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 1-15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “at least one of the following ingredients: a preservative, a dye, a pigment, an aroma, an odor eliminator, a pesticide, an impregnation ingredient, a fire retardant” which should be treated as “at least one of the following ingredients: a preservative, a dye, a pigment, an aroma, an odor eliminator, a pesticide, an impregnation ingredient, and a fire retardant.”
Claim 4 recites “that the modification arrangement comprises at least one of the following meters to determine a time for beginning of said conveying the fluid: a thermometer in the modification unit, a hygrometer in the modification unit, a clock.” Which should read “that the modification arrangement comprises at least one of the following meters to determine a time for beginning of [[said]] conveying the fluid: a thermometer in the modification unit, a hygrometer in the modification unit, and a clock.”
Claim 13 recites “that the heater is one of the following apparatus: an electrical resistance pack, a radiator having a liquid circulation” which should read “that the heater is one of the following apparatus: an electrical resistance pack [[,]] or a radiator having a liquid circulation.”
Claim 15 recites “at least one of the following ingredients as the preservative: creosote, copper, copper chrome arsenic, copper chrome boron, acid cupric chrome, zinc, oxide copper, copper naphthenic acid, glycol, a silicate” which should read “at least one of the following ingredients as the preservative: creosote, copper, copper chrome arsenic, copper chrome boron, acid cupric chrome, zinc, oxide copper, copper naphthenic acid, glycol, or a silicate.”
Claims 2-3, 5-12, and 14 are objected to for being dependent from an objected to claim. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-3, 9-11, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 6473994 (Dedieu hereinafter) in view of US 6426118 (Barnisin hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Dedieu teaches a wood treating process that discloses a modification unit (Fig 1A, unit 1), at least one fluid aperture in the modification unit (At least one aperture 18, 15, at 192/191, 11, and aperture connected to 20), and a fluid container that is coupled with a control valve to said at least one fluid aperture (Condenser 19 in Figure 1A and Reserve vessel 6 in Figure 2), and in the modification arrangement the hygroscopic material is heated in the modification unit in a normal atmospheric pressure (The term “normal” is broadly interpreted as a pressure that can be achieved in a natural setting in the world as opposed to extreme pressures created by humans/extreme atmospheres) to extract water from the hygroscopic material (Column 5 Lines 1-43 detailing the drying process to extract water from the wood) and, in response to opening of the control valve, fluid is conveyed from the fluid container through said at least one fluid aperture into the modification unit, for cooling of the hygroscopic material in the modification unit (Opening of valves 191 and 192 to allow for the condenser to cool per Column 6 Lines 17-25).
Dedieu is silent with respect that characterized in that the modification arrangement further comprises at treatment agent added into the fluid so that inside the modification unit the treatment agent is absorbed, along with the fluid, into the hygroscopic material and modifies the hygroscopic material, and the treatment agent includes at least one of the following ingredients: a preservative, a dye, a pigment, an aroma, an odor eliminator, a pesticide, an impregnation ingredient, a fire retardant.
However, Barnisin teaches a wood treatment system that discloses a modification arrangement further comprises at treatment agent added into the fluid so that inside the modification unit the treatment agent is absorbed, along with the fluid, into the hygroscopic material and modifies the hygroscopic material, and the treatment agent includes at least one of the following ingredients: a preservative, a dye, a pigment, an aroma, an odor eliminator, a pesticide, an impregnation ingredient, a fire retardant. (Column 4 Lines 11-41 and Claim 5 detail the various active ingredients that can be added to treated wood).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the process and system of Dedieu with the active ingredients of Barnisin to treat the wood for a specific purpose.
Regarding claim 2, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Dedieu and Barnisin would further disclose that the modification unit is configured for heating the hygroscopic material such that the modification unit is a drying oven which is able to heat air and circulate the air heated inside the modification unit (Dedieu Figure 1A with fan shown will recirculate the internal air which is heated to a specific temperature to cause drying of the wood).
Regarding claim 3, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Dedieu and Barnisin would further disclose that the modification arrangement comprises a heater and a blower for heating the hygroscopic material inside the modification unit such that the blower is able to blow air towards the heater (Heating caused by the microwaves from 44/40 in Figure 1B of Dedieu and the blower shown in Figure 1A circulates the air as shown and towards/around the heater sections).
Regarding claim 9, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Dedieu and Barnisin would further disclose a bottom part and a top part that detachable from each other (Dedieu door 16 and body 1 are separable from each other).
Regarding claim 10, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Dedieu and Barnisin would further disclose that the fluid container is adapted to contain the treatment agent and water (Resultant combination would allow for the container of Barnisin to contain the treatment agent and water).
Regarding claim 11, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Dedieu and Barnisin would further disclose a steam generator for cooling the hygroscopic material with water and a watering valve coupled to the steam generator (Dedieu Column 6 Lines 17-25).
