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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et. al (US 2012/0325339 A1) in view of Lucas (US 4,194,522).
With respect to claim 1 Ito discloses a gas pressure regulating apparatus comprising: a main body [reference character 10 comprising 16 and 20] including an outlet [reference character 14]; a pressure regulating part [reference character 20] formed in the main body, and including a diaphragm [reference character 38] configured to regulate pressure of a gas flowing to inside of the main body through the outlet; and an inlet connecting part [reference character 16] with which an external gas supply pipe is coupled, the inlet connecting part protruding from the main body and comprising: an inlet [reference character 12] communicating with the inside of the main body; and wherein the inlet comprises a female screw threading in an inner surface thereof [see Fig. 2].
Ito does not disclose a reinforced portion formed in one end of the inlet connecting part along a circumference of the inlet and depressed in a direction which the external gas supply pipe is coupled with the inlet connecting part, wherein: in a direction opposite the direction in which the external gas supply pipe is coupled with the inlet connecting part, the reinforced portion leads the inlet, and the female screw threading terminates at a border between the inlet and the reinforced portion.
Lucas discloses a regulator [see Fig. 2] which includes having an inlet [see annotated Fig. below] having a reinforced portion [see annotated Fig. below] formed in one end of the inlet connecting part along a circumference of the inlet and depressed in a direction which the external gas supply pipe is coupled with the inlet connecting part, wherein: in a direction opposite the direction in which the external gas supply pipe is coupled with the inlet connecting part, the reinforced portion leads the inlet, and the female screw threading terminates at a border [see annotated Fig. below] between the inlet and the reinforced portion. The reinforced portion taught by Lucas allows for the compression of gasket between the inlet and a reducing adapter [reference character 14] without the use of thread locker or Teflon tape.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the inlet taught by Ito by including the reinforced portion taught by Lucas in order to allow for the compression of gasket between the inlet and a reducing adapter without the use of thread locker or Teflon tape.
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With respect to claim 2 Ito discloses that the female screw threading is formed as an inclined screw of a female screw type [see Fig. 2], and respective diameters of corresponding thread portions of the female screw threading of the inclined screw gradually reduce along the direction in which the external gas supply pipe is coupled with the inlet connecting part [see Fig. 2].
Claim(s) 3-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et. al (US 2012/0325339 A1) in view of Lucas (US 4,194,522) and further in view of Botnick (US 3,828,815).
With respect to claim 3 Ito discloses that the reinforced portion comprises; a reinforced section [see annotated Fig. below] formed as a surface along a radial direction of the inlet to have a greater diameter than a proximal portion of the inlet; and a reinforced fence [see annotated Fig. below] protruding from the inlet in the direction opposite the direction in which the external gas supply pipe is coupled with the inlet connecting part and being formed around the reinforced section to surround the reinforced section [see annotated Fig. below].
Ito does not disclose that the reinforced section is a reinforced plane.
Bornick discloses a pipe fitting assembly that includes a reinforced portion [see annotated Fig. below] comprising a reinforced plane [see annotated Fig. below], and a reinforced fence [see annotated Fig. below]. The plane allows the compression of a seal between the male and female portions of the coupling, eliminating the need for the use of Teflon tape or thread sealant.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the system taught by Ito and Lucas by forming the reinforced section as a reinforced plane, as taught by Bornick, because changing the reinforced portion taught by Lucas to that it is a reinforced plane is regarded as an obvious change in shape, absent specific recitation that the planar shape is significant. In this case the O-ring taught by Lucas could just as easily be compressed against a plane as compared to the shape taught by Lucas.
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With respect to claim 4 the combination of Ito, Lucas, and Bornick disclose that the inlet is in a shape of a circle [see Fig. 1 of Ito], the reinforced plane is in a shape of a circle [see Figs. 1-2 of Ito in combination with Bornick], wherein the inlet is formed at a center of the reinforced plane, and the reinforced fence is formed with a preset thickness along an external diameter of the reinforced plane and has a different shape from the reinforced plane [see Fig. 1].
With respect to claim 5 the combination of Ito, Lucas and Bornick do not explicitly disclose that the reinforced fence is formed with a thickness of 2.0 mm or more along the direction in which the external gas supply pipe is coupled with the inlet connecting part. However, the thickness of the reinforced fence is interpreted to be an obvious matter of design choice that would depend on the diameter of the inlet, the choice of materials, the weight of the regulator and the overall cost.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the system taught by the combination of Ito, Lucas and Bornick by forming the reinforced fence with a thickness of 2.0mm or more since the thickness is interpreted to be an obvious matter of design choice absent some recitation that the claimed thickness is significant.
With respect to claim 6 the combination of Ito, Lucas and Bornick do not disclose that the diameter of the reinforced plane is 22.0mm or more. However, the diameter of the reinforced plane is interpreted to be an obvious matter of design choice that would depend on the diameter of the inlet, the weight of the regulator and the overall cost.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the system taught by the combination of Ito, Lucas and Bornick by forming the reinforced plane with a diameter of 22.0mm or more or more since the thickness is interpreted to be an obvious matter of design choice absent some recitation that the claimed diameter is significant.
Claim(s) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et. al (US 2012/0325339 A1) in view of Lucas (US 4,194,522) and further in view of Campbell Jr. (US 2,478,040).
With respect to claim 7 Ito and Lucas do not disclose that a first connecting member comprising a coupling body coupled with the main body and a coupling cylinder protruding from the coupling body toward the outside of the main body, wherein a first connecting flow path communicating with the outlet is formed inside the coupling body and the coupling cylinder; and a second connecting member inserted into the first connecting flow path while being in contact with an inner surface of the first connecting flow path, wherein the second connecting member comprises a second connecting flow path penetrating the outlet and configured to communicate the inside of the main body with the first connecting flow path.
Campbell discloses a pressure regulator having first connecting member [reference characters 10-11] comprising a coupling body [reference character 10] coupled with the main body and a coupling cylinder [reference character 11] protruding from the coupling body toward the outside of the main body, wherein a first connecting flow path communicating with the outlet is formed inside the coupling body and the coupling cylinder [the path extends from the inlet to reference characters 11-12 and 21]; and a second connecting member [reference character 14] inserted into the first connecting flow path while being in contact with an inner surface of the first connecting flow path, wherein the second connecting member comprises a second connecting flow path [the path extends from around reference character 14 to the outlet B’] penetrating the outlet and configured to communicate the inside of the main body with the first connecting flow path. The structure disclosed by Campbell allows for the inclusion of an inlet filter [reference character 13] and a connection for a pressure gauge [reference character 17].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the pressure regulator taught by Ito and Lucas by including the first and second connecting members taught by Campbell in order to allow for the inclusion of a filter and connection for a pressure gauge.
With respect to claim 8 the combination of Ito, Lucas and Campbell discloses an extension pipe [reference character 25] coupled with an outer surface of the coupling cylinder [via intervening structure], wherein a length [see annotated Fig. below] between an inner surface of the first connecting flow path and an outer surface of the coupling cylinder is formed with a constant thickness without a step [see annotated Fig. below].
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-13 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VIVEK K SHIRSAT whose telephone number is (571)272-3722. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:20AM.
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/VIVEK K SHIRSAT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762