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 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.
Claims 1-8, 11, 13, 15-19, and 21-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 109414078 A, hereinafter Li) in view of Lv et al. (CN 113615887 A, hereinafter Lv).
Regarding claim 1, Li discloses a heating body for an electronic vaporization device (Abstract, “an electronic cigarette, atomizing assembly and the atomizing element.”) and configured to vaporize an aerosol-generation substrate (Abstract, “make the juice heated atomizing surface is uniform so as to generate smoke atomized particles with the same size”), the heating body comprising:
a liquid guiding substrate comprising a heating region (Claim 1, “the porous substrate has an atomizing surface”, and Page 5, Para. 2, “The porous substrate 42 further transmits the juice on the atomizing surface 422”, where the porous surface is the liquid guiding substrate that includes a heating region at the atomizing surface) and an electrode region (Page 9, Para. 1, “atomizing element 40 further comprises an electrode 41, the electrode 41 is formed on the second cover film 46 from one side of the first covering film 44 for the first cover film 44 and/or the second covering film 46 electrically connecting with the power supply.”, where the porous substrate 42 includes a heating region of the atomizing surface 422 and an electrode region which is vertically connected to the atomizing surface from Fig. 3);
a heating material arranged on a first surface of the liquid guiding substrate (Page 5, Para. 2, “wherein the porous substrate 42 with the atomizing surface 422”, where the atomizing surface 422 is the heating material layer at the first surface of the liquid guiding substrate or porous substrate), wherein the heating material is a resistance heating material (Claim 5, “the porous substrate is made of a conductive material”, where the atomizing surface 422 is the top material layer of the porous substrate, where the material is the same as the porous substrate) and comprises a heating portion arranged in the heating region (Claim 1, “porous substrate has an atomizing surface; the first covering film and the second covering film are sequentially formed on the atomization surface, at least one of the first covering film and the second covering film is used for heating while electrifying to for heating and atomizing the cigarette liquid on the atomization surface.”, where the atomizing surface 422 has a heating portion connected to the first and second covering films) and a connection portion arranged in the electrode region (Page 8, Para. 1, “as shown in Figure 3, the atomizing element 40 further comprises an electrode 41, the electrode 41 is formed on the second cover film 46 from one side of the first covering film 44 for the first cover film 44 and/or the second covering film 46 electrically connecting with the power supply.”, where the connection portion of the atomizing surface 422 is where the electrode 41 attaches to either first or second film);
a first protective film at least partially arranged on a surface of the heating portion that is away from the liquid guiding substrate (Page 8, Para. 5, “first cover film 44 and the second cover film 46 are available for heating to heat the juice on the atomizing surface 422.”, where the first cover film is arranged on the surface of the heating portion of the atomizing surface 422 and is away from the porous substrate), wherein the first protective film is made of a non- conductive material (Page 8, Para. 2-3 from end, “first cover film 44 except outer can made of titanium-zirconium alloy, and it also can be other material with buffer ability, the present application is not specifically limited. wherein, the material can be a conductive material, also can be non-conductive material, the present application is not specifically limited.”); and
a second protective film at least partially arranged on a surface of the connection portion that is away from the liquid guiding substrate (Page 8, Para. 5, “first cover film 44 and the second cover film 46 are available for heating to heat the juice on the atomizing surface 422.”, where the second cover film is arranged on the surface that is connecting with the electrode and is away from the porous substrate), wherein the second protective film is made of a conductive material resistant to a corrosion of the aerosol-generation substrate (Page 8, Para. 6-7 from end, “second cover film 46 except outer can made of gold alloy, can also be made using other material with strong oxidation resistance, the present application is not specifically limited. wherein, the material can be a conductive material, also can be non-conductive material.”).
Li does not disclose:
a heating material layer arranged on a first surface of the liquid guiding substrate;
wherein the first protective film is made of a non- conductive material resistant to a corrosion of the aerosol-generation substrate.