Regarding claim 15, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Dedieu and Barnisin would further disclose that the treatment agent includes at least one of the following ingredients as the preservative: creosote, copper, copper chrome arsenic, copper chrome boron, acid cupric chrome, zinc, oxide copper, copper naphthenic acid, glycol, a silicate (Barnisin teaches the use of zinc stearate as well as Copper Chrome Aresenate).
Claims 4 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 6473994 (Dedieu) in view of US 6426118 (Barnisin) and further in view of US 2118966 (Card hereinafter).
Regarding claim 4, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Dedieu and Barnisin fails to disclose that the modification arrangement comprises at least one of the following meters to determine a time for beginning of said conveying the fluid: a thermometer in the modification unit, a hygrometer in the modification unit, a clock.
However, Card teaches a wood treatment system that discloses measuring internal parameters to control the operation of the wood treatment that includes a thermometer and a hygrometer (Page 1, Right Column Lines 20-25).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the wood treatment system of Dedieu with the sensors of Card to allow for more precise control of the wood treatment process.
Regarding claim 13, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Dedieu and Barnisin fails to disclose that the heater is one of the following apparatus: an electrical resistance pack, a radiator having a liquid circulation.
However, Card teaches a wood treatment system that maintains the heat of the treatment chamber using a heat pump with circulating liquid (Heating within coil 12 per “Located within and adjacent the inner periphery of the container I0 are heating coils 12 connected with any suitable source of heat, as, for example, a supply of live steam” of Page 1 Left Column Lines 16-19).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to replace the microwave heating of Dedieu with the heat coils of Card via simple substitution to obtain the well-known and predictable result of heating the interior of the wood treatment chamber.
Claims 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 6473994 (Dedieu) in view of US 6426118 (Barnisin) and further in view of US 7987614 (Erickson hereinafter).
Regarding claim 5, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Dedieu and Barnisin fails to disclose a compression apparatus to apply an exertion of force upon the hygroscopic material such that water is extracted from the hygroscopic material.
However, Erickson teaches a wood treatment system that discloses a compression apparatus to apply an exertion of force upon the hygroscopic material such that water is extracted from the hygroscopic material (Press 28 in Figure 1 per Column 8 Lines 5-17).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the wood treatment system of Dedieu with the press of Erickson to maintain the shape of the hygroscopic material while assisting in removing excess water.
Regarding claim 6, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 5 where the combination of Dedieu, Barnisin, and Erickson would further disclose that the compression apparatus is a hydraulic press (Erickson Column 8 Lines 5-17).
Regarding claim 7, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Dedieu and Barnisin fails to disclose a weight that is moveable on the hygroscopic material such that an exertion force caused by the weight extracts water from the hygroscopic material.
However, Erickson teaches a wood treatment system that discloses a compression apparatus to apply an exertion of force upon the hygroscopic material such that water is extracted from the hygroscopic material (Press formed by 94 and weights 88A and 88B in Figure 7 per Column 10 Line 54 through Column 11 Line 26).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the wood treatment system of Dedieu with the press of Erickson to maintain the shape of the hygroscopic material while assisting in removing excess water
Regarding claim 8, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 7 where the combination of Dedieu, Barnisin, and Erickson would further disclose that the weight comprises a pallet (Broadest reasonable interpretation of the panel/bar 94 in Figure 7 of Erickson), weight material (Weights 88A and 88B attached to the pallet/panel 94), and thermal insulation around the weight material (Also under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the insulation of the medication unit of Dedieu would be “around” the weight material of Erickson in the combination set forth).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 6473994 (Dedieu) in view of US 6426118 (Barnisin) and further in view of US 2003/0060504 (Yoshida hereinafter).
Regarding claim 12, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Dedieu and Barnisin fails to disclose that the treatment agent is lead in aerosol form into the modification unit.
However, Yoshida teaches a wood treatment system that discloses aerosolizing a treatment agent to be applied to the wood/hygroscopic material (¶ 73).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the wood treatment system of Dedieu/Barnisin with the aerosolized treatment of Yoshida to allow for easy application to the wood.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 6473994 (Dedieu) in view of US 6426118 (Barnisin) and further in view of US 5071447 (Koppelman hereinafter).
Regarding claim 13, Dedieu’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Dedieu and Barnisin would further disclose a steam generator (Figure 1A of Dedieu with steam generator 2).
Dedieu is silent with respect that the steam generator is coupled via a watering valve to a mixing pipe and a fluid container is coupled via the control valve to the mixing pipe.
However, Koppelman teaches a method of drying lumber that a discloses steam generator (Figure 2, steam generator 213) is coupled via a watering valve to a mixing pipe (Watering valve 234 and mixing pipe being the piping at 219) and a fluid container is coupled via the control valve to the mixing pipe (Fluid container 215).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the fluid flow path of the steam generator of Dedieu with the teachings of Koppelman to allow for the reuse of liquid.
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
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