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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 12/02/2025 has been entered into the prosecution of the application.
Claim objection to claim 1 remains from the previous office action mailed 06/02/2025.
Currently, claim(s) 1-3, 5-8, 11, 15, 17, and 23-24 is/are pending, with claim 17 withdrawn from consideration.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 1 is/are objected to because of the following informalities: As to claim 1, “, generates heat” should read “wherein the heat generating member generates heat” to avoid confusion as to which subject generates heat. Appropriate correction is required.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
(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) 1-2, 7, and 23-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Keiji Horioka of JP 2013-231244 (hereinafter referred to as Horioka).
As to claim 1, Horioka teaches a microwave treatment apparatus (Horioka, paragraph [0001], teaches to a carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus that uses a microwave to heat-treat a carbon fiber precursor), comprising:
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Fig. 1 of Horioka
a vessel inside which a treatment target moves (Horioka, paragraphs [0014]-[0018] and Figs. 1 through 3, teaches to a vessel, as Horioka teaches to the outer wall portion 20) inside which a treatment target moves (Horioka, paragraph [0003], teaches to inside which a treatment target moves, as Horioka teaches to a travel mechanism that makes the precursor of the carbon fiber travel in the inner part of the absorption/transmission member from one end part to another end part of the absorption/transmission member);
a microwave irradiating unit (Horioka, paragraph [0015] and Figs. 1 through 3, teaches to a microwave irradiating unit, as Horioka teaches to a plurality of magnetrons 22) including first and second irradiating portions (Horioka, Fig. 2, teaches to including first and second irradiating portions, as Horioka teaches to at least three magnetrons 22 labeled in Fig. 2 at different portions along the horizontal axis) that irradiate an internal portion (Horioka, Fig. 1, teaches to that irradiate an internal portion, as Horioka teaches to inside the outer wall portion 22) of the vessel with microwaves (Horioka, paragraphs [0014]-[0018] and Figs. 1 through 3, teaches to of the vessel with microwaves, as Horioka teaches to introducing microwaves into the outer wall portion 20);
a heat generating member that is provided inside the vessel along a movement path of the treatment target (Horioka, paragraphs [0019]-[0020] and Figs. 1 and 2, teaches to a heat generating member that is provided inside the vessel along a movement path of the treatment target, as Horioka teaches to absorption/transmission member 40) and teaches that the heat generating member generates heat by absorbing part of microwaves used for irradiation by the microwave irradiating unit (Horioka, paragraph [0008], teaches to the heat generating member generating heat by absorbing part of microwaves used for irradiation by the microwave irradiating unit, as Horioka teaches to absorbing at least a part of the microwave irradiated from the microwave source to generate heat), and transmits part of the microwaves, the heat generating member including a support member and a heating medium that is supported by the support member (Horioka, paragraphs [0014] and [0025], Figs. 1-2, teaches to transmitting part of the microwaves, the heat generating member including a support member and a heating medium that is supported by the support member, as Horioka teaches to a hollow cylindrical heat insulating member 30 disclosed inside the outer wall portion 20 and where transmission member 40 is provided separately, wherein one support member is used to form one heat insulation member 30 against the inside of one cylindrical casing wherein the support member 30 and the absorbing transmitting member 40 are attached),
wherein each of the first and second irradiating portions heats the treatment target from an outside through heat generation of the heating medium, and directly heats the treatment target with microwaves transmitted through the heat generating member (Horioka, paragraphs [0015], [0019], Fig. 1, teaches to wherein each of the first and second irradiating portions heats the treatment target from an outside through heat generation of the heating medium, and directly heats the treatment target with microwaves transmitted through the heat generating member, as Horioka teaches to plurality of magnetron 22 for introducing microwaves into the outer wall 20 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the outer wall 20, and as Horioka teaches that a hollow cylindrical absorption/transmission member 40 is provided which absorbs at least a part of the microwave introduced from the magnetron 22 to generate heat and transmits at least a part of the microwave; Horioka, Fig. 1, teaches that PAN yarn 50 is the treatment target), and
and wherein the first and second irradiating portions heat the treatment target at different positions on the movement path (Horioka, Fig. 2, teaches to wherein the first and second irradiating portions heat the treatment target at different positions on the movement path, as Horioka teaches to plurality of magnetron 22 heating the PAN yarn 50 at different positions on a plurality of cylindrical zones 20a).
