DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Status of the Claims
This action is in response to the applicant’s filing on September 18, 2025. Claims 1 – 12 are pending and examined below.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
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.
Claims 1 – 12 are 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
In lines 5 – 13 of claim 1, applicant recites “the electric flight control
system comprising an electric actuator for controlling the servo control, the electric actuator comprising a plurality of stators and a rotor member moved by the plurality of stators, wherein the actuating subassembly comprises three external duplex computers for controlling the electric actuator as a function of the at least one positional setpoint, the plurality of stators comprising only three stators electrically connected to three respective switching devices of the electric actuator”. (Emphasis added.)
In lines 14 – 15 of claim 1, applicant recites “the same internal simplex
computer“, which lacks antecedent basis.
In line 1 of claims 5, 6 and 8, applicant attempts to narrow the scope of
claim 1 by detailing structural aspects of the “switching device” and the “internal simplex computer”. However, in claim 1, both the switching device and the internal simplex computer are inferentially claimed. In other words, neither element is positively recited as a part of the claimed “electric flight control system”. Clarification is required as to whether the switching device and the internal simplex computer are physical elements of the claimed “electric flight control system”.
Any claims not specifically mentioned herein above, but nonetheless rejected as being indefinite, are rejected for incorporating the errors of their respective base claims by dependency.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 – 12 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. §112, 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent toapplicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0099050 A1 to Estival et al. who discloses an electromechanical actuator for electrical flight controls of an aircraft, the actuator comprising a transmission shaft, four electromechanical conversion members, each having a respective stator and rotor secured to the transmission shaft, and four control systems, each dedicated to respective ones of the electromechanical conversion members. The stator has teeth and windings surrounding at least one tooth, whereas the rotor is provided with permanent magnets. Each electromechanical conversion member is a flux-concentrating member and each winding is concentric and has a single layer. The electromechanical actuator is intended in particularly for controlling a hydraulic actuator via a mechanical transmission within an electrical flight control device of an aircraft.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RODNEY A. BUTLER whose telephone number is (313)446-6513. The examiner can normally be reached on weekdays, Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anne M. Antonucci can be reached on weekdays, Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at (313) 446-6519. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Electronic Communications
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/RODNEY A BUTLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3666
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