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 because:
The lines are not uniformly black and well defined as required by 37 CFR 1.84(l), specifically the majority of the lines appear gray and pixelated in the figures.
The reference character dm is also obscured by the dashed line indicating the path in figure 3, the reference character should be moved to a location so that the dashed line representing the path does not pass through it.
Figure 1, character 35 is said to be the cavity between the inner ring 34 and the outer ring 31, however 35 is actually labeling a cavity between the casing 20 and the inner ring which is separate and distinct from the spacing between 34 and 31, 35 should be pointing to the cavity that holds the cage and rolling element. However, the claims are requiring that the seal be “housed in the cavity”, if the cavity is indeed the space between 31 and 34 as the specification describes this feature would not be shown as the vast majority of the seal is in the cavity between 20 and 34, not 34 and 31. Should the casing also be claimed in combination with the outer ring and the cavity be defined between the outer ring and casing as a unit and the inner ring?
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 isosceles triangle shape of claims 6 and 7 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. The drawings illustrate a ridge shape where the top is truncated to form a flat surface and thus no triangle is actually shown but rather a trapezoidal shape is shown is already claimed in claim 5, if the trapezoid and triangle recitations are meant to define the same shape than the claims would be considered redundant, if these recitations are meant to capture distinct shapes then these distinct shapes are not shown.
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 5-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP2020-193690 (JP690).
Regarding claim 1, JP690 discloses a bearing unit (figure 1) having a central axis of rotation and comprising: a radially outer ring (12), stationary (12 is the fixed member of the bearing, however in a bearing which ring is stationary vs which is rotating does not change the overall function of the bearing as one part would still be relatively rotating with respect to the other), a radially inner ring (11/24), rotatable, defining, with the radially outer ring, a cavity (space holding balls 13 and cages 14), and a sealing device (15/16), which is housed in the cavity and includes, in turn: a first shield (at 33) integral with the radially outer ring and which supports a first sealing element (34), a second shield (43) integral with the radially inner ring (24) and which supports a second sealing element (44), the bearing unit being characterized by the fact that the first and the second sealing element (34 and 44) are provided with respective first and second shaped surfaces (38 and 48) which: are axially opposed but not in contact with each other (see figure 2), define a plurality of ridges (56 and 58) and valleys (at 57 and 59), where on each shaped surface each ridge is radially alternated with a valley (see the lower half of the seal bodies in figures 2 and 3), and are radially staggered so that each ridge of the first shaped surface corresponds to a valley of the second shaped surface and each ridge of the second shaped surface corresponds to a valley of the first shaped surface.
Regarding claim 2, JP690 discloses that each ridge is delimited by a pair of oblique surfaces and by a top surface (see figure 5b showing an alternate shape which includes oblique surfaces 30i and 30j and a top surface at 30r).
Regarding claim 3, JP690 discloses that each valley is bounded by a pair of oblique surfaces and by a bottom surface (the ridge shape defines the valley shape thus each valley in JP690 figure 5b is formed with oblique surfaces 30 and 30j and a bottom also labeled as 30r).
Regarding claim 5, JP690 discloses that both the ridges and the valleys are obtained by a 360° rotation of a geometric figure corresponding to an isosceles trapezoid (in figure 5b the shape is a general isosceles trapezoid/truncated isosceles triangle just like in the instant application, and the seal is formed by revolving this shape 360 degrees around the bearing).
Regarding claim 6, JP690 discloses that both the ridges and the valleys are obtained by a 360° rotation of a geometric figure corresponding to an isosceles triangle (in figure 5b the shape is a general isosceles trapezoid/triangle just like in the instant application, and the seal is formed by revolving this shape 360 degrees around the bearing).
Regarding claim 7, JP690 discloses that both the ridges and the valleys of the first shaped surface are obtained by a 360° rotation of a geometric figure corresponding to an isosceles trapezoid, while both the ridges and the valleys of the second shaped surface are obtained by a 360° rotation of a geometric figure corresponding to an isosceles triangle (in figure 5b the shape is a general isosceles trapezoid/triangle just like in the instant application, and the seal is formed by revolving this shape 360 degrees around the bearing).
Regarding claim 8, JP690 discloses that both the ridges and the valleys of the second shaped surface are obtained by a 360° rotation of a geometric figure corresponding to an isosceles trapezoid, while both the ridges and the valleys of the first shaped surface are obtained by a 360° rotation of a geometric figure corresponding to an isosceles triangle (in figure 5b the shape is a general isosceles trapezoid/triangle just like in the instant application, and the seal is formed by revolving this shape 360 degrees around the bearing).
Regarding claim 9, JP690 discloses that the ridges of the first shaped surface are obtained by a 360° rotation of a geometric figure corresponding to an isosceles trapezoid, while the valleys of the first shaped surface are obtained by a 360° rotation of a geometric figure corresponding to an isosceles triangle (in figure 5b the shape is a general isosceles trapezoid/triangle just like in the instant application, and the seal is formed by revolving this shape 360 degrees around the bearing).
Regarding claim 10, JP690 discloses that the valleys of the second shaped surface are obtained by a 360° rotation of a geometric figure corresponding to an isosceles trapezoid, while the ridges of the second shaped surface are obtained by a 360° rotation of a geometric figure corresponding to an isosceles triangle (in figure 5b the shape is a general isosceles trapezoid/triangle just like in the instant application, and the seal is formed by revolving this shape 360 degrees around the bearing).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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: Claim 4 is requiring that the spacing between the top and bottom surface be greater than the spacing between edges/corners of adjacent ridges, or in other word the pathway defined between the seal elements includes zones that are narrowed relative to the zones between the top and bottom of the ridge and valley, specifically zones that are in the range of 50-75% as wide as the space between the top and bottom surface. This in combination with the configuration of the seal as defined in claim 1 is not disclosed or rendered obvious by the prior art of record absent impermissible hindsight reconstruction.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
DE [DAS] 1109470 shows both triangular and trapezoidal shapes as being known alternatives.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES PILKINGTON whose telephone number is (571)272-5052. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 7-3.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Olszewski can be reached at 571-272-2706. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES PILKINGTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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