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 .
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 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.
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 1-10 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.
The term “large enough” in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “large enough” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. As such, the limitation “the inner discharge opening is large enough to avoid the formation of a mist or uncontrolled discharge of water” is not well defined, as it is unclear what size constitutes an opening that avoids the formation a mist or uncontrolled discharge of water.
Claim 9 recites the limitation "the second flow regulator" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear if this is referring to the second flow regulator of claim 2 or if it’s another one altogether. Claim 9 does not depend on claim 2.
Claim 9 recites the limitation "the switch button" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 10 recites the limitation "the first regulator" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear if this is referring to the first flow regulator of claim 2 or if it’s another one altogether. Claim 10 does not depend on claim 2.
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 and 3-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rosko et al (U.S. 2007/0194148) in view of Mickos (WO 2019/195043 A1). Note: references of Mickos are referencing the copy of the WIPO document provided by Examiner herewith.
Regarding claim 1, Rosko teaches a water saving nozzle (defined by 744 and 742, seen in Figs 44-52), preferably for showers (the nozzle has the capability of being used in a shower), comprising
a housing (712) having one inner chamber (shown below) with an inner inlet opening (shown below) for water to enter the inner chamber in a first end (first end is defined by the upstream end of the nozzle, i.e. right side end in Fig 50) and one inner discharge opening (812) for water leaving the inner chamber in a second end (water leaves the inner chamber through 812 located in a second/downstream end), the inner chamber having a central length axis (shown below) going between the first end and the second end (the central axis goes from upstream end to downstream end), and
an outer chamber (shown below) with an outer inlet opening (shown below) for water to enter the outer chamber in a first end (upstream end) and several outer discharge openings (spray assembly 744 comprises several discharge openings, seen in Fig 45 and Par 0118) for water leaving the outer chamber in a second end (downstream end of the outer chamber defines the openings of 744), the outer chamber surrounding the inner chamber (as seen below), around the central axis thereof (as seen below),
the inner chamber comprises a water rotating device (defined by passageways 804, 808 and 810, which impart rotational movement to the water – as disclosed in Par 0122; these structure are placed within the inner chamber),
the inner discharge opening is large enough to avoid the formation of a mist or uncontrolled discharge of water (as best understood, inner discharge 812 creates a continuous shield of water 789, which is not a mist),
wherein water is flowable through the inner inlet opening, through the inner chamber, through the water rotating device and through the inner discharge opening, being centrally provided (as seen below and Fig 44-52, water that flows into the inner inlet opening passes to the inlet chamber and flows out of the inner discharge opening, these being centrally provided), forming one cone shape of composed, discharged water (this is shown in Fig 8 as shield 150 which has a diverging shape, wherein shield 150 corresponds to shield 789 in Figs 44-52, since nozzle 10 of Fig 8 has the same structure); and
water is flowable through the outer inlet opening, through the outer chamber and out through the several outer discharge openings provided around the inner discharge opening (as seen below and Fig 44-52, water that flows into the outlet inlet opening passes through the outer chamber and out of the several discharge openings of 744, which are provided around the inner discharge opening 812), forming a spray of water surrounding the spray shape from the inner discharge opening (as disclosed in Par 0133, there is a spray mode in which water is sent to both fluid conduits 780 and 782, which correspond to the outer chamber and the inner chamber respectively, see Figs 47-48; as such, in this mode, the spray of the discharge openings 744 surrounds the spray of the inner discharge opening).
However, Rosko does not teach the water that flows out of the inner discharge opening being dome shaped.
Mickos teaches a water-saving nozzle (100) comprising an inner discharge opening (108) that produces a dome shaped spray (116 and 118), as seen in Fig 1a.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Rosko to incorporate the teachings of Mickos to provide the inner discharge opening with a shape that renders a dome-shaped spray pattern in order to save water whilst maintaining spraying performance, even in low pressure scenarios (as disclosed in Page 1, lines 17-24 of Mickos).
Note: all references made in parenthesis hereafter are referencing Rosko, unless otherwise stated.
Regarding claim 3, Rosko and Mickos teach the water saving nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the outer discharge openings are directed so that the spray will touch an outer diameter of the dome shaped water from the inner discharge opening (as shown below).
Regarding claim 4, Rosko and Mickos teach a shower head (710), comprising a water saving nozzle according to claim 1 (as seen Figs 44-52), having a first pipe (782) feeding water to the inner chamber from a water system (as seen in Fig 48; water system defined by the piping system that feeds showerhead 710) and a second pipe (780) feeding water to the outer chamber from the water system (as seen in Fig 47), wherein the second pipe is provided with a stop (defined by valve 720) for closing and opening of the flow of water through the second pipe towards the outer chamber (as seen in Figs 47-48 and disclosed in Par 0115-119), providing a first mode (seen in Fig 48) giving a dome shaped water discharge (as modified by Mickos) when the stop is in a closed position (valve 720 closes off fluid to path 780 by way of seal 756 in order to spray the first mode), closing the second pipe (in the first mode seen in Fig 48, the second pipe 780 is closed off), and a second mode (disclosed in Par 0133) giving a combined dome and spray water discharge when the stop is in an open position, opening the second pipe (as disclosed in Par 0133, the second pipe 780 also opens to form a combined spray pattern that involved the two sprays seen in Figs 47 and 48).
