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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miyazawa et al, US Patent Publication 2021/0206019 (already of record) in view of Nakaguro et al, US Patent Publication 2010/0107673.
Regarding claim 1, Miyazawa teaches a sheet manufacturing apparatus (see abstract) that manufactures a sheet from a material containing fibers (see abstract), comprising: an accumulation section that forms a web by accumulating the material containing fibers by an air flow [0066]; a web transport section including a transport belt that comes into contact with one surface of the web and holds the web (web belt item 72 [0068]); a humidification section provided to face the one surface of the transport belt and applying moisture from the other surface side of the web (item 78 see figures); and a suction section provided to face the humidification section with the transport belt interposed therebetween, (item 78a see figure 4 and [0084]); the humidification section has a discharge port for discharging humidified air [0084], and among the plurality of suction ports, a first suction port and the discharge port are disposed to face each other (figure 1 has items 78 and 78a opposite each other around the web).
Miyazawa teaches all of above including the direction of the air flow generated from the humidifying portion through the web and mesh and into the section mechanism 78a in a downward motion [0084], but the reference is silent to the specific placement of ports and the positioning of the ports of each of these devices.
In order to show that the shape/positioning of ports or discharge areas are conventionally known to the average artisan, the Nakaguro reference is provided.
In the same field of endeavor of controlling the humidity of an object, Nakaguro teaches the act of taking a humidifying device and having a fan driven blower push the humidified air through the desired object an into a suction port and suctioning device on the other side [0075] (see figures 2A and 2B). There is a direct teaching of having an air discharge port of the blower that is the same size and shape on both sides od the actual device being treated by the humidifying device (see figure 3). This is done to control the movement of air from one device and into the other to control the humidity of the absorbent module being treated [0075].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to control the air flow of Miyazawa in the humidifying section as shown by the configuration of Nakaguro to include directional openings on either side of the absorbent device for the benefit of controlling the airflow and humidifying action of the device in a known and conventional manner. The application of a known and conventional specific arrangement has been held to be obvious in view of a generic teaching as understood by the average artisan.
Regarding claim 2, Miyazawa and Nakaguro remain as applied above and Nakaguro further teaches that the opening shapes and sizes of the first suction port and the discharge port are the same (see figure 3).
Regarding claim 3, Miyazawa and Nakaguro remain as applied above and Miyazawa further teaches that the plurality of suction ports further include a second suction port provided adjacent to the first suction port in a transport direction of the transport belt (see placements in Figure 9 and [0146]).
Regarding claim 4, Miyazawa and Nakaguro remain as applied above and Miyazawa the suction section has a first suction duct coupled to the first suction port and a second suction duct coupled to the second suction port (see figure 9).
Regarding claims 5-10, Miyazawa and Nakaguro remain as applied above and Miyazawa the multiple suction ports in the claimed configuration including down streat connections (see figure 9) as well as additional use of the multiple suction boxes and the recycling or air from them into different components of the device (see figure 9). This will further include the use of blowers (items 318 in figure 9 and also shown in Nakaguro) for air directional control as the humidified air moved downward through the web [0084] and into the collection of pathways to be recovered (shown in figure 9) coupled together.
Conclusion
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JACOB T. MINSKEY
Examiner
Art Unit 1741
/JACOB T MINSKEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1748