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
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-3, 5, 9, 10, 13-16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent 4,396,582 to Kodera.
In Reference to Claim 1
Kodera discloses a document (The Office considers that the document is working media of recited machine, it is merely a working environment, not a part of the structure) remediation system comprising: a dryer (Fig. 5, 88) configured to dry a document and output a dried document; a cleaning device (Fig. 6, 150, a vacuum cleaner, Kodera does not teach the cleaner is after the dryer, the Office considers that that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. ) configured to receive the dried document, remove debris therefrom, and output a cleaned document; and a sanitizer (Fig. 5, 20) configured to receive the cleaned document, disinfect the cleaned document, and output a remediated document.
Kodera does not teach the cleaner is positioned behind the dryer. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to position the cleaner at a desired location, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art.
In Reference to Claim 2
Kodera discloses a vacuum connected to at least one of the dryer, the cleaning device, and the sanitizer and configured to remove document debris from one or more of the dryer, the cleaning device, and the sanitizer. (dust remover 150 takes the form of a vacuum cleaner comprising a pair of suction boxes 152)
In Reference to Claim 3
Kodera discloses a transportation device (Fig. 5, P) interconnecting the dryer, the cleaning device and the sanitizer, wherein the transportation device is configured to convey the document through the dryer, the cleaning device, and the sanitizer.
In Reference to Claim 5
Kodera discloses an actuator (Fig. 5, 122) coupled to the transportation device to move the transportation device and control the speed thereof.
In Reference to Claims 9 and 10
Kodera discloses the dryer includes one or more fans (Fig. 5, 90, Kodera teaches air nozzles) positioned to dry the document.
In Reference to Claim 13
Kodera discloses the cleaning device includes at least brushes to remove the debris from the document. (As showed in Fig. 5, 156)
In Reference to Claim 14
Kodera discloses the sanitizer includes one or more UV lights. (Fig. 5, 20, 134)
In Reference to Claim 15
Kodera discloses the dryer (Fig. 5, 88), cleaning device (Fig. 5, 150) and sanitization device (Fig. 5, 10) are modular components.
In Reference to Claim 16
Kodera discloses a containment system containing the dryer, the cleaning device, and the sanitizer. (Since Kodera teaches a system to clean and sanitize, obviously, the system is used to remove containments)
In Reference to Claim 20
Kodera discloses a method for remediating a document (The office considers that document is a working environment of the recited structure) comprising: receiving a document; drying (Fig. 5, 88) the document; automatically adjusting a time for drying the document and outputting a dried document; (Kodera discloses the drying process is performed by heater and air nozzles. Therefore, the drying time would be determined by the temperature of the drying air. Kodera controls the temperature, as a result, the drying time would be controlled.) cleaning (Fig. 6, 150) the dried document, removing debris therefrom, and outputting a cleaned document; sanitizing the cleaned (Fig. 5, 20) document and outputting a remediated document.
Kodera does not teach the cleaner is positioned behind the dryer. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to position the cleaner at a desired location, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art.
Claims 11, 12 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kodera in view of US Patent Publication 20180272689 to Yanagi.
In Reference to Claims 11 and 12
Kodera discloses the drying device.
Kodera does not teach moisture sensors.
Yanagi teaches one or more sensors (Fig. 12A, 536) configured to detect a moisture content of the document within the dryer
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teachings from Yanagi into the design of Kodera. Doing so, would result in a moisture sensor being implemented into the system on Kodera to monitor the moisture content of the working media. Both inventions of Kodera and Yanagi having an automatic drying system, Yanagi teaches an active control drying process with sensors so the drying efficiency would be increase.
Once the moisture sensor is implemented, obviously, the during of the drying would also be determined based on the moisture level measured by the sensor.
In Reference to Claim 17
Kodera discloses a document remediation system comprising: a dryer (Fig. 5, 88) configured to dry a document and output a dried document;; a cleaning device (Fig. 6, 150) configured to receive the dried document, remove debris therefrom, and output a cleaned document; a sanitizer (Fig. 5, 20) configured to receive the cleaned document, disinfect the cleaned document, and output a remediated document; a vacuum (Fig. 6, 156) connected to at least one of the dryer, the cleaning device and the sanitizer and configured to remove document debris from one or more of the dryer, the cleaning device, and the sanitizer; and a transportation device (Fig. 5, P) interconnecting the dryer, the cleaning device and the sanitizer, the transportation device being configured to receive the document and convey the document through at least the dryer, the cleaning device, and the sanitizer.
Kodera does not teach the cleaner is positioned behind the dryer. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to position the cleaner at a desired location, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art.
Kodera does not teach a moisture sensor.
Yanagi teaches one or more sensors (Fig. 12A, 536) configured to detect a moisture content of the document within the dryer
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teachings from Yanagi into the design of Kodera. Doing so, would result in a moisture sensor being implemented into the system on Kodera to monitor the moisture content of the working media. Both inventions of Kodera and Yanagi having an automatic drying system, Yanagi teaches an active control drying process with sensors so the drying efficiency would be increase.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6-8 and 18-19 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
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DEMING . WAN
Examiner
Art Unit 3748
/DEMING WAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762 3/11/26