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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bayern (US 3,408,914).
With respect to claim 1 Bayern discloses a safety cabinet comprising: a work room [reference character 24] formed inside a front shutter [reference character 50], the safety cabinet suctioning air in the work room, cleaning the air, supplying the air to the work room in part, and exhausting the air in part; a workbench [reference character 12] configuring a bottom surface of the work room; a lower flow path [see annotated Fig. below] configured by the workbench and a part of the safety cabinet; a side flow path [see annotated Fig. below] configured by a side surface of the work room and a part of a side surface of the safety cabinet; a back flow path [see annotated Fig. below] configured by a back surface of the work room and a part of a back surface of the safety cabinet; a circulation flow path formed by at least the lower flow path, the side flow path, and the back flow path; and a slit [reference characters 90 and 92]- in the side surface of the work room [see Figs. 3-4], wherein an airstream from the work room is suctioned from side slits, passes through a side chamber, and joins the lower flow path [see Fig. 5].
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With respect to claim 2 Bayern discloses a side chamber [reference characters 78 and 82] allowing the airstream suctioned from the side slit to flow to the lower flow path, wherein the side chamber and the lower flow path have the same pressure [since the airflows originate from the same source, they are assumed to have the same pressure].
With respect to claim 4 Bayern discloses that the side slit is provided at a position lower than height of a device [reference character 116] installed in the work room.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 5-6 are 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VIVEK K SHIRSAT whose telephone number is (571)272-3722. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:20AM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at 571-272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VIVEK K SHIRSAT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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