However, Lv discloses, in the similar field of electronic vaporization devices (Abstract, “an electronic atomizing device”), where the liquid guiding substrate can include a separate heating material layer (Page 2, Para. 2 from end, “The invention claims an atomizing element, comprising a base body and a heating film; the base body is provided with an atomizing surface; the heating film is set on the atomizing surface; and it can heat and atomize the aerosol generating substrate on the atomizing surface when electrifying”), where a protective film for the heating material layer is made of a non-conductive material resistant to the corrosion of the aerosol-generation substrate (Page 2, last Para., “the heating film comprises a metal heating layer and an inorganic protection layer which are overlapped; wherein the inorganic protection layer is arranged on the surface of the metal heating layer far away from the base body”, and Page 8, Para. 2, “inorganic protective layer 1122 protective metal heating layer 1121, further improves the anti-corrosion performance of the heating film 112”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the substrate and protective first film in Li to include a separate a heating material layer and a corrosion resistant protective first film as taught by Lv.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use a separated heating material layer and porous substrate for the ease in manufacturing and low cost, as stated by Lv, Page 6, Para. 4 from end, “porous ceramic is insulator; it will not be electrically connected with the heating film 112 formed on it to generate short circuit; and it is convenient to manufacture and low in cost.”, and where the protective film prolongs the life of the metal heating layer through the protective layer’s corrosion resistance, Page 8, Para. 1, “inorganic protective layer 1122 can block aerosol generating substrate or atomizing the aerosol and metal heating layer 1121 contact greatly reducing the aerosol generating substrate or atomizing the aerosol of the metal heating layer 1121 corrosion, prolonging the service life of the atomizing element 11.”.
Regarding claim 2, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Li does not disclose:
wherein the first protective film is made of at least one of ceramic or glass.
However, Lv discloses where the first protective film can be made from at least one of ceramic or glass (Page 8, Para. 3 from end, “The material of the inorganic protective layer 1122 can be selected according to the actual requirement, the sintering temperature is usually less than 1000 ° C, for example, can be ceramic material or glass material. In some embodiments, the inorganic protective layer 1122 is mainly made of ceramic material, which mainly comprises at least one component of Al2O3, SiO2, MgO, BaO, CaO, ZrO2 or ZnO”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the first protective film in modified Li to be made of ceramic or glass as taught by Lv.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to select the first protective film material depending on the sintering temperature conditions that would be imparted upon the film, where the material can then be resistant to those temperatures, as stated by Lv, Page 8, Para. 3 from end, “The material of the inorganic protective layer 1122 can be selected according to the actual requirement, the sintering temperature is usually less than 1000 ° C, for example, can be ceramic material or glass material.”.
Regarding claim 3, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 2, as set forth above, discloses wherein the first protective film is made of one or more of aluminum nitride, silicon nitride, aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, silicon carbide, or zirconium oxide (Teaching from Lv, Page 8, Para. 3 from end, “The material of the inorganic protective layer 1122 can be selected according to the actual requirement, the sintering temperature is usually less than 1000 ° C, for example, can be ceramic material or glass material. In some embodiments, the inorganic protective layer 1122 is mainly made of ceramic material, which mainly comprises at least one component of Al2O3, SiO2, MgO, BaO, CaO, ZrO2 or ZnO”).
Regarding claim 4, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein a thickness of the first protective film ranges from 10 nm to 1000 nm (Li, Claim 12, “thickness of the first covering film is 0.5 μm-5 μm.”, where 10-1000 nm is 0.01-1 μm).
Regarding claim 5, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the second protective film is made of conductive ceramic or metal (Li, Page 7, Para. 2 from end, “second cover film 46 can be metal or alloy.”).
Regarding claim 6, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 5, as set forth above, discloses wherein the second protective film is made of one or more of titanium nitride or titanium diboride (Li, Page 7, Para. 2 from end, “second cover film 46 can be metal or alloy. the resistance caused by mutation and oxidation reaction in contact with the air in order to prevent the first cover film 44 and the second cover film 46 made of material with strong oxidation resistance. For example, the second cover film 46 can be platinum, palladium, palladium-copper alloy, silver-platinum alloy, gold alloy, palladium-silver alloy, gold-platinum alloy.”, where any metal or alloy that has strong oxidation resistance can be used, where titanium nitride and titanium diboride both have strong oxidation resistance and are metal alloys).
Regarding claim 7, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein a thickness of the second protective film ranges from 10 nm to 2000 nm (Li, Claim 18, “the thickness of the second covering film is 0.3 μ m-1 μm.”, where 10-2000 nm is 0.01-2 μm).
