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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on March 30th, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments to the Claims have overcome the claim objections, most the 112(b) rejections and the 112(f) interpretation previously set forth in the Final Office Action mailed October 1st, 2025. The 112(b) rejection with respect to the recitation of “the cutting roll” is maintained as the amendments do not address this limitation.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7-8, filed March 30th, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 U.S.C. 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive in view of the amendment. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the other current prior art of record that teaches the newly disclosed claim limitations.
Applicant addresses the 112(b) rejection of claim 21 on page 7 but does not provide a specific argument towards the limitation such that the rejection is maintained.
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 21 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.
Regarding claim 21, the claim recites “the cutting roll” in line 3 and it is unclear if this is the same cutting roll or a different cutting roll from the “at least one cutting roll” recited in claim 1, from which claim 21 depends. For examination purposes, these are the same cutting rolls and the limitation will be interpreted as “the at least one cutting roll”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-2, 9-10, 16 & 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over De Silva et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 20190076989, earliest effective filing date & previously cited), herein referred to as “De Silva” in view of Becker (U.S. Pat. No. 5475981, previously cited), herein referred to as “Becker”.
Regarding claim 1, De Silva teaches an apparatus for making medical dry ice particles for surface treatment of human or animal skin (Abstract: present invention relates to a device for producing high-strength CO.sub.2 pellets from CO.sub.2 snow, in particular, for a cleaning device for blasting surfaces to be treated; wherein the disclosed invention would be capable of use for skin treatment), comprising:
at least a first inlet port (CO2 connector 20) for connection to a first source of medical pressurized liquid carbon dioxide (CO2 reservoir 24; [0076]: a CO.sub.2 connector 20 which is connected by a CO.sub.2 line 22 to a CO.sub.2 reservoir 24 in the form of a CO.sub.2 compressed gas cylinder),
at least a first agglomeration chamber (pre-compression chamber 38 & CO2 supply line 22), which is configured for making medical dry ice snow by delivering the medical pressurized liquid carbon dioxide into said first agglomeration chamber and expanding said medical pressurized liquid carbon dioxide within said first agglomeration chamber ([0077]: The liquid CO.sub.2 is expanded by the expanding nozzle 172 and forms CO.sub.2 snow 36 which collects in the pre-compression chamber 38 and is pre-compressed by an agglomeration process. The CO.sub.2 snow is passed on by a stream of CO.sub.2 gas and CO.sub.2 snow 36), wherein the first agglomeration chamber is fluid-connectable or fluid-connected to the first inlet port (see Fig. 1 where the CO2 connector 20 leads to pre-compression chamber 38), wherein the first agglomeration chamber comprises an orifice ([0128]: a valve which is in the form of a solenoid valve and can be arranged in the CO.sub.2 line 22),
a slider configured to open and close the orifice ([0128]: a valve which is in the form of a solenoid valve and can be arranged in the CO.sub.2 line 22 but which is not illustrated in greater detail can be utilized in order to set a quantity for the CO.sub.2 snow 36 that is produced; wherein it is known that a solenoid valve comprises a sliding component),
at least a first compressing device (compressor wheel 86) being configured for compressing the medical dry ice snow made in the first agglomeration chamber at least partly into medical compressed dry ice ([0079]: main compressing device 44 for compressing CO.sub.2 snow 36 for forming CO.sub.2 pellets 16; [0088]: The gear wheel compressor 46 comprises a compressor wheel 86), wherein the first compressing device comprises a cylinder and a piston ([0095]: In the case of the gear wheel compressor 46, the compressing elements 96 and the snow pick-ups 98 form cooperating piston cylinder assemblies in which pre-compressed CO.sub.2 snow 36 is formed into CO.sub.2 pellets 16),
at least a first shredding device (pick-up wheel 92) comprising at least one cutting device (teeth 94) having at least one cutting roll (pick-up wheel sleeve 114) with at least one cutting blade (stripping element 124) for shredding the medical compressed dry ice at least partly into the medical dry ice particles ([0094]: The stripping elements 124 have a stripping edge 126 which touches or almost touches a compressor wheel sleeve inner surface 130 that bounds the compressor wheel sleeve interior space 128 and/or touches or almost touches a pick-up wheel sleeve inner surface 134 that bounds the pick-up wheel sleeve interior space 132. The CO.sub.2 pellets 16 that have been pressed through the apertures 118 are thereby stripped), wherein the at least one cutting roll is rotatable around its longitudinal axis, which is arranged horizontally ([0089]: The compressor wheel 86 and the pick-up wheel 92 are arranged in such a manner that the first axis of rotation 88 and the second axis of rotation 90 run parallel to each other and the teeth 94 engage in the snow pick-ups 98 preferably without touching them. A drive 100 serves for setting the compressor wheel 86 and/or the pick-up wheel 92 into rotation. As schematically illustrated in FIG. 2, the compressor wheel 86 rotates in the direction of the arrow 102 i.e. in the clockwise direction; see horizontal configuration in Fig. 2), and wherein the first compressing device is a separate device from the first shredding device (see Fig. 2 where the compressor wheel 86 is separate from the pick-up wheel 92), and
