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 Objections
Claim 33 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the upper part of the second wall” should read ---an upper part of the second wall---. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “connection structure” in claim 18, “first connection component” and “second connection component in claims 22 and 23 and “sealing element” in claims 31 and 32.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
Claims 25 and 26 are 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.
Claims 25 and 26 call to a recessed cavity being “outwardly recessed from an inner wall surface.” It is unclear how a component can be outwardly recessed as recessed is understood to mean set or built inwardly. For the purpose of examination, the claims are being interpreted to read “a recessed cavity on the first side wall.”
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.
Claims 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dubin (US 6,098,963).
Regarding claim 16, Dubin discloses a water tank installation structure (abstract), comprising a water tank (#112 fig 3-10), an installation space (see open space between walls #130, 131 and base 110 in fig 3), and a connection structure (#126, and 144/141 fig 7-8, col 3 ln 65 - col 4 ln 4), wherein the water tank is configured to fit into and out of the installation space in a rotational manner (fig 3-10, abstract, col 3 ln 65 – col4 ln 4), the connection structure is configured to connect the water tank to the installation space when the water tank is rotated into the installation space, and release the connection of the water tank from the installation space when the water tank is detached from the installation space (col 3 ln 65 - col 4 ln 4).
Regarding claim 17, Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 16. Dubin further discloses the installation space has a top opening and a side opening, which are used for mounting the water tank into the installation space (see Dubin annotated fig 8 below).
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Dubin annotated fig 8
Regarding claim 18, Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 16. Dubin further discloses the water tank installation structure comprises a first bottom wall and a first side wall that are used to define the installation space (see Dubin annotated fig 7 below), the water tank comprises a liquid storage cavity (col 3 ln 53-54 disclosing water inside the tank 112), and a second bottom wall and a second side wall that are used to define the liquid storage cavity (see Dubin annotated fig 7 below); the second bottom wall corresponds to the first bottom wall and the second side wall corresponds to the first side wall when the water tank is mounted into the installation space (see fig 8).
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Dubin annotated fig 7
Regarding claim 19, Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 17. Dubin further discloses the water tank installation structure comprises a first bottom wall and a first side wall that are used to define the installation space (see Dubin annotated fig 7 above), the water tank comprises a liquid storage cavity (col 3 ln 53-54 disclosing water inside the tank 112), and a second bottom wall and a second side wall that are used to define the liquid storage cavity (see Dubin annotated fig 7 above); the second bottom wall corresponds to the first bottom wall and the second side wall corresponds to the first side wall when the water tank is mounted into the installation space (see fig 8).
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 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dubin.
Regarding claim 20, Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 18. Dubin further discloses the first side wall comprises a recessed arc-shaped area (see fig 7), the second side wall forms a protruding arc-shape that matches the arc-shaped area (see fig 7). Dubin instead discloses flat walls for the bottom walls. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize a curved wall for the bottom walls of the installation structure as doing so eliminates corners from the housings preventing weak spots prone to structural damage.
Regarding claim 21, Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 19. Dubin further discloses the first side wall comprises a recessed arc-shaped area (see fig 7), the second side wall forms a protruding arc-shape that matches the arc-shaped area (see fig 7). Dubin instead discloses flat walls for the bottom walls. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize a curved wall for the bottom walls of the installation structure as doing so eliminates corners from the housings preventing weak spots prone to structural damage.
Claims 22-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dubin as applied to claims 18 and 20 above, and further in view of Zhu (CN 204708578).
Regarding claim 22, Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 18. Dubin further discloses the connection structure comprises a first connection component (#126 fig 7-8) and a second connection component (#144/141 fig 7-8) that are fitted with each other (col 3 ln 62 – col 4 ln 4).
Dubin is silent to the first connection component is arranged on one of the first side wall and the second side wall, and the second connection component is arranged on the other of the first side wall and the second side wall. Instead disclosing the connection components on the bottom walls.
Zhu teaches side walls with a connection structure comprising a first connection component (#44 fig 4, 7) and a second connection component (#7, 71, 72 fig 5-7) that are fitted with each other (see fig 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate side wall connection structures as taught by Zhu onto the installation structure sides walls of Dubin as doing to can provide a secure connection between the installation space and the water tank relieving some of the stress on the valve pin preventing it from breaking and rupturing the fluid connection between the tank and the receiving chamber 140.
Regarding claim 23, modified Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 20. Dubin further discloses the connection structure comprises a first connection component (#126 fig 7-8) and a second connection component (#144/141 fig 7-8) that are fitted with each other (col 3 ln 62 – col 4 ln 4).
Dubin is silent to the first connection component is arranged on one of the first side wall and the second side wall, and the second connection component is arranged on the other of the first side wall and the second side wall. Instead disclosing the connection components on the bottom walls.
Zhu teaches side walls with a connection structure comprising a first connection component (#7, 71, 72 fig 5-7) and a second connection component (#44 fig 4, 7) that are fitted with each other (see fig 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate side wall connection structures as taught by Zhu onto the installation structure sides walls of Dubin as doing to can provide a secure connection between the installation space and the water tank relieving some of the stress on the valve pin preventing it from breaking and rupturing the fluid connection between the tank and the receiving chamber 140.
Regarding claim 24, modified Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 22. Modified Dubin does not expressly disclose the first connection component is on an upper part of the first side wall or the second side wall, and the second connection component is on an upper part of the first side wall or the second side wall. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to locate these components on the upper parts of the side walls in order to ensure that the rotation is completed before the components engage with one another.
