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 § 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.
Claims 3 and 8 are 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.
In Claims 3 and 8, the use of the word “preferably” renders the claim indefinite because if the thing in question is “preferably” present, it is unclear whether it is actually being recited as a required element of the invention, or not.
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, 4, 6-8, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 5951401 to Kita et al. (hereinafter “Kita”).
-From Claim 1: Kita discloses a drive shaft for the drive train of a motor vehicle, comprising:
a shaft body (54) that is provided, on at least one end, with a tripod star (56a, 56b) that has at least three tripod journals (76a-c) for holding a rolling unit (70), in each instance,
wherein the tripod star (56) is formed by a reshaped section of the shaft body (54).
-From Claim 4: Kita discloses wherein the tripod journals (76) are configured to be cylindrical.
-From Claim 6: Kita discloses wherein the tripod star (56) has three tripod journals (76) distributed regularly over the circumference.
-From Claim 7: Kita discloses wherein the shaft body (54) has two ends and a tripod star (56) at the two ends, wherein the tripod journals (76) of the two opposite tripod stars are arranged offset from one another (Figs. 4A, 4B).
-From Claim 8: Kita discloses wherein the tripod journals (76) hold a rolling unit (70), in each instance, wherein the rolling unit (70) comprises a plurality of rolling bodies
-From Claim 10: Kita discloses wherein the tripod journals (76) are provided with an axial bore (23).
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) 2, 3, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kita in view of US 5297719 to Cremerius (hereinafter “Cremerius”) .
-From Claims 2 and 3: Cremerius teaches a drive shaft similar to Kita wherein the shaft body (1) is configured to be hollow, in particular tubular; and wherein the shaft body (1) has a thicker wall thickness in an end section (right side in Fig. 1) that precedes the tripod journals (10) of the tripod star (2) as compared to a central,
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kita by making the shaft tubular with a thickened region at the end as taught by Cremerius in order to increase the strength of the arm in the end region (Col. 1, ll.44-55).
-From Claim 12: Cremerius teaches wherein the tripod journals (4) are provided with an axial bore (16).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kita by forming bores in the area of the tripod journals as taught by Cremerius in order to make the journals removable from the shaft.
Claim(s) 5, 9, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kita in view of US 2022/0090635 to Itagaki et al. (hereinafter “Itagaki”).
-From Claim 5: Itagaki teaches wherein the drive shaft (9) is produced from a steel alloy. (¶40).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kita by making the shaft out of steel as taught by Itagaki because steel is both readily available and high in strength.
-From Claims 9 and 13: Itagaki teaches wherein the tripod journals (22) are configured to be hardened; and wherein the at least one tripod star (2) is hardened, at least in the region of the tripod journals (22). (¶¶40-46). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kita by hardening the tripod journals as taught by Itagaki in order to increase the strength of the journals.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kita in view of US 2016/9394949 to Miao et al. (hereinafter “Miao”).
-From Claim 11: Kita discloses a method for the production of a drive shaft according claim 1, wherein a tripod star (56) is formed on a metal tube, on at least one end, by means of reshaping, wherein the tripod star (56) has at least three tripod journals (76) that are arranged to run circumferentially.
However, Kita does not disclose: afterward, the tripod star (2) is finished using a chip-removing method.
Miao teaches the use of a finishing process to remove material (¶¶31, 35, 39). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kita by finishing the tripod journals as taught by Miao in order to remove unwanted material from the journals.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kita in view of US 2015/0038601 to Ueno et al. (hereinafter “Ueno”).
-From Claim 14: Ueno teaches wherein the drive shaft is provided with a copper layer, at least in certain regions, before hardening. (¶70)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kita by adding a coper layer to the drive shaft as taught by Ueno in order to improve load resistance and extreme-pressure characteristics (¶70)
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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amber Anderson can be reached at 5712705281. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL J WILEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3678 7/27/2026
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