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 final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on July 16, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 21 is objected to because of the following informalities: the first “and” at the end of the first clause should be deleted. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 33 and 36-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saur et al. (DE 1020122186041, see previously provided machine translation) in view of Pickens et al. (9,831,695).
Regarding claims 33 and 37-39, Saur discloses a stackable fan comprising:
a base (10a) including first and second contact surfaces (14a, 14a; e.g., the surfaces that cooperatively define the coupling units 14a on each side of the case) positioned in a first plane (e.g., at least the bottom/lower surfaces of the coupling units are co-planar) and configured for alignment with a container (20a) and an engagement mechanism (42a) configured to secure at least one of the first and second contact surfaces (e.g., at least one of the engagement hooks 42a in the coupling units 14a cooperate with complementary connectors, see middle of ¶0020) against the container (20a);
a fan assembly (22a) pivotably coupled (at 38a) to the base (10a), the fan assembly having a fan screen (62a) positioned in a second plane (e.g., when the fan sits within recess 36a as shown in Fig. 2); and
a battery pack (26a) removably coupled (see ¶0004 describing that the fan is powered by a “hand tool battery,” while ¶0006 provides that the hand tool battery is “coupled” to the battery interface) to the base (see ¶0022 describing that the battery 26a is located in the tool mounting area 32a, --see also ¶s 0005-0006 defining the tool holding/mounting area as the portion of the case that is intended to hold the tool, battery, or accessories and that the battery interface is within the case’s tool mounting area), the battery pack being configured to power the fan assembly (see ¶0022),
wherein the fan assembly (22a) is movable between a first orientation (see Fig. 2) in which the first plane is aligned with the second plane (e.g., are aligned in parallel), and a second orientation (see Fig. 1) in which the first plane is misaligned/perpendicular with the second plane.
While Saur discloses that hand tool batteries are connected to the system within the interior of case, does not explicitly recite that the batteries are removable or that the batteries are connected to the base/case portion.
Pickens teaches another case-powering device, including a battery interface (520, see e.g., Fig. 3) that receives and connects power from removable hand tool batteries (710). The battery pack receptacle (520) can be permanently attached to the interior of the storage bag/case (see Col. 6, lines 55-61 and Col. 7, lines 4-8).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the stackable fan of Saur to mount the removable battery to the interior of the case as taught by Pickets to arrive at the claimed device with a reasonable expectation of success. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because doing so constitutes a simple substitution of one known element (a case mounted removable battery interface) for another (a likely removable battery that is located within the case during operation) to obtain predictable results (e.g., a battery that is better protected by the rigid case walls and readily exchanged to allow for continued tool use).
Regarding claim 36, Saur further discloses that the first and second contact surfaces (14a/14a) are substantially the same and therefore read upon being substantially equal in area.
Regarding claim 40, Saur further discloses that the base (10a) includes a side surface that is substantially perpendicular to the first and second contact surfaces, and wherein a handle (50a) is positioned on the side surface (see Fig. 1).
Claims 21-30, 32, 34-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saur in view of Pickens and Baruch et al. (US 2020/0298392).
Regarding claims 21-26, 28, and 34-35, Saur discloses a stackable fan comprising:
a base (10a) having a pair of coupling units (14a) spaced across the bottom/disposed thereon, wherein both a first stackable surface (e.g., the bottom surface, see Fig. 1) and a second stackable surface (e.g., the top surface) of the base is configured to abut a container (20a), and the stackable fan is configured to abuttingly connect with the container via at least one of the coupling units (14a/16a; see ¶0020); and
a fan assembly (22a) positioned on the base (10a), the fan assembly including a fan screen (62a); and
a battery pack (26a) removably coupled (see ¶0004 describing that the fan is powered by a “hand tool battery,” while ¶0006 provides that the hand tool battery is “coupled” to the battery interface) within case (see ¶0022 describing that the battery 26a is located in the tool mounting area 32a, --see also ¶s 0005-0006 defining the tool holding/mounting area as the portion of the case that is intended to hold the tool, battery, or accessories and that the battery interface is within the case’s tool mounting area), the battery pack being configured to power the fan assembly (see ¶0022),
wherein the fan assembly is configured to pivot (at 38a) between a first position (see Fig. 2) in which the fan screen is substantially parallel relative to the stackable surface of the base and a second position (see Fig. 1) in which the fan screen is non-parallel/perpendicular relative to the stackable surface of the base.
