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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of the invention of Group I in the reply filed on 8 December 2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there would not be serious burden to search and examine the entire claim set since “the subject matter of claims 1 - 11 is sufficiently related such that a thorough and complete search for the subject matter of the elected claims would necessarily encompass a thorough and complete search for the subject matter of the non-elected claims”. This is not found persuasive. It is pointed out that, contrary to what applicant suggests, the examination burden is not limited exclusively to a prior art search but also includes the effort required to apply the art by making and discussing all appropriate grounds of rejection. Multiple inventions, such as those in the present application, normally require additional reference material and further discussion for each additional invention examined. Concurrent examination of multiple inventions would thus typically involve a significant burden even if all searches were coextensive.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 9-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 8 December 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wickenhaver (US 5,328,095).
Regarding claim 1, 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).
Regarding claim 2, Wickenhaver teaches the coating device described regarding claim 1, and further 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).
Regarding claim 3, Wickenhaver teaches the coating device described regarding claim 1, and further wherein the cartridge houses a base compound as the first coating liquid (col. 4, ln. 42 – “paint”), and a cure agent is supplied as the second coating liquid via the relay tube (element 26 is an “air supply line”, see col. 4, ln. 6; therefore, it is considered to be capable of performing this function).
Regarding claim 4, Wickenhaver teaches the coating device described regarding claim 1, and further wherein the coating gun body is provided with the mixing space (col. 5, ln. 1-2 – the internal space in the head and nozzle of the gun body) and a second coating liquid flow path (21) leading a second coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source via the relay tube toward the mixing space (fig. 4).
Regarding claim 5, Wickenhaver teaches the coating device described regarding claim 1, and further wherein the cartridge includes a container body housing the first coating liquid (col. 4, ln. 13; fig. 4), 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. 4).
Regarding claim 6, Wickenhaver teaches 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 at least a part of a flow path through which the first coating liquid flows, flows (col. 4, ln. 62-67).
Claims 1 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sandison et al. (US 5,713,519).
Regarding claim 1, 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).
Regarding claim 7, Sandison teaches the coating device described regarding claim 1, 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).
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 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wickenhaver in view of Yamauchi (US 2014/0151462).
Regarding claim 8, Wickenhaver discloses the coating device described regarding claim 1, and but not further 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 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).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Seitz (US 2005/0040257), Matsunaga et al. (US 2020/0230630), and Kishimoto et al (US 2010/0307408) all disclose coating devices having elements of the claimed invention.
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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur Hall can be reached at (571) 270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like
assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CODY J LIEUWEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752