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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. 10-2022-0159291, filed on November 24, 2022.
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.
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 non-obviousness.
Claim 1 is rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. CN 111632761 A, September 08, 2020 (hereinafter “Liu”), in view of Roos U. S. Pub. No. 2535697 A December 26, 1950 (hereinafter “Roos”).
Regarding Claim 1, Liu teaches a duct removing device with circulating dust collection device, comprising: a housing for electrostatic dust collection, the housing comprising an inlet (figure 1 – inlet flue duct 1, paragraph 0023) formed on one side through which harmful gas including dust flows, and an outlet (figure 1 – outlet flue duct 6) formed on the other side through which purified gas can be discharged, wherein an interior of the housing is divided by a partition into two parts; an upper roller 41, a lower roller 42, and a cleaning roller 43 arranged sequentially from top to bottom, and an anode conductive filter cloth 44; a collection plate circulation drive part (figure 1 – drive motor 411, 431) provided on the first drive motor 411 connected to the upper roller 41 and a second drive motor 431 connected to the cleaning roller 43.; and a collection plate cleaning means provided on the partition of the housing and capable of cleaning the conductive collection plates to remove collected fine dust while the conductive collection plates are circulated in response to the driving of the collection plate circulation drive part.
Liu fails to teach a plurality of first and second guide roller units formed on both inner surfaces of the housing at intervals from each other in vertical direction, with both ends being rotatable and formed of an insulator; conductive dust collection plates which are connected to a (+) electrode of a high voltage supply unit fixedly provided on the other side of the housing, are sequentially wound on the first guide roller unit and the second guide roller unit in a staggered manner, and are formed of a plate-shaped conductor to collect fine particles that are charged in response to application of high voltage; discharge members of which one ends are fixedly provided on left and right sides of front and rear ends of the conductive collection plates so as to be connected to a (-) electrode of the high voltage supply unit, and the other ends are provided contactless between the conductive collection plates provided in the staggered manner, and formed of a conductor to apply an electric load to the fine particles which are a source of air pollution one side of a front or rear side of the housing and connected, with one end, to a circulation drive motor driven in response to application of power, and wound around, with the other end, the conductive collection plates and rotatably provided inside the housing so as to circulate the conductive collection plates.
However, Roos teaches a collection chamber with a or an electrostatic precipitator comprising a casing having a plurality of spaced, electrically conductive, sheet supports therein at opposite sides thereof, means insulating the supports at one side of the casing from those at the other side thereof, a sheet threaded over said supports in a plurality of passes and forming a plurality of spaced electrically conductive, collector electrodes, adjacent of said electrodes being insulated from each other, and means for applying an electrical charge to said insulated supported rollers. (figure 1, paragraph 6). The metal rollers 11 and 12 (figure 1, paragraph 14) are rotatably supported directly to its upper portion so that they are electrically as well as mechanically connected to it and to ground. The pairs of rollers 14 and 15 are rotatably supported in the lower portion of the casing 10, by the electric insulators 16 (figure 1, paragraph 15). The rollers 14 and I5 are electrically connected to a positive terminal of the power supply source of the precipitator, and the negative terminal of which is grounded (paragraph 17). The roller guide units are arranged in a staggered manner as shown in figure 1.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the dust removing device of Liu to include a plurality of first and second guide roller units formed on both inner surfaces of the housing at vertical intervals, with both ends being rotatable and formed of an insulating material, as taught by Roos. Although Liu fails to explicitly disclose guide roller units arrange on opposing inner surfaces of the housing for guiding conductive duct collection plates in a staggered circulation path, Roos teaches the use of spaced, rotatable guide rollers formed of an insulating material for supporting, guiding, and directing plate-shaped conductive members within an electrostatic housing.
Regarding claim 4, Liu teaches a collection plate cleaning means includes: a conductive cloth online water washing system 5 (figure 1, paragraph 0023); includes a water washing tank 51 and a water replenishment system connected to the water washing tank 51 provided at the bottom of the housing; a cleaning roller 43 is arranged in the water washing tank 51, and the lower part of the anode conductive filter cloth 44 extends into the water washing tank 51 (paragraph 0023). Furthermore, the water replenishment system includes a water treatment device 52 (figure 2, paragraph 0024) and a water replenishment pump 53. The water treatment device 52 has a water inlet and a cleaning agent dispensing outlet. The washing tank 51 is equipped with an ultrasonic cleaning device 511 (figure 2, paragraph 0024).
