DETAILED ACTION
This application is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because 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,” “According to the invention” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
Correction is required. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Drawings
The drawings are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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.
Claims 1-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-327122 to Uchiyama, which discloses:
Claim 1: An electric-motor drive unit for motor vehicle applications, in particular a closing-aid actuator, comprising[:]
an electric motor 6[;]
a gear train 8, 12a, 12b, 14 downstream of the electric motor 6[;] and
an actuating element 40 which follows the gear train[;]
wherein the gear train has at least one spur-gear gear train stage 12a, 14 with a ring gear 14 and a gear 12a meshing with the ring gear 14 and which rotates about a shaft 26, wherein the shaft 26 of the gear is supported on a contour 33 of the ring gear 14.
Claim 2: The drive unit according to claim 1, wherein the contour 33 is designed with an annular shape (see FIG. 2).
Claim 3: The drive unit according to claim 1, wherein the contour 33 and the ring gear 14 are arranged concentrically to a common shaft 15 (see FIG. 2).
Claim 4: The drive unit according to claim 1, wherein the contour 33 is arranged at a distance from a gear rim 14c of the ring gear 14 in the interior of the ring gear 14.
Claim 5: The drive unit according to claim 1, wherein the gear 12a meshing with the ring gear 14 slides along the contour in a rotating manner with a guide pin 30.
Claim 6: The drive unit according to claim 5, wherein the guide pin 30 engages over the gear 12a on [a] head side.
Claim 7: The drive unit according to claim 5, wherein the guide pin 30 is arranged in the center 12d of a gear rim of the gear 12a.
Claim 8: The drive unit according to claim 7, wherein the contour 33 of the ring gear 14 at least partially engages over the gear rim of the gear 12a.
Claim 10: The drive unit according to claim 1, wherein the actuating element 40 is designed as a preferably hood-like or pot-like attachment which is coupled to the ring gear 14 in a rotatably fixed manner.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-327122 to Uchiyama, in view of German Patent Publication No. 3705135 to Gerold.
Claim 9: Uchiyama discloses the drive unit according to claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the contour 33 and the ring gear 14 are made of the same material. Rather, Uchiyama discloses that the contour 33 is made of metal and that the ring gear 14 is made of resin.
Gerold teaches a toothing 52 of a ring gear 42 which is made of the same material as a contour 54.
In view of the Gerold teaching, the Office finds that it would have been obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of filing to modify, with a reasonable expectation of success, the drive unit disclosed by Uchiyama such that its contour and ring gear are made of the same material in a similar manner described in Gerold, in order to advantageously reduce number of parts in the system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RANDELL J KRUG whose telephone number is (313) 446-6577. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 9:00-14:00 AZ time.
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/RANDELL J KRUG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
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