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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/22/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6-8, 16, and 19-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kernan, et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0178564 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kernan discloses an interface ion guide for transmitting ions from stacked ring ion guide to a multipole ion guide comprising:
N sets of plate electrodes, wherein n>=1 (Fig. 26);
Each set of plate electrodes comprising a plate (242), the plate comprising a planar surface and an aperture formed in the planar surface for transmission of ions therethrough along the longitudinal axis, wherein the plate of each plate electrode is spaced apart from the plate of an adjacent plate electrode along the longitudinal axis; and
Each plate electrode further comprising one or more protrusions (254, 256), wherein each protrusion extends at a respective non-zero angle to the planar surface, wherein the protrusions of each set of plate electrodes are configured to generate an RF multipole field to focus ions towards the longitudinal axis.
Regarding claim 2, Kernan discloses wherein the non-zero angle is approximately 90 degrees (Fig. 26).
Regarding claim 3, Kernan discloses wherein n=2 (Fig. 26), wherein each set of plate electrodes are spaced from each other along the longitudinal axis, wherein a first set of plate electrodes are upstream of an nth set of plate electrodes (Figs. 24-28), preferably wherein the first set of plate electrodes defines an ion inlet of the interface ion guide and the nth set of plate electrodes defines an ion outlet of the interface ion guide.
Regarding claim 6, Kernan discloses wherein each protrusion extends from the plate of the respective plate electrode, preferably wherein each protrusion extends from a periphery of the aperture of the respective plate electrode (Fig. 26).
Regarding claim 7, Kernan discloses wherein the protrusions of each set of plate electrodes are spaced apart from each other about the longitudinal axis (Fig. 26).
Regarding claim 8, Kernan discloses wherein each protrusion extends longitudinally at the non-zero angle to the planar surface and radially inward from a periphery of the aperture of the respective plate electrode (Figs. 24-28).
Regarding claim 16, Kernan discloses an ion transfer assembly configured to receive ions from an ion source (32) and transfer ions to a downstream RF multiple ion guide (70) and/or mass analyzer (88), the ion transfer assembly having a longitudinal axis and comprising:
A stacked ring ion guide (90) configured to receive ions from the ion source and having a longitudinal axis; and
The interface ion guide of claim 1 coupled to and downstream from the stacked ring ion guide (94).
Claims 19-22 are drawn to the method of using the apparatus of claim 1, and the same rejection applies mutatis mutandis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5, 9-15, 17 and 18 are objected to as depending from a rejected claim but would be allowable if written in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claim.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claims 4 and 5 , the prior art fails to teach wherein the protrusions of the nth set of plate electrodes are configured to generate an RF multipole field of a lower order than the protrusion of the first set of plate electrodes. Regarding claims 9-13, the prior art fails to teach wherein each protrusion extends longitudinally at the non-zero angle to the planar surface and radially inward from a periphery of the aperture of the respective plate electrode. Regarding claim 14, the prior art fails to teach wherein each protrusion is a curved surface that extends radially inward from an inner periphery of the aperture and bends through the non-zero angle. Regarding claim 15, the prior art fails to teach wherein the spacing of the adjacent plate electrodes within each set of plate electrodes along the longitudinal axis is between 0.1 and 1.5 mm. Regarding claims 17 and 18, the prior art fails to each wherein the SRIG comprises two or more SRIG plate electrodes, wherein each SRIG plate electrode comprises a plate comprising a planar surface and an aperture formed in the planar surface for transmission of ions therethrough along the longitudinal axis of the SRIG, where the plate of each SRIG plate electrode is spaced apart from the plate of an adjacent SRIG plate electrode along the longitudinal axis of the SRIG; wherein the longitudinal axis of the SRIG and the longitudinal axis of the interface ion guide are aligned with the longitudinal axis of the ion transfer assembly.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL P MASKELL whose telephone number is (571)270-3210. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10A-6P.
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/MICHAEL MASKELL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878 30 May 2026
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