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 .
Election/Restrictions
This action is responsive to the election filed 07/10/2026. The species of fig 1 has been elected. Claims 1-20 are pending with claim 6 withdrawn as pertaining to an unelected species.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3 and 10 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 3, the claim calls to “the operation end temperature corresponds to the starting temperature of the PTC thermistor.” However, claim 2, from which claim 3 depends, discloses the operation end temperature being BETWEEN the starting temperature and the end temperature of the PTC. It is unclear how the operation end temperature can both correspond to the PTC starting temperature and be between the starting temperature and end temperature. For the purpose of examination, the “between” of claim 2 is being interpreted as being inclusive of the starting and end temperatures.
Regarding claim 10, the claim calls to the electrical resistance of the evaporator “increases by a power of ten or less” however it is unclear what the increase is in response to. For the purpose of examination, the increase is seen to be in response to increasing temperature.
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.
Claims 1-5, 7-14 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiu (US 2017/0196273 A1) in view of Alston (US 2020/0146352 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Qiu discloses an evaporator device for evaporating a substance, comprising: an evaporator (#438 fig 24) configured to receive and evaporate the substance (par 0166 discloses 438 as a container for containing wax or tobacco to be heated and thus evaporated), the evaporator including a receiving structure such that, during operation, the substance to be evaporated is received in the receiving structure (par 0166 discloses 438 as containing the substance thus disclosing a receiving structure); two electrical connections (see annotated fig 24 below) for an electrical supply of the evaporator (par 0165 “the atomizing device 43 can be electrically coupled to the power supply device 45”); the evaporator configured to during operation and upon electrical supply for evaporating the substance received in the receiving structure, homogeneously provide heat in a thermal operating range between an operation starting temperature and an operation end temperature (par 0167 disclosing operating temperature TM as the operation end temperature and thus ambient temperature is the starting temperature); at least one blocking conductor arranged in the current path and heat-transmittingly connected to the evaporator (#433 fig 24, par 0186); and wherein the at least one blocking conductor is configured such that, electrical resistance increases with increasing temperature (par 0186 disclosing 433 as a PTC).
PNG
media_image1.png
224
378
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Qiu annotated fig 24
Qiu does not expressly disclose the evaporator being an electrically conductive evaporator ceramic and an electrical current path for the electrical supply of the evaporator extending through the two electrical connections and through the evaporator ceramic.
Qiu does however disclose the use of porous ceramic PTC materials for an evaporator (par 0085 “the heating member 133 can be a porous ceramic based PTC heating member, and all of the first liquid guiding member 131, the second liquid guiding member 132, and the temperature sensor 134 can be omitted”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize a ceramic for the evaporator of Qiu as doing so allows for a liquid substance to be evaporated without having to convey the liquid toward the heater. With the use of the ceramic for the evaporator of Qiu the current path now passes through the evaporator.
Qiu remains silent to upon exceeding the operation end temperature, an electrical resistance of the at least one blocking conductor abruptly increase. Instead, Qiu discloses a controller recognizing exceeding the operation end temperature and reducing voltage in response (par 0101).
Alston teaches a similar evaporator device (abstract) with an evaporator configured to receive and evaporate the substance (#744 fig 13); two electrical connections (#894 fig 17A/B, par 0162) an electrical current path for the electrical supply of the evaporator extending through the two electrical connections (par 0157 disclosing current path through the ptcr); and at least one blocking conductor arranged in the current path (#890 fig 17A/17B, par 0162, see also #742 fig 10, 13) and heat-transmittingly connected to the evaporator (par 0077 disclosing heat being transmitted between the conductor and the evaporator through airflow); and wherein the at least one blocking conductor is configured such that, upon exceeding the operation end temperature, an electrical resistance of the at least one blocking conductor abruptly increases (par 0155-0157 specifically 0157 “when the temperature of the heating element reaches the transition zone, the resistivity increases significantly over a small temperature range”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the PTC blocking type conductors of Alston for the PTC blocking conductors of Qiu as doing so simplifies the electrical power delivery such that the controller of Qiu would no longer need to adjust voltage in response to PTC temperature readings (see Alston par 0155).
