DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the amendments to the claims filed on 04 August 2026. Claims 1, 3 – 10 and 12 – 17 are pending and currently being examined.
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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. The convex curved surface has already been claimed in parent claim 1. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Claim Objections
Claims 12 and 13 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In Re Claim 12, the phrase “the outer peripheral wall portion has the largest outer diameter at the downstream end located at the outlet” is objected to because it already exists in parent Claim 1. For the purpose of prior art analysis, it will be assumed that this phrase will be deleted.
In Re Claim 13, the phrase “the convex curved surface is the entirety of the outer peripheral side surface of the outer peripheral wall portion from the upstream end to the downstream end” is objected to because it is a substantial duplicate of the phrase “the outer peripheral wall portion further includes an outer peripheral side surface connecting the upstream end and the downstream end, an entirety of the outer peripheral side surface of the outer peripheral wall portion is a convex curved surface” in Claim 1. For the purpose of prior art analysis, it will be assumed that this phrase will be deleted.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3 – 10 and 12 – 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ho (PG Pub US 20060257254 A1) in view of Tung (PG Pub US 20070013242 A1).
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First annotated Figure 3B of Ho
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Second annotated Figure 3B of Ho
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Third annotated Figure 3B of Ho
In Re Claim 1, the Figure 3B embodiment of Ho discloses An axial fan comprising: an impeller cup (first annotated Figure 3B of Ho); a fan (first annotated Figure 3B of Ho) extending in a radial direction from the impeller cup; a motor (13) inside the impeller cup; a base portion (first annotated Figure 3B of Ho) to which the motor (13) is attached; and a housing (21) which stores the impeller cup, the fan and the motor (13), the housing (21) including an inlet (212 in Figure 2B) that takes in air and an outlet (214 in Figure 2B) that discharge taken-in air, wherein an outer peripheral portion of the base portion is provided with an outer peripheral wall portion (first annotated Figure 3B of Ho) extending in an air-blowing direction (from top to bottom),the outer peripheral wall portion includes an upstream end being an end on an upstream side in the air-blowing direction, and a downstream end being an end on a downstream side in the air-blowing direction (first annotated Figure 3B of Ho), the upstream end is located inward in the radial direction relative to an outer peripheral side surface of the impeller cup (first annotated Figure 3B of Ho), the downstream end is located outward in the radial direction relative to the upstream end and is located at the outlet (first annotated Figure 3B of Ho), the outer peripheral wall portion includes an undersurface (first annotated Figure 3B of Ho) and an uppermost surface opposite the undersurface in the air-blowing direction (first annotated Figure 3B of Ho), the uppermost surface faces a gap (second annotated Figure 3B of Ho) in the air-blowing direction, the gap is provided between the uppermost surface and the impeller cup in the air- blowing direction (second annotated Figure 3B of Ho), the upstream end is located on the uppermost surface (second annotated Figure 3B of Ho), the outer peripheral wall portion has a largest outer diameter at the downstream end located at the outlet (second annotated Figure 3B of Ho), the downstream end located at the outlet is a connecting portion of the outer peripheral wall portion and the undersurface (first annotated Figure 3B of Ho), the outer peripheral wall portion further includes an outer peripheral side surface (262) connecting the upstream end and the downstream end, an entirety of the outer peripheral side surface of the outer peripheral wall portion is a convex curved surface (paragraph [0031] of Ho: “slope 262 is flat or curved” in combination with third annotated Figure 3B of Ho; the embodiment shown in Figure 3B is the flat-slope embodiment, the examiner has drawn what the curved-slope embodiment would look like in the third annotated Figure 3B); (paragraphs [0003],[0025],[0031]; Figure 3B).
The downstream end of Ho does is not located clearly outward in the radial direction relative to the outer peripheral side surface of the impeller cup.
