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 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 4 calls to “the first set” and “the second set” the first and second sets need to be introduced as ---a first set--- and ---a second set--- or claim 3 needs to depend on claim 2 to resolve the lack of antecedent basis. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harrington (US 2016/0175552 A1) in view of McGarva (WO 2019/043118 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Harrington discloses a heat moisture exchanger for use in a respiratory therapy system (abstract), the heat moisture exchanger comprising: a frame (#7003 fig 9J-11G); and an exchanging material situated at least partially within the frame (#7001 fig 9J, 11A-11G), wherein the exchanging material comprises a plurality of channels (#7012, 7022 fig 11A, par 0427) through which a flow of breathable gas passes in use (par 0427).
Harrington is silent to at least one of the channels is provided in a different orientation to at least one other channel. Harrington instead discloses the channels being parallel to the airflow (par 0434).
McGarva teaches a heat and moisture exchanger (pg 4 ln 3-4) with a plurality of channels (channels formed from corrugations see fig 7) wherein at least one of the channels is provided in a different orientation to at least one other channel (see fig 7 showing the corrugated material layered such that channels are orthogonal to one another, pg 12 ln 8-13).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize channels in different orientations as taught by McGarva for the channels of Harrington as doing so provides improved thermal coupling (McGarva: pg 12 ln 23-28).
Regarding claim 2, modified Harrington discloses the HME of claim 1. McGarva further discloses the plurality of channels comprises a first set of airflow channels (#62 or 64 fig 7) and a second set of airflow channels (the other of #62 or 64 fig 7), wherein the first set of airflow channels are provided in a first orientation and the second set of airflow channels are provided in a second orientation, wherein the first orientation is different from the second orientation (see fig 7 showing the orientations orthogonal from eachother).
Regarding claim 3, modified Harrington discloses the HME of claim 1. McGarva further discloses the exchanging material comprises a plurality of layers (see fig 7, pg 12 ln 8-13), wherein each of the plurality of layers comprises at least one channel (pg 12 ln 8-13, see also fig 7).
Regarding claim 4, modified Harrington discloses the HME of claim 3. McGarva further discloses the first set of airflow channels is provided in a first layer of the plurality of layers (see fig 7, pg 12 ln 8-13), and the second set of airflow channels is provided in a second layer of the plurality of layers (see fig 7, pg 12 ln 8-13).
Regarding claim 5, modified Harrington discloses the HME of claim 2. Modified Harrington further discloses the frame comprises a plurality of openings (Harrington: #7006 fig 10A-10F) through which the flow of breathable gas flows in use (par 0440), wherein the plurality of openings define a longitudinal axis of the heat moisture exchanger, and wherein the first orientation is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the heat moisture exchanger (par 0434 discloses channels parallel to the flow of gas, with modification from McGarva one set of channels would be parallel and another set of channels would be orthogonal).
Regarding claim 6, modified Harrington discloses the HME of claim 2. Modified Harrington further discloses the frame comprises a plurality of openings (Harrington: #7006 fig 10A-10F) through which the flow of breathable gas flows in use (Harrington: par 0440), wherein the plurality of openings define a longitudinal axis of the heat moisture exchanger, and wherein the first orientation is provided at an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis (modification from McGarva the channels can be oriented such that they for 45° angels with the flow, see eg fig5 of McGarva with flow channels 21b at an acute angle to the flow).
Regarding claim 7, modified Harrington discloses the HME of claim 1. Harrington further discloses the exchanging material comprises any one or more of: a corrugated material, foam, paper, textile or a composite material (par 0427 “corrugated structure”).
Regarding claim 8, modified Harrington discloses the HME of claim 1. Harrington further discloses the exchanging material comprises hygroscopic salts (par 0064).
