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 because the different parts in Fig 2, Fig 3, Fig 4, Fig 5, Fig 6, and Fig 7 do not have cross-hatching. Thus it is difficult to determine where one part ends and the next part begins.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “62” has been used to designate both communicating with first chamber 60 (Fig 3 & Fig 7) and communicating with second chamber 70 (Fig 4) & reference character “72” has been used to designate both communicating with second chamber 70 (Fig 3 & Fig 7) and communicating with first chamber 60 (Fig 4).
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 Objections
Claims 1-10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 Line 7 currently states:
“piston being positioned in a housing,”.
Should be changed to state:
--piston being positioned in a respective housing,--.
Claim 1 Line 17-18 currently states:
“ducts defining a first set of ducts and a second set of ducts, said sets of ducts opening onto the interface between the distributor and the cylinder block”.
Should be changed to state:
--ducts defining a first set of ducts and a second set of ducts, said first set of ducts and said second set of ducts opening onto the interface between the distributor and the cylinder block--.
Claim 8 Line 1 currently states:
“An assembly comprising a hydraulic machine”.
Should be changed to state:
-- An assembly comprising [[a]] the hydraulic machine--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by GB 2403513. Examiners Note: For the purposes of examining the instant application, the examiners submitted copy of GB 2403513, submitted with this office action, is referenced hereinafter.
Regarding Claim 1: GB 2403513 does disclose the limitations: A hydraulic machine (the hydraulic machine is defined by the sum of its parts) comprising:
a first assembly (the first assembly is defined by the sum of its parts and includes the casing and cam shown in the Figures, Figs 1-6) and a second assembly (the second assembly is defined by the sum of its parts and includes the shaft, cylinder block, cylinders and pistons shown in the Figures, Figs 1-6), rotationally movable with respect to one another about a main axis (main axis = axis A in the Figures; the shaft, the cylinder block and the pistons (i.e. the second assembly) are together one unit, and able to rotate relative to the casing and cam (i.e. the first assembly) given how the device illustrated in Figs 1-6 operates as disclosed throughout the art of GB 2403513, including Page 14 Line 15-30, Page 9 Line 23-Page 10 Line 17), the first assembly comprising a casing (casing = 1a,1b,1c – Fig 1) and a multilobe cam 4, the second assembly comprising a shaft (shaft = 12 and/or 13 – Fig 1), a cylinder block (cylinder bloc = 6 – Fig 1), the cylinder block having a plurality of housings (i.e. cylinders = 8a,8b – Fig 1) in which pistons (10A,10B – Fig 1) slide (as seen in the figures, Page 9 Line 23-Page 10 Line 6), each piston being positioned in a respective housing (Fig 1, Page 9 Line 23-Page 10 Line 6),
the hydraulic machine further comprising a distributor (the distributor is defined by the sum of its parts – distributor = 16,26,30 OR distributor = 16,26; see Fig 1, and at least Page 10 Line 8-21, Page 10 Line 33-Page 11 Line 9, and Page 11 Line 32-Page 12 Line 31 of the disclosure) suitable for providing the supply and discharge of fluid (the articulated distributor guides the path of fluid), the distributor (i.e. element 26 of the distributor in Fig 1) bearing against the cylinder block along an interface (interface = face 6A in Fig 1; as seen in Fig 1 element 26 bears against face/interface 6A) extending radially with respect to the main axis (as seen in 1 the interface 6A extends radially),
wherein each pair formed by a piston and a housing (i.e. each piston cylinder pair in Fig 1) defines between the piston and the housing (i.e. between the piston and cylinder) a first chamber (8a – Figs 1-2) and a second chamber (8b – Figs 1-2) which are separate from one another (as seen in the Figures),
the cylinder block and the distributor each have a plurality of inner ducts (ducts in cylinder block = 24A,24B, ducts in distributor = 24’A,24’B) defining a first set of ducts (24A,24’A) and a second set of ducts (24B,24’B) , said first set of ducts and said second set of ducts opening onto the interface between the distributor and the cylinder block (as seen in Fig 1) at two separate radii (as seen in Fig 1 the radii at port 23A of the first set of ducts 24a,24’a is further from the axis A than the radii at port 23B of the second set of ducts 24b,24’b) with respect to the main axis (as explained above, both radii extend from the main axis A in Fig 1) and being suitable for respectively supplying the first chambers and the second chambers (Page 11 Line 32-Page 12 Line 18, Page 12 Line 20-Page 13 Line 23).
Regarding Claim 2: GB 2403513 does disclose the limitations: wherein the shaft extends outside the casing (as seen in Fig 1 output shaft 12 extends outside of element 1A of the casing; also as seen in Fig 1 brake shaft 13 extends outside of element 1C of the casing), and is suitable for transmitting or receiving a rotational movement and/or torque (the output shaft 12 would be suitable for transmitting rotational movement and/or torque and/or the brake shaft 13 would be suitable for receiving rotational movement and/or torque).
Regarding Claim 3: GB 2403513 does disclose the limitations: wherein the cam 4 extends around the cylinder block with respect to the main axis (as seen in Fig 1), and wherein the cylinder block 6 is configured in such a way that the pistons slide radially with respect to the main axis (as seen in Fig 1, Page 9 Line 34-Page 10 Line 3) during the relative rotation between the first assembly and the second assembly (Page 10 Line 3-6).
