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 .
This is a response to Applicant's amendment filed on February 04, 2026.
Status of Claims
Claims 1, 2 and 5 have been amended. New claims 6-12 have been added. Claims 1-12 are pending. Claims 1-12 are examined herein.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's Remarks/Arguments and Amendments to the Claims both filed 02/04/2026 have been fully considered.
It is noted that claim 1, an independent claim from which all of the claims ultimately depend, has been amended to recite that “a multi-cyclone body disposed within the multi-cyclone body housing. the multicyclone body being secured between an upper mounting plate and a lower mounting plate. the upper and the lower mounting plates being affixed to an inner wall of the multi-cyclone body housing:” and “an outlet tube extending into the upper mounting plate” in the context of a vacuum excavation vehicle as recited in claim 1.
Applicant argues that: the claim 1 and its dependent claims are not anticipated nor prima facie obvious over cited prior art(s), Tang et al. (CN 112301941 A), this is because the cited prior art does not teach or suggest the amended features of “a multi-cyclone body disposed within the multi-cyclone body housing. the multicyclone body being secured between an upper mounting plate and a lower mounting plate. the upper and the lower mounting plates being affixed to an inner wall of the multi-cyclone body housing:” and “an outlet tube extending into the upper mounting plate”. This difference -the permanence of Tang's cyclones positioned between plates within a housing against the removability and modularity of the claimed "mini-cyclonic chambers" is claimed by the Applicant. Tang cannot be said to anticipate the Applicant's claims, given the structure of its cyclonic separation chamber. See Remarks, pages 5-6.
In response, the applicants’ arguments direct a newly amended claim limitation which is a new issue. Therefore, the arguments are considered moot. Applicant's amendment necessitated a modified/new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action.
Upon further consideration and search, a modified/new ground of rejections to claims 1-12 are presented in the instant Office action.
MODIFIED REJECTIONS
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tang et al. (CN 112301941 A, please refer to the attached English translation document, hereinafter “Tang”).
In regard to claim 1, Tang discloses a side suction dust removal system for a railway track bed sewage suction vehicle (i.e., a vacuum excavation vehicle) (page 1, Title and Abstract) comprising (Fig. 1 – Fig. 6 of the original Chinese document’ pages 2-7 of the English translation document):
(i) an undercarriage (a side suction dust removal system is loaded on a railway track bed sewage suction vehicle, see page 2, Disclosure of Invention);
(ii) a vacuum spoils tank (2, Fig. 1 which is a dust collector) receiving a dust containing fluid operatively mounted to the undercarriage, the vacuum spoils tank having an inlet and an outlet (there are intake pipe connected to an explosion-proof device 1 and a discharge port to a multi-cyclone dust collector 3, see page 5, Embodiment 1);
(iii) a multi-cyclone body housing (3, Fig. 1; Fig. 4 shows multi-cyclone located in the multi-cyclone body housing) positioned at the vacuum spoils tank (2, Fig. 1) outlet; and
(iv) a multi-cyclone body disposed within the multi-cyclone body housing (the multi-cyclone body housing carrying a multi-cyclone body, the multi-cyclone body carrying the plurality of mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4), for example 3[Symbol font/0xB4]3 configuration, total of 9 mini-cyclones, as shown in Fig. 5; page 6, 2nd paragraph from the top), the individual multicyclone body being secured between an upper mounting plate (36, Fig. 4) and a lower mounting plate (37 and/or 38, Fig. 4), the upper and the lower mounting plates (36, 37, 38, Fig. 4) being affixed to an inner wall of the multi-cyclone body housing (3, Fig. 1 or 31, Fig. 1) (Tang explicitly discloses the plates 36, 37 and 38 are installed [emphasis added] inside the multi-cyclone 3, page 6, 2nd paragraph from the top),
wherein the multi-cyclone body housing carrying a multi-cyclone body, the multi-cyclone body carrying the plurality of mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4), each mini-cyclonic chamber (35, Fig. 4) including an outlet tube (the bottom of the mini-cyclone where the collected ashes are purged) extending into the mounting plate (36, 37, 38, Fig. 4) and a mini-cyclonic separator (the cyclone 35, Fig. 4 separates dust from the input fluid of wet or dry waste), the mini-cyclonic separator being in fluid communication with the vacuum spoils tank (2, Fig. 2) outlet, the outlet tube being in fluid communication with a multi-cyclone body housing outlet (33, 34, Fig. 3) and a filtration system (4, Fig. 1, a bag filter).