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First annotated Figure 8 of Tung
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Second annotated Figure 8 of Tung
However, the Figure 8 embodiment of Tung discloses an axial fan comprising: an impeller cup (83); a fan (86) extending in a radial direction from the impeller cup (83); a motor (6, 84) inside the impeller cup (83); a base portion (see first annotated figure 8 above) to which the motor (6, 84) is attached; and a housing (2) which stores the impeller cup (83), the fan (86) and the motor (6, 84), the housing (2) including an inlet (top of the figure – see label 19 in the Figure 2 embodiment) that takes in air and an outlet (bottom of the figure – see label 17 in the Figure 4 embodiment) that discharge taken-in air, wherein an outer peripheral portion of the base portion is provided with an outer peripheral wall portion (see first annotated figure 8 above) extending in an air-blowing direction (from top to bottom is the air blowing direction),the outer peripheral wall portion includes an upstream end (see first annotated figure 8 above) being an end on an upstream side in the air-blowing direction, and a downstream end (see first annotated figure 8 above) being an end on a downstream side in the air-blowing direction, the upstream end is located inward in the radial direction relative to an outer peripheral side surface of the impeller cup (this is revealed upon a careful examination of the upstream end relative to the outer peripheral side surface in the first annotated figure 8 above), the downstream end (see first annotated figure 8 above) is located outward in the radial direction relative to the upstream end (see first annotated figure 8 above) and is located at the outlet (bottom most line in the first annotated figure 8 above), the outer peripheral wall portion includes an undersurface (see first annotated figure 8 above) and an uppermost surface (see first annotated figure 8 above) opposite the undersurface in the air-blowing direction, the uppermost surface faces a gap (see second annotated figure 8 above) in the air-blowing direction, the gap is provided between the uppermost surface and the impeller cup (83) in the air- blowing direction (see second annotated figure 8 above), and the upstream end is located on the uppermost surface (see second annotated figure 8 above), the outer peripheral wall portion has a largest outer diameter at the downstream end located at the outlet (see second annotated figure 8 above), and the downstream end located at the outlet is a connecting portion of the outer peripheral wall portion and the undersurface (since flow is able to reach the undersurface from the outlet), the downstream end (see first annotated figure 8 above) is located outward in the radial direction relative to the outer peripheral side surface of the impeller cup (83) (paragraph [0004]; Figure 8).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed the invention to radially extend the downstream end/convex curved surface of Ho such that it is located outward in the radial direction relative to the outer peripheral side surface of the impeller cup as taught by Tung as is known in the art.
In Re Claim 3, the combined references above disclose all the limitations of Claim 1, and Ho discloses that the upstream end (top end of 262) and the downstream end (bottom end of 262) are connected by a convex curved surface (paragraph [0031]: “The slope 262 is flat or curved”).
In Re Claim 4, the combined references above disclose all the limitations of Claim 1, and Ho further discloses that an angle of inclination being an angle formed by a virtual line (262) passing through the upstream end and the downstream end and a cross section orthogonal to the air-blowing direction appears to be in the claimed range of 110° to 130°.
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Fourth annotated Figure 8 of Tung
In Re Claims 5 and 6, the combined references above disclose all the limitations of Claim 1, and Tung further discloses that the upstream end (see fourth annotated figure 8 above) is located downstream of a downstream edge of the impeller cup (83), and the upstream end is located upstream of a board (see fourth annotated figure 8 above; for a clearer view of the board see label 57 in Figure 4) of the motor (6, 84). This limitation at most involves relocation of the board (MPEP 2144.04, VI-C).
In Re Claim 7, the combined references above disclose all the limitations of Claim 1, and Ho further discloses that the impellor cup includes a downstream edge (see Second annotated Figure 3B above) which defines the gap (see Second annotated Figure 3B above) between the upstream end of the outer peripheral wall portion and the downstream edge of the impellor cup.
In Re Claim 8, the combined references above disclose all the limitations of Claim 1, and Ho further discloses that the base portion includes the undersurface and the outer peripheral wall portion extending from the undersurface toward the upstream side in the air-blowing direction (best seen in first annotated Figure 3B above).
In Re Claim 9, the combined references above disclose all the limitations of Claim 5, and Ho further discloses that the upstream end of the outer peripheral wall portion of the base portion is placed in such a manner as to be hidden by the impeller cup from view when the base portion is viewed along the air-blowing direction from the inlet via the impeller cup (the entire extent of the upstream end/ uppermost surface is radially interior of the outer surface of the impeller cup; First annotated Figure 3B above demonstrates the claimed limitations would be met when viewed from the top rather than the side view of Figure 3B).
