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 § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-6 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tate (US 4037593 A) in view of Yang (TW M296711 U).
Regarding Claim 1, Tate discloses: A sealing strip for a respirator (Column 2, lines 3-13, A new and improved surgical mask, in accordance with the principles of the present invention, includes an elongated cushioning element interposed between the upper mask edge and the wearer's face and a strip of deformable material secured along the upper edge of the mask of sufficient retentivity to retain its shape upon deformation and compress the cushioning element to form a seal), the sealing strip comprising:
a main body part (Figures 1-2, elongated cushioning strip 21) the main body part having an upper surface, a lower surface, a first side surface, and a second side surface opposite to the first side surface (See Annotated Figures below), (Column 3, lines 5-21, The strip 21 extends substantially along the full length of the upper edge of the mask 10 and is of a width sufficient to form an effective moisture barrier between the wearer's nose and mouth and the vicinity of the wearer's eyes […] The strip 21 has a generally rectangular cross-sectional shape and preferably has high compressibility to conform to the contours of the wearer's nose and cheekbones) (Column 3, lines 1-5, The strip 21 is preferably planar on one side 23, which is affixed to the filter material at the upper inside edge of the mask 10),
wherein the main body part extends in a lengthwise direction from a first end of the sealing strip to a second end of the sealing strip (Column 3, lines 5-10, The strip 21 extends substantially along the full length of the upper edge of the mask 10 and is of a width sufficient to form an effective moisture barrier between the wearer's nose and mouth and the vicinity of the wearer's eyes);
wherein the second side surface is to be attached to a respirator main body of the respirator so that the first side surface faces a wearer (Column 3, lines 1-5, The strip 21 is preferably planar on one side 23, which is affixed to the filter material at the upper inside edge of the mask 10 adjacent and parallel to the trimming strip 16, preferably by a suitable non-allergenic adhesive),
and the sealing strip covers at least a part of a peripheral edge of the respirator main body to be in contact with the face of the wearer (Column 3, lines 6-10, The strip 21 extends substantially along the full length of the upper edge of the mask 10 and is of a width sufficient to form an effective moisture barrier between the wearer's nose and mouth and the vicinity of the wearer's eyes)
wherein the first side surface is curved surface part (Columns 2-3, lines 63-5, As shown clearly in FIG. 2 the strip 21 is symmetrical and includes a central portion A of minimum thickness […] adjacent to which are left and right intermediate portions B and B1, respectively, of maximum thickness […]);
the curved surface part comprises a first convex part and a second convex part (Figure 2, intermediate portions B, B1);
the first convex part and the second convex part are connected to each other in the lengthwise direction of the sealing strip to define a concave part located between the first convex part and the second convex part (Figure 2, central portion A);
the concave part is configured to accommodate the nose of the wearer (Column 3, lines 13-20, The strip 21 has a generally rectangular cross-sectional shape and preferably has high compressibility to conform to the contours of the wearer's nose and cheekbones. The central portion A of the cushion 23 and the left and right intermediate portions B and B1 can thus be contoured around the vicinity of the bridge of the wearer's nose and the wearer's cheekbones when in use);
the first convex part and the second convex part are symmetrical about the concave part, and the first side surface is a sinusoidal curved surface with a constant amplitude and period (Columns 2-3, lines 63-5, As shown clearly in FIG. 2 the strip 21 is symmetrical and includes a central portion A of minimum thickness […] adjacent to which are left and right intermediate portions B and B1, respectively, of maximum thickness), (Columns 3-4, lines 53-2, The contoured shape of cushion 23 thus accommodates the basic facial structure of the average wearer to enhance the individually conforming and sealing qualities of the moisture barrier).
As demonstrated in Annotated Figure 2, the symmetrical sealing strip of Tate follows a sinusoidal curve between the intermediate portions B and B1. However, the sinusoidal curve is not explicitly stated to extend in the lengthwise direction from the first end to the second end of the sealing strip.