Regarding the limitation of “an outlet tube extending into the upper mounting plate”, Tang discloses: The cyclone 35 is installed at a lower portion of the upper case 31 of the multi-cyclone, and the cyclone 35 forms a whirling airflow to the gas inputted into the multi-cyclone 3, separates dirt such as dust in the transferred gas from the gas by an inertial centrifugal force, and the separated dirt falls into the dust hopper 33 of the multi-cyclone from the bottom of the cyclone 35 and is finally outputted through the second discharger 34 (page 6, 1st paragraph from the top). The cyclone 35 is installed at a lower portion of the upper case 31 of the multi-cyclone, and the cyclone 35 forms a whirling airflow to the gas inputted into the multi-cyclone 3, separates dirt such as dust in the transferred gas from the gas by an inertial centrifugal force, and the separated dirt falls into the dust hopper 33 of the multi-cyclone from the bottom of the cyclone 35 and is finally outputted through the second discharger 34 (page 6, 4th paragraph from the top).
There are two outlet tubes, top outlet for air outlet and bottom outlet for dust outlet, in the individual cyclone 35 taught by Tang. Choosing top outlet for air outlet, taught by Tang, as the recited “an outlet tube” is considered prima facie obvious because this simply involves selecting/designating a known portion of the cyclone as an arbitrary “outlet tube”. Moreover, claim 1 utilizes the transitional word “comprising”. Consequently, claim 1 does not exclude the presence of other outlet tube used for purging dust (bottom outlet for dust outlet in the cyclone 35).
In regard to claim 2, Tang discloses a blower unit (5, Fig. 1, a fan is the suction force generator that transport dust from the dust collector 2, Fig. 1 through the multi-tube cyclone dust collector 3, Fig. 1 containing multiple mini-cyclonic separator (35, Fig. 4)) configured to pull an immiscible stream (a fluid containing dust) from the vacuum spoils tank (2, Fig. 1) into the mini-cyclonic separator (35, Fig. 4), the mini-cyclonic separator configured to separate the immiscible fluid by centrifugal force and deposit a first portion of the immiscible fluid in a collection chamber (33, 34, Fig. 2) below the mini-cyclonic separator (35, Fig. 4) (page 5, see the description of Embodiment 1).
In regard to claim 3, Tang discloses the blower unit (5, Fig. 1, a fan) is further configured to pull a second portion of the immiscible stream (a fluid stream from the multi-tube cyclone dust collector 3, Fig. 1 through the filtration system (4, Fig. 1, a bag filter) and eventually to the blower unit (5, Fig. 1, a fan) (page 5, see the description of Embodiment 1).
In regard to claim 4, Tang discloses the outlet of the vacuum spoils tank (2, Fig. 1) includes an immiscible stream (a mixture of dust and an air) inlet of the multi-cyclone body (3, Fig. 1) (page 5, see the description of Embodiment 1).
In regard to claim 5, Tang discloses a conduit (a conduit located above the mini-cyclonic chambers shown in Fig. 4) leading from the multi-cyclone body housing above the outlet tube of each mini-cyclonic chamber of the plurality of mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4) (page 5, see the description of Embodiment 1).
