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 1-10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “a negative pressure assembly arranged in the air duct and configured to sucking and accelerating fluid” which should be “a negative pressure assembly arranged in the air duct and configured to suck and accelerate
Claims 2-10 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 8 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.
The term “normal temperature” in claim 8 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “normal” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. For examination purposes, the term “normal” will refer to a temperature that the hair dryer is capable of producing.
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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2016/0309874 (Hedges hereinafter) in view of US 2012/0125909 (Scheunert hereinafter) and further in view of CN 205597402 (Xie hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Hedges teaches a hair dryer (Figure 1, dryer 10) that discloses a housing (Figure 1, handle 20 and body 30 make up the housing), an air duct is formed in the housing (Inherent airflow from inlet 40 to outlet 340); a control board arranged on the housing (Board 75); a negative pressure assembly arranged in the air duct and configured to sucking and accelerating fluid (Fan 70); the negative pressure assembly is electrically connected to the control board (¶ 153); a first heating element arranged in the air duct for heating the fluid (Heater 80); the first heating element is electrically connected to the control board (¶ 153); and an adjustment assembly arranged on the housing (Control buttons 62 and 64)
Hedges is silent with respect to a first heating element and a second heating element both arranged in the air duct for heating the fluid; the first heating element and the second heating element are both electrically connected to the control board.
However, Scheunert teaches a hair dryer that discloses the use of a plurality of heating elements (¶ 29). The resultant combination would duplicate the heater of Hedges such that there is a first heating element and a second heating element both arranged in the air duct for heating the fluid; the first heating element and the second heating element are both electrically connected to the control board.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the heater of the Hedges with the plurality of heaters taught by Scheunert to allow for increased heating control for the hair dryer.
Hedges is silent with respect that the adjustment assembly is stepless; the stepless adjustment assembly is electrically connected to the control board to transmit a control signal to the control board to steplessly adjust a suction power of the negative pressure assembly, a current value of the first heating element and a current value of the second heating element.
However, Xie teaches a hair dryer that discloses a stepless adjustment assembly arranged on the housing, the stepless adjustment assembly is electrically connected to the control board to transmit a control signal to the control board to steplessly adjust a suction power of the negative pressure assembly, a current value of the first heating element and a current value of the second heating element. Xie discloses “the stepless regulating electric blowing working principle: firstly accessed to the power supply 5, switch key press the electric blower 11, and the shift switch 2 from the 0 shift to the 1 shift, then user according to the sensing from the air outlet of the fan of the blower main body 1 9 wind power and heat output of the heating device 10, rotary knob 3, the wind and heat reaches to needed by user, when the knob 3 is rotated to the maximum, the fan 9 of the wind with the heat output of the heating device 10 has not met the requirements needed by user. then further pushes the shift switch 2 to gear 2 to complete the operation.”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the controls of the Hedges with the stepless control of the Hedges to allow for the suer to actively control the operation of the hair dryer.
Regarding claim 2, Hedge’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Hedges, Sheunert, and Xie would further disclose that the housing comprises a grip portion and a nozzle (Hedges’ grip 20 and nozzle 30), a front end of the grip portion is docked with the nozzle (Connection between 20 and 30 of Hedges), an air inlet is formed at a rear end of the grip portion (Air inlet at 40 of Hedges Figure 1), and the air inlet communicates with a first channel formed in the grip portion Internal channel within 20 leading towards 30 of Hedges); an air outlet is formed at a front end of the nozzle, and the air outlet communicates with a second channel formed in the nozzle (Outlet 340 of Hedges receiving air from the first channel 20); the air inlet, the first channel, the second channel and the air outlet are connected in sequence, and jointly forming the air duct (Evident from Figure 1 of Hedges); the control board and the stepless adjustment assembly are arranged on the grip portion (Combination of Hedges and Xie showing the control board 6 in the grip in Figure 2), the negative pressure assembly is arranged in the first channel (Evident from 70 in Figure 1 of Hedges); the first heating element and the second heating element are arranged in the second channel along a direction of fluid flow (Evident from Figure 1 of Hedges and the multiple heaters of Sheunert).
Claims 3-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2016/0309874 (Hedges) in view of US 2012/0125909 (Scheunert) and further in view of CN 205597402 (Xie) and further in view of CN 107068512 (Liu hereinafter).
Regarding claim 3, Hedges’ modified teachings are described above in claim 2 but are silent with respect to a sinking groove is formed on the grip portion, a top surface of the sinking groove is flush with an outer surface of the grip portion, and a bottom of the sinking groove sinks into the first channel; a storage compartment with a top opening is formed in the sinking groove, and the storage compartment is used to accommodate the control board and the stepless adjustment assembly.
However, Liu teaches a stepless adjustment assembly () that discloses a sinking groove is formed on the grip portion (Figures 1-4, sinking groove 11 on the equivalent grip in Figure 4), a top surface of the sinking groove is flush with an outer surface of the grip portion (Figure 3 with the plate 70 being on and flush to the grip of Hedges), and a bottom of the sinking groove sinks into the first channel (Evident from Figures 1-3); a storage compartment with a top opening is formed in the sinking groove (Compartment within board 10), and the storage compartment is used to accommodate the control board and the stepless adjustment assembly (Resultant combination of Liu and Xie as added to Hedges).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the structure of the stepless adjustment device of Hedges/Xie with the teachings of Liu to allow for the flush and easily scrollable adjustor.
