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 .
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) 1-6 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 5393266 to Braun et al. (hereinafter “Braun”).
-From Claim 1: Braun discloses a filtering pulley (101) comprising:
a hub (106) adapted to be fixed to a shaft rotating around an axis (A),
a crown (104) mounted coaxially and rotationally free on said hub, (2) and
a filtering unit (105) operatively interposed between said hub and said crown, wherein said hub comprising a first portion (left side in Fig. 2) and a second portion (right side in Fig. 2), said first portion being radially comprised around said axis by said crown, and said second portion being only partially radially comprised around said axis by said crown,
wherein said filtering unit (105) is operatively interposed between said hub (106) and said crown (104) around said second portion of the hub and axially facing said crown, said filtering unit (105) comprises:
a housing (107+108) connected, integrally with the rotation, to one of said hub and said crown, and
an actuator (110a) connected, integrally with the rotation, to the other one of said hub and said crown,
wherein said housing defining a space to house elastic means (113) operatively interposed between said actuator and said crown,
wherein said housing (107+108) comprises a first and a second element (107, 108) connected to each other (at 114a) to define said space (109) and to said one of said hub and said crown, said first and said second element (107, 108) bearing respective stop elements (107a, 108a) extending into said space and dividing said space into several portions, where each portion houses said elastic means (113), said elastic means being operatively interposed in contact between said actuator and said stop elements, and
wherein one of said first and second elements (107, 108) is connected to one of said hub and said crown by means of a mechanical connection, said mechanical connection comprising a threaded, riveted or shaped connection. (See Fig. 2; 107 and 104 connected by their corresponding shape)
-From Claim 2: Braun discloses wherein said elastic means (113) comprise at least one helical spring.
-From Claim 3: Braun discloses wherein said elastic means (113) are placed between said hub (106) and said crown (104) or with an angular play (α) for free sliding between said actuator and said housing or in contact between said actuator and said housing.
-From Claim 4: Braun discloses wherein said elastic means (113) are placed between said stop elements (107a, 108a) either with an angular play of free sliding relative to one another or in contact with each other. (Fig. 2; Col. 9, ll.3-27)
-From Claim 5: Braun discloses wherein said actuator (110a) comprises a hub portion (118) carried by said second end of said hub and a plurality of spokes (110a) configured to cooperate in contact with said elastic means, said plurality of spokes being connected to said hub portion via a mechanical connection.
-From Claim 6: Braun discloses wherein said first and second elements (107, 108) are planted one radially inside the other (See Fig. 2, 107 extends radially further in that 108).
-From Claim 10: Braun discloses wherein said housing (107+108 ) defines an opening (16) configured to house a cap(17).
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) 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Braun in view of DE 102013207833 to Sieber et al. (hereinafter “Sieber”).
-From Claim 7: Sieber teaches a damping means (45, 46) located in said space and operatively interposed between said housing and the other of said hub and said crown, said damping means being configured to provide a damping between said housing and the other of said hub and said crown depending on the relative rotation of the latter.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Braun by incorporating the damping means taught in Sieber in order to provide control of relative movement between the hub and the crown.
-From Claim 8: Sieber teaches wherein said damping means (45, 46) comprise an elastic element and a pair of rings (45, 46) connected to said elastic element respectively cooperating in contact with said housing and the other of said hub and said crown.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Braun by incorporating the damping means taught in Sieber in order to provide control of relative movement between the hub and the crown.
-From Claim 9: Sieber teaches wherein at least one of said rings (45, 46) is a dust guard lip (both have a lip at their outer edges).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Braun by incorporating the damping means with a dust guard lip taught in Sieber in order to prevent dust and debris from entering into the inner workings of the assembly.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, as the cited references include structure similar to that of the presently claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL J WILEY whose telephone number is (571)270-7324. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm PST.
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/DANIEL J WILEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3678 7/10/2026
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