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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a Non-final Office Action for application number 19/251,213 BELLCRANK MOUNTING ASSEMBLIES FOR RAILCARS filed on 6/26/2025. Claims 1-14 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 9/16/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by United States Patent No. 6,237,722 to Hammond et al.
With regards to claim 1, Hammond et al. teaches a device having a bellcrank (51, 75) base attached to an underside of the railcar (13); and a bellcrank mounting bracket (55) removably attached to the bellcrank base, the mounting bracket having opposed end portions with axially-aligned openings to receive a bellcrank or a sheave wheel. (See Figure 2)
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 of this title, 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 2-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent No. 6,237,722 to Hammond et al. and in view of United States Patent Publication No. 2025/0354596 to Kern.
With regards to claims 2 and 11, Hammond et al. teaches the basic inventive concept but does not teach the specifics of the bellcrank base including opposed first and second end portions that are attached to the underside of the railcar, and a central base portion disposed between the first and second end portions, the central base portion being spaced from the underside.
Kern teaches a mount for a bellcrank (109) attached to vehicle and the bellcrank base (103) including opposed first and second end portions that are attached to the underside of the vehicle, and a central base portion (See Figure 5) disposed between the first and second end portions, the central base portion being spaced from the underside. (See Figure 4). It would be obvious to have used a different bellcrank base to adapt to the location of the vehicle as the bellcrank base would be adapted to the underside of the desired vehicle.
With regards to claims 3 and 12, Kern also shows wherein the bellcrank base is U-shaped. (See Figure 5) and it would be obvious to have used a U-shaped base in order to attach the base to the desired vehicle.
With regards to claim 4, Kern teaches the central base portion includes at least one hole (148) sized to receive a fastener and it would be obvious to have used this configuration in order to attach the base to the desired vehicle.
With regards to claims 5 and 11, Kern teaches that the bellcrank mounting bracket (109) includes opposed third and fourth end portions and a central bracket portion disposed between the third and fourth end portions, each of the third and fourth end portions including one of the axially- aligned openings (See Figure 5) and it would be obvious to have used this configuration in order to attach the base to the desired vehicle.
With regards to claims 6 and 11, Kern teaches wherein the central bracket portion is removably attached to the bellcrank base and the third and fourth end portions extend away from the bellcrank base See Figure 5) and it would be obvious to have used a this configuration in order to attach the base to the desired vehicle.
With regards to claims 7 and 13, Kern teaches wherein the bellcrank mounting bracket is U-shaped. (See Figure 4). It would be obvious to have used a U-shaped base in order to attach the base to the desired vehicle.
With regards to claim 8, Kern teaches wherein the central bracket portion includes at least one bracket hole (148) to receive a fastener and it would be obvious to have used this configuration in order to attach the base to the desired vehicle. (See Figure 4)
With regards to claim 9, Kern teaches wherein the bellcrank base includes at least one base hole (133) that corresponds to the at least one bracket hole and it would be obvious to have used this configuration in order to attach the base to the desired vehicle.
With regards to claims 10 and 14, Hammond et al. shows a railcar body having the bellcrank mounting assembly of claim 1.
With regards to claim 11, the combination teaches all of the claim limitations as shown above and including a fastener received in at least one of the one or more base holes and at least one of the one or more corresponding bracket holes. (See Kern, 0032, “he assembly can include one or more bolts, pins, rods, bushings, bearings, washers, springs, or other like devices (not shown) that extend through the apertures 133”)
Cited References
PN 2004/0232293 to Lindbeck shows a railcar bracket
PN 2009/0001236 to Stec et al. shows a bracket
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to Amy J. Sterling at telephone number 571-272-6823 or to Supervisor Jonathan Liu at 571-272-8227 if the examiner cannot be reached. The examiner can normally be reached (Mon-Fri 8am-5:00pm). The fax machine number for the Technology center is 571-273-8300 (formal amendments), informal amendments or communications 571-273-6823. Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application should be directed to the Technology Center receptionist at 571-272-3600.
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/AMY J. STERLING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631 9/15/26
