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 .
Amendment
The receipt of the amendment dated 22 April 2026 of the application 19/261,186, including amendments to the claims, is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claim 20 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 3 of claim 20, “encourage sliding sleeve” should be --encourage the sliding sleeve--. Appropriate correction is required.
Applicant is advised that should claim 9 be found allowable, claim 20 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 12, line 5, “the actuator” is indefinite because it lacks antecedent basis. The actuator and its relation to the other elements of the differential module are first claimed in claim 11, but claim 12 is dependent on claim 10.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1, 4-14, and 20 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 2, 8, 9, 7, 10, 11, 12, and 8 (dated 12 May 2026), respectively, of copending Application No. 19/261,297 (‘297) in view of Schroeder et al., U. S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0274542.
Regarding claim 1 of the current application, lines 1-8 are the same as lines 1-8 of claim 1 of ‘297. Line 9 of both claims 1 claim that the sliding sleeve is able to move axially along the first axis of rotation. In line 10 of ‘297 claim 1, “the sliding sleeve is configured to occupy, selectively, four axial positions” includes the limitation of “between at least two distinct axial positions” in lines 9-10 of current claim 1. Lines 3-5 of ‘297 claim 3 include the first connection by means of collaborating shapes limitations of current claim 1 lines 11-15, except for the sliding sleeve being directly connected to the second sun gear. Schroeder et al. discloses a similar differential module in figure 3, with a first connection by means of collaborating shapes 74/80 being configured so that a sliding sleeve 72, with internal splines 74, is directly connected a second sun gear 62, with external splines 80, so that the sliding sleeve 72 slides axially with respect to the second sun gear 62 ([0024]; [0019] describes, “the pinion shaft 64 is shown to be coupled with the right side gear 62 in a one-piece construction” such that connecting to the shaft 64 is directly connecting to the second sun gear (side gear) 62). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the connection recited in ‘297 claim 3 to be a direct connection to the second sun gear in view of Schroeder et al. to provide a connection without separate intervening parts, reducing the amount of parts that need to be manufactured and the number of steps performed for the assembly of the differential module.
Regarding current claim 4, the second connection by means of collaborating shapes is claimed in ‘297 claim 3, lines 6-9, with lines 11-12 and 17-18 of ‘297 claim 1 describing the connected position and the disconnected position (lines 3-5 of ‘297 claim 3 claims the permanent connection between the sliding sleeve and the second sun gear such that connection to the sliding sleeve is connection to the second sun gear).
Current claim 5 is claimed in ‘297 claim 4, lines 6-8.
Current claim 6 is claimed in ‘297 claim 4, lines 9-10 and ‘297 claim 3, lines 10-13.
Current claim 7 is claimed in the last two lines of ‘297 claim 4 and the last four lines of ‘297 claim 3.
Current claims 8-14 and 20 correspond to ‘297 claims 2, 8, 9, 7, 10, 11, 12, and 8, respectively.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection.
Claim Interpretation
Ordinal numerical adjectives in the claims are not interpreted as indicating a number of elements, but rather as an identifier (name) of a particular element, as described in paragraph [5] of the specification.
The term “coupling” in the claims is interpreted as describing components that cannot rotate with respect to each other, being secured together directly or via one or more intermediate components, as the terms “rotationally connected” and “coupled” are described in paragraph [8] of the specification.
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, 3-5, 11, 13, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Averill, U. S. Patent 6,432,021 in view of Schroeder et al., U. S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0274542.
Averill shows in figure 2 a differential module 32 for a vehicle transmission system (fig. 1). The differential module has a first axis of rotation 68.
A planet carrier 52 is able to receive a torque supplied, directly or indirectly, by a traction motor/engine 14 (fig. 1).
At least one planet pinion 56 is pivotably mounted on the planet carrier 52.
A first and a second sun gear 42 and 48 pivot about the first axis of rotation 68.
The differential module 32 includes a first and a second wheel-driving half-shaft 34L and 34R. The first wheel-driving half-shaft 34L is rotationally connected to the first sun gear 42.
A sliding sleeve 76 is able to move axially along the first axis of rotation 68 between at least two distinct axial positions.
A first connection by means of collaborating shapes (col. 4, line 57) is created between the sliding sleeve 76 and the second sun gear 48 (via stub axle 46; “Stub axle 46 is spline fit to a second side gear 48”, col. 4, lines 3-4), the first connection by means of collaborating shapes being configured so that the sliding sleeve 76 is permanently rotationally connected to the second sun gear 48/46 and so that the sliding sleeve slides axially with respect to the second sun gear between the at least two axial positions. Lines 3-9 of column 5 discloses three positions of the sliding sleeve 76 (“the clutch ring”), each position including engagement of the sliding sleeve 76 with the second sun gear 48/46.
