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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-18 in the reply filed on 12/9/25 is acknowledged. Claims 19 and 20 are withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP2013076540 to Onda (Onda).
Regarding claim 1, Onda teaches a conduit body including an opening (flowpath between walls 30, Figures 2 and 3 with inlet and outlets); a first vertical wall and a second vertical wall disposed in the conduit body (44, Figures 2 and 3), the first and second vertical walls extending across the opening (shown in Figurers 2 and 3); and a first blade disposed within the conduit body between the first vertical wall and the second vertical wall (34, Figures 2-4, the majority is between the walls and is between when the blade is in the vertical position), the first blade being rotatable between an open and a closed position (shown in Figure 4).
Regarding claim 2, Onda teaches wherein the first and second vertical walls each have a height that is at least equal to a height of the first blade in an open position (shown in Figure 4).
Regarding claim 3, Onda teaches a second blade disposed in the conduit body between the first vertical wall and the second vertical wall, the second blade being rotatable from a closed to an open position (34, Figure 4 shows two blades).
Regarding claim 5, Onda teaches a third blade disposed between the conduit body and the first vertical wall; and a fourth blade disposed between the conduit body and the second vertical wall (34, Figures 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 8, Onda teaches wherein the conduit body is connectable to a stack(shown in Figure 1 in which 24 is considered the stack).
Claim(s) 1-6, 8-9, 11-13, and 15-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. PGPUB 20110028080 to Bacdoijs et al. (Bacdoijs).
Regarding claims 1, 9, and 11, Bacdoijs teaches a conduit body including an opening (coinduit is the interior of the sidewalls of 50, Figure 10); a ring disposed in the conduit body (any one of the individual units in the middle of 50, Figure 10 shown individually in Figure 1), the ring including a first vertical wall and a second vertical wall (20, Figure 1 also shown in Figure 10) , wherein the first vertical wall and the second vertical wall at least partially span across the opening (shown in Figures 1 and 10); a first blade disposed within an interior of the ring (22, Figures 1, 4, 8, and 10); a second blade disposed in the conduit body exterior of the ring (shown in Figure 10, any of the blades shown exterior to one individual unit cited); and an actuator assembly configured to rotate the first blade prior to rotating the second blade (Paragraph 0020 indicates that blades can be controlled individually).
Regarding claim 12, Bacdoijs teaches wherein the ring is a rectangular ring (shown in Figures 1 and 10).
Regarding claims 5 and 13, Bacdoijs teaches a third blade disposed within the ring (shown in Figure 1 interior of a ring, also shown in Figure 10); and a fourth blade disposed in the conduit body exterior of the ring (any one of the blades shown in Figure 10 outside of the ring), wherein the actuator assembly is configured to rotate the first and third blades prior to rotating the second and fourth blades (Paragraph 0020 indicates that blades can be controlled individually).
Regarding claims 4 and 15, Bacdoijs teaches wherein the ring includes a third vertical wall extending between the first blade and the third blade (the exterior of two units as shown in Figure 1 can be considered the ring which would include a vertical wall between the two units of which includes a plurality of blades on either side of the wall).
Regarding claims 2 and 16, Bacdoijs teaches wherein a height of the first and second vertical walls is greater than or equal to a height of the first blade when in an open position (shown in Figure 2).
Regarding claim 17, Bacdoijs teaches wherein the conduit body is connectable to a duct (the unit 50 can be connected to a duct).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Bacdoijs teaches wherein the conduit body is connectable to a stack (the unit 50 can be connected to a stack).
Regarding claim 3, Bacdoijs teaches a second blade disposed in the conduit body between the first vertical wall and the second vertical wall, the second blade being rotatable from a closed to an open position (the second blade identified above is outside of a ring which includes a wall which can be considered to include first and second vertical walls, the blades are shown to open and close per Figure 2 and are disposed on all sides of the walls per Figure 10).
Regarding claim 6, Bacdoijs teaches an actuator assembly configured to open the third and fourth blades after the first and second blades are moved to the open position (Paragraph 0020 discloses operating the blades independently).
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) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bacdoijs in view of U.S. Patent 3366032 to Alamprese (Alamprese).
Regarding claim 10, Bacdoijs is silent on wherein a height of the first vertical wall is selected based on a rotational range of the first blade, and wherein the height is less than a width of the first blade.
Alamprese teaches wherein a height of the first vertical wall is selected based on a rotational range of the first blade, and wherein the height is less than a width of the first blade (Figure 2 shows the blade that is less than a width of the first blade). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Bacdoijs with the teachings of Alamprese to provide wherein a height of the first vertical wall is selected based on a rotational range of the first blade, and wherein the height is less than a width of the first blade. Doing so would be a simple change in size and result in different scale but no change in performance. (In re Rinehart, 531 F.2d 1048, 189 USPQ 143 (CCPA 1976)).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The prior art does not provide a reasonable combination to teach “wherein the actuator assembly includes: a slot member attached to a corresponding shaft of the first blade, the second blade, the third blade, and the fourth blade, each slot member including a slot; and a linkage including a pin for each slot” in combination with the base claims of claims 7 and 14.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN S ANDERSON II whose telephone number is (571)272-2055. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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/STEVEN S ANDERSON II/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762