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 § 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 2 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 2 recites the limitation: “..in consideration of an operation time of at least one of the drum washer unit and the drum shaker unitdrum conveyer unit and a drum conveyance time when the..” in lines 5-7. It is unclear if the operation time of the drum conveyor unit is different to the drum conveyance time. For examination purposes it has been assumed that the drum conveyance time refers to the operation time of the drum conveyor unit, and that the limitation reads as follows: “..in consideration of an operation time of at least one of the drum washer unit and the drum shaker unit and a drum conveyance time when the..”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 1, 3-11 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art of record is Mullinax (US5368652A). Mullinax teaches an apparatus for supplying a chemical liquid (see abstract, column 3, lines 1-32), comprising: a drum washer unit 14/15/16/17 configured to wash a drum that is capable of keeping a chemical liquid (see column 4, lines 55-68); at least one chemical liquid ejector unit 13 configured to eject a chemical liquid, which is kept in a drum conveyed from the drum shaker unit, to the outside (see column 9, lines 45-58); a controller configured to automate all operations and processes successive drums through each of the drum processing stations (see column 5, lines 1-23). Mullinax fails to teach/disclose the following limitations of independent claim 1: “..a drum shaker unit configured to mix a chemical liquid in a drum conveyed from the drum washer unit by rotating the drum…at least one chemical liquid ejector unit configured to eject a chemical liquid..using a dip tube…a controller configured to perform control such that a drum finishes being used at the chemical liquid ejector unit is replaced with a new drum by operating at least one of the drum washer unit and the drum shaker unit for the new drum when the amount of a chemical liquid remaining in the drum at the chemical liquid ejector unit becomes a predetermined amount or less”. Furthermore, no other prior art was located that fairly suggested the claimed invention in whole or in part along with the requisite motivation for combination to anticipate or render the claimed invention obvious.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim (KR20220113121A) teaches an apparatus for supplying a chemical liquid, comprising: at least one chemical liquid ejector unit 40 configured to eject a chemical liquid, which is kept in a drum 10, to the outside using a dip tube 43 (see abstract, page 4 of the translation, figures 2-4).
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/TINSAE B AYALEW/EXAMINER, Art Unit 1711