Claim 2 is rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. CN 111632761 A, September 08, 2020 (hereinafter “Liu”), as applied to claim 1 above, in further view of Jeong et al., KR 101136353 B1, April 18, 2012 (hereinafter “Jeong”).
Lui is relied upon as above.
Regarding claim 2, Liu fails to disclose an electrostatic precipitator, wherein the discharge members include: front and rear vertical members for discharge, which are connected to the (+) electrode of the high voltage supply unit as one ends thereof are fixed to left and right sides of a front end and to front and rear sides of a rear end on an upper surface of the partition of the housing, and fixedly provided on the left and right sides of the front and rear ends of the conductive dust collection plates; and a plurality of mesh-shaped horizontal net members for discharge, which are provided and positioned between the conductive collection plates as both ends are fixedly provided at intervals on inner surfaces of the front and rear vertical members for discharge.
However, Jeong discloses a discharge electrode 20 (figure 1, paragraph 0034) is installed to be spaced apart from each other in the plurality of discharge electrode mounting rod 21 (figure 1) provided to be inside the insulation and dust collector housing 10 and is electrically connected to the high-voltage applying unit (paragraph 0034). The discharge electrode 20 has the plurality of through-holes 22 are formed, a plurality of holes 23 are formed so as to correspond to the electrode mounting rod 21 (figure 3, paragraph 0035) to be installed in the electrode mounting rods 21. The discharge electrode 20 (figure 3) has a shape of a plate made of an electrical conductor material, and a plurality of circular or polygonal holes 23 in which a plurality of discharge pins 24 are formed in the center of the plate. Discharge to machine the inner surface as shown in Figure 3 during formation (production) of the hole (23) in a zigzag shape pin 24 is to be formed (paragraph 0036). The discharge electrode 20 is installed inside and outside the rotary dust collecting plate 30 as the outer discharge electrode 20a and the inner discharge electrode 20b, respectively (figure 2, paragraph 0034).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to ---modify the electrostatic precipitator o f Liu to include the claimed discharge members and conductive dust collective plates. The choice to arrange the discharge members in vertical and horizontal configurations and to position them between conductive dust collective plates, as such arrangement are well known in the electrostatic precipitation art for providing uniform electric field distribution and efficient particle charging and collection.
Claim 3 is rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. CN 111632761 A, September 08, 2020 (hereinafter “Liu”), as applied to claim 1 above, in further view of Qin et al., CN 110813537 A, February 21, 2020 (hereinafter “Qin”).
Lui is relied upon as above.
Regarding claim 3, Liu fails to teach the circulation drive motor fixedly provided on one side of the front side of the housing with a drive shaft located inside the housing so as to be driven in response to power being applied; and a rotation shaft for circulation, with one end fixedly connected to the circulation drive motor and the other end rotatably provided on a rear inner surface of the housing, in which an outer peripheral surface is wound around the conductive dust collection plates so as to circulate the conductive dust collection plates in response to the driving of the circulation drive motor.
However, Qin teaches a drive shaft of the drive motor 64 (figure 2, paragraph 0049), two ends of the guide impeller are respectively fixed with rotating shafts 61 (figure 2, paragraph 0048). One end of the rotating shaft away from the guide impeller passes through the shielding groove and is rotatably connected to the shielding groove. The other end of the rotating shaft away from the guide impeller is rotatably connected to the dust collection groove. A first rotating wheel is fixedly sleeved on one end of the rotating shaft in the shielding groove, and a first gear is fixedly sleeved on the other end of the rotating shaft (paragraph 0014).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electrostatic precipitator of Liu to include the circulation drive motor, drive shaft, and rotation shaft arrangement as taught by Qin. Applying Qin’s moto-driven shaft and rotating transmission structure to the dust collection plate circulation system of Liu in order to reliably circulate the conductive dust collection plates in response to motor driving.
Conclusion
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/M.N.E./
Examiner, Art Unit 1776
/Jennifer Dieterle/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1776