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 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.
1.Claims 1-9, 12,15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Usry (US4146112).
With respect to claim 1 Usry discloses a ventilation system with an in let and an outlet, the ventilation system being mounted on a wall (that is to say the housing of the device, the multiple walls of the shell being considered to be a wall) the ventilation system comprising:
An acoustic member absorbing sound from the outlet , wherein
The acoustic member includes
A body portion (9b in figure 3e )having a film like shape, the body portion opposed to the outlet and a periphery portion disposed to connect the body portion to the wall (see figure 3e where 9a, 9b and 18 are mounted), the periphery portion disposed to surround the body portion,
The body portion defines a first air chamber communicating with the outlet (space through which the flow passes) and a second air chamber into which air flows (see passage defined by multiple chambers)
A portion of an outer edge pf the body portion is fixed to the periphery portion (by means of connecting wall), and a remainder of the outer edge pf the body portion is open and is a communicating portion allowing the first air chamber to communicate with the second air chamber.
As it regards the second air chamber being such that air flows in from the inlet as the pathway of the air through the housing is such that air flows from the inlet to the outlet through the acoustic member this is implicitly the case.
With respect to claim 2 Usry further discloses an inner member (9a) defining the second air chamber together with the body portion, wherein the inlet is formed in the inner member (by means of the inner member’s connection to the overall structure which further defines the inlet as shown by the flow arrows in figure 7).
With respect to claim 3 Usry further discloses wherein the inner member is connected to the wall (see again figure 3e connections are shown between 9a and the overall wall structure).
With respect to claim 4 Usry further discloses wherein a lower portion of the outer edge of the body portion is fixed to the periphery portion (that is to say that as the whole of the outer edge is so connected this would include the lower portion).
With respect to claim 5 Usry further discloses wherein in the communicating portion, air flowing from the inlet into the second air chamber flows into the first chamber and at the outlet the air flowing from the communication portion is discharged form the first air chamber (see flow through arrows as shown in in figure 3e).
With respect to claim 6 Usry further discloses wherein the body portion has a film like shape extending in a first direction and a second direction (that is to say it is a planar two dimensional body), the wall and the body portion are aligned along a third direction, the third direction intersecting both of the first direction and the second direction,
The outlet and inlet are formed on an other side of the first direction and the second direction.
With respect to claim 7 Usry further discloses wherein the one side in the first direction and the second direction is a lower side and the other side in the first direction and the second direction is an upper side (one could so designate the respective directions).
With respect to claim 8 Usry further discloses wherein the wall includes an inner wall and tan outer wall, the outlet is formed in the outer wall (see element 18 in figure 3e) and at least a portion of the periphery portion is mounted to the inner wall (see again figure 3e and the connections therein).
With respect to claim 9 Usry discloses the invention as claimed except expressly the sue of the silencing means in an automotive structure and thus the inner and outer walls and the vent duct being panels of an automobile. The use of the silencer in such a manner would have been only an intended use of the structure and as such obvious to one of ordinary skill. It has been held hat a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex Parte Masham, 2 USPQ F.2d 1647 (1987).
With respect to claim 12 Usry further discloses wherein the acoustic member includes a skin layer (18) and a core layer (17) that includes a material different from the material of the skin layer (that is metal layer 18 and the porous layer 17 are of different materials.
With respect to claim 15 Usry further discloses an acoustic member comprising:
A body portion having a film like shape (see 19b in figure 3e, see also element 18 in figure 3a); and
A periphery portion formed to be connected to a portion of an outer edge of the body portion, the periphery portion formed to surround the body portion (see again figure 3e).
With respect to claim 16 the use of thermal pressing would have been an obvious matter as such materials as sheet metal are known to be either cold formed or hot formed based upon the desired properties of the material and the bends therein. This would have constitute only an obvious manner of forming. Further the method of forming a device is not germane to the issue of patentability of the device itself. Therefore, this limitation has not been given patentable weight.
With respect to claim 17 Usry further disclose wherein the periphery portion is formed of a frame (see again figures 3a-e).
With respect to claim 18 Usry discloses wherein the body portion partitions a predetermined space into a first air chamber and a second air chamber (see again embodiment of figure 3e) the portion of the outer edge of the body portion is fixed to the periphery portion, and a remainder of the outer edge of the body portion is open and is a communicating portion allowing air from the first chamber to communicate with the second chamber.
2. Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Usry (US4146112) as applied to claims 1 and 2 above and in further view of Nakamura (US8091685).
With respect to claim 10 Usry discloses the invention as claimed except expressly wherein the inner member is a luggage side trim covering an inner side of the wall.
Nakamura discloses the use of silencing members including a vibration and sound absorbing plate member in the luggage compartment of a vehicle (abstract).
It would have been an obvious smatter to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of Nakamura to use a silencing means in the luggage compartment with the device of Usry so as to enhance the user comfort in the vehicle.
With respect to claim 11Usry as modified further discloses the use of an acoustic member of nonwoven fabric (Nakamura discloses the use of Carpeting, a fabric, as a sound reducing means, the use of a nonwoven fabric would have been understood by one of ordinary skill to be analogous to the foam members of Usry.) The sue of such a material would have allowed for the use of a material which matched the rest of the interior and thus blend in for aesthetic reasons while absorbing sounds.
3.Claims 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Usry (US4146112) as applied to claims 1 and 2 above and in further view of Lee (US12033607).
With respect to claims 13 and 14 Usry discloses the invention as claimed except for the use of a non uniform filler received in the porous layer, the nonuniform filler having the claimed dimensions and of the claimed material.
Lee discloses the use of porous carbon (abstract) described as heterogenous and thus nonuniform (abstract) having the claimed surface area, and airflow resistance when taken in combination with a porous layer through which the filler is dispersed. As it regards the claimed range for particle size this would have been an obvious smatter of optimization, It has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of Lee to use a filler dispersed in the porous layer with the porous layer of Usry to enhance the sound reduction.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. McGivern (US11028732) discloses a high temperature panel damper; Karges (US10549661) discloses an acoustic seal for vehicle seat and a flow duct therein; Rydsund (US20160066699) discloses a sound dampening device; O’Coimin (US8701821) discloses an acoustic dampening sleeve for housing; Mangiapane (US7419209) discloses a seat assembly; and Helferty (US20060124386) discloses an acoustic drain for vehicle body.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FORREST M PHILLIPS whose telephone number is (571)272-9020. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dedei Hammond can be reached at (571) 272-3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FORREST M PHILLIPS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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