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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 8, 9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Akutagawa JP2012005956 [translation].
Regarding claim 8, Akutagawa discloses an organic solvent recovery system that recovers an organic solvent from exhaust gas discharged from a production facility and containing the organic solvent (paragraph 1), the organic solvent recovery system comprising: cooling condensing devices that liquefy and condense the organic solvent by cooling the exhaust gas containing the organic solvent and discharges the exhaust gas as cooling treatment gas with reduced concentration of the organic solvent (paragraph 26: coolers 3, 4a and 4b); a first flow passage that causes the cooling treatment gas to pass therethrough (see figures); and a concentration device that adsorbs, by an adsorption element, the organic solvent contained in the cooling treatment gas introduced from the first flow passage, discharges the cooling treatment gas as first treatment gas with further reduced concentration of the organic solvent (figures: adsorbent in rotor; paragraph 26), introduces high-temperature gas, desorbs the organic solvent from the adsorption element, and discharges the high-temperature gas as desorption gas (paragraph 27), wherein a number of the cooling condensing devices provided is at least two or more (paragraph 26: coolers 3, 4a and 4b), and a number of the concentration devices provided is at least one or more (sorbent rotor), and the number of the concentration devices is less than the number of the cooling condensing devices (see figures).
Regarding claim 9, Akutagawa discloses that a plurality of cooling condensing devices are arranged in parallel (figures: 3, 4a and 4b). Furthermore, since the claims do not claim “the production facility” as part of the claimed system, the plurality of cooling condensing devices of Akutagawa could be arranged in parallel to a production facility, depending on the location of the production facility; therefore, the claimed limitation is met.
Regarding claim 12, Akutagawa discloses that in the concentration device, the adsorption element is arranged at an adsorption rotor with a disc shape rotating about a cylinder shaft thereof (see figures: rotor; shaft is implied to spin the rotor).
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 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akutagawa JP2012005956 [translation] in view of Pines USPA 2020/0189300 A1.
Akutagawa is relied upon as above.
Regarding claim 10, Akutagawa does not disclose that the cooling condensing devices further include a net-like structure that separates the condensed organic solvent and the cooling treatment gas by bringing the exhaust gas after the cooling into contact with the net-like structure and a chamber that is caused to store the cooling treatment gas after passing through the net-like structure for a specific period of time. Pine discloses the use of net-like structures to separate condensed solvent by bringing gas after the cooling into contact with the net-like structure and a chamber that is caused to store the cooling treatment gas after passing through the net-like structure for a specific period of time (see Pines paragraph 44). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify Akutagawa, to include a net-like structure that separates the condensed organic solvent and the cooling treatment gas by bringing the exhaust gas after the cooling into contact with the net-like structure and a chamber that is caused to store the cooling treatment gas after passing through the net-like structure for a specific period of time, as disclosed by Pines, since this is a well-known effective condensation and collection system. MPEP 2144.03 (A-E).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akutagawa JP2012005956 [translation].
Akutagawa is relied upon as above.
Regarding claim 11, Akutagawa discloses that the cooling condensing devices include a heat exchanger that performs the cooling through heat exchange (paragraph 22), but does not disclose a refrigerant. Nevertheless, the use of a refrigerant for heat exchange is well-known in the art and would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art since this is a well-known heat exchange means. MPEP 2144.03 (A-E).
Claims 1-3 and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akutagawa JP2012005956 [translation] in view of Kimura JP2014240052 [translation].
Akutagawa is relied upon as above.
Regarding claim 1, Akutagawa does not disclose a second flow passage that causes a part of the first treatment gas to pass therethrough; a second concentration device that adsorbs, by a second adsorption element, the organic solvent contained in the first treatment gas introduced from the second flow passage, discharges the first treatment gas as second treatment gas with further reduced concentration of the organic solvent, introduces high-temperature gas, desorbs the organic solvent from the second adsorption element, and discharges the high-temperature gas as second desorption gas; and a third flow passage that returns the first desorption gas and the second desorption gas to the cooling condensing devices, wherein a number of the first concentration devices provided is at least two or more, and a number of the second concentration devices provided is at least one or more, and the number of the second concentration devices is less than the number of the first concentration devices.
