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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
¶0104, line 1, "through openings 372" should read "through opening 384".
Appropriate correction is required.
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 (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 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)(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 39-46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Brown et al. (US Patent No. 3,670,889).
Regarding Claim 39, Brown et al. teaches a contamination prompt structure for a filter medium (Abstract), comprising: a filter element (C2/L45-50, Fig. 2, filter element 14), and a prompt assembly (bypass valve 26), wherein the prompt assembly comprises a movable part (connecting rod 28), one end of the movable part is in communication with a water inlet of the filter element, or a water outlet of the filter element, another end of the movable part is in communication with the other one of the water inlet of the filter element and the water outlet of the filter element, or outside air (Abstract, “A pressure responsive bypass valve is operatable to directly connect the inlet with the outlet when the filter element becomes clogged by a predetermined amount), wherein the prompt assembly further comprises: a pulling rod (connecting rod 28), a convex shell (indicating disc 32), and a housing (housing 12), the convex shell is swingingly connected to the pulling rod at an eccentric position (C4/L5-12, “the projecting end of the connecting rod 28 is disposed in a recessed portion 80… The recessed portion 80 has a step portion 82 (Fig.6) on which indicating disc 32 is rotatably mounted”, “swingingly connected” construed to mean a joint or connection that allows one component to rotate, pivot, or swing relative to another component around a point, step portion 82 acts as a point connecting rod 28 and indicating disc 32), the housing has an observation window (Fig 1, transparent cover plate 98) for observing a position of the convex shell, and when the filter element is in the contaminated state, the two ends of the pulling rod move along an axial direction of the pulling rod due to a rise of pressure at the water inlet or a drop of pressure at the water outlet to pull the convex shell to swing (Fig. 3- 6, C4/L12-24, “As the connecting rod 28 reciprocates within the bore 30, the pin 86 will move therewith. Since connecting pin 86 is carried by the disc 32, the pin 86 will rotate about the axis 84 and thus as the connecting rod 28 reciprocates with respect to the axis 84, the lower end of the pin 86 will reciprocate across the longitudinal axis 25 within the slotted portion”, as stated in Abstract “A pressure responsive bypass valve is operatable to directly connect the inlet with the outlet when the filter element becomes clogged”, because the connecting pin 86, disc 32, and connecting rod 28 is a part of the bypass valve, this would read on the elements as responding to the change in pressure of the system when the filter is in its contaminated state ).
Regarding Claim 40, Brown et al. teaches the contamination prompt structure for the filter medium according to claim 39, wherein: the convex shell comprises a first protruding column located at the eccentric position (Fig.6, pin 86), the pulling rod comprises a buckle slot (Fig.6, slotted portion 88) configured to mate with the first protruding column the buckle slot extends along a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the pulling rod (C4/L24-30, “As the connecting pin 86 rotates in opposite directions with respect to the axis 84, the lower end of the pin 86 will reciprocate across the longitudinal axis 25 within the slotted portion 88), the convex shell further comprises a second protruding column (step portion 82) located at an axis of the convex shell (Fig. 6), the pulling rod comprises a position-providing groove (recessed portion 80) along the axial direction of the pulling rod (Fig.6), and when the convex shell swings: the second protruding column moves in the position-providing groove, and the first protruding column moves in the buckle slot (C4/L28-40,“after insertion of the connecting rod 28 within the bore 30, the disc 32 is positioned within the step portion 82 with the pin 86 being received by the slotted portion 88”).
Regarding Claim 41, Brown et al. teaches the contamination prompt structure for the filter medium according to claim 39, wherein: the pulling rod is connected with a reset elastic member (Fig. 6, spring 100), and when the two ends of the pulling rod move along the axial direction of the pulling rod due to the rise of the pressure at the water inlet or the drop of the pressure at the water outlet, the reset elastic member is squeezed to generate elastic reset force (C5/L40-45, “when a new filter element 14 has been installed on the device 10, the pressure differential between the inlet and outlet ports is nominal in the piston 62 will be biased by the spring 100 to its non-bypassing position”).
