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 .
Continued Examination under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/27/26 has been entered. Claims 1-10 remain pending.
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 1-3 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Makulla (DE 102006022296 A1, cited previously) in view of Hahn (US 4951555 A) and Liang (CN 215820401 U)
Regarding claim 1, Makulla teaches a museum display case (Fig.6) comprising: a display space 4; a filtration system (17; a filter device 17 in the form of a HEPA filter); a climate control system for treating air (In the treatment room 14 For example, a temperature-regulating material in the form of a phase change material and a moisture-regulating material in the form of a silicate gel are arranged. Both materials are in the form of Plat th 14 ' that are parallel and spaced apart from each other and from the air handling unit 10 conveyed air to be flowed around, arranged) in the display space; a first air circulation circuit both originating and terminating in the display space (top and bottom arrows).
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Makulla teaches the filtration and the climate control system connected to the same circulation circuit and does not teach a first air circulation circuit and a second air circulation circuit, separate from each other and both originating and terminating in the display space; the filtration system is included in the first air circulation circuit, and the climate control system is included in the second air circulation circuit and the climate control system and the filtration system are configured to operate independently and at different intervals.
However, using a single circulation circuit for the filter and climate control, as disclosed in Makulla, or using separate circulation circuits for each of the filters and the climate control systems are well known design options. It is a matter of design and it is a well-known technique to separate out the two functions of filter and climate control, when the design, application and spacing needs them to be separately functioning.
Hahn teaches just filtering feature 7 for a show case of exhibiting objects
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and Liang teaches just temperature/humidity control 4 for a show case of exhibiting objects
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Therefore, while Makula combines the filtering and temperature/climate control features; in turn from well known techniques in the art, Hahn and Lian teach only filtering and only temperature/humidity control features, respectively.
Therefore, from the teachings of Hahn and Lian, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date the application was filed, to use separate circuits for the filter and the climate control, in the base section of the museum display, in the device of Makulla, in order to separately install and conveniently trouble shoot the two components.
Regarding claim 2, Makulla in view of Hahn and Lian teaches a museum display case; wherein each said first air circulation circuit and second air circulation circuit comprises: a pumping system for moving the air within the air circulation circuit from an intake port facing into the display space to a delivery port facing into the display space (see Abstract of Makula: the pumped air either only with the moisture-regulating material or the temperature-regulating Material or both).
Regarding claim 3, Makulla in view of Hahn and Lian teaches a museum display case; wherein the intake port is in a remote position with respect to the delivery port (see Arrows of Makulla, Hahn).
Regarding claim 6, Makulla in view of Hahn and Lian teaches a museum display case; further comprising all-transparent vertical walls, wherein: the intake port and the delivery port of the first air circulation circuit and the second air circulation circuit are all located at a bottom of the display space (from the teachings of transparent show case bodies in Makulla in view of Hahn and Lian).
Regarding claim 7, Makulla in view of Hahn and Lian teaches a museum display case, wherein the filtration system comprises at least one passive mechanical filter (HEPA filter in Makulla).
Regarding claim 8, Makulla in view of Hahn and Lian teaches a museum display case, wherein the climate control system comprises a compartment containing hygroscopic material and/or a thermal machine, for controlling humidity and/or air temperature (see in Makulla: Thus, the air temperature and the relative humidity can be in the interior of the showcase within very narrow limits).
Regarding claim 9, Makulla in view of Hahn and Liang teach a museum display case comprising: a display space; a filtration system; a climate control system for treating air in the display space; a first air circulation circuit comprising a first pumping system for moving the air within the first air circulation circuit from a first intake port facing into the display space to a first delivery port facing into the display space; and a second air circulation circuit comprising a second pumping system for moving the air within the second air circulation circuit from a second intake port facing into the display space to a second delivery port facing into the display space, wherein: the first air circulation circuit and the second air circulation circuit are separate from each other and both originate and terminate in the display space, the filtration system is included in the first air circulation circuit, the climate control system is included in the second air circulation circuit, and the climate control system and the filtration system are configured to operate independently and at different intervals (see rejection in claim 1 above, as the scope of the claims are the same).
Regarding claim 10, Makulla in view of Hahn and Liang teach a museum display case comprising: a display space; a filtration system; a climate control system for treating air in the display space; and a first air circulation circuit and a second air circulation circuit, separate from each other and both originating and terminating in the display space, wherein: the filtration system is included in the first air circulation circuit, the climate control system is included in the second air circulation circuit, the climate control system is a humidity control, and the climate control system and the filtration system are configured to operate independently and at different intervals (see rejection in claim 1 above, as the scope of the claims are the same).
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Makulla in view of Hahn and Liang and further in view of Fang (CN 206964386 U,cited previously)
Regarding claim 4, Makulla in view of Hahn and Liang teaches the invention set forth in claim 3 above, but is silent regarding at least one opaque vertical wall, wherein: each said first air circulation circuit and second air circulation circuit comprises a section extending in the opaque vertical wall, and one of the intake port and the delivery port is located at a top of the display space, and the other of the intake port and the delivery port is located at a bottom of the display space.
However, use of pipes in display cabinets, wherein an intake port is in the bottom section and the delivery port at the top section is one of the many techniques towards debris, humidity or temperature control. Fang teaches the pipe that connects the filter 41 in the base section, to the fan 2 connected to the delivery portion at the top section, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date the application was filed, to use one of the ports at the top portion and the other on the bottom section in order to circulate air into the showcase from the top.
Regarding claim 5, from the teachings of Fang wherein one of the circuits is connected to the top section and the other port of the circuit connected to the bottom section, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date the application was filed, to use the same technique for both the circuits, such that the delivery port of the first air circulation circuit and the delivery port of the second air circulation circuit are located at the top of the display space, and the intake port of the first air circulation circuit and the intake port of the second air circulation circuit are located at the bottom of the display space, in order to achieve cooling from the top portion.
Response to Arguments
The arguments filed by the Applicant on 5/27/26 is acknowledged, however they are moot in light of new grounds of rejection.
As explicitly provided by prior art Hahn and Liang, it is well known in the art to use filtering or temperature control separately and independently, one without the other, wherein Hahn provides filtering whereas Liang provides temp/humidity control, while Makulla already teaches combining the two features of filtering and temp/humidity control together. It is considered that Makulla’s method is an advanced method as it combines/ties two major features of filtration and temp/humidity together. Therefore, separating the features from each other, and using them independently is considered as a step moving backward in technology, that has been described by prior art Hahn and Liang. Therefore, based on the desired design and application, from the teachings of Hahn and Lian, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date the application was filed, to use separate circuits for the filter and the climate control, in the base section of the museum display, in the device of Makulla, in order to separately install and conveniently trouble shoot the two components.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Fatima Farokhrooz whose telephone number is (571)-272-6043. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday- Friday, 9 am - 5 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s Supervisor, James Greece can be reached on (571) 272-3711.
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/Fatima N Farokhrooz/
Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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