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 .
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 third guide rib “to extend […] to a center of the first counter gear” of claim 8 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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 8 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.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the other end". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Suzuki et al. (US 2026/0132844 A1). Suzuki discloses a housing assembly (3) with an improved oil churning function to which a plurality of gears of a vehicle reducer are coupled (fig. 2), the housing assembly comprises:
Re claim 1, a cover housing (3A) including one surface (fig. 2: interior facing surface) coupled to a differential gear (23) and a first counter gear (222); a middle housing (3B) including one surface (fig. 2: interior facing surface) that is coupled to an input gear (21) and a second counter gear (221) coupled to the first counter gear, wherein the one surface is provided to face the one surface of the cover housing (fig. 2), and lower end communicates with a sump space (3G,3H); and an oil guide part (guide part indicated by arrows on either interior surfaces of 3A,B) machined and disposed on the cover housing and the middle housing to guide a flow direction of churned oil (figs. 5-6).
Re claim 2, wherein the oil guide part includes a guide groove (groove adjacent to 31,32) formed to a predetermined depth in an outer edge of the cover housing (depth shown as recessed towards the left in fig. 7 and towards the right in fig. 8).
Re claim 3, wherein the guide groove is disposed on an edge (upper edge of 3A) of the cover housing corresponding to an upper side of the first counter gear (fig.5).
Re claim 4, wherein the guide groove is disposed in a streamlined shape (smooth curved streamline shape shown at the top edge of 3A in fig. 5) with a curvature greater than or equal to a predetermined value (fig. 5).
Re claim 5, wherein the oil guide part further includes a first guide rib (fig. 5: side walls of 312 extending upward from 311 of 3A) formed to protrude a predetermined height from the one surface of the cover housing and formed to extend inward from one end of the guide groove (figs. 8,10).
Re claim 6, wherein the first guide rib is formed to be inclined at a predetermined angle in a direction perpendicular to a ground (fig. 5 shows the inclination of 312).
Re claim 7, wherein the oil guide part includes a second guide rib (fig. 6: side walls of 312 extending upward from 311 of 3B) formed to protrude from the one surface of the middle housing and disposed at a location corresponding to the first guide rib (fig. 7), and the second guide rib is in contact with the first guide rib to allow oil to be transferred from the first guide rib to the second guide rib (fig. 7).
Re claim 8, wherein the oil guide part further includes a third guide rib (311, adjacent to 45A) formed to protrude a predetermined height from the one surface of the cover housing (fig. 5) and formed to extend from the other end of the guide groove to a center of the first counter gear (fig. 5).
Re claim 9, wherein the middle housing includes a gear case part (fig. 6: 35) concavely formed at a location corresponding to the differential gear, and the oil guide part further includes a fourth guide rib (352) formed to protrude a predetermined height from an inner surface of the gear case part and formed to extend from an edge (upper edge) of the inner surface toward a center of the differential gear (fig. 6).
Re claim 10, wherein the fourth guide rib is formed to be inclined at a predetermined angle in a direction perpendicular to a ground (fig. 6 shows the inclination of 352).
Conclusion
The cited prior art(s) made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINH D TRUONG whose telephone number is (571) 270-3014. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Hodge can be reached at (571) 272-2097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Minh Truong/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654
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