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
Claim 38 is objected to because of the following informalities: “optics of the analysis instrument is configured” should be “optics of the analysis instrument are configured”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 41 is objected to because of the following informalities: The period after “compartment” in line 3 should be a comma. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 34, 41, and 44 are 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.
In regards to claim 34 it is unclear what is meant by “wherein the sealing members are configured to define a respective sealed volume between the sealing member and a peripheral edge of the particle capturing substrate”. The claim is being interpreted as “wherein each sealing member is configured to define a respective sealed member between the sealing member and a peripheral edge of the particle capturing substrate”.
Claim 41 recites the limitation "the intermediate configuration" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The claim is being interpreted such that the phrase reads “an intermediate configuration”. Claim 44 contains a step of “reconfiguring the sample collector from the sampling configuration to the reagent filling configuration”. The claim earlier states that the “particle capturing substrate” is what is reconfigured into a sampling configuration, not the sample collector. For purposes of examination the claim is being interpreted as saying “reconfiguring the particle capturing substrate from the sampling configuration to the reagent filling configuration”.
Examiner’s Note
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ahmad (US 20190350495 A1) teaches a sample collector for collection of airborne particles exhaled by a human being, comprising: a sampling compartment comprising an inlet for receiving a flow of air ([0124]); and a particle capturing substrate configured to capture the airborne particles in the flow of air ([0124]).
Cooper (US 20150377868 A1) teaches a sample collector for collection of airborne particles exhaled by a human being, comprising: a particle capturing substrate configured to capture the airborne particles in the flow of air; an analysis compartment wherein an aperture is defined in a wall of the analysis compartment; and a substrate clamping device comprising an optical window and a support member; wherein the sample collector is reconfigurable between a sampling configuration and an analysis configuration ([0062], [0097], and [0139]).
Braig (US 5282473 A) teaches an infrared gas analyzer with aperture (abstract).
In regards to claim 25, none of the prior art teaches or suggests, either alone or in combination, a sample collector comprising a substrate clamping device comprising an optical window and a support member; wherein the sample collector is reconfigurable between a sampling configuration and an analysis configuration, wherein: in the analysis configuration the substrate clamping device and a particle capturing substrate are arranged in an analysis compartment, the optical window is aligned with an aperture such that optical access to a particle capturing substrate is allowed, and the substrate clamping device is in a closed state such that the particle capturing substrate is clamped between the optical window and a support member; and wherein, during reconfiguration from a sampling configuration to the analysis configuration, the substrate clamping device and the particle capturing substrate are configured to be moved together to the analysis compartment while the substrate clamping device is brought to the closed state, in combination with the other claimed elements. For this reason, claims 25-33, 35-37, 39-40, and 42-43 are allowable.
Claims 38 and 44 contain no prior art rejections, however they are not in condition for allowance due to their objections.
Claims 34, 41, and 44 contain no prior art rejections, however they are not in condition for allowance due to their rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Conclusion
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/LUCY EPPERT/Examiner, Art Unit 3791
/ETSUB D BERHANU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3791