145, 4161, 4320, 5120, 5130, 5135 and 5140 defined under AISI standards, C15, C25, C50, 20Cr4, 37Cr4, 18CrMo4, 34CrMo4, 42CrMo4, 22CrMoS35 and 60CrMo32 defined under ISO standards, and G20CrMo, 5OMn and 45 defined under GB standards,
an average carbon concentration in the steel at the surface is equal to or more than 0.6 mass % (col. 6:7-8),
an average nitrogen concentration in the steel at the surface is equal to or more than 0.10 mass % (col. 6:5-7),
a hardness of the steel at the surface is equal to or more than 800 Hv (col. 3, method step 14),
a volume ratio of retained austenite in the steel at the surface is equal to or less than 22% (col. 4, method step 21),
the mechanical component comes into contact with a rolling element at at least a part of the surface (col. 1:23-25),
a hardness of the steel at a position where a depth from the surface is 0.02 times or more and 0.03 times or less a diameter of the rolling element is equal to or more than 750 Hv (col. 3, method steps 15 and 16), and
a volume ratio of retained austenite in the steel at the position where the depth from the surface is 0.02 times or more and 0.03 times or less the diameter of the rolling element is equal to or less than 20% (retained austenite decreases with depth).
Trivedi discloses several steel alloys to include Pyrowear® 675, M40 and 440C, but does not list any of the claimed steel types/alloys. However, the choice of one of the steel alloys would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as the selection of a known steel alloy suitable for a given intended use only requires routine skill in the art. See Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 and In re Leshin, 277 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960) as described in MPEP 2144.07.
Cl. 5 – Trivedi discloses and shows a rolling bearing comprising an inner ring, an outer ring and a rolling element, wherein at least one of the inner ring, the outer ring and the rolling element is the mechanical component (Abstract, Fig. 8).
Cl. 6 – Trivedi does not include a ball screw, with the screw shaft, ball nut and balls as the mechanical component. However, it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus form a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. See MPEP 2114(II), Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (1987).
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Trivedi et al. as applied to claim 1 in view of Kazuhiro (JP 5163183).
Trivedi discloses and shows the invention of claim 1 as described elsewhere above. Trivedi does not describe a dent or a depth thereof. Kazuhiro describes a rolling bearing wherein a depth of a dent formed in the surface when the rolling element comes into contact with the surface is equal to or less than 0.5 μm (claims 2 and 4) and wherein a static load capacity of the mechanical component is equal to or less than 5.3 GPa (claim 3) (pg. 4, second paragraph of English translation), Kazuhiro’s rolling bearing has high pressure, is dent resistance and is not easily cracked (pg. 3, “ADVANTAGEOUS-EFFECTS”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Trivedi’s mechanical component to where a depth of a dent formed in the surface when the rolling element comes into contact with the surface is equal to or less than 0.5 μm and wherein a static load capacity of the mechanical component is equal to or less than 5.3 GPa such that the mechanical component has high pressure, is dent resistance and is not easily cracked as taught by Kazuhiro.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BOBBY RUSHING, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-0501. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8AM-5PM EST.
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/BOBBY RUSHING, JR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
