DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/1/25 has been entered.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in lines 15 and 16, “its” is informal and should be replaced with proper antecedent basis; in line 19, insert --the-- in front of “second flange.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pi (CN 212956866, machine translation previously of record) in view of Husting (US 5,363,519).
Regarding claim 1, Pi discloses a magnetic suspension drain (1), comprising a first connecting member (see annotated figure below) adapted to connection to a drain opening of a drain device and a drain pipe (abstract, technical field), and further comprising a magnetic suspension inner core arranged in the first connecting member (fig. 3), the magnetic suspension inner core (fig. 8) comprising a rotary floating rod (11) and a rotary sealing cover (14) connected with the rotary floating rod, wherein the rotary floating rod is provided with a first magnet (12), a repulsive second magnet is provided inside the first connecting member (13), wherein the magnetic suspension inner core is configured such that: in a sealed state, the rotary floating rod drives the rotary sealing cover to maintain sealing with a drain end of the first connecting member under the action of a repulsive force of the first magnet and the second magnet (see fig. 5); and in a draining state, the rotary sealing cover is disengaged from the sealing with the drain end of the first connecting member under the action of water flow and rotates along with the water flow to promote drainage (see fig. 3)(machine translation, p. 5, last para. – p. 6, second full para.).
Pi further shows that the first connecting member has a first flange on an outer side of a water inlet end (see annotated figure below), but does not show a second connecting member and sealing interface as claimed. Attention is turned to Hustings which teaches a similar magnetic drain assembly (abstract) having a first connecting member with a flange (14) on an outer side of a water inlet end thereof and a second connecting member (22) with a second flange (30) on an outer side of an end facing the first connecting member; a first seal being achieved by clamping a first sealing ring (3) between the first flange and an upper end surface of the drain openings (1) and a second seal is achieved by clamping a sealing ring between the second flange and a lower end surface of the drain opening (see annotated figure below). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to have provided the device of Pi with flanged and threadedly interconnected first and second connecting members, like that taught by Hustings, in order provide for good sealing engagement between the drain body and the drain opening in the appliance, as well as enabling disassembly for cleaning or maintenance.
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Claim(s) 2 – 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pi and Hustings, as applied to claim 1, in view of Weng (CN 202577501).
Regarding claim 2, Pi as modified shows all of the instant invention as discussed above, and further shows that the first magnet (12) is sleeved outside of the floating rod (fig. 3) adjacent a first end (below flange of 11), and the rotary sealing cover is connected to an opposing second end of the floating rod (apparent in fig. 3). But Pi does not show that the rod is hollow and that a connecting member is used to connect the cover to the rod. Pi however does not show that the floating rod is hollow and also does not show a connecting member. Attention is turned to Weng which teaches a similar magnetic suspension drain including a hollow rod (10) and a sealing cover (11), the sealing cover attached to the rod via a fastener (see screw near leader line 11 in fig. 2). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to have provided a hollow rod and fastener in the device of Pi similar to that taught by Weng so that the cover can be releasably attached to the rod via a fastener.
Regarding claim 3, Pi as modified shows all of the instant invention as discussed above, and further provides that the sealing cover has an inverted bowl shape (fig. 14) convex towards the rod, comprising a curved convex part (dome of 14) which seals with a drain end of the first connecting member (see sealed configuration, fig. 5). Pi however does not show that there is a ring-shaped connecting part at an edge of the curved convex part. Attention is again turned to Weng which teaches that it is known to provide a sealing flange that that is a ring-shaped connecting part at the edge of a sealing cover (see annotated figure below). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the time of effective filing to have provided a flange like that taught by Weng in the cover of Pi in order to provide good sealing registration with the drain end of the first connecting member.
Regarding claim 4, Pi as modified shows all of the instant invention as discussed above, and further provides that an external surface of the curved convex part has a water guide part (141) which is a plurality of ridges extending radially and deflecting circumferentially that form a spiral texture (fig. 6).
Regarding claim 5, Pi as modified shows all of the instant invention as discussed above, and further shows an inwardly recessed installation part is provided at a center of the curved convex part, and the second end of the rotary floating rod is inserted into the installation part. See annotated figure below.
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Claims 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pi and Hustings, as applied to claim 1, in view of Ravani (EP 2281955).
Regarding claims 11 and 12, Pi as modified shows all of the instant invention as discussed above, and further provides that the drain device is in a bathroom (technical field), but does not show that the drain device is a bath or a sink and does not show a spring valve core arranged at the water incoming end of the first connecting member. Attention is turned to Ravani which teaches a similar drain for a tub or sink (abstract) a spring valve core (22) arranged at a water incoming end (16) of a first connection member (10). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the time of effective filing to have provided a push type pop up spring valve in the drain device to enable user controllable opening and closing of the sink or tub to increase the functionality. It would be obvious to use the suspension drain of Pi in a sink or tub in order to prevent backflow of odor or overflow of water into the bathroom.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 – 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but are moot, since Hustings is being used to teach what is lacking in Pi.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIN L DEERY whose telephone number is (571)270-1928. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Thur, 7:30am - 4:30pm; Fri 8:00am-12:00pm.
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/ERIN DEERY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754