Regarding claim 8, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the liquid guiding substrate is a dense liquid guiding substrate comprising a second surface arranged opposite to the first surface (Li, Fig. 4, where the liquid guiding substrate or porous substrate 42 is dense in being a metal and includes a second surface near the top of Fig. 4, which is opposite to the first surface of the atomizing surface 422), and a plurality of first micropores that are ordered through holes running through the first surface and the second surface (Li, Page 5, Para. 3 from end, “porosity of the porous ceramic is 50-60 %. through the control of porosity porous ceramic is 50-60 %, on one hand, it can ensure the porous ceramic has a better delivery efficiency, prevent smoke liquid flow is not smooth and dry burning phenomenon to improve the atomizing effect.”, and Page 5, Para. 2 from end, “Further, in the present embodiment, the aperture of the micro-porous ceramic is 1μ m-100 μm.”, where the porous substrate includes pores that go from the second to the first surface, where these pores allow for the liquid to be delivered to the atomizing surface).
Regarding claim 11, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Li does not disclose:
wherein the heating material layer is a heating film, and a thickness of the heating film ranges from 200 nm to 5 µm.
However, Lv discloses where the heating material layer is a heating film (Page 2, Para. 3, “a metal film set on the ceramic substrate atomizing surface”) and has a thickness of 200 nm to 5 µm (Claim 5, “metal heating layer comprises a first sub-metal layer and a second sub-metal layer which are overlapped”, and Claim 8, “wherein the total thickness of the first sub-metal layer is 1-5 microns, the total thickness of the second sub-metal layer is 0.5 microns to 5 microns”, where the combined thickness of the heating layer would range 1.5-10 µm). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the heating layer in modified Li to be a film with the thickness as taught by Lv.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of adjusting the thickness of the heating layer depending on the desired resistance, where a user can use the thickness values presented by Lv in order to obtain a functional atomizing assembly, as stated by Lv, Page 10, last Para., “the thickness of the single sub-metal layer can be adjusted according to the actual need; generally considering the heating film 112 resistance value to adjust the thickness and the total thickness of the single metal layer.”.
Regarding claim 13, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 11, as set forth above.
Modified Li does not disclose:
wherein the heating material layer is made of at least one of aluminum, copper, silver, gold, nickel, chromium, platinum, titanium, zirconium, palladium. iron, or alloy thereof.
However, Lv discloses where the heating material layer is made of alloys of nickel and titanium (Page 3, Para. 5, “metal heating layer comprises a stacked first sub-metal layer and a second sub-metal layer; wherein the material of the first sub-metal layer is NiCr or 316L stainless steel; the material of the second sub-metal layer is TiZr.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use materials that have corrosion resistance, as stated by Lv, Page 9, Para. 3, “first sub-metal layer 1121b of material can be good continuity, and oxidation resistance; corrosion resistance metal or alloy material, such as NiCr alloy or 316L stainless steel and so on. the NiCr alloy has high specific resistance and good thermal stability; 316L stainless steel is added with Mo element, so it has excellent corrosion resistance and high temperature resistance.”.
Regarding claim 15, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the liquid guiding substrate has a shape of a flat plate, an arc, or a barrel (Li, Page 5, Para. 2, “Referring to FIG. 4, the atomizing element 40 comprises a porous substrate 42, first cover film 44 and the second cover film 46.”, and Fig. 2, where the substrate 42 that is part of the atomizing element 40 is shown to have a shape like a barrel).
Regarding claim 16, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the first protective film covers the heating portion (Li, Page 8, Para. 5, “first cover film 44 and the second cover film 46 are available for heating to heat the juice on the atomizing surface 422.”, where the first cover film is arranged on the surface of the heating portion of the atomizing surface 422 and is away from the porous substrate, where the first cover film 44 covers the atomizing surface 422), and the second protective film covers the connection portion (Li, Page 9, Para. 1, “atomizing element 40 further comprises an electrode 41, the
electrode 41 is formed on the second cover film 46 from one side of the first covering film 44 for the first cover film 44 and/or the second covering film 46 electrically connecting with the power supply.”, where the second covering film 46 covers the electrode connection part formed on the first covering film).