Regarding claim 2, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Alston further discloses the at least one blocking conductor is configured as a PTC thermistor (par 0155 discloses PTCR and par 0157 disclose the component acting as a thermistor “when the temperature of the heating element reaches the transition zone, the resistivity increases significantly over a small temperature range”); and the operation end temperature is between a starting temperature and an end temperature of the PTC thermistor (par 0157 disclosing the PTC transition zone, the ptc starting temperature, being the operation end temperature).
Regarding claim 3, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 2. Alston further discloses the operation end temperature corresponds to the starting temperature of the PTC thermistor (par 0157 disclosing the PTC transition zone being the operation end temperature).
Regarding claim 4, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Qiu further discloses the at least one blocking conductor is arranged between the evaporator and one of the two electrical connections (see fig 24 showing blocking conductors 433 between electrical connections and evaporator 438).
Regarding claim 5, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Qiu further discloses the at least one blocking conductor lies flat on the evaporator ceramic (see fig 24 showing blocking conductors 433 lying flat on evaporator 438).
Regarding claim 7, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Qiu further discloses the at least one blocking conductor is formed as a layer (see fig 24 showing blocking conductors 433 as a layer on evaporator 438).
Regarding claim 8, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Qiu further discloses the receiving structure includes a plurality of pores for receiving the substance (par 0085 disclosing porous ceramic).
Regarding claim 9, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Modified Qiu does not expressly disclose the electrical resistance of the at least one blocking conductor, in the thermal operating range, corresponds to half of an electrical resistance of the evaporator or less. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize a resistance for the blocking conductor that is significantly less/less than half than that of the evaporator in the operating range as doing so ensure that current flow still arrives to the evaporator so that the evaporator can successfully heat in order to evaporate the substance.
Regarding claim 10, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 9. Alston further discloses the electrical resistance of the evaporator, in the thermal operating range, increases by a power of ten or less (par 0016 disclosing resistance increasing by a factor of 10).
Regarding claim 11, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Modified Qiu does not expressly disclose a blocking volume of the at least one blocking conductor amounts to a tenth of an evaporator volume of the evaporator ceramic or less. Qiu does however illustrate the blocking conductors as thin layers on the evaporator (see fig 24), thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have the volume of the blocking conductors by a tenth or less of the evaporator volume as doing so reduces the overall volume required of the device while maintaining the relationship of the blocking conductors serving as thin layers on the evaporator.
Regarding claim 12, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Modified Qiu further discloses the evaporator consists of the evaporator ceramic (see Qiu fig 24 showing the evaporator 438 as the only component of the evaporator).
Regarding claim 13, Modified Qiu discloses an inhaler for evaporating a substance (Qiu, abstract), comprising: the evaporator device according to Claim 1 (see modified Qiu of claim 1 above) and a plurality of electronics electrically connected to the two electrical connections (see Qiu fig 24 showing electrical connections connected to controller 44 and power source 45).
Regarding 14, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Alston further discloses the electrical resistance of the evaporator, in the thermal operating range, increases by a power of ten (par 0016 disclosing resistance increasing by a factor of 10).
Regarding claim 16, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Modified Qiu does not expressly disclose each of the two electrical connections is structured as a circuit board. However, Alston discloses the use of circuit boards (par 0114) connected with electrical connections, thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize circuit boards for the electrical connections of modified Qiu to allow for connection with the controller, power supply and the blocking conductors.
Regarding claim 17, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Modified Qiu further discloses the evaporator ceramic and the at least one blocking conductor define a contiguous module that is cuboid in shape (see Qiu fig 24 showing a rectangular shape and Alston fig 17A/B showing a thin cuboid shape).
Regarding claim 18, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Qiu further discloses the at least one blocking conductor includes a first blocking conductor and a second blocking conductor (see fig 24 showing blocking conductor on upper and lower side); the evaporator ceramic is arranged between the first blocking conductor and the second blocking conductor (see fig 24 with evaporator between blocking conductors); the first blocking conductor is arranged between the evaporator ceramic and a first electrical connection of the two electrical connections (see fig 24); and the second blocking conductor is arranged between the evaporator ceramic and a second electrical connection of the two electrical connections (see fig 24).
