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 .
Prosecution Reopened
Prosecution on the merits of this application is reopened on claims 16-30 which are considered unpatentable for the reasons indicated in the rejection below.
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(s) 16-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 111225572 to Sur (hereinafter Sur) in view of US 6,540,154 to Ivri et al. (hereinafter Ivri).
With respect to claims 16, 17, 19, and 28-30, Sur teaches an aerosol-generating device 100 and method of use, comprising: a reservoir 218 containing a liquid aerosol-forming substrate; an aerosol-generating element 220 configured to generate an aerosol from the liquid aerosol-forming substrate, the aerosol-generating element comprising an electrically operated, vibrating transducer 336 (piezoelectric element); an electrically operated micropump 224 configured to deliver
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the liquid aerosol-forming substrate from the reservoir 218 to the aerosol-generating element 220; and control circuitry 208 connected to the transducer. Discharged vapor exits through mouthpiece (proximal end of cartridge 104 adjacent outlet 222) to be inhaled by the user. See Figures 2 and 3; English translation Abstract; page 19, lines 8-13; page 20, lines 9-11. As to control of the micropump 224, Sur discloses it is “configured to control the amount of the aerosol precursor composition from the reservoir or delivery to the nozzle” (page 13, lines 18-27) but does not expressly teach that the control circuitry is configured to control operation of the pump in dependence on one or more operating parameters of the transducer.
Ivri discloses an aerosol generating device including a controller 104 which controls a dispensing system 106 in dependence on an operating parameter of a transducer 102. See col.6, line 63 to col.7, line 12. In use, the sensor determines the amount of unaerosolized liquid supplied to an aerosol generator and the controller controls operation of the dispensing system based on information received by the sensor. See col.2, lines 25-38. A piezoelectric element may act as both the transducer and the sensor and functions as a strain gauge, detecting variations in strain caused by varying amounts of unaerosolized liquid adhering to the aerosol generator (col.2, lines 38-48). The impedance (an operating parameter) of the piezoelectric element is dependent upon the liquid load. By sensing this electric characteristic, “it is possible to control the rate of liquid supply to the aerosol generator in order to maintain the amount of unaerosolized liquid” within predetermined limits. See col.6, lines 9-22.
It would have been obvious to modify the aerosol generating device of Sur to have the control circuitry of Ivri in order to assure delivery of a proper amount of liquid aerosol-forming substrate from the pump of Sur. This is particularly important when delivering pharmaceuticals, as Ivri notes that when too much liquid is supplied “the aerosol generator may be unable to aerosolize fully all of the delivered liquid” and when too little is supplied “the user may not receive a sufficient dosage.” See col.2, lines 2-14. Like Ivri, Sur teaches the aerosol generator may be used for delivering pharmaceutically active ingredients where delivery dosages would be important. See page 8, lines 26-28.
As to claim 18, the control circuitry of Sur is disclosed to drive the transducer. See page 2, lines 22-24; page 17, line 28 to page 18, line 11.
With respect to claims 20-22, the control circuitry of Ivri is disclosed to receive a feedback signal (impedance measurement) from the piezoelectric transducer to periodically control operation of the pump in dependence of the feedback signal. See col.6, lines 9-25.
As to claims 23 and 24 , the control circuitry of Ivri is configured to compare the feedback signal with one or more thresholds to provide a comparison result and to alter operation of the pump in dependence on the comparison result. See col.7, lines 49-64. As shown in Figure 6, the unaerosolized liquid is sensed in step 204 and that amount (impedance measurement) is compared with an acceptable range and the pump controlled to either increase (step 210) or decrease (step 208) the supply from the dispensing system.
With respect to claim 25, the control circuitry of Ivri is configured to control the transducer based on the feedback signal. For example, as illustrated in Figure 6 once the total dose has been delivered and if the sensor detects unaerosolized liquid, the transducer ceases to operate and instead a heater is used to burn off any unaerosolized liquid left on the generator (step 220). See col.7, line 31 to col.8, line 4.
As to claim 26, Sur teaches the control circuitry “may include a variety of functions of additional software control” (page 14, lines 9-18) such that the piezoelectric transducer is operated in different modes of vibration. For example, vibration may be stopped for a period of time if a puff length exceeds the safety timer. See col.14, lines 19-31. The aerosol generator may also have a sleep, standby or low power mode (page 15, lines 3-8).
With respect to claim 27, Sur discloses the piezoelectric transducer is also a sensor for measuring the unaerosolized liquid as an impedance measurement. Based on this measurement from the sensor, the control circuitry either increases or decreases the amount of liquid dispensed, which in turn changes/controls the impedance of the piezoelectric transducer.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIZABETH L MCKANE whose telephone number is (571)272-1275. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu 6:30a-4:30p EST.
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/ELIZABETH L MCKANE/Specialist, Art Unit 3991
Prosecution Insights