DETAILED ACTION
This detailed action is in response to the application filed on August 18, 2023, and any
subsequent filings.
Claims 1-7are pending. Claims 1-7 stand rejected.
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 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita, et al., U.S. Patent No.11,273,412 B2 ("Morita"), in view of Bikson, et al., U.S. Patent No.9,623,369 B2 ("Bikson"), “Membrane Processes.” Berk, et al ("Berk"), and further view of Masanori, et al., International Publication No. JP 6079871 B2 ("Masanori"). The machine translation for Masanori is used in this office action in regards to claim mapping and a copy of the machine translation used is attached in this office action.
Applicant’s claim is directed towards a hollow fiber filtration membrane.
Regarding claim 1, Morita discloses a hollow fiber membrane filtration device (Morita, column 5, line 26-30, Figure 1) where the housing further includes a top wall having a positioning hole (nozzle 52a) intercommunicating with the receiving space (tube 7), and a plurality of inlet holes (holes 30) that are spaced on a periphery of the housing and intercommunicates with the receiving space (Morita, column 6, line 23-28, Figure 1). The hollow fiber membrane includes two open ends (caps for openings 10,11) facing downwardly and inserted into and fixed (fixed housing 5) to a fiber membrane seat (Morita, column 5, line 51-55, Figure 1). The hollow fiber membrane module is inserted upward through the bottom opening into the receiving space, and where the fiber membrane seat is fixed in the bottom opening (Morita, column 2, line 25-48, Figure 1).
Morita teaches about a receiving space having a bottom opening however Morita is silent on a hollow fiber membrane where hollow fibers are arranged in an inverted U-shaped configuration, a supporting tube having a lower end inserted in the fiber membrane seat and extends upright to couple with the top wall of the housing, where the supporting tube includes a central hole aligned with the positioning hole of the top wall of the housing, forming a fixing hole for installation, where the plurality of hollow fibers is densely distributed around an outer periphery of the supporting tube.
Morita discloses a bottom cover however Morita is silent on a bottom having an outlet facing and spaced from the central hole of the supporting tube, where a fluid is permitted to flow through the plurality of inlet holes of the housing, and a periphery of each of the plurality of hollow fibers and infiltrates into an interior of each of the plurality of hollow fibers, and the fluid then flows downward through the two open ends of each of the plurality of hollow fibers into the flow guiding space of the bottom cover and flows downward and outward through the outlet of the bottom cover.
Bikson is directed to a hollow fiber membrane with a housing including a receiving space having a bottom opening (Bikson, column 14, line 40-45, Figure 7). Bikson further discloses a supporting tube (core member 15) having a lower end inserted in the fiber membrane seat and extends upright to couple with the top wall of the housing, where the supporting tube includes a central hole aligned with the positioning hole of the top wall of the housing, forming a fixing hole for installation, where the plurality of hollow fibers is densely distributed around an outer periphery of the supporting tube (Bikson, column 7, line 51-58, Figure 8). Bikson discloses the bottom cover includes a bottom having an outlet (port 88) facing and spaced from the central hole (central core member) of the supporting tube (core member 15), wherein a fluid is permitted to flow through the plurality of inlet holes (perforations 96a) of the housing (Bikson, Figure 8, column 15, line 64-67 through column 16, line 1-5). Bikson teaches about a periphery of each of the plurality of hollow fibers and infiltrates into an interior of each of the plurality of hollow fibers, and the fluid then flows downward through the two open ends of each of the plurality of hollow fibers into the flow guiding space of the bottom cover and flows downward and outward through the outlet of the bottom cover (Bikson, Figure 8, column 15, line 64-67 through column 16, line 1-5).
It would have been obvious to the ordinary artisan to combine the the hollow fiber membrane by Morita with the hollow fiber membrane by Bikson because both references teach the same elements that exhibit the same function in different positions. Berk discloses membrane configuration refers to the geometry of the membrane and its position in space in relation to the flow of the feed fluid and of the permeate. As most industrial membrane installations are of modular design (Berk, Section 10.5.2 Membrane configurations, Pr 1). A very large number of hollow fibers are connected to perforated end-plates and the entire bundle is inserted in a vessel or jacket. Flow direction may be inside-out or outside-in. The main advantage of hollow fiber modules is their compactness, attaining thousands of square meters of membrane area per cubic meter of module bulk volume (Berk, Section 10.5.2 Membrane configurations, Pr 6). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the hollow fiber membrane by Morita and add the hollow fiber membrane element positions by Bikson.
