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 .
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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species 8 in the reply filed on 19 January 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 10-13 and 16-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 19 January 2026.
Claim 10 recites the limitation “the first stage air treatment chamber air inlet and the first stage air treatment chamber air outlet are located at a rear end of the first stage air treatment chamber.” Claims 11 and 16 recite the limitation “wherein the openable portion comprises an upstream portion of the air flow path that is upstream of the first stage air treatment chamber air inlet.” These features are only disclosed with regards to non-elected species 9. The elected species has a first stage air treatment chamber air inlet (160) located at a front end of the chamber (fig. 38) and an openable portion that only comprises portions of the air flow path downstream of the inlet (see figs. 38-39).
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
The phrase of “each laterally opposed side extends in a forward/rearward direction” is grammatically improper. Consider ––each laterally opposed side extending in a forward/rearward direction–– or ––wherein each laterally opposed side extends in a forward/rearward direction––. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-9 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “A hand vacuum cleaner having an upper end, a lower end, a front end, a rear end, a handle and first and second laterally opposed sides, each laterally opposed side extends in a forward/rearward direction, the hand vacuum cleaner comprising:”.
It is unclear whether the preamble ends at “A hand vacuum cleaner having” or “the hand vacuum cleaner comprising”. Furthermore, it is unclear what structural weight is assigned to “an upper end, a lower end, a front end, a rear end, a handle and first and second laterally opposed sides, each laterally opposed side extends in a forward/rearward direction”.
Claims 2-9 and 14-15 depend from claim 1 and are likewise rejected.
For purposes of examination, everything prior to “the hand vacuum cleaner comprising” will be interpreted as part of the preamble.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Conrad (US PGPub 2010/0251507, "Conrad '507").
1. Conrad '507 teaches a hand vacuum cleaner having an upper end, a lower end, a front end, a rear end, a handle and first and second laterally opposed sides, each laterally opposed side extends in a forward/rearward direction (see Conrad '507 fig. 8),
the hand vacuum cleaner comprising:
(a) an air flow path extending from a dirty air inlet (818) to a clean air outlet (820) positioned rearward of the dirty air inlet (see Conrad '507 fig. 8);
(b) a suction motor (864) positioned in the air flow path upstream of the clean air outlet (see Conrad '507 fig. 8); and,
(c) a first air treatment stage (814) positioned in the air flow path, the first air treatment stage comprising a first stage air treatment chamber having a first stage air treatment chamber air inlet (840), a first stage air treatment chamber air outlet (845) and a first stage air treatment chamber axis (823) that extends in the forward rearward direction (see Conrad '507 fig. 8); and,
(d) a second cyclonic stage (851) downstream from the first air treatment stage, the second cyclonic stage comprising a second stage cyclone chamber having a second stage axis of rotation and a second stage dirt collection region (second cyclone unit 851 is in a chamber, aligned along axis 823, and has a dirt collection region at the base of the cyclones that may be emptied, see Conrad '507 fig. 8 and [0088]-[0091]),
wherein the hand vacuum cleaner comprises a stationary portion (804) and an openable portion (806), the openable portion is rotatably mounted by a rotatable mount (806 and 804 are connected via a rotatable bayonet connection, see Conrad '507 figs. 9-11 showing detents on a side of 804 and an end of 851 and slots to rotatably receive the two sets of detents on a side of 806) between a closed position in which the first stage air treatment chamber and the second stage dirt collection region are closed (chambers and dirt collection are closed when assembled, see Conrad '507 fig. 8), and an open position in which the first stage air treatment chamber and the second stage dirt collection region are open (when disassembled via rotation, chamber 840 is open to the outside via outlet 845 while the second stage is generally exposed such that it is emptyable, see Conrad '507 fig. 9 and [0091]).
2. Conrad '507 teaches the hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1 wherein, when the hand vacuum cleaner is oriented with the first stage air treatment chamber axis oriented horizontally, the stationary portion comprises an upper portion of the hand vacuum cleaner and the openable portion comprises a lower portion of the hand vacuum cleaner (in a horizontal orientation, the stationary and openable portions each include both upper and lower portions of the vacuum cleaner, which means the stationary portion comprises both an upper portion and a lower portion of the hand vacuum cleaner and the openable portion comprises both an upper portion and a lower portion of the hand vacuum cleaner, see Conrad '507 figs. 8-11).
Regarding claims 3-5, Conrad '507 teaches the hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1. Because the rotatable connection is located at the connection between the forward openable portion (804) and rearward stationary portion (806), and the second cyclonic stage (951) extends in a rearward direction from that connection point (see Conrad '507 figs. 9-11), the rotatable mount is located at a rearward end of the openable portion, at a rearward end of the first air treatment stage, and at a forward end of the second cyclonic stage.
7. Conrad '507 teaches the hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1 wherein the second cyclonic stage comprises a plurality of second stage cyclones (Conrad '507 [0089]), each second stage cyclone has a cyclone air inlet and a cyclone air outlet (Conrad '507 [0089]) wherein the cyclone air outlets are located at a rear end of the second stage cyclones (cyclone outlets are at a rear end, see Conrad '507 fig. 8).
