DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
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 .
Status of Claims
This is the first office action on the merits of Application No. 19/339,904 filed on 09/25/2025. Claims 1-5 are pending. Claim 1 is independent claim.
Priority
Application claims the benefit of Application No. JP2024-166611 filed 09/25/2024. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mueller et al. (US 4644823 A).
Regarding claim 1, Mueller discloses a differential device (fig. 1) comprising:
a casing ( e.g. 3, 2);
an input rotary member (4) which is fixed to the casing (via bolt as shown in annotated fig. A below) and to which a power is to be inputted;
a pair of output rotary members (5, 6) to which the power inputted to the input rotary member (4) is to be distributed, such that the pair of output rotary members (5,6) are allowed to be rotated relative to each other in a differential state of the differential device, and such that the pair of output rotary members are to be rotated integrally with the input rotary member in a non-differential state of the differential device;
a clutch (e.g.14) which is housed in the casing (3), and which is configured to limit rotations of the pair of output rotary members (5, 6) relative to each other, by connecting the pair of output rotary members (5,6) with the casing (3);
a pressing member (e.g. 16) which is housed in the casing (3), and which is configured to press the clutch (14) so as to cause the clutch to generate a torque that limits the rotations of the pair of output rotary members (5, 6) relative to each other;
an elastic member (e.g. 19) which is housed in the casing (3), and which is configured to apply a preload to the clutch (14) such that the clutch generates an initial torque that is an initial magnitude of the torque;
an adjuster (e.g. bearing 18) which is screwed to the casing (3), and which is configured to press the elastic member (19) so as to cause the elastic member (19) to apply the preload to the clutch and to change the preload with an amount of screwing of the adjuster being changed; and
a fixture (e.g. bolt, see the annotated fig. A below) which is configured to fix the adjuster (18) to a non-rotatable member (e.g. outer housing 1) so as to make the adjuster unrotatable relative to the non-rotatable member (1), and to release fixing of the adjuster (18) to the non-rotatable member (1).
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Fig. A: Annotated fig. 1 of Mueller
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 are objected to as been dependent upon a rejected base claim 1, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, 2nd paragraph, set forth in this office action.
Reasons for allowance, if applicable, will be the subject of a separate communication to the Applicant or patent owner, pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.104 and MPEP § 1302.14.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure.
Hirota et al. (US 11796043 B1) discloses a differential device includes a differential case, a first output gear and a second output gear, and an interrupting mechanism. The differential case is rotatable. A drive force can be input to the differential case. The first output gear and the second output gear are accommodated in the differential case. The first output gear and a second output are rotatable with respect to the differential case and output the drive force received from the differential case. The interrupting mechanism is disposed on a side of the first output gear and connects and disconnects power transmission between the differential case and the first output gear. The first output gear is coupled to an output shaft through an intermediate member.
Okcuoglu (US 5827145 A) teaches a supplemental pressurized hydraulic supply (103) provides control of a hydraulic coupling (32a,32b,32c) that normally operates in response to differential rotation between a pair of rotary members (26,28) to provide actuation of a clutch (68) that couples the pair of rotary members. A rotary seal assembly (104) of the supply (103) feeds pressurized hydraulic fluid to the coupling to provide supplemental actuation of the clutch (68) that is normally actuated by hydraulic fluid from a hydraulic pump (48) that operates in response to the differential rotation between the pair of rotary members. In one embodiment, the hydraulic coupling (32a) also includes a differential gear set (36). A further embodiment of the hydraulic coupling (32b) includes a clutch (68) having a pair of clutch packs (69) that can be individually actuated by the supplement pressurized hydraulic fluid supply (103). A further embodiment of the hydraulic coupling (32c) has a pair of rotary members embodied by an annular gear (26) and a rotary member (28) extending completely through the coupling.
Conclusion
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/F.P/Examiner, Art Unit 3655
/FARHANA PERVIN/Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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