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Annotated Figures 1 and 2, Tate US 4037593 A
Yang, however, does teach a respirator (Figure 2, one-piece multi-functional mask 51), wherein the first convex part and the second convex part are symmetrical about the concave part (Page 3, lines 5-8, The upper edge of the mask body can effectively cover the nose and seal the face, preventing fogging during breathing and ensuring that the vision of those wearing glasses is not affected by fogging. The mask is designed with a concave-convex shape that separates the mouth and nose to block airflow and prevent the wearer from smelling their own breath) and the first side surface is a sinusoidal curved surface with a constant amplitude and period extending in the lengthwise direction from the first end to the second end (Page 3, lines 11-16, To better understand the content of this case, please refer to Figure 2. As shown in the figure, the upper edge (21) of the mask body (51) of this creation is a sine curve similar to a sinusoid, or an S shape rotated 90 degrees clockwise. It starts to concave from the part that contacts the user's nose bridge and ends near the cheekbone, and rises in front of the ear. Its curve shape can effectively cover the three-dimensional part of the face under the nose and eye sockets)
Both Yang and Tate teach anatomically curved, wave-like structures that serve to reduce the passage of contaminants and minimize fogging for respiratory mask users (Tate, Column 2, lines 10-15, The cushioning element covers a sufficient portion of the upper part of the mask to prevent fluid vapor in the wearer's breath from reaching the vicinity of the wearer's eyes. The cushioning element is contoured to provide better sealing characteristics and facilitate down-vision), (Yang, Pages 3-4, lines 20-2, This can prevent fog generated during breathing, and prevent glasses wearers from having their vision affected by fog. It can also reduce the intrusion of harmful substances such as dust and germs through the gaps). Tate also teaches different variations in thickness and tapering between the concave and convex portions of the sealing strip. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the sinusoidal structure taught by Yang with the contoured sealing strip described by Tate, so as to provide a symmetrical structure that accommodates a user’s facial anatomy and maintains an effective seal.
Regarding Claim 2, Tate in view of Yang discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1. Tate further discloses:
wherein the distance between the first side surface and a second side surface of the curved surface part is the thickness of the curved surface part (Column 4, lines 47-54, The mask of claim 1 wherein said strip of deformable closed-cell foam material is symmetrical and is formed with a central portion of minimum thickness, first and second intermediate portions of maximum thickness adjacent to and on opposite sides of said central portion, and first and second distal portions, of intermediate thickness respectively, spaced from said intermediate portions),
and the smallest thickness of the curved surface part at two ends in the lengthwise direction of the sealing strip is equal to the smallest thickness of the curved surface part at the concave part (Columns 2-3, lines 63-1, As shown clearly in FIG. 2 the strip 21 is symmetrical and includes a central portion A of minimum thickness, for example, from 0.25 to 0.4 cm., adjacent to which are left and right intermediate portions B and B1, respectively, of maximum thickness, for example, from 1.0 to 1.3 cm, and distal portions C and C1, respectively, having a thickness of approximately 0.4 - 0.6 cm)
Regarding Claim 3, Tate in view of Yang discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1. Tate further discloses:
wherein the main body part further comprises a first extension part and a second extension part respectively located on two sides of the curved surface part in the lengthwise direction of the sealing strip (Figure 2, distal portions C, C1);
the first extension part extends from the first convex part to a first end of the sealing strip; the second extension part extends from the second convex part to a second end of the sealing strip (Column 3, lines 45-52, The distal portions C and C1 of the cushion 23 taper in thickness from the portions B and B1 and are of reduced thickness to increase the applied compressive force in the center of the mask 10 and facilitate the down-vision of the wearer in this area. The forces holding the mask 10 to the wearer's face are thus more uniformly distributed across the upper edge of the mask 10 by providing such a contour and seal),
wherein the distance between a first side surface and a second side surface of the first extension part and/or the second extension part is constant or variable (Columns 2-3, lines 67-1, distal portions C and C1, respectively, having a thickness of approximately 0.4 - 0.6 cm).
Regarding Claim 4, Tate in view of Yang discloses all of the limitations of Claim 3. Tate further discloses: wherein the first extension part and the second extension part have the same contour (Column 4, lines 47-54, The mask of claim 1 wherein said strip of deformable closed-cell foam material is symmetrical and is formed with a central portion of minimum thickness, first and second intermediate portions of maximum thickness adjacent to and on opposite sides of said central portion, and first and second distal portions, of intermediate thickness respectively, spaced from said intermediate portions).
Regarding Claim 5, Tate in view of Yang discloses all of the limitations of Claim 3. Tate further discloses: wherein the first extension part, the curved surface part, and the second extension part are formed integrally, or the first extension part, the curved surface part, and the second extension part are formed separately and attached to each other (Column 2, lines 58-62, an elongated cushioning strip 21 formed from substantially closed-cell foam plastic material, for example, polyurethane ether or ester foam material having 90% closed cells of approximately 4-5 pores/cm2 and a density of approximately 0.04 gm/cm3).
