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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/03/2025 was filed after the mailing date of the Non-Final Office Action mailed 10/20/2025, hereinafter NFOA. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's submission filed on 01/20/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-2 and 4-6 remain(s) pending in the application. Applicant's amendments to the Drawings and Claims have overcome each and every objection previously set forth in the NFOA.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakino; Atsushi et al. US 20080236156 A1, hereinafter Kakino, in view of Halsey; Colin John et al. US 20180155044 A1, hereinafter Halsey, have been fully considered and are persuasive. Specifically, the argument that Kakino/Halsey fails to disclose the limitation: “the hydraulic cylinder assembly is configured such that, when the power supply for the control unit fails, the motor is be decelerated to zero RPM via the power supplied by the uninterruptible power supply”, is accurate. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
The indicated allowability of claim 1 (previously claim 3) is withdrawn in view of the newly discovered reference(s) to Romer Fordertechnik GmbH DE 102012106031 B3, hereinafter Romer. Rejections based on the newly cited reference(s) follow.
Applicant’s arguments, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakino in view of Halsey, in further view of Sturmer; Burkhard et al. US 20100300084 A1, have been fully considered and are persuasive. Specifically, the argument that Kakino/Halsey/Sturmer fails to disclose the limitation: “decelerating the motor to zero RPM using energy supplied by the uninterruptible power supply”, is accurate. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Romer.
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 of this title, 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 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakino; Atsushi et al. US 20080236156 A1, hereinafter Kakino, in view of Romer Fordertechnik GmbH DE 102012106031 B3, hereinafter Romer. Provided is a machine translation of Romer that is used throughout for reference callouts. The references is/are considered analogous art to the claimed invention because the references is/are from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention (hydraulic cylinder assemblies); or the references is/are reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor (mitigating power failure). MPEP2141.01(a) I.
Regarding claim 1, Kakino discloses (Fig. 1) a hydraulic cylinder assembly comprising:
a hydraulic cylinder (3);
an adjustable pump (2) [0023];
a motor (1) configured to drive the adjustable pump [0023];
a pivot angle control system configured to adjust at least one conveying direction of the adjustable pump and thus a movement of the hydraulic cylinder [0025], the pivot angle control system comprising:
at least one adjustment piston (53) configured to adjust the adjustable pump [0025]; and
an electrically controllable valve (6)configured to control the at least one adjustment piston [0027];
an electrical control unit (17) configured to operate at least the motor and the valve [0028].
Kakino fails to explicitly state that the assembly further comprises an uninterruptible power supply configured to, when a power supply for the control unit fails, supply at least the control unit with electrical power, the hydraulic cylinder assembly is configured such that, when the power supply for the control unit fails, the motor is be decelerated to zero RPM via the power supplied by the uninterruptible power supply. Instead, Kakino merely discloses the controller which fundamentally has a power supply supplying the control unit with electronic power as indicated in [0028].
Romer discloses (Fig. 1) a hydraulic cylinder assembly comprising:
a hydraulic cylinder (12);
an pump (17);
a motor (18) configured to drive the adjustable pump [0033];
an electrical control unit (“programmable control” [0037]) configured to operate at least the motor [0032];
an uninterruptible power supply (“uninterruptible power supply” [0017]) configured to, when a power supply (“electrical supply” [0017]) for the control unit fails, supply at least the control unit with electrical power [0017-0019], for the purpose of supplying electrical power during power supply failure [0017-0019] , the hydraulic cylinder assembly is configured such that, when the power supply for the control unit fails, the motor is be decelerated to zero RPM via the power supplied by the uninterruptible power supply [0019].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was filed, to modify Kakino, by providing the uninterruptible power supply, as taught by Romer, for the purpose of supplying electrical power during power supply failure.
To further clarify the modification, both Kakino and Romer disclose a power supply for their control units and motors. The modification also supplies an additional power supply and control such that upon failure of the power supply, the additional power supply powers the control unit and motor.
Regarding claim 5, Kakino discloses (Fig. 1) a method for operating a hydraulic cylinder assembly, the hydraulic cylinder assembly including
(i) a hydraulic cylinder (3),
(ii) an adjustable pump (2) [0023],
(iii) a motor (1) configured to drive the adjustable pump [0023],
(iv) a pivot angle control system configured to adjust at least one conveying direction of the adjustable pump and thus a movement of the hydraulic cylinder [0025], the pivot angle control system having
at least one adjustment piston (53) configured to adjust the adjustable pump [0025] and
an electrically controllable valve (6) configured to control the at least one adjustment piston [0027],
(v) an electrical control unit (17) configured to operate at least the motor and the valve [0028].
Kakino fails to explicitly state that the assembly further comprises (vi) an uninterruptible power supply, and the method comprising: when a power supply for the control unit fails: supplying at least the control unit with electrical power from the uninterruptible power supply; and decelerating the motor to zero rpm using energy supplied by the uninterruptible power supply.
