DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 1-14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “a pair of hands of a user” in line 14 where the Applicant has already introduced this and will be treated as “the [[a]] pair of hands of the [[a]] user”.
Claim 14 recites “a pair of hands of a user” in line 25 where the Applicant has already introduced this and will be treated as “the [[a]] pair of hands of the [[a]] user”.
Claims 2-13 are objected to for being dependent from an objected to claim. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 1 is 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.
Claim 1 recites “emitting a light subsequent” in line 25 where the Examiner is unclear if this is a new light or the light introduced in line 16 of claim 1. A review of the claims and specification shows these two lights as different and claim 1 will be treated as follows, “emitting an indicator light subsequent”.
Claim 8 recites “the light being in electric communication with the microprocessor” where the Examiner is unclear as to which light is being referred back to. A review of the specification shows that both the indicator and ultraviolet light are connected to the microprocessor and does not provide any clarity. Fore examination purposes, the light of claim 8 will refer to the ultraviolet light.
Claims 2-7 and 9-13 are rejected for being dependent from an unclear and indefinite claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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 1-6 and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 10-2011-0042990 (Choi hereinafter) in view of US 6018835 (Schonfeld hereinafter) in view of US 2016/0256021 (Jolin hereinafter) in view of US 2019/0117802 (Hishinuma hereinafter) and further in view of US 9439988 (Troner hereinafter)
Regarding claim 1, Choi teaches a sanitizing hand dryer (Figures 1-3) that discloses a housing enclosing an interior (Figure 3 interior for 330 and the water to drip off of hands), the housing having a back wall (Back wall mounted to the bathroom wall as seen in Figure 2), the back wall having a top end and a bottom end (Top end being the upper end of the back wall and the bottom end being at the bottom of the back wall), a bottom wall protruding out from the bottom end of the back wall (Bottom wall being the bottom of 300 underneath the area collecting water from the user’s hands), the housing having a front wall (Front wall being shown as removed in Figure 3); a controller being in electric communication with a power source, the controller being configured for rendering data and executing actions of the sanitization hand dryer device (“In one embodiment of the approach detection sensor 350, the control unit drives the drying fan 310 when generating the detection signal. If the user's hand is far from the exit tray 320 and the time exceeds the first set time from the time when the detection signal is not generated, the controller drives the second ultraviolet lamp 340 to irradiate ultraviolet rays. The first set time refers to a time sufficient to determine that the user's human body is not harmed even when irradiated with ultraviolet rays because the user's hand is not detected and the user has moved away from the hand dryer. The first setting time may be variously set according to a user, and may be variously set within a range of about 5 minutes”); a blower being positioned within the interior of the housing (Blower 310), the blower having an outlet, the outlet being positioned on the bottom wall of the housing (Airflow outlet through the interior and out of the housing through the exit tray 320), the blower being configured for air drying a pair of hands of a user positioned proximate to the outlet (Evident from Figure 2); a light being positioned proximate to the outlet on the bottom wall of the housing, the light being configured for emitting an ultraviolet light (Ultraviolet light 330); a motion sensor being positioned on the bottom wall of the housing, the motion sensor being configured for detecting the pair of hands positioned below the bottom wall wherein the microprocessor actuating the blower and the light (Motion sensor 350); and a basket being positioned proximate to the bottom wall of the housing, the basket being configured for collecting liquid being expelled from the pair of hands of the user by the blower (Lower housing shown in Figures 1-3 below where the user’s hands would be is designed to catch water drops during the drying phase).
Choi is silent with respect to a battery compartment being positioned within the interior of the housing, the battery compartment being configured for providing electric power to the sanitization hand dryer device; a controller being in electric communication with the battery compartment.
However, Schonfeld teaches a sanitizing device that discloses a battery compartment being positioned within the interior of the housing, the battery compartment being configured for providing electric power to the sanitization device (Batteries 72 with control circuitry 87 as seen in Figures 1-4. The resultant combination would be such that the controller of Choi is in electric communication with the battery compartment.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the power source of Choi with the battery power of Schonfeld to allow for the hand dryer to be placed in environments not easily electrified.
Choi is silent with respect to a microprocessor being used as the controller.