an outlet for discharging the medical dry ice particles ([0096]: The compressed CO.sub.2 pellets emerge from a respective open end of the compressor wheel sleeve 112 and the pick-up wheel sleeve 114 of the gear wheel compressor 46),
wherein the apparatus further comprises a dosing device (transfer device 48), wherein the dosing device comprises at least one dosing roll (roller dispenser 144) with a lateral surface having at least one dosing deepening (plurality of recesses 148) arranged in said lateral surface for collecting and conveying the medical dry ice particles ([0099]: The transfer device 48 is in the form of a segregating device 142 which is formed as a roller dispenser 144. It comprises a roller 146 which is provided with a plurality of recesses 148 on an outer surface thereof which each serve to accommodate an individual CO.sub.2 pellet), wherein the dosing roll is cylinder-shaped and arranged with its longitudinal axis horizontally (see roller dispenser 144 in Fig. 2), said dosing roll configured to be rotatable around a rotation axis ([0100]: roller is rotated about its longitudinal axis 150 by means of a drive that is not illustrated in greater detail and thereby conveys the CO.sub.2 pellets 16 in a defined manner), wherein the apparatus is further configured for generating a medical particle jet (mixed flow 12; [0101]: mixed-flow 12 consisting of CO.sub.2 pellets 16 and compressed gas 14) comprising a medical carrier fluid (compressed gas 14) and the medical dry ice particles (CO2 pellets 16), wherein the apparatus comprises a mixing device (venturi tube 108) having a mixing chamber (interior of venturi tube 108) the mixing device being arranged subsequent and below the shredding device (see direction of arrows in Fig. 2 see Fig. 3 for vertical arrangement), wherein the mixing chamber comprises a fluid inlet for flow of the medical carrier fluid (see arrow of compressed gas 14 in Fig. 2), a particle inlet for supplying the medical dry ice particles (see Fig. 2 where CO2 pellets exit apertures 154), and a particle jet outlet for discharging the medical particle jet generated (mixed flow 12, see Fig. 2), wherein the fluid inlet (compressed gas 14, see arrow in Fig. 2) and the particle jet outlet are arranged in the lower part of the mixing chamber (see Fig. 2 where pellets 16 are dispensed by roller 116 through apertures 154 into venturi tube 108 and meet with compressed gas 14), and further comprises a seal (apertures 154), such that the mixing chamber is separated by the dosing roll and the seal into two parts, an upper part (portion of transfer device 48 above roller dispenser 144) and a lower part (portion of transfer device 48 comprising venturi tube 108) such that the medical carrier fluid is configured to flow only through the lower part ([0100]: the segregating device 142 comprises a grating shaft 152 incorporating a plurality of apertures 154 which is located downstream of the roller 146 in order to prevent insofar as possible an agglomeration of the highly compressed CO.sub.2 pellets 16 before they enter the accelerating device 58; where this is seen as the compressed gas 14 only flowing through the bottom part), wherein all surfaces of the apparatus being configured to be in contact with a substance for application to human or animal tissue by the apparatus are made of a sterilizable material or are coated with the sterilizable material (wherein this is seen as functional language and the apparatus of De Silva is capable of being sterilized as there are many known sterilization processes and absent any specific process, most materials are capable of being sterilized).
But De Silva fails to disclose wherein the first compressing device comprises a hydraulic cylinder and hydraulic piston, and wherein the first compressing device is a separate device from the first shredding device that is not part of the first shredding device.
However, Becker discloses an apparatus, comprising:
at least a first compressing device (piston 16 & compression chamber 15) being configured for compressing the medical dry ice snow made in the first agglomeration chamber at least partly into medical compressed dry ice (Col. 2, lines 49-52: The forward piston head 16 compresses liquid carbon dioxide fed under pressure from a CO.sub.2 source via a feed tube 19 and an automatic valve 17 to the forward compression chamber 15 to form a cylindrical block of solid dry ice 18), wherein the first compressing device comprises a hydraulic cylinder (cylinder 15) and hydraulic piston (forward piston head 16) (Col. 2, lines 63-67 & Col. 3, lines 1-3: In use, the hydraulic piston head 24 and piston head 16 are fully retracted rearwardly to enable liquid carbon dioxide to enter the compression chamber 18 through the feed tube 19, whereupon forward compressing movement of the piston members 16 and 24 forms solid dry ice in the compression chamber 18 between the forward piston head 16 via the die member 20),
a shredding device (cutting means 40) and wherein the first compressing device is a separate device from the first shredding device that is not part of the first shredding device (see Fig. 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus of De Silva to the compressing device and separation, as taught by Becker for the purpose of enabling the solid dry ice to have a predetermine density in weight per volume, controlling the density by the level of applied pressure by the piston and the separation enabling the length of the pellets to be controlled alongside the cross-sectional dimensions as well as the density (Becker: Col. 3, lines 5-6 & 20-24).
