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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/05/2023 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(b) as being anticipated by Lin et al. (US 2022/0354164 A1, English translation for CN 110403253 A).
Regarding claim 1, Lin discloses an electronic cigarette vaporizer – (construed as a vaporizer) to include hollow tube 3, see at least FIG. 4 – (construed as a vaporization core), the hollow tube by its hollowness has an inner bottom, see at least FIG. 4 – (construed as a vaporization cavity at an inner bottom of a vaporization core). The vaporizer further having a housing 1 including a mouthpiece end 10 and an insertion portion 14 – (construed as a connecting end). The mouthpiece opening/end is provided with a mouthpiece extending downwards and integrally formed with a mouthpiece housing 11 – (construed as a mouthpiece tube), the insertion portion/connecting end is provided with an opening closed by a base member 6 – (construed as a bottom cap), the insertion portion/connecting end is capable of being connected with a battery part to form an electronic vaporizing device, see at least [0005].
Components of a vaporizing base 5 and hollow tube 3, see at least FIG. 6 – (construed as a vaporizing assembly) is provided inside the housing and is connected between the mouthpiece housing/tube and the base member/bottom cap. A liquid storage chamber 13 is defined between the vaporizing assembly and an inner wall of the housing 1, see at least FIG. 3.
The vaporizing assembly includes a hollow tube/vaporization core and a vaporizing base 5, a bottom portion of the vaporizing base is disposed on the base member/bottom cap, a lower portion of the hollow tube/vaporization core is inserted in a concave cavity 52 – (construed as a central accommodation cavity) of the vaporizing base, an upper end of the hollow tube/vaporization core is sleeved on a lower end of the mouthpiece housing/tube, see at least FIGS 4, 6, 7.
The vaporization cavity is provided at the inner bottom of the hollow tube/vaporization core, the hollow tube/vaporization core is provided with a central through-hole extending vertically, the base member/bottom cap is centrally provided with an air intake pipe 66 – (construed as a bottom cap air inlet), see at least FIG. 11.
The vaporizing base is centrally provided with a first air inlet 53 – (construed as a vaporizing base inlet hole), the first air inlet/vaporizing base inlet hole is in communication with the hollowness of the hollow tube/vaporization cavity, and the hollowness of the hollow tube/vaporization cavity is in communication with the central through-hole, the mouthpiece housing/tube, and the mouthpiece in an upward direction, see at least FIGS. 3, 4.
Regarding claim 2, Lin further discloses the vaporizing assembly further comprises a support plate 7 – (construed as an isolation plate placed on an upper surface of the vaporizing base), wherein as best depicted in FIG. 2, the plate has is provided with a plate central hole, a wall of the lower portion of the hollow tube/vaporization core is integrally engaged into the isolation plate central hole, and the isolation plate is provided on two sides with isolation plate filling through-holes.
Regarding claim 3, Lin further discloses the vaporizing base is provided on two sides with holes 56 – (construed as vaporizing base filling through-holes), and the base member/bottom cap is provided with plungers 63 – (construed as plugs) for respectively plugging the holes/vaporizing base filling through-holes at positions corresponding to respective vaporizing base filling through-holes, see at least [0042], FIGS. 5, 7, 10.
Regarding claim 4, Lin further discloses a seal plate 661 – (construed as a cover plate) is disposed above the air intake pipe/bottom cap air inlet, and a second air inlet 61 – (construed as an outlet opening) for the bottom cap air inlet is provided on a side wall of the lower portion of the seal/cover plate, at a position above an inner bottom plate of the bottom cap, see at least FIGS. 10, 11.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-12 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art of record Lin does not teach or reasonably suggest forming the hollow tube/vaporization core such that it includes: a sleeve, a liquid guiding member, a heating sheet, and electrode leads, wherein the liquid guiding member is disposed inside the sleeve, the sleeve is provided with side wall through-holes above the vaporizing base, the side wall through-holes are covered by an outer wall of the liquid guiding member, the liquid guiding member is provided with the central through-hole, the heating sheet is disposed at bottom of the liquid guiding member, the electrode leads are disposed on two sides of the heating sheet, a portion of the sleeve below the heating sheet is provided with a bottom cavity which defines the vaporization cavity, and a portion of the sleeve above the liquid guiding member is provided with an empty chamber which defines the vapor chamber.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CEDRICK S WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)272-9776. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday 8:00am-5:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Katelyn Smith can be reached on 5712705545. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CEDRICK S WILLIAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1749