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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: there is a typo in paragraph [0013], line 1, shouldn’t the term “the kwon thermoforming apparatus” be “the known thermoforming apparatus”?.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-6 and 8-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claims contain subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 , requires: “an elastic membrane continuously permeable to air across its surface”. However, there is no support for this limitation in the claim.
The specification discloses that: “ [0016] Advantageously the mould and/or membrane can be perforated so to permit a passage of the hot airflow from the hot air source to said zone. This solution permits faster heating of permeable articles and consequently a shorter overall thermoforming cycle.” So based on this paragraph, the forming articles are permeable, while the mold and/or the membrane are perforated. There is no support for the “elastic membrane continuously permeable to air across its surface”.
Claim 1 further discloses that “such that a vacuum seal cannot be formed beneath the membrane” and “without the use of vacuum or pressurized air chamber”. Since the language of the claim is open, these negative limitations make the claims indefinite because it is unclear what are the scope of the claims. These negative limitations also rendered the claim indefinite because it was an attempt to claim the invention by excluding what the inventors did not invent rather than distinctly and particularly pointing out what they did invent. In re Schechter, 205 F.2d 185, 98 USPQ 144 (CCPA 1953).
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 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fisher et al. (2014/0239556).
Fisher et al. discloses a thermoforming apparatus, comprising
- a silicone flexible membrane system 160, comprising a flexible membrane 164, an outer frame member 164, and an upper mold member 170, [0039] forming a counter mold;
- a corresponding single mould 150, 310;
- a hot air source Fig. 14, 392 configured to blow a hot airflow towards a zone of the apparatus configured to receive the article 302-305 to be thermoformed [0069]; and,
- an actuation system 190, 192, 195, 198, configured to move the mould towards the membrane 164 or vice versa to compress the article between the membrane and the mould such that an elastic force exerted by the membrane 164 on the article forces the article 302-306 to assume the shape of the mould – see Figs. 8&9 and 12&15, [0048]-[0049]; [0067]-[0070];
Wherein the outer frame member 162 includes a first frame portion 166 and a second frame portion 168 that may be joined together to support and provide tension for the membrane 164 as it stretched as form a cavity with the last 302 and the lower mold plate 150.
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 1-6, 8-13, 15-20, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fisher et al. (2014/0239556) as applied to claim 24 above, and further in view of Schneiderbauer et al. (2014/0001682).
Regarding claims 1-2 and 25, Fisher et al. discloses a molding apparatus using a flexible membrane as described above. However, Fisher fails to discloses a membrane that is permeable to air across its surface.
Schneiderbauer et al. discloses a molding apparatus, comprising an air-permeable membrane 20 arranged on top of the molding tool 7 and a carrier mold 2 in addition to the air-tight flexible film 9, to allow the conditioning air to pass through without the molding material being sucked into the air flow streams.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a flexible air-permeable membrane to Fisher in addition to the forming flexible membrane as taught by Schneiderbauer et al. in order to allow better air flow within the molding cavity without the molding material being sucked into the air flow streams.
Regarding claim 3, Fisher discloses that the article 302 is kept between the mould 310 and the elastic membrane 164 – Fig. 12.
Regarding claims 4-5, and 10, Fisher further discloses that the air is heated to a predetermined temperature from a separate heat source 390, 392, [0069].
Regarding claim 6, wherein the mold is a positive mold – Fig. 12, 10; Fig. 14, 310.
Regarding claim 8, the apparatus further comprising a cooling system, wherein said comprises a fan or other air-conditioning unit with a plurality of cooling conduits 107, 109, [0073].
Regarding claims 9, 11, and 13, wherein the apparatus further comprises a control system with an interface device 120 providing a plurality of outputs and for controlling different operation states and different conditions of the apparatus, including pressure, temperature, system mode, etc. throughout the molding process [0033] or the height adjustment systems for moving the membrane 160 toward and away from the base mold plate [0074].
Regarding claim 12, wherein the apparatus further comprises another flexible membrane 170.
Regarding claims 15-16, wherein the apparatus further comprises a membrane frame 162 for mounting and tensioning the flexible membrane 164.
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fisher et al. (2014/0239556) as applied to claim 24 above, and further in view of Callis et al. (4,822,436).
Fisher et al. discloses a flexible molding membrane as described above, but fails to disclose the elastic membrane having a shore A grade in the range of 25 and 75.
Callis et al. disclose apparatus and method for forming silicone rubber vacuum bag to be used in a mold, comprising flexible silicone bag with the Shore A hardness of between 30-60 – col. 11, line 1 – col 12, line 32.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide Fisher’s flexible membrane having a Shore A hardness between 30-60 as taught by Callis because the flexible membrane with these shore hardness are found satisfactory for the bag construction in vacuum bag forming and possessing an excellent flex resistance to cracking.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-6, 8-13, 15-20, and 23-25 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Thu-Khanh T. Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)272-1136. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30-4:30.
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/Thu Khanh T. Nguyen/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1743