Regarding claim 17, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the liquid guiding substrate has a shape of a cylinder and comprises an inner surface and an outer surface (Li, Page 5, Para. 2, “Referring to FIG. 4, the atomizing element 40 comprises a porous substrate 42, first cover film 44 and the second cover film 46.”, and Fig. 2, where the substrate 42 that is part of the atomizing element 40 is shown to have a shape like a barrel or a cylinder, where there is an inner and outer surface), and the heating material layer is arranged on the inner surface or the outer surface (Teaching from Lv, where the heating material is a separate layer on the atomizing surface 422 of Li; Li, Fig. 4, where the heating material layer would be on the outside surface of the liquid guiding substrate).
Regarding claim 18, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the first protective film, and the second protective film are formed on the first surface of the liquid guiding substrate in a physical vapor deposition or chemical vapor deposition manner (Li, Page 6, Para. 7, “first cover film 44 and the second cover film 46 is a porous film. first cover film 44 and the second cover film 46 may be formed by physical vapour deposition on the porous ceramic. For example, it can by evaporation or sputtering of the first covering film 44 formed on the atomization surface 422 of porous ceramics, by evaporation or sputtering of the second cover film 46 is formed on the first cover film 44.”).
Modified Li does not disclose:
where the heating material layer is formed through physical vapor deposition or chemical vapor deposition.
However, Lv discloses where the heating material layer is formed through physical vapor deposition or chemical vapor deposition (Page 7, Para. 2 from end, “The metal heating layer 1121 can be deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (Chemical Vapor Deposition; (CVD) depositing a metal film on the porous substrate 111”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the heating material layer in modified Li to be formed through physical vapor deposition or chemical vapor deposition as taught by Lv.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to have a continuous deposition of the heating material layer, which can improve the consistency of the layer, as stated by Lv, Page 7, Para. 2 from end, “the metal heating layer 1121 is a continuous porous structure. The metal heating layer 1121 can be deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (Chemical Vapor Deposition; (CVD)”.
Regarding claim 19, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the connection portion of the heating material layer and the second protective film form an electrode (Li, Page 9, Para. 1, “the atomizing element 40 further comprises an electrode 41, the electrode 41 is formed on the second cover film 46 from one side of the first covering film 44 for the first cover film 44 and/or the second covering film 46 electrically connecting with the power supply.”).
Regarding claim 21, Li discloses a vaporization assembly (Abstract, “an electronic cigarette, atomizing assembly and the atomizing element.”), comprising:
a liquid storage cavity configured to store a liquid aerosol-generation substrate (Claim 20, “atomization assembly comprises a liquid storage chamber for storing cigarette liquid”); and
a heating body in fluid communication with the liquid storage cavity (Claim 20, “atomizing element, smoke liquid in the liquid storage chamber can be conducted on the atomizing surface.”), the heating body comprising:
a liquid guiding substrate comprising a heating region (Claim 1, “the porous substrate has an atomizing surface”, and Page 5, Para. 2, “The porous substrate 42 further transmits the juice on the atomizing surface 422”, where the porous surface is the liquid guiding substrate that includes a heating region at the atomizing surface) and an electrode region (Page 9, Para. 1, “atomizing element 40 further comprises an electrode 41, the electrode 41 is formed on the second cover film 46 from one side of the first covering film 44 for the first cover film 44 and/or the second covering film 46 electrically connecting with the power supply.”, where the porous substrate 42 includes a heating region of the atomizing surface 422 and an electrode region which is vertically connected to the atomizing surface from Fig. 3);