In regard to claim 6, Tang discloses a multi-cyclone body disposed within the multi-cyclone body housing (the multi-cyclone body housing carrying a multi-cyclone body, the multi-cyclone body carrying the plurality of mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4), for example 3[Symbol font/0xB4]3 configuration, total of 9 mini-cyclones, as shown in Fig. 5; page 6, 2nd paragraph from the top), the individual multicyclone body being secured between an upper mounting plate (36, Fig. 4) and a lower mounting plate (37 and/or 38, Fig. 4), the upper and the lower mounting plates (36, 37, 38, Fig. 4) being affixed to an inner wall of the multi-cyclone body housing (3, Fig. 1 or 31, Fig. 1) (Tang explicitly discloses the plates 36, 37 and 38 are installed [emphasis added] inside the multi-cyclone 3, page 6, 22nd paragraph from the top). One skilled in the art would have reasonably expected that the mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4) are removed/reinstalled as a unit after the life-time of the mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4) is expired.
In regard to claim 7, Tang discloses the first orifice plate 36, the second orifice plate 37 and the third orifice plate 38 are respectively arranged at the upper, middle and lower parts of the cyclone 35, the diameter of an opening on the first orifice plate 36 is matched with the outer diameter of the upper part of the cyclone 35, the diameter of an opening on the second orifice plate 37 is matched with the outer diameter of the middle part of the cyclone 35, the diameter of an opening on the third orifice plate 38 is matched with the outer diameter of the lower part of the cyclone 35, the bottom of each cyclone 35 is sleeved in one hole of the third orifice plate 38, the middle part of each cyclone is sleeved in one hole of the second orifice plate 37, the upper part of each cyclone is sleeved in one hole of the first orifice plate 36, and all opening gaps between each cyclone 35 and the first orifice plate 36, the second orifice plate 37 and the third orifice plate 38 are sealed after the cyclone is installed (page 6, 3rd paragraph from the top). Tang discloses the upper mounting plate includes a plurality of apertures (Fig. 5), and the teachings of Tang directs each of the plurality of mini-cyclonic chambers are disposed in a corresponding one of the plurality of apertures.
In regard to claim 8, Tang discloses an undercarriage (a side suction dust removal system is loaded on a railway track bed sewage suction vehicle, see page 2, Disclosure of Invention) which directs a plurality of wheels are supported on the undercarriage.
In regard to claim 9, Tang discloses the plurality of mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4) that conduct cyclone for dust removal from air (page 1, Abstract). It is known in the art that cyclone separator comprises the feature of at least one tangential immiscible stream inlet oriented to direct the immiscible stream into a rotational flow path within each mini-cyclonic separator as evidenced by Davies (The Separation of Airborne Dust and Particles, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Volume 167, Issue 1b Jun 1953, see page 189, Fig. 8).
In regard to claim 10, Tang discloses a side suction dust removal system for a railway track bed sewage suction vehicle (i.e., a vacuum excavation vehicle) (page 1, Title and Abstract) comprising (Fig. 1 – Fig. 6 of the original Chinese document’ pages 2-7 of the English translation document):
(i) a vacuum spoils tank (2, Fig. 1 which is a dust collector) receiving a dust containing fluid operatively mounted to the undercarriage, the vacuum spoils tank having an inlet and an outlet (there are intake pipe connected to an explosion-proof device 1 and a discharge port to a multi-cyclone dust collector 3, see page 5, Embodiment 1);
(ii) a multi-cyclone body housing (3, Fig. 1; Fig. 4 shows multi-cyclone located in the multi-cyclone body housing) positioned at the vacuum spoils tank (2, Fig. 1) outlet; and
(iii) a multi-cyclone body disposed within the multi-cyclone body housing (the multi-cyclone body housing carrying a multi-cyclone body, the multi-cyclone body carrying the plurality of mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4), for example 3[Symbol font/0xB4]3 configuration, total of 9 mini-cyclones, as shown in Fig. 5; page 6, 2nd paragraph from the top), the individual multicyclone body being secured between an upper mounting plate (36, Fig. 4) and a lower mounting plate (37 and/or 38, Fig. 4), the upper and the lower mounting plates (36, 37, 38, Fig. 4) being affixed to an inner wall of the multi-cyclone body housing (3, Fig. 1 or 31, Fig. 1) (Tang explicitly discloses the plates 36, 37 and 38 are installed [emphasis added] inside the multi-cyclone 3, page 6, 2nd paragraph from the top),
wherein the multi-cyclone body housing carrying a multi-cyclone body, the multi-cyclone body carrying the plurality of mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4), each mini-cyclonic chamber (35, Fig. 4) including an outlet tube (the bottom of the mini-cyclone where the collected ashes are purged) extending into the mounting plate (36, 37, 38, Fig. 4) and a mini-cyclonic separator (the cyclone 35, Fig. 4 separates dust from the input fluid of wet or dry waste), the mini-cyclonic separator being in fluid communication with the vacuum spoils tank (2, Fig. 2) outlet, the outlet tube being in fluid communication with a multi-cyclone body housing outlet (33, 34, Fig. 3) and a filtration system (4, Fig. 1, a bag filter).