However, Jolin teaches a hand dryer that discloses the use of a microprocessor (Microprocessor per ¶ 26 and 61).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the unspecified controller of Choi with the microprocessor of Jolin to increase the controllability of the hand dryer.
Choi is silent with respect to the light being configured for sanitizing the pair of hands of the user subsequent to air drying the pair of hands of the user from the outlet of the blower.
However, Hishinuma teaches a hand dryer that discloses ultraviolet light being configured for sanitizing the pair of hands of the user subsequent to air drying the pair of hands of the user from the outlet of the blower (¶ 39 details the use of UV light to sanitize a user’s hands).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the ultraviolet light operation of Choi with the additional sanitizing of Hishinuma to further increase the cleanliness of the user’s hands after drying.
Choi is silent with respect to an indicator being position on the front wall of the housing, the indicator being configured emitting a light subsequent to the motion sensor detecting the pair of hands of the user.
However, Troner teaches a hand dryer that discloses an indicator being position on the front wall of the housing, the indicator being configured emitting a light subsequent to the motion sensor detecting the pair of hands of the user (Indication lights 32/34/36, specifically 34 is described as an in-sure light per Column 2 Lines 42-45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the hand dryer of Choi with the in-use indicator of Troner to allow for a user to confirm that the and dryer is registering their hands and in operation.
Regarding claim 2, Choi’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Choi, Schonfeld, Jolin, Hishinuma, and Troner would further disclose that the interior defining a space for a variety of elements to be positioned within (Evident from Figure 3 of Choi).
Regarding claim 3, Choi’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Choi, Schonfeld, Jolin, Hishinuma, and Troner would further disclose that the back wall being configured for being positioned on the wall of a bathroom (Choi discloses the use of a hand dryers on walls of bathrooms).
Regarding claim 4, Choi’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Choi, Schonfeld, Jolin, Hishinuma, and Troner would further disclose that the front wall protruding from the bottom wall to the top end of the back wall, the housing having a pair of side walls (Evident from Figures 1-3 of Choi).
Regarding claim 5, Choi’s modified teachings are described above in claim 4 where the combination of Choi, Schonfeld, Jolin, Hishinuma, and Troner would further disclose a door of the battery compartment being positioned on the back wall of the housing (Schonfeld shows the equivalent front cover 22/30/34 as solid where the batteries 72 are and therefore a only seen to be assessable from the rear), the battery compartment being configured for holding a pair of disposable batteries (Schonfeld Figure 3 with batteries 72), the pair of disposable batteries being configured for supplying electric power to the battery compartment (Inherent of batteries 72 of Schonfeld).
Regarding claim 6, Choi’s modified teachings are described above in claim 5 where the combination of Choi, Schonfeld, Jolin, Hishinuma, and Troner would further disclose that the microprocessor being positioned within the interior of the housing (Evident from Choi and Jolin).
Regarding claim 12, Choi’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Choi, Schonfeld, Jolin, Hishinuma, and Troner would further disclose that the basket being a hand tray (Evident from Figures 1-3 of Choi).
Regarding claim 13, Choi’s modified teachings are described above in claim 13 where the combination of Choi, Schonfeld, Jolin, Hishinuma, and Troner would further disclose that the basket positioning the pair of hands proximate to the bottom wall of the housing wherein optimizing a process of air drying and sanitizing the pair of hands, the basket being configured for reducing the spread of liquid expelled from the pair of hands wherein reducing the spread of germs and bacteria (Evident from Figures 1-3 of Choi with the droplet catching portion of the hand dryer).
Claims 7-11 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 10-2011-0042990 (Choi) in view of US 6018835 (Schonfeld) in view of US 2016/0256021 (Jolin) in view of US 2019/0117802 (Hishinuma) in view of US 9439988 (Troner) and further in view of WO 2016/156861 (Lovelace hereinafter).
Regarding claim 7, Choi’s modified teachings are described above in claim 6 where the combination of Choi, Schonfeld, Jolin, Hishinuma, and Troner would further disclose that the blower being in electric communication with the microprocessor (Inherent for the control of Choi per Jolin to occur).
Choi is silent with respect that the blower being a plurality of fans configured for discharging air.