Regarding claim 9, Harrington discloses a patient interface for providing respiratory therapy treatment to a patient (abstract), the patient interface comprising: a plenum chamber (#3200 fig 8B) pressurisable to a therapeutic pressure of at least 4 cmH20 above ambient air pressure (par 0026), wherein the plenum chamber includes at least one plenum chamber inlet port (#3260 fig 9B) sized and is structured to receive a supply of breathable gas at the therapeutic pressure for breathing by a patient (par 0451 “inlet for connection to air circuit”); a seal-forming structure (#3130 fig 9B) constructed and arranged to form a seal with a region of the patient's face surrounding an entrance to the patient's airways (par 0433), wherein the seal-forming structure has a hole therein such that the supply of breathable gas is delivered to at least an entrance to the patient's nares (par 0433), and wherein the seal-forming structure is constructed and arranged to maintain said therapeutic pressure in the plenum chamber throughout the patient's respiratory cycle in use (par 0026 discloses the gas being delivered at a pressure of at least 10 cm H2O thus disclosing the chamber maintains the required pressure for delivery); a heat moisture exchanger comprising: a frame (#7003 fig 9J-11G); and an exchanging material situated at least partially within the frame (#7001 fig 9J, 11A-11G), wherein the exchanging material comprises a plurality of channels (#7012, 7022 fig 11A, par 0427) through which a flow of breathable gas passes in use (par 0427), and wherein the heat moisture exchanger is positioned in a flow path of the supply of breathable gas (par 0434, see also fig 9).
Harrington is silent to at least one of the channels is provided in a different orientation to at least one other channel. Harrington instead discloses the channels being parallel to the airflow (par 0434).
McGarva teaches a heat and moisture exchanger (pg 4 ln 3-4) with a plurality of channels (channels formed from corrugations see fig 7) wherein at least one of the channels is provided in a different orientation to at least one other channel (see fig 7 showing the corrugated material layered such that channels are orthogonal to one another, pg 12 ln 8-13).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize channels in different orientations as taught by McGarva for the channels of Harrington as doing so provides improved thermal coupling (McGarva: pg 12 ln 23-28).
Regarding claim 10, modified Harrington discloses the patient interface of claim 9. Harrington further discloses a positioning and stabilising structure to provide a force to hold the seal-forming structure in a therapeutically effective position on the patient's head (#3250 fig 9/3300 fig 3A).
Regarding claim 11, Harrington discloses a system for providing a patient with a respiratory therapy treatment (abstract), comprising: a patient interface comprised of: a plenum chamber (#3200 fig 8B) pressurisable to a therapeutic pressure of at least 4 cmH20 above ambient air pressure (par 0026), wherein the plenum chamber includes at least one plenum chamber inlet port (#3260 fig 9B) sized and is structured to receive a supply of breathable gas at the therapeutic pressure for breathing by a patient (par 0451 “inlet for connection to air circuit”); a seal-forming structure (#3130 fig 9B) constructed and arranged to form a seal with a region of the patient's face surrounding an entrance to the patient's airways (par 0433), wherein the seal-forming structure has a hole therein such that the supply of breathable gas is delivered to at least an entrance to the patient's nares (par 0433), and wherein the seal-forming structure is constructed and arranged to maintain said therapeutic pressure in the plenum chamber throughout the patient's respiratory cycle in use (par 0026 discloses the gas being delivered at a pressure of at least 10 cm H2O thus disclosing the chamber maintains the required pressure for delivery); a heat moisture exchanger comprising: a frame (#7003 fig 9J-11G); and an exchanging material situated at least partially within the frame (#7001 fig 9J, 11A-11G), wherein the exchanging material comprises a plurality of channels (#7012, 7022 fig 11A, par 0427) through which a flow of breathable gas passes in use (par 0427), and wherein the heat moisture exchanger is positioned in a flow path of the supply of breathable gas (par 0434, see also fig 9), and an air delivery circuit (#4170 fig 1A) configured to facilitate transfer of the supply of breathable gas from the respiratory therapy apparatus (#4000/5000 fig 1A) to the patient interface.
Harrington is silent to at least one of the channels is provided in a different orientation to at least one other channel. Harrington instead discloses the channels being parallel to the airflow (par 0434).
McGarva teaches a heat and moisture exchanger (pg 4 ln 3-4) with a plurality of channels (channels formed from corrugations see fig 7) wherein at least one of the channels is provided in a different orientation to at least one other channel (see fig 7 showing the corrugated material layered such that channels are orthogonal to one another, pg 12 ln 8-13).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize channels in different orientations as taught by McGarva for the channels of Harrington as doing so provides improved thermal coupling (McGarva: pg 12 ln 23-28).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Haycock EP 0255387 A2
McConnell US 2009/0151728 A1
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIRA B DAHER whose telephone number is (571)270-0190. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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/KIRA B DAHER/Examiner, Art Unit 3785
/BRADLEY H PHILIPS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799