a heating material arranged on a first surface of the liquid guiding substrate (Page 5, Para. 2, “wherein the porous substrate 42 with the atomizing surface 422”, where the atomizing surface 422 is the heating material layer at the first surface of the liquid guiding substrate or porous substrate), wherein the heating material is a resistance heating material (Claim 5, “the porous substrate is made of a conductive material”, where the atomizing surface 422 is the top material layer of the porous substrate, where the material is the same as the porous substrate) and comprises a heating portion arranged in the heating region (Claim 1, “porous substrate has an atomizing surface; the first covering film and the second covering film are sequentially formed on the atomization surface, at least one of the first covering film and the second covering film is used for heating while electrifying to for heating and atomizing the cigarette liquid on the atomization surface.”, where the atomizing surface 422 has a heating portion connected to the first and second covering films) and a connection portion arranged in the electrode region (Page 8, Para. 1, “as shown in Figure 3, the atomizing element 40 further comprises an electrode 41, the electrode 41 is formed on the second cover film 46 from one side of the first covering film 44 for the first cover film 44 and/or the second covering film 46 electrically connecting with the power supply.”, where the connection portion of the atomizing surface 422 is where the electrode 41 attaches to either first or second film);
a first protective film at least partially arranged on a surface of the heating portion that is away from the liquid guiding substrate (Page 8, Para. 5, “first cover film 44 and the second cover film 46 are available for heating to heat the juice on the atomizing surface 422.”, where the first cover film is arranged on the surface of the heating portion of the atomizing surface 422 and is away from the porous substrate), wherein the first protective film is made of a non-conductive material (Page 8, Para. 2-3 from end, “first cover film 44 except outer can made of titanium-zirconium alloy, and it also can be other material with buffer ability, the present application is not specifically limited. wherein, the material can be a conductive material, also can be non-conductive material, the present application is not specifically limited.”); and
a second protective film at least partially arranged on a surface of the connection portion that is away from the liquid guiding substrate (Page 8, Para. 5, “first cover film 44 and the second cover film 46 are available for heating to heat the juice on the atomizing surface 422.”, where the second cover film is arranged on the surface that is connecting with the electrode and is away from the porous substrate), wherein the second protective film is made of a conductive material resistant to a corrosion of the aerosol-generation substrate (Page 8, Para. 6-7 from end, “second cover film 46 except outer can made of gold alloy, can also be made using other material with strong oxidation resistance, the present application is not specifically limited. wherein, the material can be a conductive material, also can be non-conductive material.”).
Li does not disclose:
a heating material layer arranged on a first surface of the liquid guiding substrate;
wherein the first protective film is made of a non- conductive material resistant to a corrosion of the aerosol-generation substrate.
However, Lv discloses, in the similar field of electronic vaporization devices (Abstract, “an electronic atomizing device”), where the liquid guiding substrate can include a separate heating material layer (Page 2, Para. 2 from end, “The invention claims an atomizing element, comprising a base body and a heating film; the base body is provided with an atomizing surface; the heating film is set on the atomizing surface; and it can heat and atomize the aerosol generating substrate on the atomizing surface when electrifying”), where a protective film for the heating material layer is made of a non-conductive material resistant to the corrosion of the aerosol-generation substrate (Page 2, last Para., “the heating film comprises a metal heating layer and an inorganic protection layer which are overlapped; wherein the inorganic protection layer is arranged on the surface of the metal heating layer far away from the base body”, and Page 8, Para. 2, “inorganic protective layer 1122 protective metal heating layer 1121, further improves the anti-corrosion performance of the heating film 112”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the substrate and protective first film in Li to include a separate a heating material layer and a corrosion resistant protective first film as taught by Lv.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use a separated heating material layer and porous substrate for the ease in manufacturing and low cost, as stated by Lv, Page 6, Para. 4 from end, “porous ceramic is insulator; it will not be electrically connected with the heating film 112 formed on it to generate short circuit; and it is convenient to manufacture and low in cost.”, and where the protective film prolongs the life of the metal heating layer through the protective layer’s corrosion resistance, Page 8, Para. 1, “inorganic protective layer 1122 can block aerosol generating substrate or atomizing the aerosol and metal heating layer 1121 contact greatly reducing the aerosol generating substrate or atomizing the aerosol of the metal heating layer 1121 corrosion, prolonging the service life of the atomizing element 11.”.