Regarding claim 25, modified Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 22. Zhu further discloses the first connection component is arranged on the first side wall (see fig 4, 7), the second connection component is arranged on the second side wall (see fig 5-7), the first connection component comprises a recessed cavity recessed from an inner wall surface of the first side wall (#43 fig 4) and a snap-fit groove (#44 fig 4) arranged on an inner surface of the recessed cavity, the second connection component comprises a boss (#61 fig 5-7) outwardly protruding from an outer wall surface of the second side wall and a snap-fit piece arranged on the boss (#7, 72, 71 fig 5, 7), the boss matches the recessed cavity (see fig 7), the snap-fit piece matches the snap-fit groove (see fig 7), the snap-fit piece is arranged to be snap-fitted in the snap-fit groove when the boss is received in the recessed cavity (see fig 7), and is able to be detached from the snap-fit groove when the boss is subjected to an outwardly pulling force (see fig 7).
Regarding claim 26, modified Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 24. Zhu further discloses the first connection component is arranged on the first side wall (see fig 4, 7), the second connection component is arranged on the second side wall (see fig 5-7), the first connection component comprises a recessed cavity recessed from an inner wall surface of the first side wall (#43 fig 4) and a snap-fit groove (#44 fig 4) arranged on an inner surface of the recessed cavity, the second connection component comprises a boss (#61 fig 5-7) outwardly protruding from an outer wall surface of the second side wall and a snap-fit piece arranged on the boss (#7, 72, 71 fig 5, 7), the boss matches the recessed cavity (see fig 7), the snap-fit piece matches the snap-fit groove (see fig 7), the snap-fit piece is arranged to be snap-fitted in the snap-fit groove when the boss is received in the recessed cavity (see fig 7), and is able to be detached from the snap-fit groove when the boss is subjected to an outwardly pulling force (see fig 7).
Regarding claim 27, modified Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 25. Zhu further discloses the second connection component comprises a compression spring (#72 fig 5, 7), the boss has a cavity therein for accommodating the compression spring and the snap-fit piece (see fig 7), the boss has a hole in communication with the cavity (see the whole through which 71 protrudes in fig 7), the snap-fit piece is configured to at least partially extend out of the hole under an abutting action of the compression spring (see fig 7), and is able to retract into the cavity by compressing the compression spring under pressure.
Regarding claim 28, modified Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 27. Zhu further discloses the size of the hole is smaller than the size of the snap-fit piece (see fig 7 showing the head of pin 71 expands/flanges to larger than the size of the hole).
Regarding claim 29, modified Dubin discloses the installation structure of claim 27. Zhu further discloses the snap-fit piece is a hemisphere (see head of pin 71 fig 5, 7),and the snap-fit groove is a hemispherical groove (see fig 3, 7). Zhu does not disclose the snap-fit piece being a sphere rather than a hemispherical component, however it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize a sphere rather than a hemispherical pin as a sphere is a cheaper component allowing for a similar engagement function.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 30-35 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 30 calls to the arc-shaped area is a heating area for heating the water tank. While the closest prior art of Dubin discloses an arc-shaped area, Dubin discloses the use of a duct (#143 fig 9) to carry liquid from the water tank to the heating area (#144 fig 9). It would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to move the heating area to the arc-shaped area as this would constitute a significant redesign as the steam would need to be carried over to the steam tower (#115 fig 9).
While other prior art such as Spence (US 2021/0008325 A1) discloses water tank installed into an arc-shaped heating area (see fig 27, par 0226), the arc shaped area has too deep of a curvature to allow for the water tank to be installed in a rotational manner, and it therefore would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize a rotational manner for the installation.
Claims 31 and 32 call to a first air inlet tube, a first air outlet tube, a second air inlet tube and a second air outlet tube located on the side walls of the installation structure. While Dubin discloses the installation structure of claims 18 and 19 Dubin discloses the use of a duct (#143 fig 9) to carry liquid from the water tank to the heating area (#144 fig 9) for steam generation. Therefore, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate inlet and outlet tubes into the side walls of the installation structure as the device of Dubin is not intended to have air/gas passing into and out of the water tank cavity.
While other prior art such as Liu (CN 206809525) discloses a humidifier water tanks with concentric inlet and outlet tubes as claimed in claims 31 and 32 (see fig 4, 6-7), the art is silent to the water tank being installed in a rotational manner, and the disclosed structure does not appear to be capable of being installed in a rotational manner.
As claims 33-35 depend upon claim 31, or require all of the limitations of claim 31, they patentably define over the prior art for the same reasons.
Additionally, prior art such as Mc Donough (US 5,242,375) and Dykes (US 6,256,454 B1) disclose water tanks installed in a rotational manner, their structures fail to allow for modification to achieve the structures required in claims 30-32 for similar reasons as present for Dubin. Other prior art such as Smith (US 2009/0194106 A1) disclose a humidifier retaining portion (#446 fig 17-18) that is installed in a rotational manner (see fig 17-18), however the water tank itself does not engage in a rotational manner (see fig 21-22 showing the water tank #30 in place with the retaining portion #446 rotating separate from the water tank).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
CN 203020675 U
US 20130174843 A1
US 10980966 B2
US 20220118203 A1
US 20220379068 A1
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/KIRA B DAHER/Examiner, Art Unit 3785
/BRADLEY H PHILIPS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
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