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Fig. 2 of Horioka
As to claim 2, Horioka to the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heating medium is a uniform material (Horioka, paragraph [0013], teaches to wherein the heating medium is a uniform material, as Horioka teaches to a stabilized PAN yarn that has undergone a non-combustible process as a precursor). The Office notes that the instant specification provides no further definition of a uniform material, and the uniformity under the broadest reasonable interpretation is interpreted as having a single type of material.
As to claim 7, Horioka teaches to the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heating medium includes a first area with a first thickness and a second area with a second thickness, and the microwave irradiating unit performs first microwave irradiation to the first area using the first irradiating portion, and second microwave irradiation to the second area using the second irradiating portion (Horioka, paragraph [0021], teaches to wherein the heating medium includes a first area with a first thickness and a second area with a second thickness, and the microwave irradiating unit performs first microwave irradiation to the first area using the first irradiating portion, and second microwave irradiation to the second area using the second irradiating portion, as Horioka teaches that the thickness of the absorption/transmission member 40 may be about 1 to 5 cm).
As to claim 23, Horioka teaches to the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
a first sensor that acquires information of temperature of the heat generating member; and a second sensor that acquires information of temperature of the treatment target (Horioka, paragraph [0023], teaches a first sensor that acquires information of temperature of the heat generating member, and a second sensor that acquires information of temperature of the treatment target, as Horioka teaches to at least two probes for measuring temperature of the heat generating member, wherein the probes placed in the tip of the quartz fibers may detect the temperature difference of the heating medium of the heat generating member along the traveling direction),
wherein feedback control on power of the first and second irradiating portions is performed using the information of temperature acquired by the first and second sensors (Horioka, paragraph [0034], teaches to wherein feedback control on power of the first and second irradiating portions is performed using the information of temperature acquired by the first and second sensors, as Horioka teaches to a monitor using quartz fiber, used or adjustment, monitoring, and feedback, wherein the output of the microwave power supply is reduced upon detecting an arc discharge).
As to claim 24, Horioka teaches to the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment target is a precursor fiber of a carbon fiber (Horioka, paragraph [0002], teaches to wherein the treatment target is a precursor fiber of a carbon fiber, as Horioka teaches to a polyacrylonitrile, or PAN), and the microwave treatment apparatus is for use in flame-resistance treatment on the precursor fiber (Horioka, paragraph [0002], teaches that the microwave treatment apparatus is for use in flame-resistance on the precursor fiber, as Horioka teaches that the PAN yarn is subjected to a process of non-combustible process in which heat treatment is performed at 200 to 300 degrees Celsius in an oxidizing atmosphere and an incombustible process is performed for producing carbon fibers).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keiji Horioka of JP 2013-231244 (hereinafter referred to as Horioka).
As to claim 3, Horioka does not explicitly teach a gas supply unit.
However, Horioka teaches that the inside of the absorption/transmission member 40 is maintained in an inert gas atmosphere such as nitrogen or argon (Horioka, paragraph [0019]). One of ordinary skill in the art may modify Horioka to include a gas supply unit that supplies predetermined gas into the heat generating member.
Claim(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keiji Horioka of JP 2013-231244 (hereinafter referred to as Horioka) as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Akinori Ishizuka of US 2015/0004069 (hereinafter referred to as Ishizuka).
As to claim 5, Horioka discloses that the first irradiating portion (first of the at least three magnetrons 22 labeled in Fig. 2 at different portions along the horizontal axis; Horioka, Fig. 2) performs irradiation with microwaves at which microwaves absorbed by the heat generating member are greater than microwaves transmitted through the heat generating member and that the second irradiating portion (second of the at least three magnetrons 22 labeled in Fig. 2 at different portions along the horizontal axis; Horioka, Fig. 2) performs irradiation with microwaves at which the microwave absorbed by heat generating member are less than microwaves transmitted through the heat generating member.