While Saur discloses at ¶0020 that the fan case (10) uses its upper (16a) and lower (14a) connectors to couple to additional units/modules, it does not explicitly recite that the coupling units comprise a step and latch configuration and Saur, while disclosing that hand tool batteries are connected to the system within the interior of case, does not explicitly recite that the batteries are removable or that the batteries are connected to the base/case portion.
Pickens teaches another case-powering device, including a battery interface (520, see e.g., Fig. 3) that receives and connects power from removable hand tool batteries (710). The battery pack receptacle (520) can be permanently attached to the interior of the storage bag/case (see Col. 6, lines 55-61 and Col. 7, lines 4-8).
Baruch teaches another container system having stackable modules (see e.g., Fig. 12) where each of the stackable modules includes an upper latch (14) and a lower step (50) that are configured to engage each other to couple the two modules together.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the stackable fan of Saur to mount the removable battery to the interior of the case as taught by Pickets and to have each module of the stackable assembly to have complementary latches and steps on their tops and bottoms as taught by Baruch to arrive at the claimed device with a reasonable expectation of success. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because doing so constitutes a simple substitution of one known element (a case mounted battery interface; and a spring biased upper latch and fixed bottom foot/step) for another (a battery that is located within the case during operation; and a generic paired upper and lower connector) to obtain predictable results (e.g., a battery that is better protected by the rigid case walls; and a container system that allows for all of its modules to be interconnected together).
Regarding claim 27, Saur discloses that the fan screen (62a) is positioned below the stackable surface when the fan assembly is in the first position (see Fig. 1 showing the recess 36a in the case and ¶0024 describing how the fan and its housing 54a are arranged in the recess).
Regarding claim 29, Saur further discloses that the base (28a) including battery terminals (24a), wherein a battery pack (26a) may be secured on said base (at 32a) and connected to said terminals to power said fan blade (see ¶0022).
Regarding claim 30, Saur further discloses that the base (28a) including an AC plug (e.g., power input, see ¶0004), said AC plug connectable to an AC cord to both provide power to said fan and to charge the battery pack when the battery pack is connected to said terminals.
Regarding claim 32, Saur further discloses that the base (10a) includes a side surface that is substantially perpendicular to the stackable surface (bottom), and wherein a handle (50a) is positioned on the side surface.
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saur in view of Pickens and Baruch as applied to claim 21 above, and further in view of Spaulding et al. (US 2022/0290690).
Regarding claim 31, Saur does not disclose a hook pivotally attached to the base.
Spaulding teaches another work-site fan assembly (300; see Fig. 10) including a base (304) having a hook (316/346) pivotally attached thereto, the hook being configured to hang the fan from a support (see ¶0083 and Fig. 10).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the fan assembly of the Saur combination to include a hook as taught by Spaulding to arrive at the claimed device with a reasonable expectation of success. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because doing so constitutes applying a known technique (e.g., providing additional couplers to increase the number of potential mounting options) to known devices (e.g., fans) ready for improvement to yield predictable results (e.g., a fan that can be used in different positions/locations).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 21 and 33 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Particularly, the arguments are based on the added claim limitation of the battery pack being removably coupled to the base, which the Applicant argues is not disclosed or suggest by the prior art. Initially, the Saur discloses that the battery is “located in the tool mounting area 32a during operation” (see ¶0022). This area is defined as the protected interior storage portion of the case (see ¶0005). While Saur arguably provides for both the case-interior mounting of the battery, additional searching of the prior art for this feature uncovered the Perkins patent, which teaches that a removable battery pack interface can be permanently mounted to a tool storage case in the interior of the case (see above citations).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVE CLEMMONS whose telephone number is (313)446-4842. The examiner can normally be reached on 8-4:30 EST Monday-Friday.
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/STEVE CLEMMONS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
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