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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6 August 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Claims 1-8 and 10-14 are pending in the application. Claim 9 has been canceled. Claims 10-11 were previously withdrawn as being directed to a nonelected invention. Applicant's amendments to the Claims have overcome each and every rejection previously set forth in the Final Office Action dated 10 June 2026; however, upon further consideration new rejections are set forth as explained below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-6, 12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seeman (US 2004/0124263) in view of Wickenhaver (US 5,328,095).
Regarding claim 1, Seeman discloses a coating device (fig. 2; par. 1), comprising:
a coating gun (50) including a coating gun body (fig. 1) provided with a jet (12) and a cartridge (20) detachably attached to the coating gun body (see figs. 1, 2) and housing a first coating liquid (100, par. 38); and
a relay tube (42) to connect a coating liquid supply source (par. 40 – pressurized water in a garden hose) disposed in a position away from the coating gun and the coating gun so that a second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source can flow therethrough (par. 7),
wherein the cartridge includes a lead-out tube (21) leading out the first coating liquid housed in the cartridge (fig. 2), and
formed in the coating gun is a mixing space (15) where the first coating liquid housed in the cartridge and the second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source are mixed (par. 37) is formed on a downstream side of the relay tube and the lead-out tube (fig. 2); and
wherein the first coating liquid corresponding to a change of a coating form of a coating target is housed in the cartridge (par. 38 – first coating liquid is paint), and
the second coating liquid used in common even when the coating form of the coating target is changed is supplied via the relay tube (par. 46 – water is supplied via the garden hose regardless of the color of the paint).
further including a coating liquid supply source housing the second coating liquid (par. 46 – the spigot to which the garden hose is attached) and being disposed in a position away from the coating gun (fig. 1 – the coating gun will be moved to the location being painted), and
wherein the relay tube extends from the coating liquid supply source to the coating gun (fig. 2; par. 46).
Seeman does not disclose a transport body to which the coating gun is attached to move the coating gun to a predetermined coating position and wherein the relay tube passes through the transport body.
Wickenhaver teaches a coating device (fig. 1), comprising:
a coating gun (10) including a coating gun body (11) provided with a jet (12) and a cartridge (31) detachably attached to the coating gun body (col. 4, ln. 13-16) and housing a first coating liquid (“P”);
a transport body (19) to which the coating gun is attached (fig. 1) to move the coating gun to a predetermined coating position (col. 3, ln. 61-62); and
a relay tube (26) provided to the transport body (figs. 1, 3) to connect a coating liquid supply source disposed in a position away from the coating gun and the coating gun so that a second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source can flow therethrough (element 26 is an “air supply line”, see col. 4, ln. 6; therefore, it is considered to be capable of performing this function),
wherein the cartridge includes a lead-out tube (41) leading out the first coating liquid housed in the cartridge (fig. 4), and
formed in the coating gun is a mixing space where the first coating liquid housed in the cartridge and the second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source are mixed is formed on a downstream side of the relay tube and the lead-out tube (col. 5, ln. 1-2); and
wherein the first coating liquid corresponding to a change of a coating form of a coating target is housed in the cartridge (col. 5, ln. 7),
the second coating liquid used in common even when the coating form of the coating target is changed is supplied via the relay tube (figs. 1, 3 – when the paint container 31 is switched the relay tube 26 will still be supplying the same liquid),
wherein the relay tube passes through the transport body (fig. 1).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the coating device of Seeman to further include a transport body to which the coating gun is attached to move the coating gun to a predetermined coating position and wherein the relay tube passes through the transport body, as taught by Wickenhaver, since this was known to provide a robotic control system for operating the coating gun which was known to improve coating quality and avoid health hazards (col. 1, ln. 13-19).
Regarding claim 2, Seeman discloses a coating device (fig. 2; par. 1), comprising:
a coating gun (50) including a coating gun body (fig. 1) provided with a jet (12) and a cartridge (20) detachably attached to the coating gun body (see figs. 1, 2) and housing a first coating liquid (100, par. 38); and
a relay tube (42) to connect a coating liquid supply source (par. 40 – pressurized water in a garden hose) disposed in a position away from the coating gun and the coating gun so that a second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source can flow therethrough (par. 7),
wherein the cartridge includes a lead-out tube (21) leading out the first coating liquid housed in the cartridge (fig. 2), and
formed in the coating gun is a mixing space (15) where the first coating liquid housed in the cartridge and the second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source are mixed (par. 37) is formed on a downstream side of the relay tube and the lead-out tube (fig. 2); and
wherein the first coating liquid corresponding to a change of a coating form of a coating target is housed in the cartridge (par. 38 – first coating liquid is paint), and
the second coating liquid used in common even when the coating form of the coating target is changed is supplied via the relay tube (par. 46 – water is supplied via the garden hose regardless of the color of the paint), wherein
the cartridge houses a base compound as the first coating liquid (par. 38), and
a cure agent is supplied as the second coating liquid via the relay tube, (This limitation is interpreted to be a statement of intended use, and it is noted that a claim containing a "recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus" if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1987). See MPEP 2114.II.), wherein
the base compound contains a pigment or a colorant for coloring a surface of the coating target object (par. 38), and
the cure agent hardens a mixture in a state of being mixed with the base compound (This limitation is a functional limitation to the cure agent, and the cure agent is recited within the intended use limitation above. Therefore, the “cure agent” is not positively recited in the claim. The structure of the coating device of Wickenhaver is capable of being used in the recited manner since it includes a relay tube capable of containing and supplying a liquid cure agent), and
further including a coating liquid supply source housing the second coating liquid (par. 46 – the spigot to which the garden hose is attached) and being disposed in a position away from the coating gun (fig. 1 – the coating gun will be moved to the location being painted), and
wherein the relay tube extends from the coating liquid supply source to the coating gun (fig. 2; par. 46).