Regarding claim 4, Hedge’s modified teachings are described above in claim 3 where the combination of Hedges, Sheunert, Xie, and Liu would further disclose that the stepless adjustment assembly comprises a circuit board (Board 10 of Liu which is equivalent to 6 of Xie), a stepless encoder and an adjusting roller (Encoder 30 and roller 20); the circuit board is arranged in the storage compartment and is electrically connected to the control board (Inherent of the combination between Hedges/Xie/Liu); the stepless adjustment encoder is arranged on the circuit board, and a rotating shaft of the stepless encoder is sleeved with the adjusting roller (Figure 3 of Liu); and the adjusting roller is at least partially protruded out of the opening of the storage compartment (Figure 4 of Liu).
Regarding claim 5, Hedge’s modified teachings are described above in claim 3 where the combination of Hedges, Sheunert, Xie, and Liu is silent with respect to a sinking depth of the sinking groove in the first channel is 5-20 mm. Xie does discuss the need to size/shape the roller to allow easy use while preventing accidental movements.
However, It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to size the depth of the adjustment roller to be between 5mm and 20 mm, since it has been held that discovering the optimum range involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 6, Hedge’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Hedges, Sheunert, Xie, and Liu would further disclose that the control board is provided with a gear selection button (Button 2 of Xie), and the gear selection button is connected to control circuits of the first heating element and the second heating element (Xie’s button 2 determines the available power to the motor and heaters); the control method comprising: determining a current working mode of the hair dryer according to a gear position of the gear selection button (Operation of the button 2 of Xie); controlling, through the control board, the negative pressure assembly, the first heating element and the second heating element to work according to the working mode (Operation of the button 2 of Xie with the roller 20 of Xie per the quoted section of Xie in the rejection of Claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 7, Hedge’s modified teachings are described above in claim 6 where the combination of Hedges, Sheunert, Xie, and Liu would further disclose that the step of controlling, through the control board, the negative pressure assembly, the first heating element and the second heating element to work according to the working mode comprising: if the current working mode of the hair dryer is determined to be a variable temperature mode, turning on the negative pressure assembly, the first heating element and the second heating element through the control board; simultaneously increasing or decreasing, through the control board, an output power of the negative pressure assembly, the first heating element and the second heating element according to a received adjusting signal of the stepless adjustment assembly. Xie states “the stepless regulating electric blowing working principle: firstly accessed to the power supply 5, switch key press the electric blower 11, and the shift switch 2 from the 0 shift to the 1 shift, then user according to the sensing from the air outlet of the fan of the blower main body 1 9 wind power and heat output of the heating device 10, rotary knob 3, the wind and heat reaches to needed by user, when the knob 3 is rotated to the maximum, the fan 9 of the wind with the heat output of the heating device 10 has not met the requirements needed by user. then further pushes the shift switch 2 to gear 2 to complete the operation”. This would allow for the adjustment of the power based on the state of the button 2.
Regarding claim 8 (as best understood), Hedge’s modified teachings are described above in claim 6 where the combination of Hedges, Sheunert, Xie, and Liu would further disclose that the step of controlling, through the control board, the negative pressure assembly, the first heating element and the second heating element to work according to the working mode comprising: if the current working mode of the hair dryer is determined to be a normal temperature mode, turning off the first heating element and the second heating element through the control board; adjusting, through the control board, the output power of the negative pressure assembly according to the received adjusting signal of the stepless adjustment assembly. The broadest reasonable interpretation of the Xie reference and the interpretation of the term “normal” above, the control taught by Xie with respect to the position of button 2 and the operation of the roller 20 would read on this claim.
Regarding claim 9, Hedge’s modified teachings are described above in claim 6 where the combination of Hedges, Sheunert, Xie, and Liu would further disclose that the step of controlling, through the control board, the negative pressure assembly, the first heating element and the second heating element to work according to the working mode comprising: if the current working mode of the hair dryer is determined to be a constant temperature mode, turning on the first heating element or the second heating element to a maximum output power according to a constant temperature gear, or simultaneously turning on the first heating element and the second heating element to the maximum output power; adjusting, through the control board, the output power of the negative pressure assembly according to the received adjusting signal of the stepless adjustment assembly. Per Xie, the maximum roll of the adjustment roller at the second position of the button 2 will read on this control scheme.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2016/0309874 (Hedges) in view of US 2012/0125909 (Scheunert) and further in view of CN 205597402 (Xie) in view of CN 107068512 (Liu) and further in view of US 2012/0324755 (Zhao hereinafter).
Regarding claim 10, Hedge’s modified teachings are described above in claim 6 where the combination of Hedges, Sheunert, Xie, and Liu but are silent with respect that after the step of controlling, through the control board, the negative pressure assembly, the first heating element and the second heating element to work according to the working mode, further comprising: if the current working mode of the hair dryer is the variable temperature mode or the constant temperature mode, counting a working time of the hair dryer; determining whether the working time of the hair dryer is exceeded a preset safe working time; if the working time of the hair dryer is determined to be exceeded the preset safe working time, disconnecting the circuit, and turning off the negative pressure assembly, the first heating element and the second heating element.
However, Zhao teaches an electric dryer (Abstract and Figure 1) that discloses a dryer unit control setting using a timer to shutdown the motor after a set time (read preset safe working time) as elapsed (¶ 65). The resultant combination would be such that the timer would be implemented into the dryer of Hedges/Sheunert/Xie/Liu such that after the step of controlling, through the control board, the negative pressure assembly, the first heating element and the second heating element to work according to the working mode, further comprising: if the current working mode of the hair dryer is the variable temperature mode or the constant temperature mode, counting a working time of the hair dryer; determining whether the working time of the hair dryer is exceeded a preset safe working time; if the working time of the hair dryer is determined to be exceeded the preset safe working time, disconnecting the circuit, and turning off the negative pressure assembly, the first heating element and the second heating element.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the control of the dryer of Hedges with the timer of Zhao to allow for a timed working window to be set and prevent excessive power usage or constant running when not needed.
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.
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/CONNOR J TREMARCHE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762