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 .
Examiner’s Comment
Examiner noted that the term “an insertion direction” is referred as orientation of an object.
Paragraph 0011 of instant application describes “In the aerosol generating device 100, a state illustrated in Fig. 1 in which the aerosol forming substrate 108 is inserted into the opening 101A from a state in which an end portion on a susceptor 110 side of the aerosol forming substrate 108 faces the opening 101A of the housing 101 is referred to as a normal use state. An insertion direction of the aerosol forming substrate 108 with respect to the opening 101A for obtaining the normal use state is referred to as a forward direction. In addition, in the aerosol generating device 100, it is physically possible to insert the aerosol forming substrate 108 into the opening 101A in a direction opposite to that of the normal use state. That is, the aerosol forming substrate 108 can be inserted into the opening 101A from a state in which an end portion on the filter 114 side of the aerosol forming substrate 108 faces the opening 101A of the housing 101, and the insertion direction of the aerosol forming substrate 108 with respect to the opening 101A in this case is referred to as a backward direction”.
Examiner interpret that “the directions” (as stated above) are conceptual properties that indicate the orientation of an object.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al. (US 2021/0007393) in view of Novak, III et al. (US 20200154786 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Jung et al. discloses “a power supply unit” (150, 130, 160, 140 and an opening of housing (see fig.4)) of “an aerosol generating device” (110), comprising:
“a power supply” (150);
“a coil” ([0087], i.e., the heater 130 may include an electrically conductive coil) “configured to generate an eddy current” ([0087], i.e., the heater 130 may include an electrically conductive coil for heating a cigarette by an induction heating method) to “a susceptor” (a susceptor) that heats “an aerosol source” ([0085], i.e., the aerosol generating material) using power supplied from “the power supply” (150);
“a detection circuit” ([0090] The detector 160 may detect whether the cigarette 500 is inserted into the aerosol generating apparatus 100) “configured to detect information corresponding to an induced current generated in the coil” ([0090], i.e., The detector 160 may include a coil … At this time, the detector 160 may detect a change in characteristics of a current flowing through the coil, which is caused by the electromagnetic induction);
“a controller” (140) “configured to control supply of power from the power supply to the coil” ([0108], i.e., the controller 140 may control not only operations of the battery 150, the heater 130, and the detector 160, but also operations of other components included in the aerosol generating device 100); and
“an opening” (fig.4 shows the housing must include an opening in order to allow the cigarette 500 to be inserted into the aerosol generating device 110) into which “an aerosol generating article including the susceptor” ([0087], i.e., the cigarette 500 may include a susceptor. Examiner noted that “the cigarette 500” is “an aerosol generating article”) and “the aerosol source” ([0069], i.e., an aerosol generating material included in the cigarette) “are configured to be inserted and which is at least partially surrounded by the coil” (fig.4 shows the cigarette 500 surrounded by the coil 130), wherein
“the controller” (fig.2, 140) is configured to identify, “based on an output of the detection circuit” (160), of “the aerosol generating article” ([0090] The detector 160 may detect whether the cigarette 500 is inserted into the aerosol generating apparatus 100) “with respect to the opening and an insertion and removal of the aerosol generating article with respect to the opening” (see fig.4 with respect to insertion and removal of the aerosol generating article 500 with respect to the opening).
Jung et al. is silent regarding the controller is configured to identify at least one of an insertion direction of aerosol generating article.
Novak, III et al. teaches “the controller is configured to identify at least one of an insertion direction of aerosol generating article” ([0070] an electrical resistance depending upon the cartridge orientation, the controller can be configured to operate under a defined profile based upon which set of electrical connectors registers a resistance. To determine the given orientation, for example, the controller may be adapted to configured to apply a current to the connection(s) and determine whether a resistance is detected, the presence or absence of the resistance being an indicator of the presence or absence of a given orientation. The delivered current may be of a magnitude that is sufficient to enable the evaluation of the orientation without actually activating the vaporizer. Examiner noted that evaluation of the orientation implies that sides have been identified because determining the orientation of an object requires spatial coordinates to determine the object is facing forward, backward, upside down or right-side up. In other words, determining the orientation of an object inherently includes defining its direction). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify Jung et al. with Novak, III et al., by adding Novak et al.’s control algorithm to Jung et al.’s control unit, to execute a defined operating profile that corresponds to the identified characteristic of the liquid in the cartridge (para.0070) as taught by Novak, III et al.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al. (US 2021/0007393) in view of Novak, III et al. (US 20200154786 A1) as applied in claim 1 above, and further in view of Yamada (WO 2019146062 A1).
Regarding claim 7, modified Jung et al. discloses “a positive-side connector to which one end of the coil is connected; and a negative-side connector to which the other end of the coil is connected” (the coil 218 has one end connected to a positive-side connector (the node directly connected to top side of 218) and another end of coil 218 connected to a negative-side connector (the node directly connected to bottom side of 218)), wherein “the detection circuit” (fig.2) includes:
“a first resistor” (RHTR or 132) having “one end connected to the positive-side connector” (one end of the first resistor 132 electrically connected to the positive side connector (top side of node));
“a second resistor having one end” (one end of 212) connected to “the negative-side connector” (electrically connected to the node directly connected to bottom side of 218) and “the other end” (another end of 212) connected to “the ground” (the lower rail or ground 200);
“a switch device” (a first field effect transistor (FET) 206) having one end connected to “the other end of the first resistor” (206 indirectly connected to the other end of 132 because 206 indirectly connected to 132) and “the other end” (the other end of RHTR or 132) connected to “the other end of the second resistor” (the other end of 212. Examiner noted that 132 electrically connected to 212);
“a first detector” (112B) configured to detect a voltage applied to “both ends of the first resistor” (132); and “a second detector” (112D) configured to detect” a voltage applied to both ends of the second resistor” (212).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 and 8-10 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.
With respect to claims 2-6, the above references are silent regarding identify the insertion direction in relation to power supply and notification unit.
With respect to claim 8, the above references are silent regarding a bidirectional current sense amplifier connected to both ends of the resistor and configured to detect a current flowing through the resistor and a direction thereof.
With respect to claim 9, the above references are silent regarding an operational amplifier having one of an inverting input terminal and a non-inverting input terminal connected to one end of the resistor, the other of the inverting input terminal and the non-inverting input terminal connected to the other end of the resistor, and in which the negative voltage is supplied to a negative power supply terminal.
With respect to claim 10, the above references are silent regarding an inverter configured to convert a direct current supplied from the power supply into an alternating current and including a positive-side output terminal and a negative-side output terminal.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIMMY CHOU whose telephone number is (571)270-7107. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edward Landrum can be reached at (571) 272-5567. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JIMMY CHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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