Regarding claim 22, Li discloses an electronic vaporization device (Abstract, “an electronic cigarette, atomizing assembly and the atomizing element.”), comprising:
a vaporization assembly (Abstract, “an electronic cigarette, atomizing assembly and the atomizing element.”); and
a power supply assembly (Claim 21, “electronic cigarette comprises a power assembly”), wherein the vaporization assembly comprises:
a liquid storage cavity configured to store a liquid aerosol-generation substrate (Claim 20, “atomization assembly comprises a liquid storage chamber for storing cigarette liquid”); and
a heating body in fluid communication with the liquid storage cavity (Claim 20, “atomizing element, smoke liquid in the liquid storage chamber can be conducted on the atomizing surface.”), the heating body comprising:
a liquid guiding substrate comprising a heating region (Claim 1, “the porous substrate has an atomizing surface”, and Page 5, Para. 2, “The porous substrate 42 further transmits the juice on the atomizing surface 422”, where the porous surface is the liquid guiding substrate that includes a heating region at the atomizing surface) and an electrode region (Page 9, Para. 1, “atomizing element 40 further comprises an electrode 41, the electrode 41 is formed on the second cover film 46 from one side of the first covering film 44 for the first cover film 44 and/or the second covering film 46 electrically connecting with the power supply.”, where the porous substrate 42 includes a heating region of the atomizing surface 422 and an electrode region which is vertically connected to the atomizing surface from Fig. 3);
a heating material arranged on a first surface of the liquid guiding substrate (Page 5, Para. 2, “wherein the porous substrate 42 with the atomizing surface 422”, where the atomizing surface 422 is the heating material layer at the first surface of the liquid guiding substrate or porous substrate), wherein the heating material is a resistance heating material (Claim 5, “the porous substrate is made of a conductive material”, where the atomizing surface 422 is the top material layer of the porous substrate, where the material is the same as the porous substrate) and comprises a heating portion arranged in the heating region (Claim 1, “porous substrate has an atomizing surface; the first covering film and the second covering film are sequentially formed on the atomization surface, at least one of the first covering film and the second covering film is used for heating while electrifying to for heating and atomizing the cigarette liquid on the atomization surface.”, where the atomizing surface 422 has a heating portion connected to the first and second covering films) and a connection portion arranged in the electrode region (Page 8, Para. 1, “as shown in Figure 3, the atomizing element 40 further comprises an electrode 41, the electrode 41 is formed on the second cover film 46 from one side of the first covering film 44 for the first cover film 44 and/or the second covering film 46 electrically connecting with the power supply.”, where the connection portion of the atomizing surface 422 is where the electrode 41 attaches to either first or second film);
a first protective film at least partially arranged on a surface of the heating portion that is away from the liquid guiding substrate (Page 8, Para. 5, “first cover film 44 and the second cover film 46 are available for heating to heat the juice on the atomizing surface 422.”, where the first cover film is arranged on the surface of the heating portion of the atomizing surface 422 and is away from the porous substrate), wherein the first protective film is made of a non-conductive material (Page 8, Para. 2-3 from end, “first cover film 44 except outer can made of titanium-zirconium alloy, and it also can be other material with buffer ability, the present application is not specifically limited. wherein, the material can be a conductive material, also can be non-conductive material, the present application is not specifically limited.”); and
a second protective film at least partially arranged on a surface of the connection portion that is away from the liquid guiding substrate (Page 8, Para. 5, “first cover film 44 and the second cover film 46 are available for heating to heat the juice on the atomizing surface 422.”, where the second cover film is arranged on the surface that is connecting with the electrode and is away from the porous substrate), wherein the second protective film is made of a conductive material resistant to a corrosion of the aerosol-generation substrate (Page 8, Para. 6-7 from end, “second cover film 46 except outer can made of gold alloy, can also be made using other material with strong oxidation resistance, the present application is not specifically limited. wherein, the material can be a conductive material, also can be non-conductive material.”), and
the power supply assembly is connected to the heating body (Claim 21, “power supply component electrically connected to the atomizing assembly for the atomizing assembly of the atomizing element for supplying power.”).
Li does not disclose:
a heating material layer arranged on a first surface of the liquid guiding substrate;
wherein the first protective film is made of a non- conductive material resistant to a corrosion of the aerosol-generation substrate.
However, Lv discloses, in the similar field of electronic vaporization devices (Abstract, “an electronic atomizing device”), where the liquid guiding substrate can include a separate heating material layer (Page 2, Para. 2 from end, “The invention claims an atomizing element, comprising a base body and a heating film; the base body is provided with an atomizing surface; the heating film is set on the atomizing surface; and it can heat and atomize the aerosol generating substrate on the atomizing surface when electrifying”), where a protective film for the heating material layer is made of a non-conductive material resistant to the corrosion of the aerosol-generation substrate (Page 2, last Para., “the heating film comprises a metal heating layer and an inorganic protection layer which are overlapped; wherein the inorganic protection layer is arranged on the surface of the metal heating layer far away from the base body”, and Page 8, Para. 2, “inorganic protective layer 1122 protective metal heating layer 1121, further improves the anti-corrosion performance of the heating film 112”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the substrate and protective first film in Li to include a separate a heating material layer and a corrosion resistant protective first film as taught by Lv.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use a separated heating material layer and porous substrate for the ease in manufacturing and low cost, as stated by Lv, Page 6, Para. 4 from end, “porous ceramic is insulator; it will not be electrically connected with the heating film 112 formed on it to generate short circuit; and it is convenient to manufacture and low in cost.”, and where the protective film prolongs the life of the metal heating layer through the protective layer’s corrosion resistance, Page 8, Para. 1, “inorganic protective layer 1122 can block aerosol generating substrate or atomizing the aerosol and metal heating layer 1121 contact greatly reducing the aerosol generating substrate or atomizing the aerosol of the metal heating layer 1121 corrosion, prolonging the service life of the atomizing element 11.”.