Horioka teaches that the content of the heat generating substance in the ceramic material forming the absorbing and transmitting member 40 is formed to have a decreasing portion in the traveling direction of the stabilized PAN yarn 50, thereby the absorptivity of microwaves of the absorbing and transmitting member 40, that is, the heating efficiency of the absorbing and transmitting members 40 by microwaves is lowered. Similarly, Horioka teaches that the transmittance of the absorption/transmission member 40 can be increased along the traveling direction (Horioka, paragraph [0020]). Horioka does not explicitly teach microwaves with frequencies corresponding to a half-power depth.
Ishizuka pertains to Horioka because Ishizuka relates to a microwave treatment apparatus (Ishizuka, abstract). Ishizuka teaches a microwave generator 14 with a frequency range between 300 MHz to 300 GHz (Ishizuka, paragraph [0047]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to combine the microwave treatment apparatus of Horioka and the frequency range of Ishizuka for providing microwave irradiating portions in heat treatment (Ishizuka, paragraph [0003]).
As to claim 6, Horioka teaches that the content and thickness of the absorption/transmission member 40 at each of the positions correspond to the change in the electrical resistance and the microwave absorptivity of the object to be treated which changes from the precursor to the carbon fiber (Horioka, paragraph [0020]) and that the absorptivity decreases along the traveling direction. Horioka does not explicitly teach dielectric loss, but dielectric loss is the dissipation of electromagnetic energy in a dielectric material when an electrical field is applied, causing some of the energy to be converted into heat.
Ishizuka teaches that materials (Ishizuka, paragraph [0045]) of a high dielectric loss factor, at the frequency of microwaves used and the temperature inside the reactor in which the raw material is to undergo a reaction, provide a high microwave absorptivity. One of ordinary skill in the art would have modified Horioka or combined with the teachings of Ishizuka to arrive the instant invention, wherein the instant invention comprises the first irradiating portion at a frequency at which a relative dielectric loss in the heat generating member is larger than that of the treatment target and the second irradiating portion at a frequency at which a relative dielectric loss in the heat generating member is smaller than that of the treatment target.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to combine the microwave treatment apparatus of Horioka and the teachings of Ishizuka for providing microwave irradiating portions in heat treatment (Ishizuka, paragraph [0003]).
Claim(s) 8, 11, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keiji Horioka of JP 2013-231244 (hereinafter referred to as Horioka) as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Yasunori Tsukahara of JP 2017-204459 (hereinafter referred to as Tsukahara).
As to claim 8, Horioka discloses a vessel (the outer wall portion 20; Horioka, paragraphs [0014]-[0018] and Figs. 1 through 3) inside of the microwave treatment apparatus (the manufacturing apparatus 10; Horioka, paragraph [0014] and Figs. 1 and 2) which a treatment target moves (a travel mechanism that makes the precursor of the carbon fiber travel in the inner part of the absorption/transmission member from one end part to another end part of the absorption/transmission member; Horioka, abstract).
Horioka discloses a microwave irradiating unit (a plurality of magnetrons 22; Horioka, paragraph [0015] and Figs. 1 through 3) including first and second irradiating portions (at least three magnetrons 22 labeled in Fig. 2 at different portions along the horizontal axis; Horioka, Fig. 2) that irradiate and directly heat the treatment target in an internal portion (inside the outer wall portion 22 of Horioka) of the vessel (the outer wall portion 20; Horioka, paragraphs [0014]-[0018] and Figs. 1 through 3) with transmitted microwaves at different portions on the movement path from an outside through heat generation of the heating medium.
Horioka discloses a heat generating member (absorption/transmission member 40; Horioka, paragraphs [0019]-[0020] and Figs. 1 and 2) that is provided inside the vessel along a movement path of the treatment target and teaches that the heat generating member generates heat by absorbing part of microwaves used for irradiation by the microwave irradiating unit, and transmits part of the microwaves, the heat generating member including a support member and a heating medium that is supported by the support member (PAN yarns travel in the hollow of the transmission member 40; Horioka, paragraph [0014]).