Regarding Claim 6, Tate in view of Yang discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1. Tate further discloses:
and/or at the concave part, the smallest distance between the first side surface and the second side surface of the curved surface part is 1 mm to 6 mm (Columns 2-3, lines 63-1, As shown clearly in FIG. 2 the strip 21 is symmetrical and includes a central portion A of minimum thickness, for example, from 0.25 to 0.4 cm., adjacent to which are left and right intermediate portions B and B1, respectively, of maximum thickness, for example, from 1.0 to 1.3 cm, and distal portions C and C1, respectively, having a thickness of approximately 0.4 - 0.6 cm),
and/or the greatest distance between a first side surface and a second side surface of the first convex part and the second convex part is greater than the smallest distance between the first side surface and the second side surface of the curved surface part by 4 mm to 10 mm (Columns 3-4, lines 53-2, An effective contour is defined by relating cushion 21 thickness to its maximum thickness. In accordance with one specific example of the invention, a thickness variation of one-third maximum thickness at the central portion A has proven to be suitable to accommodate the wearer's nose. A thickness variation of one-third maximum thickness at the distal portions C and C1 has proven to be effective to eliminate interference with the wearer's down-vision in this area. The contoured shape of cushion 23 thus accommodates the basic facial structure of the average wearer to enhance the individually conforming and sealing qualities of the moisture barrier).
Regarding Claim 8, Tate in view of Yang discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1. Tate further discloses: A respirator, the respirator comprising a respirator main body (Abstract, A surgical mask is provided with a vapor barrier for preventing clouding or fogging of optical aids or devices used by the wearer of the mask. The vapor barrier comprises a contoured strip of elongated soft closed cell foam material interposed between the upper edge of the mask and the wearer's face. The interposed material contours itself to and sufficiently extends over the wearer's face to form a seal and vapor barrier preventing fluid vapor exhausted from the wearer's nose and mouth from contacting spectacles, optical loupes or other optical instruments worn by the wearer and susceptible to clouding or fogging),
wherein the respirator further comprises the sealing strip for the respirator according to claim 1 (Column 2, lines 53-59, Attention is next directed to the upper edge of the mask 10 wherein a vapor barrier as most clearly shown in FIG. 2 is attached, and includes a strip 22 of malleable material bonded to the outside surface of the body 11 of filter material opposite to the central portion of an elongated cushioning strip 21 formed from substantially closed-cell foam plastic material)
and the sealing strip is attached to the respirator main body to cover at least a part of a peripheral edge of the respirator main body to be in contact with the face of a wearer (Column 3, lines 6-10, The strip 21 extends substantially along the full length of the upper edge of the mask 10 and is of a width sufficient to form an effective moisture barrier between the wearer's nose and mouth and the vicinity of the wearer's eyes).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tate (US 4037593 A) in view of Yang (TW M296711 U), in view of Huang et al. (CN 204888801 U, hereinafter “Huang”), further in view of Nguyen et al. (US 2017274228 A1, hereinafter “Nguyen”).
Regarding Claim 7, Tate in view of Yang discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1. Tate discloses: wherein the sealing strip further comprises a vapor/moisture-proof layer (Column 2, lines 53-63, to the upper edge of the mask 10 wherein a vapor barrier as most clearly shown in FIG. 2 is attached, and includes a strip 22 of malleable material bonded to the outside surface of the body 11 of filter material opposite to the central portion of an elongated cushioning strip 21 formed from substantially closed-cell foam plastic material, for example, polyurethane ether or ester foam material having 90% closed cells of approximately 4-5 pores/cm2 and a density of approximately 0.04 gm/cm3) and an anchor layer (Column 3, lines 1-5, The strip 21 is preferably planar on one side 23, which is affixed to the filter material at the upper inside edge of the mask 10 adjacent and parallel to the trimming strip 16, preferably by a suitable non-allergenic adhesive).
Tate in view of Yang does not explicitly disclose an air-proof layer, however, it is well known in the art of respirators to incorporate air-impermeable materials and/or coatings to create air-tight seals to minimize the transfer of air-borne contaminants.
