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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 10-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (U.S Pub. No. 20180325179) and Xu et al. (CN 112203533).
Claim 1, Li discloses a heater assembly for an aerosol-generating device, the heater assembly comprising:
a heater (14, fig. 2) configured to heat an aerosol-generating article; a body arranged to surround the aerosol-generating article;
a first cover coupled to a side of the body and comprising a first hole for receiving the aerosol-generating article (by reference sign 12, fig. 2); and a second cover coupled to another side of the body and comprising a second hole for receiving a power line for supplying power to the heater (bottom of fig. 2 and [0025]), wherein an accommodating space (chamber [0011-0012 and 0025] for accommodating the aerosol-generating article is formed by the first cover, the body, and the second cover.
Li does not expressly discloses a material configured to reflect the heat generated from the heater to the accommodating space is deposited on an inner surface of at least one of the body, the first cover, and the second cover. Xu discloses a material configured to reflect the heat generated from the heater to the accommodating space is deposited on an inner surface of a body (Abstract and by reference sign 140, fig. 1).
Regarding claim 2, Xu discloses a cover insulation member extending in a length direction of the heater and arranged between the heater and the body (Abstract, 150, fig.1); therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have the first cover of Li comprises a cover insulation member extending in a length direction of the heater and arranged between the heater and the body as taught by Xu to provide insulation.
Regarding claim 3, Xu the cover insulation member partially surrounds the heater (Abstract and fig. 1).
Regarding claim 4, Li the first cover comprises: a first cover body comprising an insertion hole into which the aerosol-generating article is to be inserted; and a first protruding member protruding from the first cover body and including a coupling hole for receiving a coupling member for coupling the first cover to the aerosol-generating device (by reference sign 12, fig. 2).
Regarding claim 10, Li discloses a lower sealing coupled to the second cover, wherein the second cover comprises an inner surface facing the second hole, and the lower sealing comprises a first sealing that fills the second hole by contacting the inner surface of the second cover [0013 and 0034].
Claim 11, Li discloses the sealing element preventing solid tobacco material or tobacco liquid from infiltrating [0034]; therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have the first sealing is inserted into the second hole by an interference fit manner.
Regarding claim 12, Li discloses a first sealing body inserted into the second hole; a first penetration groove formed in the first sealing body such that a portion of the heater penetrates through the first penetration groove; and a second penetration groove formed in the first sealing body apart from the first penetration groove such that a portion of the sensor penetrates through the second penetration groove (see fig. 2 and [0025].
Regarding claim 13, Li discloses the second cover further comprises an outer surface opposite to the inner surface, and the lower sealing further comprises a second sealing arranged at an outer surface of the second cover [0013 and 0034].
Regarding claim 14, Li discloses a supporter arranged in the heater and supporting the heater (see fig. 2 and [0025].
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Li and Xu taken together as a whole discloses an aerosol-generating device comprising: a heater assembly (as discussed above for claim 1), a battery (Xu discloses lithium ion battery) configured to supply power to the heater assembly; and a controller configured to control operations of the heater assembly ([0032 and fig. 3 of Li).
Claim(s) 6-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (U.S Pub. No. 20180325179) and Xu et al. (CN 112203533) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Fursa (WO 2020249661).
Claim 5, Fernando discloses a heater assembly comprises a detector (corresponding to the claimed antenna) arranged inside the body and surround at least a portion of the heater, capable of detecting the presence of aerosol-generating device in an accommodating space (Abstract and claim 2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to make the heater assembly of Li comprising an antenna arranged inside the body to surround at least a portion of the heater and configured to recognize whether the aerosol-generating device is accommodated in the accommodating space as taught by Fursa.
Regarding claim 6, Fursa discloses the antenna comprises an antenna body extending in a length direction of the heater and surrounding at least a portion of the heater, and the combination of Li, Xu and Fursa taken together as a whole discloses the first cover comprises a cover insulation member extending in the length direction and arranged at a position corresponding to the antenna body.
Regarding claim 7, Li discloses the assembly further comprising a sensor arranged inside the body and configured to sense a temperature of the heater [0025], it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to arrange the sensor so that it can penetrate through the antenna to monitor the temperature of the heater.
Regarding claim 8, Fursa discloses the sensor can be shielded from other parts (see document); therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to further have a shielding portion arranged between the antenna and the body to surround at least a portion of the antenna.
Regarding claim 9, Li discloses a sensor arranged inside the body and configured to sense a temperature of the heater [0025]; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to arrange the sensor so that it can penetrate through a portion of the shielding portion to monitor the temperature of the heater.
Conclusion
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/PHU H NGUYEN/ Examiner, Art Unit 1747