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 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Publication 2020/0118674 to Le in view of US Patent Publication 2019/0333420 to Danielson.
In Reference to Claims 1 and 2
Le discloses an adapter (Fig. 1, 44) comprising: an air inlet connector (Since connector 44 is an air pipe, obviously, one end of the pipe 44 has an air connector) configured to be connected to an air supply connector of a storage cabinet; at least one endoscope connector (Paragraph 95, connector pipe 72 is connected to an endoscope, therefore, an endoscope connector is required) configured to be connected to an endoscope port of an endoscope; and at least one tube (Fig. 1, 44) connecting the air inlet connector and the at least one endoscope connector;
Le discloses a REID attached to the endoscope (Paragraph 7)
Danielson teaches the adapter comprises a RFID tag (Fig. 3, 110), the RFID tag being configured to store adapter type information about an adapter type of the adapter, and the RFID tag is configured to send the adapter type information to a RFID receiver of the storage cabinet.
the RFID tag is arranged on or inside the air inlet connector. (As showed in Fig. 3)
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 Danielson into the system on Le. Doing so, would result in a fluid connector with RFID tag being used as air connector of Le. Both inventions of Danielson and Le require fluid connector, Danielson teaches a connector design with an RFID tag to verify that the fluid connector is properly connected to the tube. So the system reliability is improved.
In Reference to Claim 3
Le discloses the adapter type information comprises flow parameters, the flow parameters specifying one or more of an air pressure value and a flow rate value of a pressurized air flow to be guided through the adapter. (Le teaches that the tracking information can be used to control the air flow, Paragraph 7)
In Reference to Claim 4
Le discloses a storage cabinet (Fig. 1, 10) comprising: an air supply (Since connector 44 is an air pipe, obviously, one end of the pipe 44 has an air connector); at least two air supply connectors (As showed in Fig. 1, there are multiple air supplies 22) connected to the air supply; and a controller (Fig. 1, 30) comprising hardware; wherein the at least two air supply connectors are configured to be connected to the air inlet connector of the adapter according to claim 1; the air supply is configured to apply an air pressure to the air supply connectors; the air supply connectors each comprise an air valve (Since Le has controller control the air supply, naturally an air valve is required to turn on or off the air supply); the air valve in each air supply connector of the at least two air supply connectors is configured to be mechanically opened when a connection is established between the air inlet connector of the adapter and a corresponding one of the at least two air supply connector comprising the opened air valve; the opening air valve causes a pressurized air flow through the corresponding one of the at least two air supply connectors; ( As disclosed in the abstract, that a support arrangement to support the endoscope and determining a connection status of the endoscope to a first airflow output and a second airflow output. The method may further include initiating a drying process, when the endoscope is connected, according to the drying protocol by causing the compressor to create at least one airflow through the endoscope from the first airflow output, the second airflow output, or a combination thereof) the controller is configured to detect the pressurized air flow in order to detect which air supply connector of the at least two air supply connectors has been connected to the air inlet connector; the controller is configured to adapt flow parameters of the pressurized air flow based on the adapter type information.
Le discloses a REID attached to the endoscope (Paragraph 7)
Danielson teaches the adapter comprises a RFID tag (Fig. 3, 110), the RFID tag being configured to store adapter type information about an adapter type of the adapter, and the RFID tag is configured to send the adapter type information to a RFID receiver of the storage cabinet.
one of the at least two RFID receivers is arranged on or inside each of the at least two air supply connectors. (As showed in Fig. 3)
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 Danielson into the system on Le. Doing so, would result in a fluid connector with RFID tag being used as air connector of Le. Both inventions of Danielson and Le require fluid connector, Danielson teaches a connector design with an RFID tag to verify that the fluid connector is properly connected to the tube. So the system reliability is improved.
In Reference to Claim 6
Le discloses a receiver. (The method may include receiving a signal from a signal emitting member attached to and associated with an endoscope)
Le does not teach the position of the receiver. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to position the receiver at any location around the cabinet of the dryer, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art.
In Reference to Claim 7
Le discloses a receiver.
Le does not teach the number or the position of the receiver. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to position the receiver at any location around the cabinet of the dryer, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. The number of the receiver is merely a duplication of the components. One having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to determine the required number of the receiver.