Huang explicitly discloses: the air-proof layer (Paragraph 0073, FIG 9 is a schematic diagram of the anti-fog nose pad structure according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, compared with the previous embodiment, the anti-fog nose pad structure 1 of this embodiment further includes a plastic film 50 made of a low air permeability material) is anchored on one of the upper surface and the lower surface of the main body part through the anchor layer (Paragraph 0073, In more detail, the plastic film 50 is disposed on an exposed surface of the top of the elastic pad 10. For example, the plastic film 50 and the elastic pad 10 can be combined together by laminating, but the present invention is not limited thereto. This increases airtightness and prevents the infiltration of contaminated air from the outside).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date to further modify Tate’s sealing strip to include an air-proof layer, as taught by Huang, so as to provide an additional degree of protection for a user wearing the respirator. Tate already discloses the use of specific materials and structures to limit the fluid flow through the mask; Huang provides another method of improving the air-tightness of the mask.
Huang broadly describes the air-proof layer being bonded to the sealing strip through lamination or other means. Ngyuen more specifically discloses a variety of bonding methods for anchoring a plastic film to a respiratory mask (Paragraphs 0208-0209, the polymeric netting according to and/or made according to the present disclosure is joined to a carrier for ease of handling or for making a laminate for a selected application. The polymeric netting may be joined to a carrier, for example, by lamination (e.g., extrusion lamination), adhesives (e.g., pressure sensitive adhesives), or other bonding techniques (e.g., ultrasonic bonding, compression bonding, or surface bonding).The carrier may be continuous (i.e., without any through-penetrating holes) or discontinuous (e.g. comprising through-penetrating perforations or pores). The carrier may include a variety of suitable materials including woven webs, non-woven webs (e.g., spunbond webs, spunlaced webs, airlaid webs, meltblown web, and bonded carded webs), textiles, plastic films (e.g., single- or multilayered films, coextruded films, laterally laminated films, or films including foam layers), and combinations thereof)
Huang and Tate both disclose the use of adhesive materials in other aspects of their respective sealing strips (Huang, Paragraph 0058, the release film 30 includes a resin layer 301 formed on the bonding surface and a release substrate 302 covering the resin layer 301. The resin layer 301 is applied to the bonding surface 101 and has adhesive properties on both sides. Thus, the resin layer 301 can securely connect the reinforcing member 20 and the elastic liner 10 together, while also temporarily bonding the elastic liner, which is connected to the reinforcing member 20, to the mask). Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the art-recognized bonding methods disclosed by Nguyen to securely and effectively anchor the plastic film layer taught by Huang onto sealing strip.
Tate in view of Yang, Huang, and Nguyen disclose all of the above limitations. Huang further discloses: and when the sealing strip is attached to the respirator (Paragraph 0058, the release film 30 includes a resin layer 301 formed on the bonding surface and a release substrate 302 covering the resin layer 301. The resin layer 301 is applied to the bonding surface 101 and has adhesive properties on both sides. Thus, the resin layer 301 can securely connect the reinforcing member 20 and the elastic liner 10 together, while also temporarily bonding the elastic liner, which is connected to the reinforcing member 20, to the mask), the air-proof layer of the sealing strip is located on a peripheral side (Paragraph 0056, More specifically, the elastic pad 10 is an integrally formed, generally wavy foam body. Structurally, one side (e.g., the outer side) of the elastic pad 10 has a flat joint surface 101 for mounting the reinforcement 20 and the release film 30. The other side (e.g., the inner side) of the elastic pad 10 is formed with two spaced-apart nose pads 102. Each nose pad 102 is in the shape of an outwardly convex arc, and a positioning slot 103 corresponding to the bridge of the user's nose is defined between the two nose pads 102)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Teng (US 20140326255 A1) discloses a face mask with an inner seal conformed to the shape of a user’s nose
Veliss (US 20110005524 A1) discloses a nose pad for a mask that can be constructed in a variety of dimensions to accommodate different users’ anatomy
Miner (US 6649181 B1) discloses a cosmetic adhesive strip for application to the nose that has a sinusoidal shape (Column 2, lines 36-39)
Lin (CN 111184294 A) discloses a glasses anti-fog mask with a concave-convex sponge nasal strip
Li (CN 207054886 U) discloses a face mask with an elastic nose pad
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MISHAL Z HUSSAIN whose telephone number is (703)756-1206. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brandy S. Lee can be reached at (571) 270-7410. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MISHAL HUSSAIN/
Examiner
Art Unit 3785
/BRANDY S LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3785
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