Kimura discloses a similar invention that includes a second flow passage that causes a part of the first treatment gas to pass therethrough; a second concentration device that adsorbs, by a second adsorption element, the organic solvent contained in the first treatment gas introduced from the second flow passage, discharges the first treatment gas as second treatment gas with further reduced concentration of the organic solvent (paragraphs 58 and 61), introduces high-temperature gas, desorbs the organic solvent from the second adsorption element, and discharges the high-temperature gas as second desorption gas (paragraph 60); and a third flow passage that returns the first desorption gas and the second desorption gas to the cooling condensing devices (figure 1; paragraph 70), wherein a number of the first concentration devices provided is at least two or more, and a number of the second concentration devices provided is at least one or more, and the number of the second concentration devices is less than the number of the first concentration devices (see figure 1). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify Akutagawa to include, a second flow passage that causes a part of the first treatment gas to pass therethrough; a second concentration device that adsorbs, by a second adsorption element, the organic solvent contained in the first treatment gas introduced from the second flow passage, discharges the first treatment gas as second treatment gas with further reduced concentration of the organic solvent, introduces high-temperature gas, desorbs the organic solvent from the second adsorption element, and discharges the high-temperature gas as second desorption gas; and a third flow passage that returns the first desorption gas and the second desorption gas to the cooling condensing devices, wherein a number of the first concentration devices provided is at least two or more, and a number of the second concentration devices provided is at least one or more, and the number of the second concentration devices is less than the number of the first concentration devices, as disclosed by Kimura, for the purpose of further recovering solvent from the gas.
Regarding claim 2, Kimura discloses that a plurality of first concentration devices are arranged in parallel with respect to the production facility (see figures). Furthermore, since the claims do not claim “the production facility” as part of the claimed system, the plurality of cooling condensing devices of Kimura could be arranged in parallel to a production facility, depending on the location of the production facility; therefore, the claimed limitation is met.
Regarding claim 3, Kimura does not disclose the that the number of first concentration devices is the same as the number of the cooling condensing devices. Nevertheless, absent a proper showing of criticality or unexpected results, the number of cooling devices and concentration devices is considered to be a general condition that would have been routinely optimized by one having ordinary skill in the art in order to provide optimal solvent recovery. MPEP 2144.05.
Regarding claim 5, Akutagawa discloses that the cooling condensing devices include a heat exchanger that performs the cooling through heat exchange (paragraph 22), but does not disclose a refrigerant. Nevertheless, the use of a refrigerant for heat exchange is well-known in the art and would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art since this is a well-known heat exchange means. MPEP 2144.03 (A-E).
Regarding claim 6, Akutagawa discloses that in the first concentration devices, a plurality of the first adsorption elements are arranged in a circumferential direction around a cylinder shaft of a rotor with a hollow columnar shape rotating about the cylinder shaft (figures: each section around rotor can be considered a first concentration device).
Regarding claim 7, Kimura discloses that in the second concentration device, the second adsorption element is arranged at an adsorption rotor with a disc shape rotating about a cylinder shaft thereof (see figures: rotor; cylinder shaft is implied).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akutagawa JP2012005956 [translation], in view of Kimura JP2014240052 [translation], in further view of Pines USPA 2020/0189300 A1.
Akutagawa in view of Kimura is relied upon as above.
Regarding claim 4, Akutagawa does not disclose that the cooling condensing devices further include a net-like structure that separates the condensed organic solvent and the cooling treatment gas by bringing the exhaust gas after the cooling into contact with the net-like structure and a chamber that is caused to store the cooling treatment gas after passing through the net-like structure for a specific period of time. Pine discloses the use of net-like structures to separate condensed solvent by bringing gas after the cooling into contact with the net-like structure and a chamber that is caused to store the cooling treatment gas after passing through the net-like structure for a specific period of time (see Pines paragraph 44). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify Akutagawa, to include a net-like structure that separates the condensed organic solvent and the cooling treatment gas by bringing the exhaust gas after the cooling into contact with the net-like structure and a chamber that is caused to store the cooling treatment gas after passing through the net-like structure for a specific period of time, as disclosed by Pines, since this is a well-known effective condensation and collection system. MPEP 2144.03 (A-E).
Conclusion
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/CHRISTOPHER P JONES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776