Regarding claim 2, De Silva discloses wherein all surfaces of the apparatus are made of an anti-inflammatory material (wherein this is seen as functional language and is subjective as the degree of anti-inflammatory has not been defined and any foreign material in the body may be subject to an inflammatory response; the apparatus of De Silva is seen as comprising surfaces made of an anti-inflammatory material).
Regarding claim 9, De Silva discloses a method for operating the apparatus according to claim 1 ([0083]: Overall, the cleaning device 10 can be constructed in such a way that it can be operated completely independently of external current and CO.sub.2 supplies or sources of compressed gas), comprising the steps:
providing the medical pressurized liquid carbon dioxide ([0076]: a CO.sub.2 line 22 to a CO.sub.2 reservoir 24 in the form of a CO.sub.2 compressed gas cylinder),
delivering said medical pressurized liquid carbon dioxide into the first agglomeration chamber of the apparatus and expanding said medical pressurized liquid carbon dioxide within the first agglomeration chamber for making the medical dry ice snow ([0024]: It is advantageous if the expanding nozzle is arranged and formed for delivering liquid CO.sub.2 into the pre-compression chamber),
compressing said medical dry ice snow at least partly to the medical dry ice ([0079]: a main compressing device 44 for compressing CO.sub.2 snow 36 for forming CO.sub.2 pellets 16),
shredding said compressed medical dry ice at least partly into the medical dry ice particles ([0094]: The stripping elements 124 have a stripping edge 126 which touches or almost touches a compressor wheel sleeve inner surface 130 that bounds the compressor wheel sleeve interior space 128 and/or touches or almost touches a pick-up wheel sleeve inner surface 134 that bounds the pick-up wheel sleeve interior space 132. The CO.sub.2 pellets 16 that have been pressed through the apertures 118 are thereby stripped), and
adjusting an amount of the medical dry ice particles being added to the medical carrier fluid flow per unit time ([0069]: The speed of the CO.sub.2 pellets can be adjusted in particular by the flow rate of the compressed gas or the pressure prevailing in the compressed gas line),
providing the mixing device (venturi tube 108) having the mixing chamber (interior of venturi tube 108), which comprises the fluid inlet for a flow of the medical carrier fluid (see arrow of compressed gas 14 in Fig. 2), the particle inlet for supplying the medical dry ice particles (see Fig. 2 where CO2 pellets exit apertures 154) and the particle outlet for discharging the medical particle jet generated (mixed flow 12, see Fig. 2),
providing the seal (apertures 154) for separating the mixing chamber by the dosing roll and the seal into the two parts, the upper part and the lower part ([0100]: the segregating device 142 comprises a grating shaft 152 incorporating a plurality of apertures 154 which is located downstream of the roller 146 in order to prevent insofar as possible an agglomeration of the highly compressed CO.sub.2 pellets 16 before they enter the accelerating device 58).
Regarding claim 10, De Silva discloses the steps:
generating the medical particle jet (mixed flow 12, see Fig. 2) comprising the medical carrier fluid (see arrow of compressed gas 14 in Fig. 2) and the medical dry ice particles (see Fig. 2 where CO2 pellets exit apertures 154) by adding the medical dry ice particles at least partly to a flow of said medical carrier fluid (mixed flow 12, see Fig. 2), and
discharging the medical particle jet generated by the particle outlet of the apparatus ([0081]: a particle jet 70 which is being emitted from the jet nozzle 66 and comprises the CO.sub.2 pellets 16 that are being moved by the compressed gas).
Regarding claim 16, De Silva discloses wherein the apparatus is configured for making medical clean dry ice particles ([0131]: It is possible in the manner described to effectively clean surfaces with the mixed-flow 12 consisting of compressed gas 14 and highly compressed CO.sub.2 pellets 16 using the cleaning device 10; wherein this describes a device capable of being used medicinally).
Regarding claim 21, De Silva discloses wherein the cutting blade (stripping element 126) comprises at least one cutting edge (a stripping edge 126), the at least one cutting edge being shorter than a median diameter of the cutting roll (see Fig. 2 where the stripping edge 126 is shorter than the median diameter of the pick-up wheel sleeve 114).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over De Silva in view of Becker, as applied to claim 1, above, and further in view of Boyden et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 8603495), herein referred to as “Boyden”.
Regarding claim 20, De Silva in view of Becker fails to disclose wherein all surfaces of the apparatus are coated with an anti-inflammatory material.
However, Boyden discloses wherein all surfaces of the apparatus are coated with an anti-inflammatory material (Col. 204, lines 51-53: the frozen particle compositions also include lidocaine or ibuprofen in order to minimize pain and inflammation; wherein the composition comprising an anti-inflammatory agent is seen as all surfaces of the apparatus being coated since the apparatus is housing the composition). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus of De Silva in view of Becker to include an anti-inflammatory material, as taught by Boyden, for the purpose of minimizing pain and inflammation (Boyden: Col. 204, lines 51-53).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Abigail M Ziegler whose telephone number is (571) 272-1991. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST.
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/ABIGAIL M ZIEGLER/ Examiner, Art Unit 3794
/BEVERLY M FLANAGAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3794
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