Seeman does not disclose a transport body to which the coating gun is attached to move the coating gun to a predetermined coating position and wherein the relay tube passes through the transport body.
Wickenhaver teaches a coating device (fig. 1), comprising:
a coating gun (10) including a coating gun body (11) provided with a jet (12) and a cartridge (31) detachably attached to the coating gun body (col. 4, ln. 13-16) and housing a first coating liquid (“P”);
a transport body (19) to which the coating gun is attached (fig. 1) to move the coating gun to a predetermined coating position (col. 3, ln. 61-62); and
a relay tube (26) provided to the transport body (figs. 1, 3) to connect a coating liquid supply source disposed in a position away from the coating gun and the coating gun so that a second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source can flow therethrough (element 26 is an “air supply line”, see col. 4, ln. 6; therefore, it is considered to be capable of performing this function),
wherein the cartridge includes a lead-out tube (41) leading out the first coating liquid housed in the cartridge (fig. 4), and
formed in the coating gun is a mixing space where the first coating liquid housed in the cartridge and the second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source are mixed is formed on a downstream side of the relay tube and the lead-out tube (col. 5, ln. 1-2); and
wherein the first coating liquid corresponding to a change of a coating form of a coating target is housed in the cartridge (col. 5, ln. 7), and
the second coating liquid used in common even when the coating form of the coating target is changed is supplied via the relay tube (figs. 1, 3 – when the paint container 31 is switched the relay tube 26 will still be supplying the same liquid), wherein
the cartridge houses a base compound as the first coating liquid (col. 4, ln. 41-42 – the paint), and
a cure agent is supplied as the second coating liquid via the relay tube, (This limitation is interpreted to be a statement of intended use, and it is noted that a claim containing a "recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus" if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1987). See MPEP 2114.II.)
wherein the base compound contains a pigment or a colorant for coloring a surface of the coating target object (col. 4, ln. 41-42 – paint is known to contain a pigment or a colorant), and
the cure agent hardens a mixture in a state of being mixed with the base compound (This limitation is a functional limitation to the cure agent, and the cure agent is recited within the intended use limitation above. Therefore, the “cure agent” is not positively recited in the claim. The structure of the coating device of Wickenhaver is capable of being used in the recited manner since it includes a relay tube capable of containing and supplying a liquid cure agent),
wherein the relay tube passes through the transport body (fig. 1).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the coating device of Seeman to further include a transport body to which the coating gun is attached to move the coating gun to a predetermined coating position and wherein the relay tube passes through the transport body, as taught by Wickenhaver, since this was known to provide a robotic control system for operating the coating gun which was known to improve coating quality and avoid health hazards (col. 1, ln. 13-19).
Regarding claim 3, Seeman in view of Wickenhaver discloses the coating device described regarding claim 1, and further wherein the cartridge houses a base compound as the first coating liquid (par. 38), and a cure agent is supplied as the second coating liquid via the relay tube (element 42 is a water hose; therefore, it is considered to be capable of performing this function).
Regarding claim 4, Seeman in view of Wickenhaver discloses the coating device described regarding claim 1, and further wherein the coating gun body is provided with the mixing space (par. 37; fig. 1) and a second coating liquid flow path (53a) leading a second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source via the relay tube toward the mixing space (par. 42).
Regarding claim 5, Seeman in view of Wickenhaver discloses the coating device described regarding claim 1, and further wherein the cartridge includes a container body housing the first coating liquid (par. 37; fig. 1), and the lead-out tube leads the first coating liquid in the container body toward the mixing space while the cartridge is attached to the coating gun body (fig. 1).
Regarding claim 6, Seeman in view of Wickenhaver discloses the coating device described regarding claim 1, and further wherein formed in the coating gun body is a washing liquid flow path through which a washing liquid, which washes the mixing space, flows (par. 8).
Regarding claim 12, Seeman in view of Wickenhaver discloses the coating device described regarding claim 1, and further wherein the cartridge is provided with a valve (30) suppressing leakage of the first coating liquid from the lead-out tube in a state where the cartridge is attached to the coating gun body (par. 8, 42).
