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 .
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) 16-19, 21-24, and 26-30 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) and US 2016/0338407 to Kerdemelidis (hereinafter Kerdemelidis).
With respect to claims 16, 17, 19, 21, 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 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.
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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 or configured to control the transducer based on the feedback signal.
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 rate based on information received by the sensor. See col.2, lines 25-38; col.3, lines 33-41. 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.
Kerdemelidis teaches an aerosol generating device including a piezoelectric transducer 2306 for vibrating perforated mesh 2300. Figure 23. The mesh assembly 2400 is configured to sense the presence of liquid to be aerosolized. When the controller determines liquid is not present, the drive signal to the mesh is turned off in order to prevent overheating or mechanical damage to the transducer. Kerdemelidis suggests measuring impedance, drive voltage, resonance frequency, or phase difference. See para [0111]. It would have been obvious to a POSITA to use the feedback from the sensor of Sur as modified by Ivri, in the manner disclosed by Kerdemelidis, in order to prevent overheating or mechanical damage to the transducer. Notably, Ivri teaches to avoid running the aerosol generator in a “dry” condition. See col.6, lines 17-18.
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. Kerdemelidis further teaches the control circuitry CPU drives the transducer. See para [0111].
With respect to claims 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.
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, Ivri 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) 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.
Conclusion
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/ELIZABETH L MCKANE/Specialist, Art Unit 3991
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