In Re Claim 10, the combined references above disclose all the limitations of Claim 9, and Ho further discloses that the axial fan is an outer rotor axial fan (the magnet portion is radially outside the stator, and is therefore an outer rotor).
In Re Claim 12, the combined references above disclose all the limitations of Claim 1, and Ho further discloses that the outer peripheral wall portion has the largest outer diameter at the downstream end located at the outlet (see rejection of claim 1) so that a difference between a velocity of flow of air discharged from the outlet and a velocity of flow of air flowing along the undersurface is reduced (since the structure of the prior art is the same, the same result of the reduction in difference of velocity is expected because flow from the outlet is able to reach the undersurface).
In Re Claim 13, the combined references above disclose all the limitations of Claim 1, and with reference to the Third modified Figure 3B above, Ho further discloses that the convex curved surface is the entirety of the outer peripheral side surface of the outer peripheral wall portion from the upstream end to the downstream end, both Ho and Tung disclose that the upstream end of the convex curved surface is located inward in the radial direction relative to the outer peripheral side surface of the impeller cup, and the Tung modification would extend the downstream end such that the downstream end of the convex curved surface is located outward in the radial direction relative to the outer peripheral side surface of the impeller cup.
In Re Claim 14, the combined references above disclose all the limitations of Claim 1, and with reference to the Third annotated Figure 3B of Ho, the convex curved surface is formed in a manner that an outer diameter of the outer peripheral side surface continuously increases from the upstream end to the downstream end.
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Fourth annotated Figure 3B of Ho
In Re Claim 15, the combined references above disclose all the limitations of Claim 1, and with reference to the Fourth annotated Figure 3B of Ho above, a virtual line segment is defined as a straight line segment connected between the upstream end and the downstream end, and the virtual line segment has a midpoint located inward in the radial direction relative to the outer peripheral side surface of the impeller cup. Such a modification would have been obvious matter of design choice to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed the invention because applicant’s specification does not state what the criticality of the feature is, and it appears the invention would work equally well even if the midpoint was located radially outward relative to the outer peripheral side surface of the impeller cup.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ho (PG Pub US 20060257254 A1) in view of Tung (PG Pub US 20070013242 A1) and further in view of Nogami (PG Pub US 20110027075 A1).
In Re Claim 16, Ho and Tung disclose all the limitations of Claim 1, but they do not explicitly disclose that the angle of inclination is 120 degrees.
However, Figure 4A of Nogami discloses a wall portion (18c) wherein an angle of inclination being an angle formed by a virtual line passing through the upstream end (end “B”) and the downstream end (end “A”) and a cross section orthogonal to the air-blowing direction (a horizontal line directed to the left in Figure 4A) is 110 degrees to 140 degrees (paragraph [0036] states that the angle is 20 to 50 degrees which when measured from a horizontal cross section line would be 110 to 140 degrees; the claimed 120 degree value is in the disclosed range).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed the invention to select 120 degrees as taught by Nogami as the angle of inclination of Ho / Tung because it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ho (PG Pub US 20060257254 A1) in view of Tung (PG Pub US 20070013242 A1) and further in view of Yoo (Korean Patent KR 20090087720 A, Machine Translation provided).
In Re Claim 17, Ho and Tung disclose all the limitations of Claim 1, and Tung further discloses spokes (best seen in Figure 4) at the outlet of the housing, but they do not disclose that the spokes have a convex curved surface.
However, Yoo discloses spokes (201; Figure 10; Translation page 2, Lines 38 – 47, 58 – 60; page 3, Lines 1 – 3, 7 – 8, note that the Figures 7 – 9 embodiments also read on a convex curved surface), each spoke (201) coupling the base portion (171) and the housing (161), wherein an intake-side surface (203) of the spoke (201) is formed as a convex curved surface.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed the invention to form the intake-side surface of the spokes of Ho / Tung as a convex curved surface as taught by Yoo for the purpose of smoothing the flow (page 3, Line 7 of Translation of Yoo).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DNYANESH G KASTURE whose telephone number is (571)270-3928. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu, 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Essama Omgba can be reached at 469-295-9278. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/D.G.K/Examiner, Art Unit 3746
/ESSAMA OMGBA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3746
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