In Reference to Claim 8
Le discloses the controller (Fig. 1, 30) is configured to adapt flow parameters of the pressurized air flow of each of the at least two air supply connectors only after the connection of one of the at least two air supply connectors to the air inlet connector has been detected. ( As disclosed in the abstract, that a support arrangement to support the endoscope and determining a connection status of the endoscope to a first airflow output and a second airflow output. The method may further include initiating a drying process, when the endoscope is connected, according to the drying protocol by causing the compressor to create at least one airflow through the endoscope from the first airflow output, the second airflow output, or a combination thereof)
In Reference to Claim 9
Le discloses the controller is configured to measure a connection time for which the adapter is connected to one of the at least two air supply connectors, compare the connection time with a predefined lifetime of the adapter and generate a warning when the connection time exceeds the lifetime. (Paragraph 15)
In Reference to Claim 10
Le discloses the storage cabinet according to claim 4. (Fig. 1, 10)
In Reference to Claim 11
Le discloses a method for connecting an adapter (Fig. 1, 44) to one of at least two air supply connectors of a storage cabinet, the method comprising: transmitting adapter type information from a RFID tag (Paragraph 5) of to a RFID receiver of the storage cabinet, connecting an air inlet connector (Since connector 44 is an air pipe, obviously, one end of the pipe 44 has an air connector) of the adapter to a first air supply connector of at least two air supply connectors ( As disclosed in the abstract, that a support arrangement to support the endoscope and determining a connection status of the endoscope to a first airflow output and a second airflow output. The method may further include initiating a drying process, when the endoscope is connected, according to the drying protocol by causing the compressor to create at least one airflow through the endoscope from the first airflow output, the second airflow output, or a combination thereof), wherein an air pressure is applied to each of the at least two air supply connectors with an air supply of the storage cabinet, an air valve (Since the air supplied is under controlled, the air supply valve is an obvious requirement) in the first air supply connector is opened by connecting the air inlet connector to the first air supply connector, and the opening of the air valve causes a pressurized air flow through the first air supply connector to the adapter, detecting, with a controller (Fig. 1, 30) of the storage cabinet, which of the at least two air supply connectors has been connected with the air inlet connector by detecting the pressurized air flow, sending the adapter type information from the RFID receiver to the controller, and adapting flow parameters of the pressurized air flow based on the adapter type information. (Paragraph 7: The method may also include determining an identifier and a drying protocol of the endoscope. The method may further include identifying a support arrangement to support the endoscope and determining a connection status of one or more inner channels of the endoscope to a first airflow output and a second airflow output. The method may further include initiating a drying process, when the endoscope is connected, according to the drying protocol by causing a compressor to create at least one airflow through the endoscope from the first airflow output, the second airflow output, or a combination thereof.)
Le discloses a REID attached to the endoscope (Paragraph 7)
Danielson teaches the adapter comprises a RFID tag (Fig. 3, 110), the RFID tag being configured to store adapter type information about an adapter type of the adapter, and the RFID tag is configured to send the adapter type information to a RFID receiver of the storage cabinet.
the RFID tag is arranged on or inside the air inlet connector. (As showed in Fig. 3)
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 Danielson into the system on Le. Doing so, would result in a fluid connector with RFID tag being used as air connector of Le. Both inventions of Danielson and Le require fluid connector, Danielson teaches a connector design with an RFID tag to verify that the fluid connector is properly connected to the tube. So the system reliability is improved.
In Reference to Claim 12
Le discloses the adapting of the flow parameters is performed after the detecting which of the at least two air supply connectors has been connected with the air inlet connector. (Paragraph 7: The method may also include determining an identifier and a drying protocol of the endoscope. The method may further include identifying a support arrangement to support the endoscope and determining a connection status of one or more inner channels of the endoscope to a first airflow output and a second airflow output. The method may further include initiating a drying process, when the endoscope is connected, according to the drying protocol by causing a compressor to create at least one airflow through the endoscope from the first airflow output, the second airflow output, or a combination thereof)
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Le.
In Reference to Claim 14
Le discloses a method for disconnecting (Since Le discloses the cabinet for drying a endoscope, obviously, in order to use the dried endoscope, a disconnecting step is required) an adapter from a first air supply connector of at least two air supply connectors (Paragraph 7, there are two air flow outlets) of a storage cabinet, the method comprising: disconnecting an air inlet connector of the adapter (Obviously, the adapter can be disconnected from the cabinet) from a first air supply connector, wherein an air valve (Since the air supply is controlled by the controller 30, obviously, there is a valve) in the first air supply connector is closed by disconnecting the air inlet connector from the first air supply connector, and the closing of the air valve causes a pressurized air flow (Le teaches the air is supplied by compressor in Paragraph 7) through the first air supply connector to stop, detecting, with a controller of the storage cabinet (Le teaches that emitter is send feedback to the controller in Paragraph 7), which of the at least two air supply connectors has been disconnected from the air inlet connector by detecting the termination of the pressurized air flow, and setting flow parameters for an air pressure (Fig. 1, the controller 30 is used to control the operation of the compressor) applied to the first air supply connector back to a predefined value.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 is 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 3762
/DEMING WAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762 4/7/26
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