Regarding claim 5, Rosko and Mickos teach the shower head according to claim 4, wherein the stop is a valve (stop is interpreted as valve 720) comprising a valve chamber (defined by bore 719) in fluid connection with a second portion of the second pipe downstream the valve (shown below), a valve plunge (shown below) comprising a valve rod (752), and a cavity (shown below), on an opposite side of a valve disc (shown below) to the valve chamber (the cavity is in an opposite side of the valve disc and the valve chamber), comprising a spring (762) for keeping the valve in a closed position (the spring biases the valve in the position seen in Fig 49, which is an “off position” see Par 0116), where the valve plunge stops any flow towards the outer chamber (in the close position seen in Fig 49, the plunge stops flow to the outer chamber, which is the chamber that corresponds to second pipe 780).
Regarding claim 6, Rosko and Mickos teach the shower head according to claim 5, wherein the valve is toggled between the two modes via a switch button (774) connected to the valve rod for movement of the valve plunge (as seen in Figs 47-49 and Par 0116).
Regarding claim 7, Rosko and Mickos teach the shower head according to claim 5, wherein the valve in the second mode (second mode disclosed in Par 0133) is in an open position letting water to flow from a first portion of the second pipe (shown below) into the valve chamber and further to the outer chamber (as disclosed in Par 0133, the second mode allows for flow of water to both passageways seen in Figs 47 and 48).
Regarding claim 8, Rosko and Mickos teach the shower head according to claim 5, wherein a slit (shown below) is provided between a first portion of the second pipe (shown below) and the cavity so that a leakage of water will enter the cavity when the valve is in the first mode, i.e. in the closed position (Fig 49), giving a rise in water pressure in the cavity further keeping the valve plunge in closed position (as seen in the annotated Fig 49 below, water builds up in the valve cavity due to it being closed off; this then further biases the plunger in the closed position).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rosko et al (U.S. 2007/0194148) in view of Mickos (WO 2019/195043 A1); further in view of Schumacher at al (U.S. 2013/0092752).
Regarding claim 2, Rosko and Mickos teach the water saving nozzle according to claim 1. However, they do not teach the nozzle wherein a first flow regulator is in fluid contact with the inner chamber and a second flow regulator is in fluid connection with the outer chamber.
Schumacher teaches a shower head comprising a first flow regulator (38) in fluid contact with a first flow path (30) and a second flow regulator (42) in fluid contact with a second flow path (34), as seen in Fig 2 and disclosed in Par 0018-0020.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Rosko to incorporate the teachings of Schumacher to provide two flow regulator is fluid connection with a respective flow path, i.e. inner and outer chambers, in order to maintain regulated flow in all spray modes and to allow the shower device to be used in both high and low pressure systems (as disclosed Par 0029).
Claims 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rosko et al (U.S. 2007/0194148) in view of Mickos (WO 2019/195043 A1); further in view of Paoluccio (U.S. 2007/0210185).
Regarding claim 9, as best understood, Rosko and Mickos teach the shower head according to claim 5. However, they do not teach the shower head wherein a second flow regulator is arranged downstream the valve in the second portion of the second pipe so that when the valve is in the open position a pressure is built up in the valve chamber keeping the valve plunge in the open position after a switch button is pushed.
Paoluccio teaches a shower head that comprises a flow regulator (12) downstream of a valve (seen upstream of the regulator 12, in Fig 1).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Rosko to incorporate the teachings of Paoluccio to provide a flow regulator on the second portion of the second pipe, downstream of the valve, in order to regulate the flow going into the second pipe to a near constant rate even with high water pressure at the inlet (as disclosed in Par 0081 of Paoluccio). In combination, by placing a flow regulator at the second portion of the second pipe of Rosko a pressure would build up in the valve chamber which would aid in keeping the valve plunge in the open position after the switch button is pushed, due to the increase pressure upstream of the flow regulator (as disclosed in Par 0081 of Paoluccio).
Regarding claim 10, as best understood, Rosko and Mickos teach the shower head according to claim 5, wherein a fluid connection (shown below) is provided between the cavity and a second portion of the first pipe (shown below). However, they do not teach the shower head wherein the second portion runs between a first regulator and the inner chamber.
Paoluccio teaches a shower head that comprises a flow regulator (12) downstream of a valve (seen upstream of the regulator 12, in Fig 1), and upstream of inner chamber (defined where flow of water 52 is labeled in Fig 1).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Rosko to incorporate the teachings of Paoluccio to provide a flow regulator in the second portion of the first pipe in order to regulate the flow going into the first pipe to a near constant rate even with high water pressure at the inlet (as disclosed in Par 0081 of Paoluccio). In combination, the second portion of the first pipe of Rosko would run between the regulator and the inner chamber. That is, the second portion of the first pipe would be defined between a regulator at its upstream end and the inner chamber at its downstream end.
Annotated Figures of Rosko:
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514
841
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619
751
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUAN C BARRERA whose telephone number is (571)272-6284. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F Generally 10am-4pm and 6-8pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ARTHUR O. HALL can be reached on 571-270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
If there are any inquiries that are not being addressed by first contacting the Examiner or the Supervisor, you may send an email inquiry to TC3700_Workgroup_D_Inquiries@uspto.gov.
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/JUAN C BARRERA/
Examiner, Art Unit 3752
/ARTHUR O. HALL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3752
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