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
Claims 2, 3, and 8 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claims 2 and 8, the phrases “preferably” (claims 2 and 8) and “most preferably” (claim 8) render the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention; and
In claim 3, the recitation of “The venting unit according claim 1...” should be corrected to “The venting unit according to claim 1...”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, and 5-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kosicki et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2021/0376422 A1) in view of Feres (US Patent No.: 5209992).
For claim 1, Kosicki et al. disclose the claimed invention comprising: a support element (reference numeral 1, see figures 1-4, 9, 10) comprising a front side and a rear side that are related to an axial direction (i.e. reference numerals 17, 18 can be considered front and rear sides of the support element, see figures 1, 2, 10); one or more mounting elements (reference numeral 11, figure 1) and a sealing element (reference numeral 7) for being mounted with the rear side in a substantially fluid tight manner to an opening of the machinery space (i.e. sealing element 7 can be considered to be mounted in a substantially fluid tight manner to an opening of the machinery space as illustrated in figures 1-4), the support element further comprising a fluid permeable passageway (i.e. portions around opening 15 and within component 8, see figures 1, 2) for venting, and the sealing element (reference numeral 7) being arranged surrounding the fluid permeable passageway (see figures 1, 2); a semi-permeable membrane (reference numeral 6) covering the fluid permeable passageway (see figures 2, 4, 10) and being arranged at the support element (reference numeral 1) in a fluid tight manner (see figures 2, 4, 10); and a filter element (reference numeral 9) being arranged at the support element (reference numeral 1, see figure 10), within the fluid permeable passageway (i.e. portions around opening 15, see figure 10), and between the semi-permeable membrane and the machinery space (i.e. filter element 9 in between the membrane 6 and component 8, see figure 10). Kosicki et al. however do not specifically disclose the filter element comprising an open-celled foam-like medium.
Feres discloses a filter element being a foam-like medium (reference numeral 16, see figure 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the foam-like medium as disclosed by Feres for the filter element of Kosicki et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper filtering functioning within the device.
For claim 3, Kosicki et al. disclose the support element further comprising a recess (reference numeral 151) that is part of the fluid permeable passageway (i.e. portions around opening 15 having a recess component 151, see figure 10), and a grille (reference numerals 81, 83) towards the rear side (see figure 10), and wherein the filter element (reference numeral 9) is arranged in the recess (reference numeral 151) and on the grille (reference numerals 81, 83, see figure 10).
For claim 5, Kosicki et al. disclose a gap (i.e. gap created by spacer 2, see figure 10) being arranged between the semi-permeable membrane (reference numeral 6, figure 10) and the filter element (reference numeral 9, see figure 10).
For claim 6, Kosicki et al. disclose a spacer element (reference numeral 2, figure 10) arranged between the filter element (reference numeral 9) and the semi-permeable membrane (reference numeral 6) to provide the gap (see figure 10).
For claim 7, Kosicki et al. disclose the spacer element comprising a grille (i.e. grille components 81, 83 on spacer 2, see figure 10).
For claim 8, Kosicki et al. disclose a particular pore size or porosity for the semi-permeable membrane (see paragraph [0033]) which would enable a degree of coverage of an air-permeable area of the semi-permeable membrane to be at least 5%, preferably at least 15%, most preferably at least 25%, of a maximum cross-section of the fluid permeable passageway.
For claim 9, Kosicki et al. disclose a fastening element (reference numerals 13, 84, see figures 8-10) configured to fixate the filter element (reference numeral 9) on the support element (reference numeral 1, see figures 8-10).
For claim 10, Kosicki et al. disclose the fastening element (reference numeral 84) comprising a grille for fixating the filter element (i.e. reference numerals 81, 86 can be considered a grille for fixating filter element 9, see figures 9, 10).
For claim 11, Kosicki et al. disclose the fastening element (reference numeral 84) comprising an inflow protection configured to protect the filter element (i.e. openings 81 provide inflow protection for the interior, see paragraph [0079] and figures 9 and 10).
For claim 12, Kosicki et al. disclose the fastening element comprising a fluid inlet inclined to the axial direction of the fluid permeable passageway (i.e. component 8 in figures 1 and 2 can be considered to be inclined to the axial direction of the passageway comprised of area 15 in figure 2, i.e. a fluid inlet inclined to the axial direction of the fluid permeable passageway).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kosicki et al. in view of Feres as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Geibl et al. (US Patent No.: 5217823).
For claim 2, Kosicki et al. in view of Feres disclose the claimed invention except for the open-celled foam-like medium having a porous structure between 20 ppi and 150 ppi, preferably between 30 ppi and 120 ppi. Having a particular porous structure for the foam is a known skill in the art as exhibited by Geibl et al. (see column 3, lines 39-43), and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the particular porous structure as disclosed by Geibl et al. for the foam-like medium of Kosicki et al. in view of Feres for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper filtering functioning within the device.
Claim(s) 4, 13, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kosicki et al. in view of Feres as applied to claims 1 and 9 above, and further in view of Zbiral et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2022/0223974 A1).
For claim 4, Kosicki et al. in view of Feres disclose the claimed invention except for the filter element being arranged in direct contact to the semi-permeable membrane. Zbiral et al. disclose the filter element (reference numeral 2, see figures 1, 6-9) being arranged in direct contact to the semi-permeable membrane (reference numeral 6, see figures 1, 6-9), and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the filter element arranged in direct contact to the semi-permeable membrane as disclosed by Zbiral et al. for the filter element and semi-permeable membrane of Kosicki et al. in view of Feres for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper filtering functioning within the device.
For claim 13, Kosicki et al. in view of Feres disclose the claimed invention except for the support element comprising a recess, the recess comprising an opening to the rear side, and wherein the filter element is arranged in the opening. Forming a recess in the support element is a known skill as exhibited by Zbiral et al. which disclose the support element (reference numeral 2, see figures 3, 4) comprising a recess (i.e. area within components 22, see figures 3, 4), the recess comprising an opening to the rear side (i.e. area within components 22 being opened to a side for the filter element 8 to be inserted, see figures 3, 4), and wherein the filter element (reference numeral 8) is arranged in the opening (see figures 3, 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the recess as disclosed by Zbiral et al. for the support element of Kosicki et al. in view of Feres for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating the filtering arrangement of the device.
For claim 14, Kosicki et al. in view of Feres and Zbiral et al. disclose the claimed invention except for the fastening element being arranged at the opening of the recess. Zbiral et al. further disclose the fastening element (reference numerals 87, 871) being arranged at the opening of the recess (i.e. the fastening element 87, 871 is arranged in the area within components 22, see figures 3, 4), and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the fastening element be arranged at the opening of the recess as disclosed by Zbiral et al. for the fastening element of Kosicki et al. in view of Feres and Zbiral et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating the filtering arrangement of the device.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references disclose embodiments of filter unit configurations: US 7951475 B2 (Imhof; Wolfgang et al.), US 6613473 B1 (Tong; Leon), US 5458988 A (Putt; Ronald A.), US 5108853 A (Feres; Fred F.), EP 3916899 A1 (KOSICKI JÜRGEN et al.).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX W MOK whose telephone number is (571)272-9084. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-4pm.
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/ALEX W MOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
Prosecution Insights