However, Lovelace teaches a hand drying system that discloses the use of a plurality of blowers (¶ 51 with fans 26 and 27 in Figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify replace the singular fan of Choi with the plurality of fans of Lovelace to allow for specific air flow characteristics to be imparted.
Regarding claim 8, Choi’s modified teachings are described above in claim 7 where the combination of Choi, Schonfeld, Jolin, Hishinuma, Troner, and Lovelace would further disclose that the light being in electric communication with the microprocessor (Inherent for the ultraviolet let to be connected to the microprocessor in order to react with the motion detector in Choi).
Regarding claim 9, Choi’s modified teachings are described above in claim 8 where the combination of Choi, Schonfeld, Jolin, Hishinuma, Troner, and Lovelace would further disclose that the ultraviolet light being configured for sanitizing wherein removing germs and bacteria from the pair of hands of the user (Hishinuma ¶ 39).
Regarding claim 10, Choi’s modified teachings are described above in claim 9 where the combination of Choi, Schonfeld, Jolin, Hishinuma, Troner, and Lovelace would further disclose that the motion sensor being in electric communication with the microprocessor (Evident of Choi 350 with the microprocessor of Jolin).
Regarding claim 11, Choi’s modified teachings are described above in claim 10 where the combination of Choi, Schonfeld, Jolin, Hishinuma, Troner, and Lovelace would further disclose that the indicator being in electric communication with the microprocessor, the indicator being a light emitting diode (Lovelace details an indicator light 130 being an LED which would be applied to the indicator 34 of Troner).
Regarding claim 14, Choi teaches a hand dryer (Figures 1-3) that discloses a housing enclosing an interior an interior (Figure 3 interior for 330 and the water to drip off of hands), the interior defining a space for a variety of elements to be positioned within (Evident from Figure 3 of Choi), the housing having a back wall (Back wall mounted to the bathroom wall as seen in Figure 2), that the back wall being configured for being positioned on the wall of a bathroom (Choi discloses the use of a hand dryers on walls of bathrooms), the back wall having a top end and a bottom end (Top end being the upper end of the back wall and the bottom end being at the bottom of the back wall), a bottom wall protruding out from the bottom end of the back wall (Bottom wall being the bottom of 300 underneath the area collecting water from the user’s hands), the housing having a front wall (Front wall being shown as removed in Figure 3), the front wall protruding from the bottom wall to the top end of the back wall, the housing having a pair of side walls (Evident from Figures 1-3 of Choi); a controller being in electric communication with a power source, the controller being configured for rendering data and executing actions of the sanitization hand dryer device (“In one embodiment of the approach detection sensor 350, the control unit drives the drying fan 310 when generating the detection signal. If the user's hand is far from the exit tray 320 and the time exceeds the first set time from the time when the detection signal is not generated, the controller drives the second ultraviolet lamp 340 to irradiate ultraviolet rays. The first set time refers to a time sufficient to determine that the user's human body is not harmed even when irradiated with ultraviolet rays because the user's hand is not detected and the user has moved away from the hand dryer. The first setting time may be variously set according to a user, and may be variously set within a range of about 5 minutes”), the controller being positioned within the interior of the housing (Evident of where the controller must be relative to Figures 1 and 3); a blower being positioned within the interior of the housing (Blower 310), the blower having an outlet, the outlet being positioned on the bottom wall of the housing (Airflow outlet through the interior and out of the housing through the exit tray 320), the blower being configured for air drying a pair of hands of a user positioned proximate to the outlet (Evident from Figure 2); a light being positioned proximate to the outlet on the bottom wall of the housing, the light being in electric communication with the controller (Inherent of the operation of 330 and 340), the light being configured for emitting an ultraviolet light (Ultraviolet light 330); a motion sensor being positioned on the bottom wall of the housing (Relative of Figure 3 of Choi), the motion sensor being in electric communication with the controller (Inherent for the operation of the hand dryer of Choi), the motion sensor being configured for detecting the pair of hands positioned below the bottom wall wherein the microprocessor actuating the blower and the light (Motion sensor 350); and a basket being positioned proximate to the bottom wall of the housing, the basket being a hand tray, the basket being configured for collecting liquid being expelled from the pair of hands of the user by the blower (Lower housing shown in Figures 1-3 below where the user’s hands would be is designed to catch water drops during the drying phase), the basket positioning the pair of hands proximate to the bottom wall of the housing wherein optimizing a process of air drying and sanitizing the pair of hands, the basket being configured for reducing the spread of liquid expelled from the pair of hands wherein reducing the spread of germs and bacteria (Evident from Figures 1-3 of Choi with the droplet catching portion of the hand dryer).
