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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 4-9 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any combination references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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, 4-5, and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lalanne (WO9523406) in view of Uetabira (US20220375448).
With respect to claim 1 Lalanne discloses an antivibration sound insulation device comprising:
An anti-vibration mechanism installed on a floor of a plant (22 in figure 4, elastic supports);
A stand disposed close to a predetermined sound source and has legs (21 in figure 4) that is supported by the antivibration mechanism;
A support member (see figures 6 and 7) disposed on a top plate portion of the stand; and
A sound insulation wall (insulation members 29. 31) having sound absorbing properties, supported integrally by the support member, with a gap formed between it and the top plate portion, and disposed to surround the sound source;
The sound insulation wall is arranged in a U-shape when viewed from a side perspective, in which a side of the sound source and a part of the circumferential direction of the sound source are open (see specifically the shape of 18 and 29 in figure 4),
At least a portion of the stand forms a portion of the sound insulation wall (as can be seen in figure 4).
Lalanne does not disclose wherein the sound insulation wall is arranged in a U-shape when viewed from an upper side of the sound source.
Uetabira discloses a soundproof enclosure which when viewed from a top side is in the shape of a U with an opening in the sound insulation material (see insulation 113, and shape formed in figure 1 and 15, figure 15 showing an access door).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of Uetabira to provide such a shape to the enclosure so as to provide a means of access to the soundproof enclosure which would not require ladders or other similar additional structures. This would have allowed for an ease of entry and simplification of maintenance.
With respect to claim 4 Lalanne as modified by Uetabira further discloses wherein the sound insulation wall has a sound absorbing layer (see again figure 4 of Lalanne elements 29 in figure 5 being a close-up thereon)m on a surface facing the sound source.
With respect to claim 5 Lalanne as modified by Uetabira further discloses wherein the sound source is disposed to protrude upward of the stand (figure 4 Lalanne) and the sound insulation wall is disposed in an upper portion of the stand (see again figure 4, see also Uetabira).
With respect to claim 8 Lalanne as modified further discloses wherein a portion of the sound insulation wall is provided to b pivotable around a predetermined axis. Uetabira discloses the use of a door member for acess into the sound enclosure, this taken in conjcuntion with the teachings of ZLalanne to provide sound insulation members surrouinding on all side the sound source would have rendered obvious to one of ordinary skill the inclusion of sound absorbing material on the door and thus meet the limitations as claimed.
With respect to claim 9 Lalanne as modified further discloses wherein a portion of the sound insulation a wall is provided to be slidable. Again as Lalanne as modified (see figure 8) discloses the provision of an access door which includes sound insulation material, it would have been obvious to use nay known type of access door, sliding doors are well known in the art of access doors and as such one of ordinary skill in the art would have found such door obvious especially when taking available space into account, it is known that sliding doors require less floor space than hinged doors.
2. Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lalanne (WO9523406) in view of Uetabira (US20220375448) as applied to claim 1 and in further view of Kochetv (RU2659922).
With respect to claim 6 Lalanne as modified by Uetabira discloses the invention as claimed except wherein the sound insulation wall has a duct penetrating the sound source side and a side opposite to the sound source, an d
A sound absorbing layer is provided on an inner surface of the duct.
Kochetv discloses a duct penetrating a sound insulation wall (see channel 8 figure 1) and a duct penetrating on a side opposite to the sound source (see channel 9 in figure 1), and a sound absorbing layer is provide on an inner surface of the duct (see inner wall 10 treated by insulation 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Kochetv to provide a duct with absorbing material applied to the interior of to the enclosure of Lalanne as modified to provide both ventilation and sound reduction through the ventilation ducting so as to reduce the amount of noise escaping through the ventilation duct while improving the cooling of the machinery inside of the enclosure.
With respect to claim 7 Lalanne as modified further discloses wherein the sound insulation wall further includes a sound absorbing member disposed at a position corresponding to an open portion of the sound insulation wall (that is to say the duct constitutes an open portion and there is sound insulation applied thereto).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FORREST M PHILLIPS whose telephone number is (571)272-9020. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dedei Hammond can be reached at (571) 272-3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/FORREST M PHILLIPS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
Prosecution Insights