Claims 9 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 109414078 A, hereinafter Li) in view of Lv et al. (CN 113615887 A, hereinafter Lv) in further view of Li et al. (CN 113331484 A, hereinafter Bo).
Regarding claim 9, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 8, as set forth above, discloses wherein the liquid guiding substrate is made of at least one of quartz, glass, or dense ceramic (Teaching from Lv, Page 6, Para. 4 from end, “porous ceramic is insulator; it will not be electrically connected with the heating film 112 formed on it to generate short circuit; and it is convenient to manufacture and low in cost.”, where the liquid guiding substrate can be made from a ceramic; Li, Fig. 4, where the substrate 42 is shown to be dense in having a thickness).
Modified Li does not disclose:
the plurality of first micropores are straight through holes.
However, Bo discloses, in the similar field of electronic vaporization devices (Abstract, “an electronic atomizing device”), where the micropores are straight through holes (Page 1, last Para., “porous substrate of atomizing assembly of electronic atomizing device… other is honeycomb-shaped pore structure formed by forming process or mechanical pore forming, the honeycomb-shaped pore structure is a straight through hole with single pore diameter distribution”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the micropores in modified Li to be straight through holes as taught by Bo.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to leak the liquid easier, as stated by Bo, Page 2, Para. 1, “honeycomb-shaped pore structure is a straight through hole with single pore diameter distribution; in addition, straight through hole is easy to leak liquid”.
Regarding claim 20, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 8, as set forth above.
Modified Li does not disclose:
wherein the plurality of first micropores are straight through holes, and the heating material layer and the first protective film extend into a wall surface of each of the plurality of first micropores.
However, Bo discloses where the micropores are straight through holes (Page 1, last Para., “porous substrate of atomizing assembly of electronic atomizing device… other is honeycomb-shaped pore structure formed by forming process or mechanical pore forming, the honeycomb-shaped pore structure is a straight through hole with single pore diameter distribution”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the micropores in modified Li to be straight through holes as taught by Bo; where the heating material layer from the teaching of Lv and the first protective film from Li are stacked on top of the ceramic substrate, where the straight through holes extend to the first surface of the ceramic substrate and the heating and first protective film would extend from those straight through holes.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to leak the liquid easier, as stated by Bo, Page 2, Para. 1, “honeycomb-shaped pore structure is a straight through hole with single pore diameter distribution; in addition, straight through hole is easy to leak liquid”.
Claims 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 109414078 A, hereinafter Li) in view of Lv et al. (CN 113615887 A, hereinafter Lv) in further view of Zhou et al. (WO 2021109740 A1, hereinafter Zhou).
Regarding claim 10, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above discloses wherein the liquid guiding substrate is made of porous ceramic and comprises a plurality of disordered through holes (Li, Page 6, Para. 4-5, “Alternatively, the hole diameter of porous ceramic is the volume of pores 10-15 μm takes up all the micropores of porous ceramic is more than 20%, the volume of micro-porous ceramic in the aperture is 30-50 μm occupies all of the micropore volume of the porous ceramic is about 30%. more alternative embodiments, by setting the proper size and aperture of the pore distribution uniform, the drainage of the porous ceramic”, where the alternative embodiment being uniform pore distribution implies that there is an embodiment that has disordered distribution of pores).
Modified Li does not disclose:
or the liquid guiding substrate comprises a porous ceramic layer and a dense ceramic layer that are stacked, the dense ceramic layer comprises a plurality of ordered straight through holes perpendicular to a thickness direction of the liquid guiding substrate, and the heating material layer is arranged on a surface of the dense ceramic layer that is away from the porous ceramic layer.