Regarding Claim 42, Brown et al. teaches a filter device (Abstract, Fig. 1, a fluid filter device 10) having a replaceable filter element (filter element 14), comprising: a housing having an interior adapted to receive the replaceable filter element (Abstract, “the housing containing the filter element is adapted to be spun off from a cap member and to be disposed of with the filter element”), a water inlet in fluid communication with the interior, and a water outlet in fluid communication with the interior (C6/L1-10, “an inlet port and an outlet port…, passage means in said cap member connecting one of said ports to the interior or said filter element), the replaceable filter element being positionable in the interior so that water received through the water inlet of the housing passes through the replaceable filter element to reach the water outlet of the housing (C6/L5-10, “where by fluid flows from said inlet port through said filter element and to said outlet port”); and a prompt assembly (bypass valve 26) comprising a movable part, one end of the movable part is in fluid communication with one of the water inlet and the water outlet and the other end of the movable part is in fluid communication with the other one of the water inlet and the water outlet or outside air, the movable part provides an indication of a condition of the replaceable filter element (Abstract, “A pressure responsive bypass valve is operatable to directly connect the inlet with the outlet when the filter element becomes clogged by a predetermined amount), wherein the prompt assembly further comprises a pulling rod (connecting rod 28), a convex shell (indicating disc 32), and a prompt housing (housing 12), the convex shell is swingingly connected to the pulling rod at an eccentric position (C4/L5-12, “the projecting end of the connecting rod 28 is disposed in a recessed portion 80… The recessed portion 80 has a step portion 82 (Fig.6) on which indicating disc 32 is rotatably mounted”, “swingingly connected” construed to mean a joint or connection that allows one component to rotate, pivot, or swing relative to another component around a point, step portion 82 acts as a point connecting rod 28 and indicating disc 32), the prompt housing has an observation window (Fig 1, transparent cover plate 98) for observing a position of the convex shell, and wherein the pulling rod moves along an axial direction of the pulling rod causing the convex shell to rotate (Fig. 3- 6, C4/L12-24).
Regarding Claim 43, Brown et al. teaches the filter device of claim 42, wherein: the convex shell comprises a first protruding column located at the eccentric position (Fig.6, pin 86), the pulling rod comprises a buckle slot (Fig.6, slotted portion 88) configured to mate with the first protruding column, the buckle slot extends along a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the pulling rod (C4/L24-30, “As the connecting pin 86 rotates in opposite directions with respect to the axis 84, the lower end of the pin 86 will reciprocate across the longitudinal axis 25 within the slotted portion 88), the convex shell further comprises a second protruding column (step portion 82) located at an axis of the convex shell (Fig 6), the pulling rod comprises a position-providing groove (recessed portion 80) along the axial direction of the pulling rod, and when the convex shell rotates: the second protruding column moves in the position-providing groove, and the first protruding column moves in the buckle slot (C4/L28-40,“after insertion of the connecting rod 28 within the bore 30, the disc 32 is positioned within the step portion 82 with the pin 86 being received by the slotted portion 88”).
Regarding Claim 44, Brown et al. teaches the filter device of claim 42, wherein: the pulling rod is connected with a reset elastic member(Fig. 6, spring 100), and when the pulling rod move along the axial direction of the pulling rod due to the rise of the pressure at the water inlet or the drop of the pressure at the water outlet, the reset elastic member is squeezed to generate elastic reset force (C5/L40-45, “when a new filter element 14 has been installed on the device 10, the pressure differential between the inlet and outlet ports is nominal in the piston 62 will be biased by the spring 100 to its non-bypassing position”, “squeezed” construed to be the compression of an elastic member such as a spring, the differential in pressure will change the position of the spring).
Regarding Claim 45, Brown et al. teaches the contamination prompt structure for the filter medium according to claim 39, wherein the movable part alters the position of the pulling rod (C1/L55-65, “the bypass valve in part takes the form of a piston slidingly mounted within the bore and has an elongated connecting rod extending from one side of the piston into a second bore of a decreased diameter with respect to the first bore. The elongated connecting rod is operatively connected to an indicating means mounted exteriorly of the housing”, because the connecting rod is operatively connected to the indicating means, it will result in the position of the connecting rod to be altered).
Regarding Claim 46, Brown et al. teaches the filter device of claim 42, wherein the movable part alters the position of the pulling rod (C1/L55-65, “the bypass valve in part takes the form of a piston slidingly mounted within the bore and has an elongated connecting rod extending from one side of the piston into a second bore of a decreased diameter with respect to the first bore. The elongated connecting rod is operatively connected to an indicating means mounted exteriorly of the housing”, because the connecting rod is operatively connected to the indicating means, it will result in the position of the connecting rod to be altered).
Conclusion
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/A.H.B./ Examiner, Art Unit 1773 /EKANDRA S. MILLER-CRUZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1773
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