Regarding claim 19, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 2. Modified Qiu further discloses the evaporator ceramic includes a first ceramic (#438 fig 4); and the PTC thermistor includes a second ceramic that is different than the first ceramic (see fig 24 showing blocking conductors/ptc thermistors 433 as separate components from the evaporator 438, par 0186 disclosing blocking conductors as ceramic ptc).
Regarding claim 20, Qiu discloses a portable inhaler (abstract), comprising a substance and an evaporator (#438 fig 24) for evaporating the substance (par 0166 discloses 438 as a container for containing wax or tobacco to be heated and thus evaporated); a plurality of electrical connections (see annotated fig 24 above); at least one blocking conductor heat-transmittingly connected to the evaporator (#433 fig 24, par 0186); the evaporator is configured to, during operation, homogeneously provide heat in a thermal operating range between an operation starting temperature and an operation end temperature (par 0167 disclosing operating temperature TM as the operation end temperature and thus ambient temperature is the starting temperature); and electrical resistance of the blocking conductor increases with increasing temperature (par 0186 disclosing 433 as a PTC).
Qiu does not expressly disclose the evaporator includes: an electrically conductive and porous evaporator ceramic wherein the substance is disposed in a plurality of pores of the evaporator ceramic at least during operation and an electrical current path extending through the at least one blocking conductor and the evaporator ceramic between the plurality of electrical connections.
Qiu does however disclose the use of porous ceramic PTC materials for an evaporator (par 0085 “the heating member 133 can be a porous ceramic based PTC heating member, and all of the first liquid guiding member 131, the second liquid guiding member 132, and the temperature sensor 134 can be omitted”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize a ceramic for the evaporator of Qiu as doing so allows for a liquid substance to be evaporated without having to convey the liquid toward the heater. With the use of the ceramic for the evaporator of Qiu the current path now passes through the evaporator.
Modified Qiu remains silent to upon exceeding the operation end temperature, an electrical resistance of the at least one blocking conductor abruptly increases such that the at least one blocking conductor at least one of reduces and interrupts an electrical supply of the evaporator ceramic.
Alston teaches a similar evaporator device (abstract) with an evaporator configured to receive and evaporate the substance (#744 fig 13); two electrical connections (#894 fig 17A/B, par 0162) an electrical current path for the electrical supply of the evaporator extending through the two electrical connections (par 0157 disclosing current path through the ptcr); and at least one blocking conductor arranged in the current path (#890 fig 17A/17B, par 0162, see also #742 fig 10, 13) and heat-transmittingly connected to the evaporator (par 0077 disclosing heat being transmitted between the conductor and the evaporator through airflow); and wherein the at least one blocking conductor is configured such that, upon exceeding the operation end temperature, an electrical resistance of the at least one blocking conductor abruptly increases (par 0155-0157 specifically 0157 “when the temperature of the heating element reaches the transition zone, the resistivity increases significantly over a small temperature range”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the PTC blocking type conductors of Alston for the PTC blocking conductors of Qiu as doing so simplifies the electrical power delivery such that the controller of Qiu would no longer need to adjust voltage in response to PTC temperature readings (see Alston par 0155).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Qiu as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Ding (US 2019/0166912 A1).
Regarding claim 15, modified Qiu discloses the evaporator of claim 1. Modified Qiu is silent to the evaporator ceramic includes at least one metal oxide.
Ding teaches the use of a porous metal oxide ceramic (par 0011 “porous aluminum oxide ceramic”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize an aluminum oxide ceramic as taught by Ding for the evaporator ceramic of modified Qiu as doing so can improve conductivity as aluminum is a known conductive metal.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Alston (US 11350664 B2) discloses a vaporization device utilizing ptc materials
Minskoff (US 20160021930 A1) discloses a vaporizer utilizing a ptc thermistor
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIRA B DAHER whose telephone number is (571)270-0190. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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, Brandy Lee can be reached at (571) 270-7410. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KIRA B DAHER/Examiner, Art Unit 3785
/BRADLEY H PHILIPS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
Prosecution Insights