Regarding claim 14, Seeman in view of Wickenhaver discloses the coating device described regarding claim 1, and further wherein an external fluid connection part (40) that guides external fluid for sending the first coating liquid to an outside of the cartridge is formed in the coating gun (fig. 2).
Claims 7 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seeman in view of Wickenhaver and further in view of Sandison et al. (US 5,713,519).
Regarding claim 7, Seeman in view of Wickenhaver discloses the coating device described regarding claim 1, and but not wherein the cartridge includes a container body housing the first coating liquid, formed in the cartridge is the mixing space in which the first coating liquid and the second coating liquid are mixed and a second coating liquid flow path leading the second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source via the relay tube toward the mixing space, the lead-out tube leads the first coating liquid in the container body toward the mixing space, and the first coating liquid and the second coating liquid mixed in the mixing space are supplied to the jet while the cartridge is attached to the coating gun body.
Sandison teaches a coating device (110, fig. 5), comprising:
a coating gun (112) including a coating gun body (130) provided with a jet (168) and a cartridge (120) detachably attached to the coating gun body (col. 7, ln. 58—col. 8, ln. 6) and housing a first coating liquid (116F, see col. 7, ln. 1-3);
a transport body (132) to which the coating gun is attached (fig. 5) to move the coating gun to a predetermined coating position (col. 3, ln. 61-62); and
a relay tube (115) provided to the transport body (fig. 5) to connect a coating liquid supply source disposed in a position away from the coating gun and the coating gun so that a second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source can flow therethrough (element 115 is a “hose” for “pressurized fluid”, see col. 6, ln. 47-48; therefore, it is considered to be capable of performing this function),
wherein the cartridge includes a lead-out tube (122) leading out the first coating liquid housed in the cartridge (fig. 5), and
formed in the coating gun is a mixing space where the first coating liquid housed in the cartridge and the second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source are mixed is formed on a downstream side of the relay tube and the lead-out tube (fig. 7 – space downstream of 178), and
wherein the first coating liquid corresponding to a change of a coating form of a coating target is housed in the cartridge (col. 9, ln. 38-41), and
the second coating liquid used in common even when the coating form of the coating target is changed is supplied via the relay tube (fig. 5 – when the receptacle 248 is switched the relay tube 115 will still be supplying the same liquid),
and further wherein the cartridge includes a container body (116) housing the first coating liquid (col. 6, ln. 50-51), formed in the cartridge is the mixing space in which the first coating liquid and the second coating liquid are mixed (figs. 5, 7) and a second coating liquid flow path (174) leading the second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source via the relay tube toward the mixing space (fig. 7), the lead-out tube leads the first coating liquid in the container body toward the mixing space (fig. 11), and the first coating liquid and the second coating liquid mixed in the mixing space are supplied to the jet while the cartridge is attached to the coating gun body (fig. 5).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the coating device of Seeman in view of Wickenhaver so that the cartridge includes a container body housing the first coating liquid, formed in the cartridge is the mixing space in which the first coating liquid and the second coating liquid are mixed and a second coating liquid flow path leading the second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source via the relay tube toward the mixing space, the lead-out tube leads the first coating liquid in the container body toward the mixing space, and the first coating liquid and the second coating liquid mixed in the mixing space are supplied to the jet while the cartridge is attached to the coating gun body. Such an arrangement was known to provide a low-cost, disposable assembly (Sandison – col. 10, ln. 15) that can be easily and quickly replaced in order to changeover to spraying a different coating (Sandison – col. 9, ln. 34-41).
Regarding claim 13, Seeman in view of Wickenhaver discloses the coating device described regarding claim 1, but not further wherein the coating gun body includes a mixing part forming the mixing space, and the mixing part includes a reduced diameter part gradually narrowing toward the side of the distal end.
Sandison teaches the coating device described regarding claim 7, and further wherein the coating gun body includes a mixing part (168) forming the mixing space (fig. 9A,B,C), and the mixing part includes a reduced diameter part gradually narrowing toward the side of the distal end (figs. 7, 8).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the coating device of Seeman in view of Wickenhaver so that the coating gun body includes a mixing part forming the mixing space, and the mixing part includes a reduced diameter part gradually narrowing toward the side of the distal end, as taught by Sandison. This was known to form a venturi such that the flow of the second liquid will such the first liquid through the lead-out tube (col. 8, ln. 39-51).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seeman in view of Wickenhaver and further in view of Yamauchi (US 2014/0151462).
Regarding claim 8, Seeman in view of Wickenhaver discloses the coating device described regarding claim 1, and but not wherein the coating gun includes a bell cup in which the jet is formed.
Yamauchi teaches a coating device (1, see fig. 1) comprising a coating gun (2) including a coating gun body (fig. 1) provided with a jet (7) and wherein the coating gun includes a bell cup in which the jet is formed (par. 70).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the coating device of Seeman in view of Wickenhaver to include a bell cup in which the jet is formed, as taught by Yamauchi, since this was known to atomize the paint into “countless paint particles” (Yamauchi, par. 70).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CODY J LIEUWEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4477. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8-5, Friday varies.
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/CODY J LIEUWEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752
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