(claim 1)
A surface of the planet carrier 52, with splines 80, provides radial centering of a surface of the sliding sleeve 76, as shown at the top half of figure 2.
(claims 3)
A second connection means of collaborating shapes (col. 4, lines 57-59, “coupler 70” being part of the half-shaft 34R, col. 4, line 56) is created between the sliding sleeve 76 and the second wheel-driving half-shaft 34R so as selectively to provide:
coupling of the second sun gear 48/46 to the second wheel-driving half-shaft 34R/70 when the sliding sleeve 76 is in a first axial position referred to as a connected position (col. 5, lines 5-6);
uncoupling of the second wheel-driving half-shaft 34R/70 when the sliding sleeve 76 is in a second axial position referred to as a disconnected position (col. 5, lines 3-5).
(claim 4)
The second connection by means of collaborating shapes comprises a second toothset formed in a cavity of the sliding sleeve 76 that accepts a portion 70 of the second wheel-driving half-shaft 34R, the second toothset being of a radially oriented internal toothset type (internal splines, col. 4, line 57).
(claim 5)
The sliding sleeve 76 is designed to be moved through portion 86 by an actuator 92 (moved, “e.g., by a motor” col. 6, lines 19-21), the sliding sleeve 76 notably comprising an annular groove 96 that collaborates with a fork 94 connected to the actuator.
(claim 11)
A transmission system comprises the differential module 32 of claim 1, a fixed structure (housing) 50, a gearset 60/64 configured to cause the differential module 32 to collaborate rotationally with a traction motor/engine 14 (fig. 1), and an actuator 92 configured to move the sliding sleeve 76.
(claim 13)
Figure 1 shows a powertrain comprises a traction motor/engine 14 and torque transmission system according to claim 13.
(claim 14)
Averill does not disclose that the sliding sleeve is directly connected to the second sun gear.
Schroeder et al. discloses in figures 2-4 a differential module similar to that of Averill, having a first axis of rotation (indicated by the dot-dash line), a planet carrier 38 able to receive torque applied by a traction motor/engine through prop shaft 54, at least one planet pinion 60 pivotably mounted on the planet carrier 38, a first 61 and a second 62 sun gear pivoting about the first axis of rotation, a first wheel-driving half-shaft 24 rotationally connected to the first sun gear 61, a second wheel-driving half-shaft 26, a sliding sleeve 72 able to move axially along the first axis of rotation between at least two distinct axial positions (each of figs. 2-4 shows a distinct axial position), and a first connection by means of collaborating shapes 74 and 80 created between the sliding sleeve 72 and the second sun gear 62 (via pinion shaft 64).
[0019] discloses, “the pinion shaft 64 is shown to be coupled with the right side gear 62 in a one-piece construction”, therefore the first connection by means of collaborating shapes 74/80 is created directly between the sliding sleeve 72 and the second sun gear 62, being configured so that the sliding sleeve 72 (with spline 74) is directly rotationally connected to the second sun gear 62 (with spline 80 on shaft portion 64 of the sun gear) and so that the sliding sleeve 72 slides axially with respect to the second sun gear 62 between the at least two axial positions (figs. 3 and 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the stub shaft and sun gear of Averill a one-piece construction such that the sliding sleeve directly connects to the sun gear in view of Schroeder et al. to reduce the number of parts that need to be manufactured and the number of assembly steps in the assembly of the differential module.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 5, 13, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Weilant et al., U. S. Patent 5,386,898.
Weilant et al. shows in figures 2 and 3 a differential module 31 for a vehicle transmission system 30 shown in figure 1. The differential module has a first axis of rotation.
A planet carrier 34 is able to receive a torque supplied via ring gear 32, directly or indirectly, by a traction motor/engine 12.
At least one planet pinion 36 is pivotably mounted on the planet carrier 34.
A first and a second sun gear 38, only one of which is shown (col. 2, lines 53-54) pivot about the first axis of rotation.
The differential module 31 includes a first and a second wheel-driving half-shaft 40, 40b (col. 2, lines 57-61). The first wheel-driving half-shaft 40 (left, not shown; col. 2, lines 57-62) is rotationally connected to the first sun gear 38.
A sliding sleeve 42 is able to move axially along the first axis of rotation between at least two distinct axial positions (col. 2, lines 63-66).
A first connection by means of collaborating shapes, mating “splines or teeth” between sleeve 42 and inner axle 40a (col. 3, lines 10-13; inner axle 40a being “drive connected” to right sun/side gear 38, col. 2, lines 57-60) is created between the sliding sleeve 42 and the second sun gear 38 (right one, shown in fig. 2), the first connection by means of collaborating shapes being configured so that the sliding sleeve 42 is permanently rotationally connected to the second sun gear 38 and so that the sliding sleeve 42 slides axially with respect to the second sun gear 38 between the at least two axial positions (in figs. 2 and 3, the sleeve 42 is in the right-most position and engaged with the sun 38 (40a), and col. 3, lines 1-5 describes the sleeve 42 may slide to the left to a second axial position, where 38/40a will still be engaged).
