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 .
Priority
The claim to priority to CN 20232149010.x, filed on May 22, 2023 is acknowledged in the instant application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on June 3, 2024 has been considered by the Examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “electric conduit” (claim 14) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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)(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, 12 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sha (CN 115968063).
Regarding claims 1 and 12, Sha discloses a PCT heater, comprising: a heating assembly (Fig. 1) comprising: a heat-conducting shell (21/211, Fig. 1-2) defining therein a receiving cavity extending in a length direction of the heat-conducting shell (21/211) and comprising a first opening disposed at a first end of the receiving cavity (right end of Fig. 1) and a second opening disposed at a second end of the receiving cavity (left end of Fig. 1); a first restrain element (sealing plug 222, Fig. 1; Par. 46) disposed at the first end (right end of Fig. 1); a second restraining element (sealing plug 221, Fig. 1; Par. 46) disposed at the second opening (left end of Fig. 1); and a Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heat-generating unit (11, Fig. 2; Par. 46) entirely disposed within the receiving cavity between the first restraining element (222) and the second restraining element (221), wherein the first restraining element (222) prevents the PCT heat-generating unit (11) from passing through the first end of the receiving cavity, and the second restraining element prevents the PCT heat-generating unit from passing through the second end of the receiving cavity (Fig. 1-3; Par. 46-47).
Regarding claim 16, Sha discloses the heat conducting shell comprises a first (213) layer and a second layer electrically connected to the first layer (3), wherein the PTC heat-generating unit (11) is in contact with an inner surface of the first layer (Fig. 1-2).
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.
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) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sha (CN 115968063) in view of Klingebiel et al. (US Pub. 2021/0354530).
Regarding claims 2-3, Sha discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention as set forth above including the first restraining potion (222, Fig. 1) and the PCT heat-generating unit (11) except a dimension of an inner perimeter of the first restraining portion is smaller than a dimension of an outer perimeter of the PTC heat-generating unit, thereby preventing the PTC heat-generating unit from passing through the first end of the receiving cavity; wherein the heating assembly further comprises a wire electrically connected to the PTC heat-generating unit and extending out of the heat-conducting shell through the first end of the receiving cavity; and the dimension of the inner perimeter of the first restraining element gradually decreases in a direction from a center of the receiving cavity to the first end of the receiving cavity. Klingebiel et al. discloses a dimension of an inner perimeter of the first restraining portion (28) is smaller than a dimension of an outer perimeter of the PTC heat-generating unit (PTC element 6 with open surface 30, Fig. 3), thereby preventing the PTC heat-generating unit from passing through the first end of the receiving cavity (via tube 20); wherein the heating assembly further comprises a wire (contact strip 14, Fig. 1-2) electrically connected to the PTC heat-generating unit (6) and extending out of the heat-conducting shell (20) through the first end of the receiving cavity (Fig. 3); and the dimension of the inner perimeter of the first restraining element (28) gradually decreases in a direction from a center of the receiving cavity to the first end of the receiving cavity (31, Fig. 3) (Fig. 3-4) (Par. 39-45). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize in Sha, a dimension of an inner perimeter of the first restraining portion is smaller than a dimension of an outer perimeter of the PTC heat-generating unit, thereby preventing the PTC heat-generating unit from passing through the first end of the receiving cavity; wherein the heating assembly further comprises a wire electrically connected to the PTC heat-generating unit and extending out of the heat-conducting shell through the first end of the receiving cavity; and the dimension of the inner perimeter of the first restraining element gradually decreases in a direction from a center of the receiving cavity to the first end of the receiving cavity, as taught by Klingebiel et al., for the purpose of closing the first end of the cavity with the PTC heat-generating unit.
Regarding claim 4, Klingebiel et al. discloses the first restraining element (28) and the heat conducting shell (30) are s single integral element (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 5, Klingebiel et al. discloses an end cap (24, Fig. 1) at least partially disposed between the first opening and the PTC heat- generating unit (6), wherein the electric wire (14) passes through an aperture in the end cap, and wherein at least a part of the end cap abuts against an inner wall of the heat-conducting shell (Fig. 1-2).
Regarding claim 6, Klingebiel et al. discloses the first restraining element (28, Fig. 2-3) comprises: a restraining member fixed to the first end of the heat-conducting shell (20); wherein the heating assembly further comprises a wire electrically (14, Fig. 1-2) connected to the PTC heat-generating unit (6) and extending through an aperture in the restraining member (Fig. 1-4).
Regarding claim 7, Klingebiel et al. discloses an end cap (24, Fig. 1) at least partially disposed between the first restraining member (28, Fig. 1-4) and the PTC heat- generating unit (6, Fig. 3-4), wherein an aperture in the end cap is in communication with the aperture in the restraining member (28), and wherein the electric wire (14) extends through the aperture in the end cap (Fig. 1-2).
Regarding claims 11 and 17, Klingebiel et al. discloses a housing (40, Fig. 5; Par. 47) defining a chamber therein extending in the length direction of the heat-conducting shell, wherein at least part of the heating assembly (4) is disposed in the chamber (Fig. 5; Par. 47-49).
Regarding claim 13, Klingebiel et al. discloses the heat conducting shell (30, Fig. 3), the first restraining element (28, Fig. 3), and the second restraining element (28, Fig. 3) are a single, integral element.
Regarding claim 14, Klingebiel et al. discloses an electric conduit (34, Fig. 2) traversing the opening in one of the first restraining element (28, Fig. 1-4) and the second restraining element (26, Fig. 1-4) and electrically connected to the PTC heat-generating unit (5, Fig. 1-4).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10 and 15 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUNG D NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7828. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9AM - 9PM.
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/HUNG D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
HUNG D. NGUYEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3761
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