However, Zhou discloses, in the similar field of electronic vaporization devices (Abstract, “An electronic atomization device”), where the liquid guiding substrate can include a porous ceramic layer and a dense ceramic layer that are stacked (Page 4, last Para., “The ceramic coating layer 20 is bonded to the surface of the porous ceramic substrate 10, the heating film 30 is bonded to the surface of the ceramic coating layer 20 away from the porous ceramic substrate 10”, and Page 5, Para. 3, “The ceramic covering layer 20 with lower porosity is denser”), where the dense ceramic layer includes pores (Page 5, Para. 1, “A plurality of through holes 21 are formed on the ceramic covering layer 20.”), where a heating material layer is arranged on the surface of the dense ceramic layer away from the porous ceramic layer (Page 4, last Para., “the heating film 30 is bonded to the surface of the ceramic coating layer 20 away from the porous ceramic substrate 10”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the substrate in modified Li to include the denser ceramic layer with through holes on top of the porous ceramic layer for attaching the heating layer as taught by Zhou.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use a denser ceramic cover layer to prevent heavy metals from being sucked into the porous ceramic layer, where this can improve the safety performance of the device, as stated by Zhou, page 5, Para. 3, “There is no powder falling phenomenon, so it can prevent the atomization core 100 from falling powder; moreover, because the ceramic coating layer 20 with low porosity can isolate the precipitation of heavy metals in the porous ceramic substrate 10, it can prevent heavy metals from being sucked. Time is brought into the airflow, thereby improving the safety performance of the electronic atomization device.”.
Claims 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 109414078 A, hereinafter Li) in view of Lv et al. (CN 113615887 A, hereinafter Lv) in further view of Zhang (CN 113261706 A).
Regarding claim 12, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 11, as set forth above.
Modified Li does not disclose:
wherein a resistivity of the heating material layer is less than 0.06*10-6 Ω*m.
However, Zhang discloses, in the similar field of electronic vaporization devices (Abstract, “The electronic atomizer”), where the resistivity of the atomizer can be less than 0.06*10-6 Ω*m (Page 2, Para. 2 from end, “Further, the resistivity of the atomizer is 0.0001 ohm-meter to 0.09 ohm-meter; preferably between 0.001 ohm-meter and 0.05 ohm-meter”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the heating material layer in modified Li to include the resistivity values as taught by Zhang.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to achieve a good heating effect, as stated by Zhang, Page 2, Para. 2 from end, “Further, the resistivity of the atomizer is 0.0001 ohm-meter to 0.09 ohm-meter; preferably between 0.001 ohm-meter and 0.05 ohm-meter; By such setting, the atomizer has good heating effect.”.
Claims 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 109414078 A, hereinafter Li) in view of Lv et al. (CN 113615887 A, hereinafter Lv) in further view of Li et al. (CN 113421691 A, hereinafter Cheng).
Regarding claim 14, modified Li teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Li does not disclose:
wherein a thickness of the heating material layer ranges from 5 µm to 100 µm, and the heating material layer is a printed metal slurry layer.
However, Cheng discloses, in the similar field of electronic vaporization devices (Page 2, Para. 2, “electronic cigarette field of electronic cigarette”), where the heating material layer is a printed metal slurry layer (Abstract, “The heating circuit prepared by the metal slurry provided by the invention has high bonding strength with the porous ceramic”) and has a thickness of 5-100 µm (Page 2, Para. 5, “the thickness of the heating circuit is 50-100 microns.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the heating layer in modified Li to be made from a printed metal slurry as taught by Cheng.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to maintain a heating layer that has a high bonding strength without affecting the strength of the porous ceramic substrate itself, which can prolong the life of the device, as stated by Cheng, Abstract, “The heating circuit prepared by the metal slurry provided by the invention has high bonding strength with the porous ceramic, and does not affect the strength of the porous ceramic itself; it can satisfy the assembly and use requirement of the electronic cigarette atomizing core, and the service life of the electronic cigarette”.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Fraser et al. (WO 2021170758 A1, hereinafter Fraser) discloses a similar heating element with a thickness in microns.
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/KEVIN GUANHUA WEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
01/15/2026