(claim 1)
A second connection means of collaborating shapes, matching “splines or teeth” between the collar 42 and the collar 50 “nonrotatably attached to the end of the outer axle shaft 40b” (col. 3, lines 18-19, 22-23), is created between the sliding sleeve 42 and the second wheel-driving half-shaft 40b so as selectively to provide:
coupling of the second sun gear 38 (40a) to the second wheel-driving half-shaft 40b when the sliding sleeve is in a first axial position, the right position shown in figures 2 and 3 (col. 2, lines 63-68), referred to as a connected position;
uncoupling of the second wheel-driving half-shaft 40b when the sliding sleeve 42 is in a second axial position, to the left (col. 3, lines 1-5) referred to as a disconnected position.
(claim 4)
As described in column 3, lines 22-23, the second connection by means of collaborating shapes comprises a second toothset formed in a cavity of the sliding sleeve (“internal teeth of the clutch sleeve 42”) that accepts a portion 50 of the second wheel-driving half-shaft 40b, the second toothset being of a radially oriented internal toothset type.
(claim 5)
Figures 2 and 3 show a transmission system comprises the differential module 31 (including axle disconnect 30) of claim 1, a fixed structure 33 (figs. 2 and 3), a gearset including ring gear 32 and meshing pinion gear (col. 2, lines 49-50) configured to cause the differential module 31 to collaborate rotationally with a traction motor/engine 12 (fig. 1; col. 2, lines 47-51, 23-27, 39-40), and an actuator, including vacuum motor 60 and an external vacuum source, configured to move the sliding sleeve 42 as described in column 3, line 57 to column 4, line 5.
(claim 13)
Figure 1 shows a powertrain comprises the traction motor/engine 12 and torque transmission system 14, 16, 31 according to claim 13.
(claim 14)
Weilant et al. does not disclose that the sliding sleeve is directly connected to the second sun gear.
Schroeder et al. discloses in figures 2-4 a differential module similar to that of Weilant et al., having a first axis of rotation (indicated by the dot-dash line), a planet carrier 38 able to receive torque applied by a traction motor/engine through prop shaft 54, at least one planet pinion 60 pivotably mounted on the planet carrier 38, a first 61 and a second 62 sun gear pivoting about the first axis of rotation, a first wheel-driving half-shaft 24 rotationally connected to the first sun gear 61, a second wheel-driving half-shaft 26, a sliding sleeve 72 able to move axially along the first axis of rotation between at least two distinct axial positions (each of figs. 2-4 shows a distinct axial position), and a first connection by means of collaborating shapes 74 and 80 created between the sliding sleeve 72 and the second sun gear 62 (via pinion shaft 64).
Lines 10-12 of [0019] discloses, “the pinion shaft 64 is shown to be coupled with the right side gear 62 in a one-piece construction”, therefore the first connection by means of collaborating shapes 74/80 is created directly between the sliding sleeve 72 and the second sun gear 62, being configured so that the sliding sleeve 72 (with spline 74) is directly rotationally connected to the second sun gear 62 (with spline 80 on shaft portion 64 of the sun gear) and so that the sliding sleeve 72 slides axially with respect to the second sun gear 62 between the at least two axial positions (figs. 3 and 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the inner axle and sun gear of Averill a one-piece construction such that the sliding sleeve directly connects to the sun gear in view of Schroeder et al. to reduce the number of parts that need to be manufactured and the number of assembly steps in the assembly of the differential module.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 15-19 are 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.
Response to Remarks
The Applicant remarks that neither Averill nor Weilant disclose the sliding sleeve being directly connected to the second sun gear, as they each disclose the sliding sleeve indirectly connected to the second sun gear through a shaft fitted to the second sun gear, and Heubner also fails to disclose a direct connection. Schroeder et al. discloses in the last eight lines of [0019] that a similar intermediate shaft fitted, by splines, to the second sun gear (“right side gear”) has the same effect as the intermediate shaft being formed as one piece with the second sun gear. As discussed above, Schroeder et al. thus teaches the sliding sleeve being directly connected to the second sun gear.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U. S. Patent Application Publication 2026/0009457 (Lebas et al.) January 8, 2026 is the pre-grant publication of application 19/261,297.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHERRY LYNN ESTREMSKY whose telephone number is (571)272-7090. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am-4:30pm.
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SLE
/SHERRY L ESTREMSKY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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