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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/22/2026 has been entered.
The notice of allowance dated 2/26/2026 has been vacated.
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) 1-2 and 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gallet et al., US PGPub 2013/0225353 in view of Jallat et al., US PGPub 2024/0133459.
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Regarding claim 1, Gallet et al. discloses an oil distributor (35), comprising: a top surface (lower surface of 35 in fig 3), wherein the top surface (as described above) comprises an oil inlet hole (opening receiving 34), the oil inlet hole (as described above) being communicated with an oil inlet pipeline (32) in an external oil passage (30); a bottom surface (end of 36 with reduced diameter exit - see fig 3) being opposite to the top surface (as described above), wherein the bottom surface (as described above) is disposed at a through hole (opening at center of 16 shown in fig 3 and 4) of a housing (within 13) of a reducer (reduction gears 12,14) and the bottom surface (as described above) comprises an oil distribution pipe (36) located inside (see end region) the housing (as described above) of the reducer (as described above), the oil distribution pipe (36) including at least one oil spraying hole (see spray exiting end of 36 in fig 3), and the oil spraying hole (as described above) being communicated with (see fig 3) an interior of the housing (see fig 3) of the reducer (as described above); and a side surface (surface of 37 containing 37a) being located between (see fig 3) the top surface (as described above) and the bottom surface (as described above), wherein the side surface (as described above) comprises at least one oil outlet (37a), the oil outlet (37a) being communicated with a lubrication pipeline (37), and wherein the top surface (as described above), the bottom surface (as described above), and the side surface (as described above) form an oil distribution chamber (see fig 3-4). Gallet et al. does not disclose the specified spray range.
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Jallat et al. teaches a similar lubrication system wherein an oil spraying range is defined by a first connection line (from 31A to 14) and a second connection line (form 31B to 13), the first connection line (as described above) being between a center of the oil distribution pipe (22) and a center of a bull gear (12) of a gear pair (11,12), and the second connection line (as described above) being between the center of the oil distribution pipe (33) and a center of a pinion (11) of the gear pair (11,12). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the angle range described by Jallat et al. in the system disclosed by Gallet et al. in order to optimize the lubricant coverage to the intermeshing region.
Regarding claim 2, Gallet et al. in view of Jallat et al. discloses the oil distributor (35) according to claim 1, wherein the oil distribution pipe (36) further comprises a limiting structure (end portion with reduced diameter creating pressurized spray – see fig 3) at an end of the oil distribution pipe (36) approaching the bottom surface (as described above).
Regarding claim 4, Gallet et al. in view of Jallat et al. discloses the oil distributor (35) according to claim 1, wherein the lubrication pipeline (37) is partially communicated with a built-in oil passage (37a).
Regarding claim 5, Gallet et al. in view of Jallat et al. discloses the oil distributor (35) according to claim 1, wherein a sealing structure (19) is between the oil distributor (35) and the housing (as described above).
Regarding claim 6, Gallet et al. in view of Jallat et al. discloses the oil distributor (35) according to claim 1, wherein the through hole (as described above) of the housing (as described above) of the reducer (as described above) is located above a side surface (see fig 3) of a meshed portion (mesh of 11 and 12) of a gear pair (11,12) in the reducer (as described above), and the oil distribution pipe (36) is located above (see fig 3) the meshed portion (as described above) of the gear pair (11,12).
Claim(s) 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gallet et al. in view of in view of Jallat et al. and further in view of Segovia et al., US PGPub 2013/0192930.
Regarding claim 3, Gallet et al. in view of Jallat et al. discloses the oil distributor according to claim 1 but does not specify that an end of the oil distribution pipe away from the bottom surface is closed.
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Segovia et al. teaches a similar oil distribution assembly (62) wherein an end of the oil distribution pipe (end of 70) away from the bottom surface is closed (see fig 3). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the closed distributor end described by Segovia et al. to the system disclosed by Gallet et al. in view of Jallat et al. in order to more evenly distribute the lubricant along the gear width and improve the system efficiency and reduce wear.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL A RIEGELMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7956. The examiner can normally be reached 8-6 EST Monday - Friday.
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MICHAEL A. RIEGELMAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3654
/MICHAEL A RIEGELMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654
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