Romer discloses (Fig. 1) a hydraulic cylinder assembly comprising:
(i) a hydraulic cylinder (12);
(ii) an pump (17);
(iii) a motor (18) configured to drive the adjustable pump [0033];
(v) n electrical control unit (“programmable control” [0037]) configured to operate at least the motor [0032];
(vi) an uninterruptible power supply (“uninterruptible power supply” [0017]) and
the method comprising:
when a power supply (“electrical supply” [0017]) for the control unit fails:
supplying at least the control unit with electrical power [0017-0019] from the uninterruptible power supply for the purpose of supplying electrical power during emergencies [0017-0019];
and decelerating the motor to zero rpm using energy supplied by the uninterruptible power supply [0019].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was filed, to modify Kakino, by providing the uninterruptible power supply, as taught by Romer, for the purpose of supplying electrical power during emergencies.
To further clarify the modification, both Kakino and Romer disclose a power supply for their control units and motors. The modification also supplies an additional power supply and control such that upon failure of the power supply, the additional power supply powers the control unit and motor.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakino, in view of Romer, in further view of Sturmer; Burkhard et al. US 20100300084 A1, hereinafter Sturmer. The references is/are considered analogous art to the claimed invention because the references is/are from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention (hydraulic cylinder assemblies); or the references is/are reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor (mitigating power failure). MPEP2141.01(a) I.
Regarding claim 2, Kakino discloses the claimed invention substantially as claimed, as set forth above for Claim 1 except fails to explicitly state that the hydraulic cylinder assembly is configured such that, when the power supply for the control unit fails, at least the valve is controllable via the power supplied by the uninterruptible power supply in such a way that a pivot angle of the adjustable pump is adjusted to zero percent via the at least one adjustment piston.
Sturmer discloses (Fig. 1) a hydraulic cylinder assembly comprising:
a hydraulic cylinder (2a/2b);
an adjustable pump (1) [0045];
a motor (47) configured to drive the adjustable pump [0044];
a pivot angle control system (4) configured to adjust at least one conveying direction of the adjustable pump and thus a movement of the hydraulic cylinder [0046], the pivot angle control system comprising:
at least one adjustment piston (5) configured to adjust the adjustable pump [0046]; and
an electrically controllable valve (6, 30) configured to control the at least one adjustment piston [0049, 0052];
an electrical control unit (17) configured to operate the valve [0052],
wherein the hydraulic cylinder assembly is configured such that, when the power supply for the control unit fails, at least the valve is controllable via the power supplied by the uninterruptible power supply in such a way that a pivot angle of the adjustable pump is adjusted to zero percent via the adjustment piston [0012] for the purpose of operating safely during a power failure [0012].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was filed, to modify Kakino, by providing the configuration such that the adjustable pump is adjusted to zero percent, as taught by Sturmer, for the purpose of operating safely during a power failure.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakino, in view of Romer, in further view of Halsey; Colin John et al. US 20180155044 A1, hereinafter Halsey. The references is/are considered analogous art to the claimed invention because the references is/are from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention (hydraulic cylinder assemblies); or the references is/are reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor (mitigating power failure). MPEP2141.01(a) I.
Regarding claim 4, Kakino discloses the claimed invention substantially as claimed, as set forth above for Claim 1 except fails to explicitly state that the uninterruptible power supply comprises a capacitor or a DC link connected to the power supply for the control unit, and the capacitor or the DC link provides the power for supplying at least the control unit when the power supply for the control unit fails. Instead, Kakino/Romer is silent/generic to the connection type between the power supply and the uninterruptible power supply.
Halsey discloses (Fig. 2) the uninterruptible power supply (24) comprises a capacitor or a DC link connected to the power supply for the control unit, and the capacitor or the DC link provides the power for supplying at least the control unit when the power supply for the control unit fails (depicted as at least comprising a DC link, [0022].
One of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted one known element (DC link) for another (generic connection), and the results of the substitution (electrically connecting the power supply and the uninterruptible power supply) would have been predictable. Because both Kakino/Romer and Halsey teach connections between the power supply and the uninterruptible power supply, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to substitute DC link for the generic connection to achieve the predictable result of electrically connecting the power supply and the uninterruptible power supply.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 6, discloses the claimed invention substantially as claimed, as set forth above for Claim 5 except fails to explicitly state that the power supplied by the uninterruptible power supply is consumed entirely during the decelerating of the motor or the actuating of the valve.
Withstanding the formalities/rejections listed previously, Claim 6 contains allowable subject matter. The prior art does not anticipate nor render obvious the combination set forth in the claim, and specifically does not show the claimed power consumption. Although the modified device of Kakino/Romer discloses a controller, uninterruptible power supply and motor, there is no teaching in the prior art of record that would, reasonably and absent impermissible hindsight, motivate one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Kakino to incorporate the details of the power supplied by the uninterruptible power supply is consumed entirely during the decelerating of the motor or the actuating of the valve, along with the other claimed components of the method. Therefore, when viewed as a whole and for at least the foregoing reasons, the prior art of record neither anticipates nor rendered obvious the present invention as set forth in the claim.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW WIBLIN whose telephone number is (571)272-9836. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, NATHANIEL WIEHE can be reached on 571-272-86488648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW WIBLIN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3745