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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “electrical generator is couple directly to the helical member” (claim 2) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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, 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Doroftei WO 9845163.
Claim 1, Doroftei discloses a device (drive mechanism 10)(Fig. 1), comprising: a frame (track device 20)(pg. 10, l. 16); an actuator (linear motion device 12)(pg. 9, ll. 21 – 22) attached to the frame and slidaby movable with respect to the frame along a linear axis; a helical member (helical member 14)(pg. 9, l. 23) positioned within the frame and rotatably movable with respect to the frame about a helical axis of the helical member, wherein the helical axis is parallel to the linear axis; and an electrical generator (pg. 5, ll. 8 – 10: “[v]arious of these drive mechanisms can be used in various applications of helical drives, including without limitation motors, engines, drills, dental drills, exercise equipment, electric generators…”) coupled to the helical member such that rotation of the helical member about the helical axis of the helical member causes the electrical generator to generate electricity, wherein the actuator and the helical member are configured to cooperate with one another such that (a) motion of the actuator along the linear axis in a first linear direction causes corresponding rotation of the helical member about the helical axis in a first rotational direction and (b) motion of the actuator along the linear axis in a second linear direction that is opposite the first linear direction causes corresponding rotation of the helical member about the helical axis in a second rotational direction that is opposite the first rotational direction (pg. 11, ll. 8 – 16: “[b]y virtue of the foregoing arrangement, actuation of the linear motion device 12 in the direction indicated by the arrow B causes rotation of the beveled pinion gear 30 in the direction indicated by the arrow A. This, in turn, causes rotation of the output gear 32 in a corresponding direction indicated by arrow C. However, when the linear motion device 12 is actuated in the direction opposite to the arrow B, the clutch 28 disengages the resulting rotary motion of the helical member 14 from the beveled pinion gear 30, whereby no rotary motion is imparted on the beveled pinion gear 30 by the clutch 28”).
Claims 3 and 4, Doroftei discloses the electrical generator being coupled indirectly to the helical member (claim 4) via at least one gear (pg. 11, ll. 4 – 7: “[t]he beveled pinion gear 30 meshes with an output gear 32. The beveled pinion gear 30 and the output gear 32 form at least part of a rotatable output mechanism which can be connected to any device which is to be driven by the resulting rotary motion”).
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 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Doroftei WO 9845163 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Torbati USPGPUB 20240239148.
Claim 2, Doroftei discloses all of the claim limitations of the invention of claim 2, except for the electrical generator being coupled directly to the helical member.
Torbati teaches that is was known for a similar device (regenerative shock absorber 2)([0048], l. 2) to have an electrical generator (generator module 18)([0051], ll. 8 – 9) coupled directly to a helical member (self-reversing lead screw 26)([0052], ll. 1 – 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the device of Doroftei with an electrical generator being coupled directly to the helical member, since such a modification would have been suitable applications that do not require speed reduction, torque multiplication or a change in rotational direction, as taught and suggested by Torbati.
Claim(s) 5 – 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Doroftei WO 9845163.
Claim 5, Doroftei discloses all of the limitations of the invention of claim 5, except for the helical member has a helical pitch of between 85 millimeters and 95 millimeters.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Doroftei, such that the helical member having a helical pitch of between 85 millimeters and 95 millimeters, since it was been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233,235 (CCPA 1955).
Claim 6, Doroftei discloses all of the limitations of the invention of claim 5, except for the helical member having a lead angle of between 24 degrees and 27 degrees.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Doroftei, such that the helical member has a lead angle of between 24 degrees and 27 degrees, since it was been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233,235 (CCPA 1955).
Claim 7, Doroftei discloses all of the limitations of the invention of claim 5, except for the helical member having a pitch diameter of between 48 millimeters and 52 millimeters.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Doroftei, such that the helical member has a pitch diameter of between 48 millimeters and 52 millimeters, since it was been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233,235 (CCPA 1955).
Claim(s) 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Doroftei WO 9845163 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Loverich et al. USP 8698329.
Claims 8 and 9, Doroftei discloses all of the limitations of the invention of claim 8, except for a power conditioning element or capacitor (claim 9) coupled to the electrical generator.
Loverich teaches that it was known to couple a power conditioning element or capacitor to an electrical generator, in order to improve generator performance by suppressing voltage spikes and electrical noise.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Doroftei to include a power conditioning element or capacitor coupled to the electrical generator, as taught by Loverich, for the purpose of improving generator performance by suppressing voltage spikes and electrical noise.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHILLIP A JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5216. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm.
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/PHILLIP A JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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