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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraphs [0006, 0025, 0033] applicant recites “baes plate” where it appears applicant intended “[[baes]]base plate.”
In paragraphs [0021, 0022] applicant recites “thick” where it appears applicant intended “thickness.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 3, 12, 14-15 and 18-21 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, lines 9 and 12, applicant recites “baes plate” where it appears applicant intended “[[baes]]base plate.”
In claim 3, line 2, applicant recites “side” where it appears applicant intended “sides.”
In claim 12, line 2, applicant recites “space” where it appears applicant intended “spaces.”
In claim 14, lines 4 and 10, applicant recites “thick” where it appears applicant intended “thickness.”
In claim 15, line 2, applicant recites “claims” where it appears applicant intended “claim[[s]].”
In claim 18, line 3, applicant recites “one the upper hole” where it appears applicant intended “one of the upper holes.”
In claim 19, line 3, applicant recites “one the lower hole” where it appears applicant intended “one of the lower holes.”
In claim 20, line 4, applicant recites “staked” where it appears applicant intended “stacked.”
In claim 21, line 4, applicant recites “side” where it appears applicant intended “sides.”
In claim 21, line 4, applicant recites “staked” where it appears applicant intended “stacked.”
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shi et al. (CN 115350592).
Per claim 1, Shi et al. disclose a membrane distillation plate (page 2, The invention claims a membrane assembly for membrane distillation, comprising two cover plate,) comprising:
a base plate (100) comprising two ends (Fig. 3), an upper portion being adjacent to one of the two ends of the base plate (Fig. 3), a lower portion being adjacent to the other end of the base plate (Fig. 3), two upper holes (106) spaced from each other and defined through the upper portion (Fig. 3),
and two lower holes (104) are spaced from each other and defined through the lower portion (Fig. 3);
a distillation portion (101; page 4, 101-first grid area,; page 2, two side surfaces of part of the grid area are provided with a condensing film, the two side surfaces of the remaining grid area are provided with a hydrophobic film, the condensing film and the hydrophobic film are alternately arranged; the initial grid area of the first film clapboard is set with the condensing film; the hydrophobic film in the second film clapboard corresponding to the first film clapboard of the condensing film, the second film clapboard in the condensing film corresponding to the first film clapboard of the hydrophobic film;) recessed in at least one side of the base plate (Fig. 3), located between the upper portion and the lower portion (Fig.3), and separated from the upper holes and the lower holes (Fig. 3);
a lower channel (1040; page 10, the first condensed water collecting cavity through the first condensed water channel 1040 is connected with the heating-condensing cavity;) disposed in the base plate, wherein two ends of the lower channel are respectively connected to one of the lower holes and the distillation portion (Fig. 3). Shi et al. do not disclose an upper channel disposed in the base plate, wherein two ends of the upper channel are respectively connected to one of the upper holes and the distillation portion.
It is submitted that it would have been readily obvious for the skilled artisan to modify the plate of Shi et al. such that it comprises an upper channel disposed in the base plate, wherein two ends of the upper channel are respectively connected to one of the upper holes and the distillation portion in order to, for example, augment the lower channel and potentially increase the amount of fluid discharged from the membrane plate.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shi et al. (CN 115350592) in view of Heinzl et al. (WO 2010/127818).
Per claim 15, Shi et al. do not explicitly disclose a replaceable membrane distillation module comprising:
at least two membrane distillation plates according to claim[[s]] 1 wherein:
when the membrane distillation plates are stacked with each other, two upper
fluid channels and two lower fluid channels are defined when each adjacent upper hole and each adjacent the lower hole are connected to each other.
Heinzl et al., also directed to a membrane plate (10), discloses a replaceable membrane distillation module (Fig. 7) comprising:
at least two membrane distillation plates (Fig. 7) wherein:
when the membrane distillation plates are stacked with each other, two upper
fluid channels (within 13, 14; Fig. 7) and two lower fluid channels (within 15, 16; Fig. 7) are defined when each adjacent upper hole (13, 14) and each adjacent the lower hole are connected to each other (15, 16) in order to, for example, facilitate the flow of fluid through the channels.
Accordingly, it would have been readily obvious for the skilled artisan to provide a replaceable membrane distillation module comprising:
at least two membrane distillation plates according to claim 1 wherein:
when the membrane distillation plates are stacked with each other, two upper
fluid channels and two lower fluid channels are defined when each adjacent upper hole and each adjacent the lower hole are connected to each other in order to, for example, facilitate the flow of fluid through the channels.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-14 and 16-22 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: While claims 1 and 15 are not patentable for the reasons provided above, in the examiner’s opinion, the prior art fails to teach or render obvious the plate further comprising the elements having the recited positioning and configuration as recited in claims 2-14 or the module further comprising the elements having the recited positioning and configuration as recited in claims 16-22.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRED PRINCE whose telephone number is (571)272-1165. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 0900-1730.
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/FRED PRINCE/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1779