Masanori further discloses a hollow fiber membrane module including a plurality of hollow fibers which are densely arranged, where each of the plurality of hollow fibers is substantially inverted U-shaped (Masanori, Pr 26, Figure 2A and 2B). Masanori teaches that the hollow fiber membrane configuration with the core rod inserted into the gap allows for water to easily flow causing an increase in the filtration flowrate enabling water to be filtered in a shorter time which allows for water to be filtered more efficiently (Masanori, Pr 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to modify the hollow fiber membrane configurations of Morita and Bikson, and add hollow fibers which are densely arranged, where each of the plurality of hollow fibers is substantially inverted U-shaped of Masanori because Masanori teaches that the U-shape hollow fiber membrane configuration allows for the module to be formed to match the planar shaper of the case, thereby increasing the packing efficiency of the hollow fiber membranes in the case.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita, et al., U.S. Patent No.11,273,412 B2 ("Morita"), in view of Bikson, et al., U.S. Patent No.9,623,369 B2 ("Bikson"), “Membrane Processes.” Berk, et al ("Berk"), Masanori, et al., International Publication No. JP 6079871 B2 ("Masanori"), and further view of Hiroyuki, et al., International Publication No. WO 2019/216148 A1 ("Hiroyuki "). The machine translation for Hiroyuki is used in this office action in regards to claim mapping and a copy of the machine translation used is attached to this office action.
Regarding Claim 2, paragraphs 7-15 in the office action discuss the references from Morita, Bikson, Berk, and Masanori, and the motivation of combining the references to achieve invention of claim 1. The combination of references discloses about a hollow fiber membrane (hollow fiber membrane 2) with a housing (housing 5) that includes a first inner threading (ring-shaped uneven portions 5a) on an inner wall of the bottom opening of the housing (Morita, column 6, line 37-46, Figure 3). The combination of references does not disclose the fiber membrane seat includes a first outer threading on an outer periphery thereof, and wherein the first outer threading is in threading connection with the first inner threading.
Hiroyuki, discloses the fiber membrane seat includes a first outer threading on an outer periphery thereof, and where the first outer threading is in threading connection with the first inner threading (Hiroyuki, Pr 19, Figure 2a). Using threads is a way of fixing the support tube to the membrane slot.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to modify the hollow fiber membrane configurations of Morita, Bikson, and Masanori, add a fiber membrane seat includes a first outer threading on an outer periphery thereof, and where the first outer threading is in threading connection with the first inner threading of Hiroyuki because the hollow fiber membrane of Hiroyuki improves the membrane by reducing fouling during filtration operation resulting in a stable filtration operation, and has easy-to-clean hollow fiber membranes (Hiroyuki, Pr 8).
Claim 3 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita, et al., U.S. Patent No.11,273,412 B2 ("Morita"), in view of Bikson, et al., U.S. Patent No.9,623,369 B2 ("Bikson"), “Membrane Processes.” Berk, et al ("Berk"), Masanori, et al., International Publication No. JP 6079871 B2 ("Masanori"), Hiroyuki, et al., International Publication No. WO 2019/216148 A1 ("Hiroyuki "), and further view of Wei, et al., International Publication No. CN 217202792 U ("Wei "). The machine translation for Wei is used in this office action in regards to claim mapping and a copy of the machine translation used is attached to this office action.
Regarding Claim 3, paragraphs 16-19 in the office action discuss the references from Morita, Bikson, Berk, Masanori, and Hiroyuki and the motivation of combining the references to achieve invention of claim 2. The combination of references discloses the housing (housing 5) includes the bottom cover includes an inner wall (Morita, column 5, line 51-61, Figure 1). The combination of references does not disclose the threading on the outer periphery of the bottom end of the housing, an inner wall having a second inner threading in threading connection with the second outer threading.
Wei teaches a hollow fiber membrane where the connecting piece could be a thread, a buckle or a slot (Wei, Pr 18).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to combine the reference regarding the hollow fiber membrane configurations of Morita, Bikson, Berk, Masanori, and Hiroyuki, and add the housing that includes the bottom cover and an inner wall of Morita and substituting the connection mechanism to include threading of Wei. Wei teaches that the hollow fiber membrane improvement can increase the technical area when the hollow fiber filaments are parallel to the side walls of the shell where the hollow fiber filaments are in a straightened state which allows for fluid to flow though the membrane without causing blockage of the hollow fiber filaments and effectively avoid the aggregation of substances (Wei, Pr 9-11). The addition of the housing that includes the bottom cover and an inner wall of Morita and modifying the connection mechanism to include threading of Wei results in the Claim 3 invention.