Choi silent with respect to a battery compartment being positioned within the interior of the housing, a door of the battery compartment being positioned on the back wall of the housing, the battery compartment being configured for holding a pair of disposable batteries, the pair of disposable batteries being configured for supplying electric power to the battery compartment, the battery compartment being configured for providing electric power to the sanitization hand dryer device; a controller being in electric communication with the battery compartment.
However, Schonfeld teaches a sanitizing device that discloses a battery compartment being positioned within the interior of the housing (Figure 3 with batteries 72), a door of the battery compartment being positioned on the back wall of the housing (Schonfeld shows the equivalent front cover 22/30/34 as solid where the batteries 72 are and therefore a only seen to be assessable from the rear), the battery compartment being configured for holding a pair of disposable batteries (Schonfeld Figure 3 with batteries 72), the pair of disposable batteries being configured for supplying electric power to the battery compartment (Inherent of batteries 72 of Schonfeld), the battery compartment being configured for providing electric power to the sanitization device (Batteries 72 with control circuitry 87 as seen in Figures 1-4. The resultant combination would be such that the controller of Choi is in electric communication with the battery compartment.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the power source of Choi with the battery power of Schonfeld to allow for the hand dryer to be placed in environments not easily electrified.
Choi is silent with respect to a microprocessor being used as the controller and being placed within the interior of the housing.
However, Jolin teaches a hand dryer that discloses the use of a microprocessor (Microprocessor per ¶ 26 and 61) and the combination would result in the microprocessor being within the housing of Choi.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the unspecified controller of Choi with the microprocessor of Jolin to increase the controllability of the hand dryer.
Choi is silent with respect to the ultraviolet light being configured for sanitizing wherein removing germs and bacteria from the pair of hands of the user and the light being configured for sanitizing the pair of hands of the user subsequent to air drying the pair of hands of the user from the outlet of the blower.
However, Hishinuma teaches a hand dryer that discloses the ultraviolet light being configured for sanitizing wherein removing germs and bacteria from the pair of hands of the user (Hishinuma ¶ 39) and the ultraviolet light being configured for sanitizing the pair of hands of the user subsequent to air drying the pair of hands of the user from the outlet of the blower (¶ 39 details the use of UV light to sanitize a user’s hands).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the ultraviolet light operation of Choi with the additional sanitizing of Hishinuma to further increase the cleanliness of the user’s hands after drying.
Choi is silent with respect to an indicator being position on the front wall of the housing, the indicator being in electric communication with the microprocessor, the indicator being configured emitting a light subsequent to the motion sensor detecting the pair of hands of the user.
However, Troner teaches a hand dryer that discloses an indicator being position on the front wall of the housing, the indicator being in electric communication with the microprocessor (Inherent of the combination with Choi and Jolin), the indicator being configured for illuminating subsequent to the motion sensor detecting the pair of hands of the user (Indication lights 32/34/36, specifically 34 is described as an in-sure light per Column 2 Lines 42-45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the hand dryer of Choi with the in-use indicator of Troner to allow for a user to confirm that the and dryer is registering their hands and in operation.
Choi is silent with respect to the blower being a plurality of fans and that the indicator is a light emitting diode.
However, Lovelace teaches a hand drying system that discloses the use of a plurality of blowers (¶ 51 with fans 26 and 27 in Figure 2) and the use of an indicator being a light emitting diode (Indicator light 130 being an LED).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify replace the singular fan of Choi with the plurality of fans of Lovelace to allow for specific air flow characteristics to be imparted while allowing for lower electricity requirements being needed for lighting the indicator.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CONNOR J. TREMARCHE whose telephone number is (571)272-2175. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 0700-1700 Eastern.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MICHAEL HOANG can be reached at (571) 272-6460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CONNOR J TREMARCHE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762