8. Conrad '507 teaches the hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1 wherein the second stage cyclone is also opened when the openable portion is in the open position (cyclones of 851 are exposed to an outside when in an open position, see Conrad '507 figs. 9-10).
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 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Conrad '507.
6. Conrad '507 teaches the hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1. Conrad further teaches that the second cyclone unit may be “openable and therefore emptyable”, but does not explicitly teach that the second stage dirt collection region comprises a second stage dirt collection chamber that is in communication with the second stage cyclone chamber by a dirt outlet.
However, it has been held that “in considering the disclosure of a reference, it is proper to take into account not only specific teachings of the reference but also the inferences which one skilled in the art would reasonably be expected to draw therefrom.” MPEP § 2144.01, citing In re Preda, 401 F.2d 825, 826, 159 USPQ 342, 344 (CCPA 1968).
From the teachings of Conrad '507 regarding the presence of a first stage dirt collection chamber (824) in communication with the first stage cyclone chamber by a first dirt outlet (see Conrad '507 figs. 6-8, [0065]-[0068], and [0085]), one of ordinary skill would infer that the second stage cyclones should likewise have somewhere for separated dirt to go. Consequently, although Conrad '507 does not explicitly teach structural details regarding dirt collection by the second stage cyclones, a person of ordinary skill before the effective filing date would have found it obvious to include a second stage dirt collection chamber that is in communication with the second stage cyclone chamber by a dirt outlet in the second stage dirt collection region, as doing so is implicitly taught by Conrad '507 and dirt separated by the second cyclones must go somewhere such that it may be emptied (Conrad '507 [0091]).
Claims 9, 14, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Conrad '507 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Oh et al. (US 7744667, "Oh").
Regarding claims 9, 14, and 15, Conrad '507 teaches the hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1 wherein the first stage air treatment chamber air outlet is located at a rear end of the first stage air treatment chamber (see Conrad '507 fig. 8).
Additionally, as noted in the rejection of Claim 6 above, Conrad '507 explicitly teaches the presence of a first stage dirt collection chamber (824) in communication with the first stage cyclone chamber by a first dirt outlet (see Conrad '507 figs. 6-8, [0065]-[0068], and [0085]), and implicitly teaches the presence of a second stage dirt collection chamber that is in communication with the second stage cyclone chamber by a dirt outlet.
Conrad '507 does not teach that the first stage air treatment chamber air inlet is located at a front end of the first stage air treatment chamber, that the second stage dirt collection chamber is located in an axially extending central portion of the first stage air treatment chamber, or that the second stage dirt collection chamber is located radially inwardly of the first stage air treatment chamber dirt collection region.
However, Oh teaches an air treatment chamber (100) comprising a first stage air treatment chamber (10) having a first stage air treatment chamber air inlet (16), a first stage air treatment chamber air outlet (defined by gap 54), a first stage dirt collection chamber (12) that is in communication with the first stage air treatment chamber by a first stage dirt outlet (dust flows from 10 to 12 through 55 as shown by arrow K in Oh fig. 3), and,
a plurality of second cyclones (22) defining a second cyclonic stage downstream from the first air treatment stage (see Oh fig. 3), and a second stage dirt collection chamber (20) that is in communication with the plurality of second cyclones (22) by a second stage dirt outlet (defined by dust guide member 40, see Oh fig. 3),
wherein the first stage air treatment chamber air inlet (16) is located at a first end of the first stage air treatment chamber (10) and the first stage air treatment chamber air outlet (defined by gap 54) is located at an end of the first stage air treatment chamber distant from the first end (16 is at a base of chamber 10 and 54 is in communication with an upper end, see Oh fig. 6), and
wherein the second stage dirt collection chamber is located in an axially extending central portion of the first stage air treatment chamber and radially inwardly of the first stage air treatment chamber dirt collection region (dust chamber 20 is located in the middle of an axially extending central portion of first air treatment chamber 10 and is radially inward from first dirt collection chamber 12, see Oh fig. 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date to implement the air treatment chamber design from Oh in the cleaner of Conrad '507 such that it included a treatment chamber wherein the first stage air treatment chamber air inlet was located at a front end of the first stage air treatment chamber and the first stage air treatment chamber air outlet was located at a rear end of the first stage air treatment chamber, and the second stage dirt collection chamber was located in an axially extending central portion of the first stage air treatment chamber and radially inwardly of the first stage air treatment chamber dirt collection region, as doing so would prevent collected dust from affecting drawn-in air and would allow for additional arrangements of the cyclones, thereby allowing for a more compact arrangement (see Oh 9:52-10:13).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Tonderys et al. (US 11213177 B2, US 11864714 B2, and US PGPub 2019/0090701 A1), Han et al. (US 10478034 B2), and Lageat; Emilie (US 20220117450 A1) teach relevant vacuum cleaner structures.
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/J.R.Z./Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/MONICA S CARTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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