DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-2 are pending.
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 under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the stepped section with an “R-shape” (claimed in claim 2) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. See also the 112 rejection below regarding the “R-shape” recitation.
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 § 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 2 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 2, last line, “R-shape” doesn’t accurately describe the stepped section. As understood, the recitation refers to the stepped section 14 possibly having a rounded shape or a rounded corner (paragraphs 9 and 16), so it is suggested that the recitation be changed to recite a rounded shape, a rounded corner, or a corner with a radius of curvature.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-2 (as understood: 2) are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Aoki (US 2007/0069170).
Regarding claim 1, Aoki discloses in Figs. 1-8 a throttle device comprising:
a valve element 2;
a valve shaft 3 to which the valve element 2 is fixed;
a motor 7 that is electrically driven to rotate the valve shaft 3;
a housing (comprising throttle body 1 or the motor casing 1b) in which the motor 7 is accommodated; and
a cavity for mounting the motor 7 in the housing,
wherein the cavity includes a large-diameter accommodation section (shown in the annotation of Fig. 3(1) below on a first side of a stepped section 1f) and a small-diameter accommodation section (shown in the annotation of Fig. 3(1) below on a second side of the stepped section 1f), which are arranged coaxially, and
[AltContent: arrow]a minimum thickness between an inner peripheral surface of the large-diameter accommodation section and an outer peripheral surface of the housing is equal to or thinner than a minimum thickness between an inner peripheral surface of the small-diameter accommodation section and the outer peripheral surface of the housing.
[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Small-diameter accommodation section)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Stepped section)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Large-diameter accommodation section)][AltContent: arrow]
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Regarding claim 2, Aoki discloses in Figs. 1-8 that the housing includes a stepped section 1f between the inner peripheral surface of the large-diameter accommodation section and the inner peripheral surface of the small-diameter accommodation section, and the stepped section 1f has a surface having an R-shape or a taper shape (specifically a taper shape, paragraph 31).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner Jonathan Waddy, whose telephone number is 571-270-3146. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (10:00AM-6:00PM EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881 or Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J. W./
Examiner, Art Unit 3753
/KENNETH RINEHART/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3753
