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 Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 2 includes a gap between “hinge” and “provided”.
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 1 needs “the” placed before “discharge” to have correct grammar.
Claim 20 is objected to because of the following informalities:
The last line needs “that” replaced with “the” to have correct grammar.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 protrusion moving hole (claim 1, line 21) 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.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: 112 (needs to be in Fig. 1). 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. 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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 10 recites the limitation "the dust container body" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liang (CN 110754991 A).
As to claim 20, Liang includes a cleaner station (700) comprising:
a housing (The outer walls containing 740);
a coupling recess (720) provided on the housing and configured to be coupled to an outer surface of a dust bin (The dust bin is interpreted as machine body 110, containing the dust that is inside of dust collection box 120) of a cleaner (100) [machine translation, page 17, lines 9-17];
a dust passage hole (710) that communicates with an inner space of the dust bin when the dust
bin is opened;
a dust collecting motor (750; page 15, lines 1-4) that generates a suction force that causes debris in the dust bin to be discharged through the dust passage hole;
a dust collecting bin (760) that collects debris flowing from the dust bin of the cleaner and
through the dust passage hole based on the suction force of the dust collecting motor;
a cover (130) opening motor (electromagnet 711) that opens the dust bin; and
a controller (The “controller”; page 14, lines 1-4) that activates the cover opening motor after the cleaner is received in the coupling recess and activates that dust collecting motor after the dust bin is opened (The discussion of elements 710, 760, 130, 711, and the controller is on page 14, lines 1-13).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 and 11-19 are allowed.
Claim 10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Reasons for Allowance
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The best reference, Liang (CN 110754991 A) [Fig. 2] does not include a cover opener (electromagnet 711; page 16, last 3 lines and page 17, lines 1-2) that opens a discharge cover (130), and the cover opener includes a push protrusion having the recited features (711 is the only element which opens the cover and it has no push protrusion that presses a coupling lever to open the cover) and a cover opening motor (711), as required by claim 1, lines 15-24.
Liang [Fig. 2] does not include a push protrusion which moves based on force from an opener motor (electromagnet 711; page 16, last 3 lines and page 17, lines 1-2) that opens a cover (130) of a dust bin (The dust bin is interpreted as machine body 110, containing the dust that is inside of dust collection box 120), and a controller (The “controller”; page 14, lines 1-4) that activates a dust collecting motor (750; page 15, lines 1-4) after the cover is opened by the push protrusion (711 is the only element which opens the cover and it has no push protrusion that moves to open the cover), as required by claim 19, last 4 lines.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW A. HORTON whose telephone number is (571)270-5039. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica S. Carter can be reached at (571) 272-4475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW A HORTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723