Horioka does not explicitly teach that (1) the microwave irradiating unit controls phases of microwaves that are used for irradiation by the first and second irradiating portions, thereby performing first microwave irradiation in which microwaves used for irradiation by the first and second irradiating portions are intensified by each other at the heating medium, and second microwave irradiation in which microwaves used for irradiation by the first and second irradiating portions are intensified by each other at the treatment target, at different positions on the movement path of the treatment target.
With respect to (1) above, Tsukahara pertains to Horioka because Tsukahara relates to a heating device for irradiating microwave in a container (Tsukahara, paragraph [0001]). Tsukahara discloses that, in the heating apparatus, the control unit controls the heating unit such that a desired portion in the container is positioned at a position where the microwave irradiated from a plurality of microwave oscillators is strengthened by interference in controlling the phase to easily concentrate the electric field generated by the microwave at one or more desired positions in the container (Tsukahara, paragraphs [0011]- [0018]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to combine the microwave treatment apparatus of Horioka and the control unit of Tsukahara for controlling phases of a plurality of microwaves. (Tsukahara, paragraphs [0011] – [0018]).
As to claim 11, Horioka in view of Tsukahara discloses first and second sensors (at least two probes; Horioka, paragraph [0023]) for measuring temperature of the heat generating member (Horioka, paragraph [0023]), wherein the probes placed in the tip of the quartz fibers may detect the temperature difference of the heating medium of the heat generating member along the traveling direction.
Horioka in view of Tsukahara teaches that feedback control (a monitor using quartz fiber can be used for adjustment, monitoring, and feedback; Horioka, paragraph [0034]) on power of the first and second irradiating portions is performed (the output of the microwave power supply is reduced; Horioka, paragraph [0034]) using the information of temperature acquired by the first and second sensors (at least two probes; Horioka, paragraph [0023]).
As to claim 15, Horioka in view of Tsukahara discloses that the treatment target is a precursor of a carbon fiber (polyacrylonitrile, or PAN; Horioka, paragraph [0002]). Horioka in view of Tsukahara discloses that the microwave treatment apparatus is for use in flame-resistance on the precursor fiber (the PAN yarn is subjected to a process of non-combustible process in which heat treatment is performed at 200 to 300 degrees Celsius in an oxidizing atmosphere and an incombustible process is performed for producing carbon fibers; Horioka, paragraph [0002]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/02/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On pg. 6 of 8, the applicant asserts that Horioka does not teach a two-part structure having (i) a support member and (ii) a distinct heating medium supported by that support member.
The applicant provides an example of what the claimed invention emphasizes, relying on paragraph [0083] of the instant specification. The latest amended specification received on 02/08/2021 have paragraph [0083] but paragraph [0083] does not appear to recite “the heating medium 301 and a support member 302 that supports the heating medium 301.” Instead, paragraph [0083] appears to describe the second irradiating portions 202.
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., a two-part structure) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
In general, the applicant narrowly interprets the claim limitations than the broader scope of the claim limitations in claims 1 and 8 under the broadest reasonable interpretation.
In addition, the Office disagrees that the two-part structure is not taught or suggested by the primary reference Horioka above. The applicant is directed to Figs. 1-2 and paragraph [0014] of Horioka, where a hollow cylindrical heat insulating member 30 disclosed inside the outer wall portion 20 and where transmission member 40 is provided separately. Horioka specifies in paragraph [0025] that “one support member is used to form one heat insulation member 30 against the inside of one cylindrical casing”, wherein the support member 30 and the absorbing transmitting member 40 are attached. Please see rejection above. For this reason, the applicant’s argument is fully considered and is found unpersuasive.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN LEE whose telephone number is (703)756-1254. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7:00-16:00.
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/JOHN LEE/Examiner, Art Unit 1794
/JAMES LIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1794