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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed 11/09/2023, 12/04/2023, 03/13/2024, 08/26/2026 is acknowledged by the Examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 13-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 06/01/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Schubert et al. (US 20120252325).
Schubert et al. disclose:
1. (Original) An apparatus for controlling a flow of media (abstract) comprising: a housing (418, 423, 420 in fig. 4 which includes 502, 506, 510 in fig. 5); a working gap (internal passage through housing from 503 to 507 to 120 in fig. 5-6) within the housing configured to regulate the flow of media into the housing and out of the housing, the working gap further defining a perimeter within the housing (cylindrical walls of 503 and 507 define a perimeter); at least one inlet (508, 509) on the housing substantially outside of the working gap; at least one aspiration chamber (521 or 507) within the housing connected to the at least one inlet (508 connects to 521 or 507 via 509, 706, 702 channels, fig. 7a); and at least one outlet (opening to 120, or outlet from 506 into valve chamber of 423) on the housing connected to the at least one aspiration chamber, the outlet substantially within the working gap (as seen in figs. 5-6).
2. (Original) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inlet further defines a recess (508 includes a recess on the outside of 506 which connects to inner channels 509) on a surface of the housing.
3. (Original) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inlet further comprises an extended channel (706, 702) protruding into the aspiration chamber (as seen in fig. 6).
4. (Original) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the aspiration chamber further defines an air filtering geometry (513, 514, 518).
5. (Original) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the outlet further comprises a media barrier (423) located substantially between the outlet (120) and the working gap (internal passage through housing from 503 to 507 to 120 in fig. 5-6).
9. (Original) An apparatus for controlling a flow of media (abstract) comprising: a housing (418, 423, 420 in fig. 4 which includes 502, 506, 510 in fig. 5); a working gap (internal passage through housing from 503 to 507 to 120 in fig. 5-6) within the housing configured to accept the flow of media into the housing and out of the housing the working gap further defining a perimeter within the housing (cylindrical walls of 503 and 507 define a perimeter); at least one inlet (508, 509, 706, 702) on the housing substantially outside of the working gap, the inlet defining a recessed portion (508) and an extended channel (509); at least one aspiration chamber (521 or 507) within the housing further comprising: a first end (at 503); an air filtering geometry (513, 514, 518); and a second end (at 120); wherein the first end is connected to the at least one inlet (via 706, 702) and the extended channel of the at least one inlet extends into the at least one aspiration chamber (via 706, 506a); and at least one outlet on the housing connected to the second end of the at least one aspiration chamber (outlet can be open end of 507 or even 120 which is connected to end of 507 via 423), the at least one outlet located substantially within the working gap, the at least one outlet further comprising a media barrier (423) substantially between the outlet and the working gap.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 and 10-12 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 3491563 and US 4995202 each disclose a related flow control apparatus having an aspiration chamber in a working gap and an inlet located outside of the working gap.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARINA TIETJEN, whose telephone number is 571-270-5422. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (10:30AM-7:00PM CST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Tom Barrett can be reached at 571-272-4746, Ken Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881, and Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MARINA A TIETJEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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