Regarding Claim 4: GB 2403513 does disclose the limitations: wherein the distributor is a grooved distributor (the stepped structure of element 16 of the identified distributor is a grooved distributor in the same manner as element 165 having circumferential grooves in Fig 6 of the instant application, is a grooved distributor).
Regarding Claim 5: GB 2403513 does disclose the limitations: wherein for each pair formed by a piston and a housing (e.g. for each piston cylinder pair), the first chamber 8a has a displacement strictly greater than the second chamber (since the first chamber 8a has a larger diameter than the second chamber 8b (Page 9 Line 34-37) – it follows that the displacement of chamber 8a is strictly greater than 8b as claimed).
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Annotated Figure 1 of GB 2403513 (Attached Figure A)
Regarding Claim 6: GB 2403513 does disclose the limitations: wherein each housing (i.e. each cylinder) has a first portion (see Annotated Figure 1 of GB 2403513 (Attached Figure A) above) having a first section S1 (Attached Figure A), and a second portion (Attached Figure A) having a second section S2 (Attached Figure A), the first section S1 being strictly greater than the second section S2 ( as seen in Attached Figure A the axial length of the first section is strictly greater than the axial length of the second section as claimed), the first portion extending from an outer surface of the cylinder block (Attached Figure A), and the second portion extending from the first portion (Attached Figure A).
Regarding Claim 7: GB 2403513 does disclose the limitations: wherein for each pair formed by a piston and a housing (i.e. each piston cylinder pair), the first chamber 10a and the second chamber 10b are superimposed along a direction of sliding of the piston in the housing (i.e. are disposed in the radial direction extending away from axis A, as seen in Fig 1).
Regarding Claim 8: GB 2403513 does disclose the limitations: An assembly (the assembly of Fig 1) comprising a hydraulic machine as claimed in claim 1 (as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above) and a displacement-changing valve 30 suitable for selectively supplying pressure to the second set of ducts (Page 11 Line 32-Page 12 Line 18).
Regarding Claim 9: GB 2403513 does disclose the limitations: further comprising a displacement selector (displacement selector =35, Page 13 Line 38-Page 14 Line 30), said displacement selector 35 defines at least two configurations (i.e. compressed configuration – shown at bottom of Fig 1 – where element 35 positions the displacement changing valve 30 to prevent communication between 24’A & 24b and normal position – shown at top of Fig 1 where element 30 allows communication between 24’A & 24b) in which the first chambers and/or the second chambers are supplied for separate sets of angular sectors of the cam (in the compressed configuration only the first chamber 8A is supplied fluid; in the normal configuration both the first and second chambers are supplied fluid, Page 11 Line 32-Page 13 Line 23).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 is 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.
Regarding Claim 10: The prior art of record either alone or in combination does not teach or suggest the device recited in claim 10 including “wherein the displacement selector comprises a first selector valve, which defines at least two separate configurations in which the first chambers are supplied when positioned facing separate sets of angular sectors of the cam, and a second selector valve, which defines at least two separate configurations in which the second chambers are supplied when positioned facing separate sets of angular sectors of the cam” in combination with all the limitations of claims 1 and 8-9.
It is the Examiner’s opinion that modification of the available prior art in the claimed manner is neither contemplated nor foreseeable without the benefit of the disclosure of the instant invention.
Examiner's Note: The Examiner respectfully requests of the Applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the entirety of the references as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention.
It is noted, REFERENCES ARE RELEVANT AS PRIOR ART FOR ALL THEY CONTAIN. “The use of patents as references is not limited to what the patentees describe as their own inventions or to the problems with which they are concerned. They are part of the literature of the art, relevant for all they contain.” In re Heck, 699 F.2d 1331, 1332-33, 216 USPQ 1038, 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (quoting In re Lemelson, 397 F.2d 1006, 1009, 158 USPQ 275, 277 (CCPA 1968)). A reference may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill the art, including nonpreferred embodiments (see MPEP § 2123).
Additionally the origin of the drawing is immaterial. For instance, drawings in a design patent can anticipate or make obvious the claimed invention, as can drawings in utility patents. When the reference is a utility patent, it does not matter that the feature shown is unintended or unexplained in the specification. The drawings must be evaluated for what they reasonably disclose and suggest to one of ordinary skill in the art. In re Aslanian, 590 F.2d 911, 200 USPQ 500 (CCPA 1979). (See MPEP § 2125).
The Examiner has cited particular locations in the reference(s) as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the Applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claims, typically other passages and figures will apply as well.
Furthermore: with respect to the prior art and the determination of obviousness, it has been held that Prior art is not limited just to the references being applied, but includes the understanding of one of ordinary skill in the art. The "mere existence of differences (i.e. a gap) between the prior art and an invention DOES NOT ESTABLISH the inventions nonobviousness." Dann v. Johnston, 425 U.S. 219, 230, 189 USPQ 257, 261 (1976). Rather, in determining obviousness the proper analysis is whether the claimed invention would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art after consideration of all the facts. And factors other than the disclosures of the cited prior art may provide a basis for concluding that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to bridge the gap. (See MPEP § 2141).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cunningham USPN 6494127 – discloses a radial piston engine having a stepped piston.
Hare US 2019/0153865 – discloses a radial piston machine having valve 411 which controls fluid flow of the machine.
Ohara US 2022/0170460 – discloses a radial piston machine.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH S HERRMANN whose telephone number is (571)270-3291. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM EST.
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/CHARLES G FREAY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
/JOSEPH S. HERRMANN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3746
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