Tang discloses a multi-cyclone body disposed within the multi-cyclone body housing (the multi-cyclone body housing carrying a multi-cyclone body, the multi-cyclone body carrying the plurality of mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4), for example 3[Symbol font/0xB4]3 configuration, total of 9 mini-cyclones, as shown in Fig. 5; page 6, 2nd paragraph from the top), the individual multicyclone body being secured between an upper mounting plate (36, Fig. 4) and a lower mounting plate (37 and/or 38, Fig. 4), the upper and the lower mounting plates (36, 37, 38, Fig. 4) being affixed to an inner wall of the multi-cyclone body housing (3, Fig. 1 or 31, Fig. 1) (Tang explicitly discloses the plates 36, 37 and 38 are installed [emphasis added] inside the multi-cyclone 3, page 6, 22nd paragraph from the top). One skilled in the art would have reasonably expected that the mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4) are removed/reinstalled as a unit after the life-time of the mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4) is expired. The teachings of Tang renders the recitation of claim 10 prima facie obvious.
In regard to claim 11, Tang discloses the plurality of mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4) that conduct cyclone for dust removal from air (page 1, Abstract). It is known in the art that (i) cyclone separator comprises the feature of at least one tangential immiscible stream inlet oriented to direct the immiscible stream into a rotational flow path within each mini-cyclonic separator as evidenced by Davies (The Separation of Airborne Dust and Particles, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Volume 167, Issue 1b Jun 1953, see page 189, Fig. 8). In light of teachings from Tang, the feature of “an immiscible stream enters the housing from the outlet at a location above the lower mounting plate and below the upper mounting plate” would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art through routine experimentation in an effort to optimize cyclone activity and utility taking into consideration the operational parameters of the cyclone separation operation (fluid residence time, pressure, throughput), the geometry of the mini-cyclone bodies, the physical and chemical make-up of the fluid mixture feedstock as well as the nature of the treated fluid end-products.
In regard to claim 12, Tang discloses a multi-cyclone body disposed within the multi-cyclone body housing (the multi-cyclone body housing carrying a multi-cyclone body, the multi-cyclone body carrying the plurality of mini-cyclonic chambers (35, Fig. 4), for example 3[Symbol font/0xB4]3 configuration, total of 9 mini-cyclones, as shown in Fig. 5; page 6, 2nd paragraph from the top). In light of teachings from Tang, the feature of “the body comprises between 20 and 30 mini-cyclonic chambers” would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art through routine experimentation in an effort to optimize cyclone activity and utility taking into consideration the operational parameters of the cyclone separation operation (fluid residence time, pressure, throughput), the geometry of the mini-cyclone bodies, the physical and chemical make-up of the fluid mixture feedstock as well as the nature of the treated fluid end-products.
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 YOUNGSUL JEONG whose telephone number is (571)270-1494. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM.
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/YOUNGSUL JEONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1772