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.
Claims 4-15 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.
Claim 4 recites “one side”. Claim 3 previously recited “one side”. It is unclear if the limitation is the same in both claims or if they are separate and distinct features.
Claim 7 recites “an axial extension that is bent”. It is unclear if the axial extension connects to the radial portion at a bend or if the axial extension itself is bent (i.e., not entirely axial at all locations).
Claim 11 recites “the frame”. There is a lack of antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Perhaps claim 11 should depend from claim 9 which first recites a frame.
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kaneko U.S. 2010/0209031.
Re clm 1, Kaneko discloses a vehicle wheel bearing (Fig. 1) for rotatably mounting and supporting a vehicle wheel to a vehicle body, comprising: a wheel hub (2) provided with a wheel-mounting flange (2f); an inner ring (2b) mounted on an outer circumferential surface of the wheel hub; an outer ring (1) provided with a vehicle body-side mounting flange (1f); a plurality of rolling elements (31 and 32) for rotatably supporting the wheel hub and the inner ring relative to the outer ring; an outboard-side sealing member (5a) that seals a space between the wheel hub and the outer ring; a target ring (6) mounted on one side of the inner ring and rotating together with the inner ring; and a sensor assembly (7 and 8) that detects information about operating state(s) of a vehicle, wherein the sensor assembly comprises a wheel speed sensing portion (82) that detects a change in a magnetic field generated by a sensor target ([0090]) of a target ring that rotates together with a vehicle wheel and measures the rotation speed of the wheel, and wherein one side of the sensor assembly is provided with a sealing portion (at 5bq) for preventing introduction of foreign substances.
Re clm 2, Kaneko further discloses the sensor assembly is formed as a sensor cap structure which is mounted and fixed on one side of the outer ring (shown in Fig. 4).
Re clm 3, Kaneko further discloses the sensor assembly comprises a press-fit ring (7) mounted on an outer circumferential surface or an inner circumferential surface of the outer ring, and the sealing portion is provided on one side of the press-fitting ring (seal at 5bq is to right of where 71 fits onto outer ring 1).
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mizutani U.S. 2004/0105602.
Re clm 1, Mizutani discloses a vehicle wheel bearing (Fig. 1) for rotatably mounting and supporting a vehicle wheel to a vehicle body, comprising: a wheel hub (3) provided with a wheel-mounting flange (at 3a); an inner ring (3b) mounted on an outer circumferential surface of the wheel hub; an outer ring (2) provided with a vehicle body-side mounting flange (2a); a plurality of rolling elements (4s) for rotatably supporting the wheel hub and the inner ring relative to the outer ring; an outboard-side sealing member (9) that seals a space between the wheel hub and the outer ring; a target ring (16, Fig. 5) mounted on one side of the inner ring and rotating together with the inner ring; and a sensor assembly (12) that detects information about operating state(s) of a vehicle ([0037]), wherein the sensor assembly comprises a wheel speed sensing portion that detects a change in a magnetic field generated by a sensor target (16) of a target ring that rotates together with a vehicle wheel and measures the rotation speed of the wheel, and wherein one side of the sensor assembly is provided with a sealing portion (at 20) for preventing introduction of foreign substances.
Re clm 2, Mizutani further discloses the sensor assembly is formed as a sensor cap structure which is mounted and fixed on one side of the outer ring (shown in Fig. 1).
Re clm 3, Mizutani further discloses the sensor assembly comprises a press-fit ring ([0172]) mounted on an outer circumferential surface or an inner circumferential surface of the outer ring, and the sealing portion is provided on one side of the press-fitting ring (to the right, Fig. 5).
Re clm 4, Mizutani further discloses the sealing portion comprises a base portion (20) attached to one side of the press-fit ring and one or more sealing lips (22s) formed by extending from the base portion.
Re clm 5, Mizutani further discloses the sealing lip is formed as a contact-type sealing lip (shown in Fig. 5).
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.
Claims 3-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kaneko U.S. 2010/0209031 as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Mizutani U.S. 2004/0105602.
Kaneko discloses all the claimed subject matter as described above.
Assuming the limitation of claim 3 “provided on one side“ requires the sealing portion to be affixed to the press-fitting ring:
Re clm 3, Kaneko further discloses the sensor assembly comprises a press-fit ring (7) mounted on an outer circumferential surface or an inner circumferential surface of the outer ring.
Kaneko does not disclose the sealing portion is provided on one side of the press-fitting ring.
Mizutani teaches a similar device comprising disclose the sensor assembly comprises a press-fit ring (12, 32,33, 34) and the sealing portion is provided on one side of the press-fitting ring.
Since both Kaneko and Mizutani disclose sensor assemblies with seals, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the attachment location of the sealing portion of Kaneko with the location taught by Mizutani and provide the sealing portion is provided on one side of the press-fitting ring, since it has been held that rearranging the parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70. Furthermore, there are only two possible locations for attachment for the seal at 5bq of Kaneko; either the seal is affixed to element 5b4 with lips extending toward 73 or the seal is affixed to element 73 with lips that extend toward 5b4.
Re clm 4, Kaneko in view of Mizutani further discloses the sealing portion comprises a base portion (5b5 of Kaneko) attached to one side of the press-fit ring and one or more sealing lips (5b51) formed by extending from the base portion.
Re clm 5, Kaneko further discloses the sealing lip is formed as a contact-type sealing lip (as shown in Fig. 4).
Re clm 6¸ Kaneko in view of Mizutani further discloses the sealing portion is configured to be integrally formed by vulcanization on one side of the press-fitting ring (Kaneko teaches vulcanization [0092]; Mizutani teaches the seal being affixed on the press-fitting ring).
Re clm 7, Kaneko further discloses the press-fit ring comprises a mounting portion (where 71 contacts outer ring 1) that is press-fitted to the outer circumferential surface or the inner circumferential surface of the outer ring; a radial extension portion (72) that extends in a radial direction from the mounting portion (at 71); and an axial extension portion (at 73 and 731) that is bent and extends in the axial direction from the radial extension portion, and wherein a labyrinth structure (733) for preventing introduction of foreign substances from an outside is formed by the axial extension portion.
Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizutani U.S. 2004/0105602 as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Kaneko U.S. 2010/0209031.
Mizutani discloses all the claimed subject matter as described above.
Re clm 6, although Mizutani discloses the sealing portion is configured to be on one side of the press-fitting ring (shown in Fig. 5), Mizutani does not disclose the sealing portion is integrally formed by vulcanization on one side of the press-fitting ring.
Kaneko teaches a similar device comprising the sealing portion (5b5) is configured to be integrally formed by vulcanization ([0092]).
Since both Mizutani and Kaneko disclose sensor arrangements with seals, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to substitute the attachment means for the seal of Mizutani with that of Kaneko and provide the sealing portion is configured to be integrally formed by vulcanization on one side of the press-fitting ring to achieve the predictable result of securely fastening the seal element to the press-fitting ring.
Re clm 7, Mizutani further discloses the press-fit ring comprises a mounting portion (40a) that is press-fitted to the outer circumferential surface or the inner circumferential surface of the outer ring; a radial extension portion (such as 32) that extends in a radial direction from the mounting portion; and an axial extension portion (portion that extends from the bottom of 32 facing 16, 33 and 34) that is bent and extends in the axial direction from the radial extension portion, and wherein a labyrinth structure (where right end of 42 is closest to 20a and forms a gap therebetween) for preventing introduction of foreign substances from an outside is formed by the axial extension portion.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-15 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/ALAN B WAITS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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