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 Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 6, line 1, “the providing” should read - - the providing the at least one annular body - -.
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1 – 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishimaru et al. JP H05209625 (incl. machine translation) in view of Metrikin USPGPUB 20140226928, and further in view of Laugisch et al. WO 2014056491 (incl. machine translation).
Claims 1 and 5, Ishimaru discloses a low noise composite material rolling bearing cage (ring-shaped cage 1)(Fig. 1)([0015], l. 1) formed by a method comprising: providing an annular body having a plurality of through openings (pocket holes 3)([0015], l. 2) each configured to receive a rolling body (rolling element 6)([0015], l. 4), the annular body comprising epoxy resin ([0008], ll. 4 – 5) and a plurality of embedded and superimposed layers of continuous reinforcing fibers in the epoxy resin ([0019], ll. 1 – 3: “[u]sing equipment similar to that shown in Figure 7, a continuous bundle of reinforcing fibers (2) is wound around the outer circumference of the inner mold (4) in the directions of the three arrows a, b, and c in Figure 2, avoiding the pins (7)” and [0025], ll. 5 – 7: “in addition to the organic polymers mentioned above, inorganic polymers such as PBS (polyborosiloxane) may be used as the polymer to be impregnated, and it is also possible to perform the polymer impregnation after the fibers have been wrapped”).
Ishimaru does not expressly disclose the epoxy resin having a glass transition temperature greater than or equal to 90°C.
Metrikin teaches the use of epoxy resin having a glass transition temperature greater than or equal to 90°C as antifriction material for bearing cages, in order reduce the overall wear in rolling bearings incorporating rolling element cages ([0025], ll. 1 – 14: “the retainer 108 is formed from a polymer material. Polymer materials include, for example, those exhibiting antifriction characteristics and may be inherently lubricious or various additives may be blended in the materials such as oils, molybdenum disulfide, graphite, hexagonal boron nitride, PTFE powder, or tungsten disulfide. Preferably, the polymer materials, include for example, polyimide (PI), polyamide imide (PAI), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polysulfones, or epoxy resins. Such polymer materials may therefore include those that have glass transition temperature of 150.degree. C. or higher, such as 150.degree. C. to 350.degree. C. Other materials may be utilized, such as a ceramic material or other inorganic materials. The use of such anti-friction materials reduces the overall wear of the bearing systems”).
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 cage device of Ishimaru, such that the epoxy resin having a glass transition temperature greater than or equal to 90°C, as taught by Metrikin, for the purpose of reducing the overall wear in rolling bearings incorporating rolling element cages.
Further, Ishimaru does not expressly disclose subjecting the annular body of epoxy resin to a burr-removing tumbling operation.
Laugisch teaches that it was known to subject an annular body of a cage made fiber reinforce epoxy resin ([0004], ll. 1 – 2: “[c]ages are known from the prior art which are made from a cured matrix of a fiber- or fabric reinforced resin, in particular a fiber- or fabric-reinforced epoxy or phenolic resin” to a burr-removing tumbling operation ([0009], ll. 10 – 11: “[a]fter removal, a burr may be present at the edges of the pockets, which can be removed, for example, by vibratory finishing”).
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 method of forming the cage device of Ishimaru with a burr-removing tumbling operation, since such a modification would have been suitable material removal process for eliminating rough edges round critical bearing cage features, as taught and suggested by Laugisch.
Claim 2, the modification of Metrikin does not expressly disclose the glass transition temperature of the epoxy resin is about 120°C.
However, Metrikin teaches an epoxy resin having a glass transition temperature of 150°C or greater to provide improved anti-friction performance. Glass transition temperature is a recognized result-effective variable affecting anti-friction performance of epoxy resins. Thus, It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select an epoxy resin having a somewhat lower glass transition temperature, such as about 120°C, through routine optimization of resin formulation and curing conditions in order to balance anti-friction performance, processability, cost, toughness, or other known design considerations, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claims 3 and 7, Ishimaru discloses the reinforcing fibers being chosen from the group consisting of: carbon fibers, glass fibers, Kevlar® fibers, basalt fibers, quartz fibers, A1203 fibers, SiC fibers, steel fibers, aluminum fibers, cotton fibers, cellulose fibers, flax fibers, jute fibers, hemp fibers and sisal fibers ([0034], ll. 3 – 4: “[e]xamples of suitable fibers or particles include carbon fibers, glass fibers or aramid fibers, or natural fibers such as cotton”).
Claim 4, Ishimaru discloses a rolling bearing ([0011], l. 1: “[t]he present invention provides a cage for rolling bearings”) comprising: the composite material rolling bearing cage 1, and one of the rolling bodies 6 in each of the plurality of through-openings 3.
Ishimaru does not expressly disclose the rolling bearing comprising and inner ring and an outer ring.
However, 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 disclosed rolling bearing with an inner and outer ring, wherein the cage is between the inner ring and the outer ring, as such components are conventional and well-known structural elements of rolling bearings that provide raceways for supporting and guiding rolling elements.
Claim 6, Ishimaru discloses the providing the at least one annular body including :a) producing a preform tube made of the epoxy resin and plurality of embedded and superimposed layers of continuous reinforcing fibers ([0019], ll. 1 – 3 and [0025], ll. 5 – 7) , b) curing the preform tube ([0021], ll. 1 – 2: “[a]fter this winding is complete, the reinforcing fibers (2) wound around the inner mold (4) are hardened by heat treatment or the like to form a cylindrical retainer material (5)”), and c) radially cutting the at least one annular body from the preform tube ([0021], ll. 6 – 7: “[t]hen, when the retainer material (5) is cut into slices from the direction of the arrow in Figure 3, multiple retainers (1) are produced simultaneously”).
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishimaru et al. JP H05209625 in view of Metrikin USPGPUB 20140226928, and further in view of Laugisch et al. WO 2014056491 as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Sunet GB 9303297.
Claim 8, the modification of Laugisch discloses all of the limitations of the invention of claim 8, including loading the at least one annular body into a vibrating tumbler machine ([0009], ll. 10 – 11).
Laugisch does not expressly disclose loading abrasive particles having a dimension of at least one order of magnitude lower than an outer diameter of the at least one annular body into the vibrating tumbling machine.
Sunet teaches that abrasive particle size used in vibratory finishing is selected based upon the size of the workpiece being processed (pg. 1, ll. 5 – 7: “[t]he removal is done by abrasion of the surface by a mass of abrasive particles of sizes chosen to be appropriate to the size of the workpieces”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select the abrasive particle size used in the vibratory finishing process of Laugisch according to the workpiece size, as taught by Sunet, in order to achieve effective deburring while avoiding damage to the workpiece. The selection of abrasive particles having a dimension one order of magnitude smaller than the annular body of the bearing cage would have constituted no more than routine optimization of a result-effective variable.
Conclusion
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/PHILLIP A JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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