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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 7-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Love (US 5831847 A) in view of Jensen (US 3813856 A).
Regarding claim 1, Love teaches of:
A louver (Fig. 1, 22)
Love fails to explicitly teach:
A louver comprising:
a first member including a lid portion provided with slits disposed at intervals and rising portions extending from peripheral edge portions of the slits toward one side in a depth direction;
and a second member including a lid portion provided with slits disposed at intervals and rising portions extending from peripheral edge portions of the slits toward another side in the depth direction, wherein the first member and the second member are disposed to face each other in a direction in which the rising portions extend, and
the slits of the first member and the slits of the second member are disposed to be shifted from each other,
a rear end portion of each of the rising portions of the first member arranged with a first gap relative to the lid portion of the second member in the depth direction, and
a front end portion of each of the rising portions of the second member arranged with a second gap relative to the lid portion of the first member in the depth direction.
Jensen teaches of:
A louver comprising:
a first member including a lid portion provided with slits disposed at intervals and rising portions extending from peripheral edge portions of the slits toward one side in a depth direction (Figs. 3 and 5, S-1-S-4 make up a first member that has a lid 24 and slits between rising portions 26 and 28 that extend in a depth direction);
and a second member including a lid portion provided with slits disposed at intervals and rising portions extending from peripheral edge portions of the slits toward another side in the depth direction, wherein the first member and the second member are disposed to face each other in a direction in which the rising portions extend (Figs. 3 and 5, F-1-F-6 make up the second member with a lid 18 and slits between the rising portions 20 and 22 which extend in towards the first member in the depth direction and the first and second members face one another), and
the slits of the first member and the slits of the second member are disposed to be shifted from each other (Fig. 5, slit formed by F-2 is offset from slits formed by S-1 and S-2),
a rear end portion of each of the rising portions of the first member arranged with a first gap relative to the lid portion of the second member in the depth direction (Fig. 5, see gap formed from the ends 26 and 28 relative to 18), and
a front end portion of each of the rising portions of the second member arranged with a second gap relative to the lid portion of the first member in the depth direction (Fig. 5, see gap formed from the ends of 20 and 22 relative to 24).
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace 22 with the apparatus of Fig. 1 of Jensen so that F-1-F-6 is on the outside of the case and S-1-S-6 is on the inside of the case of Love and further add brackets 10 to the case of Love so that the apparatus of Jensen can be mounted onto the case
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would remove entrained particles from the air flow entering the charging apparatus (Jensen, Col. 2, lines 7-11, This swirling motion subjects particles of entrained material in the first and second streams to a centrifugal action. This centrifugal action tends to fling the particles against the interior surfaces of the channel-shaped members where they tend to adhere thereto)
Regarding claim 2, the combined teachings teach of the louver according to claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the rising portions of the first member are disposed as a pair to face each other across the slits of the first member, and
the rising portions of the second member are disposed as a pair to face each other across the slits of the second member (Jensen, Fig. 5, each of the rising members 26 and 28 and 20 and 22 are formed as pairs that create the slits through which air flows denoted by arrows X and Y).
Regarding claim 3, the combined teachings teach of the louver according to claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the slits of the first member and the slits of the second member extend in a longitudinal direction (Jensen, Fig. 1, the slits formed extend in a longitudinal direction from A to A)
Regarding claim 4, the combined teachings teach of the louver according to claim 3, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein
the rising portions of the first member and the rising portions of the second member partially overlap in the depth direction (Jensen, Fig. 5, 20/22 and 26/28 overlap in a depth direction)
Regarding claim 7, the combined teachings teach of:
A charging device comprising the louver according to claim 1 (Love, Fig. 3, 22; Col. 9, lines 56-62, The power conveyed to the secondary S of transformer T1 is rectified by rectifier CR1 and filtered by filter 70. The filtered, regulated D.C. voltage is transferred through series resistor R2 and inductive filter L4 to the output terminals 72A. Positive voltage is also transferred through blocking rectifier CR2 to charge capacitor C1, which supplies the voltage V for the fan circuit; the system of Love is a power supply that has internal circuitry that charges a capacitor and has a transformer)
Regarding claim 8, the combined teachings teach of the charging device according to claim 7, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising a transformer in which high-frequency switching noise occurs (Love, lines 56-62, The power conveyed to the secondary S of transformer T1 is rectified by rectifier CR1 and filtered by filter 70. The filtered, regulated D.C. voltage is transferred through series resistor R2 and inductive filter L4 to the output terminals 72A. Positive voltage is also transferred through blocking rectifier CR2 to charge capacitor C1, which supplies the voltage V for the fan circuit)
Regarding claim 9, the combined teachings teach of the louver according to claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein an undivided gas flow path is formed between the lid portion of the first member, the rising portions of the first member, the lid portion of the second member, and the rising portions of the second member (Jensen, Fig. 5, see undivided gas flow X and Y formed between 24, 26/28, 18 and 20/22)
Regarding claim 10, the combined teachings teach of the louver according to claim 9, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein in the undivided gas flow path, the first gap having a length value represented as d31, a third gap in the lateral direction between the rising portions of the first member and the rising portions of the second member having a length value represented as d32, and the second gap having a length value represented as d33, wherein d31, d32, and d33 are equal.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Jensen to make the above length values equal based upon the following rationale:
It has been found that when the only difference between the claims and the prior art is the recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and the prior art having the claimed relative dimensions would not performed differently than the prior art device, the claimed device is not patentably distinct from the prior art device (see MPEP 2144.04.IV.A) In the instant case, Applicant has placed no criticality on the length values being equal as claimed and Jensen has not stated that it’s particular length values are critical to the functionality of the device. Therefore, Jensen would not perform differently with the claimed length values and as such a person of ordinary skill in the art could have modified Jensen to have the above values.
Regarding claim 11, the combined teachings teach of the louver according to claim 4, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein in the longitudinal direction, ends of the rising portions are connected to a wall portion disposed at an end of the lid portion and extending in the depth direction (Jensen, Fig. 1, the ends of the rising portions of the first and second members are connected to a wall portion A on both ends in the longitudinal direction)
Claim(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Love (US 5831847 A) in view of Jensen (US 3813856 A) as presented in claim 1, and in further view of Ney (US 2123287 A)
Regarding claim 5, the combined teachings teach of the louver according to claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising a stepped portion that is disposed on an outer peripheral portion of the first member (Fig. 3, 48 is a stepped portion on the outer peripheral of first member)
The combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
with which a sealing member for sealing a space between the first member and an attached portion is engaged.
Ney teaches of:
with which a sealing member for sealing a space between the first member and an attached portion is engaged (Fig. 1, see seal 33 between 22 and 32)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
provide a seal between the first member of Jensen and the case of Lover
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would create an air tight connection between the apparatus of Jensen and Love, ensuring air flows through the apparatus of Jensen
Regarding claim 6, the combined teachings teach of the louver according to claim 5, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein a lower end portion of the second member forms a gap between the lower end portion and the first member (Jensen, Fig. 5, the lower end portion of each member has a gap between them)
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL J GIORDANO whose telephone number is (571)272-8940. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fr 8 AM - 5 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steve McAllister can be reached at (571) 272-6785. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/STEVEN B MCALLISTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762