Claims 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita, et al., U.S. Patent No.11,273,412 B2 ("Morita"), in view of Bikson, et al., U.S. Patent No.9,623,369 B2 ("Bikson"), Masanori, et al., International Publication No. JP 6079871 B2 ("Masanori"), Hiroyuki, et al., International Publication No. WO 2019/216148 A1 ("Hiroyuki "), Wei, et al., International Publication No. CN 217202792 U ("Wei "), “Membrane Processes.” Berk, et al ("Berk"), and further view of Taylor, et al., U.S. Patent No. 8,876,945 B2 ("Taylor").
Regarding Claim 4, paragraphs 20-23 in the office action discuss the references from Morita, Bikson, Berk, Masanori, Hiroyuki, and Wei and the motivation of combining the references to achieve invention of claim 3. The combination of references does disclose a fiber membrane seat and the plurality of hollow fibers. The combination of references is silent on an inner ring and outer ring concentric to and radially outward of the inner ring, and the plurality of hollow fibers that are juxtaposed adhered between the inner ring and the outer ring.
Taylor discloses the fiber membrane seat includes an inner ring (o-rings 184) and an outer ring concentric to and radially outward of the inner ring (Taylor, column 18, line 47-53, Figure 2) where the plurality of hollow fibers is juxtaposed adhered between the inner ring and the outer ring (Taylor, column 19, line 33-39, Figure 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to combine the references regarding the hollow fiber membrane configurations of Morita, Bikson, Berk, Masanori, Hiroyuki, and Wei, and add the inner ring, an outer ring concentric to and radially outward of the inner ring, the plurality of hollow fibers is juxtaposed adhered between the inner ring and the outer ring of Taylor because Taylor teaches the hollow fiber membrane can improve process efficiency by reducing the negative effect on the equipment and reduces environmental concerns (Taylor, column 2, line 53-58).
Regarding Claim 5, paragraphs 24-27 in the office action discuss the references from Morita, Bikson, Berk, Masanori, Hiroyuki, Wei, and Taylor and the motivation of combining the references to achieve invention of claim 4. The combination of references discloses the inner ring of the fiber membrane seat includes an inner side having a third inner threading, and wherein a third outer threading is provided on the outer periphery of the supporting tube and is in threading connection (ribs or grooves 202) with the third inner threading (Taylor, column 19, line 9 -15, Figure 5). The threading is used to fix the supporting tube to the hollow fiber membrane.
Regarding Claim 6, paragraphs 7-15 in the office action discuss the references from Morita, Bikson, Berk, and Masanori, and the motivation of combining the references to achieve invention of claim 1. The combination of references in paragraphs 24-28 in the office action discuss the references from Morita, Bikson, Berk, Masanori, Hiroyuki, Wei, and Taylor, and the motivation of combining the references to achieve invention of claim 5.
The combination of references of the claim 5 invention discloses the housing includes an enlarged stepped hole below the positioning hole, wherein a top end of the supporting tube is coupled in the enlarged stepped hole, and wherein the central hole of the supporting tube (tube 190) and the positioning hole have a same diameter (Taylor, column 19, line 30-39, Figure 5). The supporting tube is placed in the hollow fiber membrane to allow fluid to travel from one end of the hollow fiber membrane to another and the hole allows for the supporting tube to be placed in the hollow fiber membrane.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita, et al., U.S. Patent No.11,273,412 B2 ("Morita"), in view of Bikson, et al., U.S. Patent No.9,623,369 B2 ("Bikson"), “Membrane Processes.” Berk, et al ("Berk"), and further view of Masanori, et al., International Publication No. JP 6079871 B2 ("Masanori").
Regarding Claim 7, paragraphs 7-15 in the office action discuss the references from Morita, Bikson, Berk, and Masanori, and the motivation of combining the references to achieve invention of claim 1.
The combination of references disclose a filtration seat having a fixing rod disposed in a central portion thereof, where the bottom cover is inserted in the filtration seat, where the fixing rod extends upward through the outlet of the bottom cover, the central hole (gap 6) of the supporting tube (center tube 7), and the positioning hole of the housing, where the fixing rod has an outer diameter matching with the diameters of the central hole of the supporting tube and the positioning hole, and wherein a diameter of the outlet of the bottom cover is greater than the outer diameter of the fixing rod (Masanori, Pr 34, Figure 4 and 5).
Conclusion
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/DeMarkus Jerrell Hodge/Examiner, Art Unit 1779
/Bobby Ramdhanie/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1779