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
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Henderson et al. (Pub. No.: US 2023/0109721 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Henderson discloses a working vehicle (truck 1, FIG. 1) comprising:
a vehicle body (2, FIG. 1) and wheels (4, FIG. 1);
a cylindrical spindle that is fixed to the vehicle body (Similarly, central wheel support member 14 may be provided at the front wheels of a vehicle. The wheel support member may also be in the form of a hollow/tubular spindle that may be provided at the rear wheels and is connected to driven wheels. A drive shaft or axle may extend through the axle and is fixed to the outside of the wheel end hub for propulsion of the wheel ¶ 68);
a bearing that is attached on an outer peripheral surface of the spindle and rotatably supports a wheel mounting cylinder, on which the wheel is mounted, relative to the spindle (“The wheel end bearing 16 comprises an inboard bearing 18 and an outboard bearing 20, each of which is concentrically arranged around the central wheel support member 14. Of the two, it is the inboard bearing 18 which is configured to be located closest to a central longitudinal axis of the vehicle. Conversely, of the two, it is the outboard bearing 20 which is configured to be located furthest away from the central longitudinal axis of the vehicle.” ¶ 69);
a rotation shaft that is rotatably provided in an inner peripheral side of the spindle to transmit rotation of a power source through a gear reduction mechanism to the wheel mounting cylinder (A drive shaft or axle may extend through the axle and is fixed to the outside of the wheel end hub for propulsion of the wheel ¶ 68);
a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the bearing (temperature sensor 8, FIG. 2 and measures temperature of the wheel bearing ¶ 79); and
a control unit (Processing circuitry 40, FIG. 2 and ¶ 80) configured to determine abnormality of the bearing based upon the temperature detected by the temperature sensor (device 44 and circuitry 40 communicates and may send warnings related to detected bearing failure ¶ 81), characterized in that:
the temperature sensor is located in the inner peripheral side of the spindle (the temperature sensor may be located in the inner race form part 22 of the inboard bearing ¶¶ 77-78 and see FIG. 2 where temp. sensor 8 is located in the inner peripheral side of the spindle 14).
Regarding claim 3, Henderson discloses the working vehicle, wherein the temperature sensor is attached to an inner peripheral surface, which corresponds to an attachment section to the bearing, of the spindle (temperature sensor may be located in the inner race form part 22 of the inboard bearing ¶¶ 77-78 and see FIG. 2 where temp. sensor 8 is located in the inner peripheral side of the spindle 14.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Henderson et al. (Pub. No.: US 2023/0109721 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kurihara (Patent No.: US 9,903,454 B2).
Regarding claim 2, Henderson is silent to the working vehicle, wherein lubricating oil for lubricating the gear reduction mechanism is stored in an inner peripheral side of the wheel mounting cylinder, a liquid surface of the lubricating oil is located closer to the lower side than an axis center of the rotation shaft, and the temperature sensor is located closer to the upper side than the axis center of the rotation shaft.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Kurihara teaches a traveling axle device with a reduction gear case (See Abstract). More specifically, Kurihara discloses:
“…an oil seal that is provided between an inner peripheral surface of said reduction gear case at said wheel side and an outer peripheral surface of said wheel mounting part in said carrier to seal the lubricating oil in said reduction gear case, wherein said reduction gear case is removably mounted on said reduction gear mounting part in said axle tube, and said brake mechanism is arranged on the inner peripheral side of said reduction gear mounting part in said axle tube to be retained on the inner peripheral side of said reduction gear (Emphasis added) mounting part when said reduction gear case is removed from said reduction gear mounting part.” (See claim 1).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the work vehicle taught by Henderson to wherein lubricating oil for lubricating the gear reduction mechanism is stored in an inner peripheral side of the wheel mounting cylinder, a liquid surface of the lubricating oil is located closer to the lower side than an axis center of the rotation shaft, and the temperature sensor is located closer to the upper side than the axis center of the rotation shaft as taught by Kurihara in order to enhance workability of performing maintenance work to an oil seal or planetary gear reduction mechanism (col. 2, lines 15-17).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 – 6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TYLER J LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-9727. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:00.
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/TYLER J LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3663
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