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 . 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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of “Group I,… claims 1-16” in the reply filed on 25 September 2025 is acknowledged.
Upon further consideration/search, and in light of applicants amendment(s)/ remark(s), the restriction requirement set forth in the Office action dated 17 September 2025 has been withdrawn, and all pending claims have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements submitted on 06 March 2024 and 01 July 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 06 March 2024. These drawings are accepted.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
a. In line 2 of claim 9, “heating that water-releasing substance” should be corrected to read --heating the water-releasing substance--.
b. In lines 4-5 of claim 24, “a laser” should be changed to --the laser-- in order to refer back to that set forth in line 2 of claim 24.
c. In line 5 of claim 24, “a heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head” should be changed to --the heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head-- in order to refer back to that set forth in lines 2-3 of claim 24.
Appropriate correction is required.
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4, 6, 8, 12-14, 17, 25 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sagara et al. (JP-H052865-A).
With respect to claims 1, 4, 6, 8 and 12-14, Sagara et al. (JP-H052865-A) teach a method of adjusting a humidity (via humidifier 23) within an interior of an enclosure of a data storage device (see Figure 1 and paragraph [0016], for instance, i.e., “humidifier 23 is also disposed within the sealed container 11 as shown in the figure”), the method comprising detecting a trigger condition (see paragraph [0018], for instance, “AE sensor 21 detects abnormal contact (not resulting in a crash) between the rotating magnetic disk 13 and the head slider 14” and/or paragraph [0020], for instance, i.e., “humidity sensor 22 detects a relative humidity of 30% or less in the sealed container 11”); and in response to detecting the trigger condition, heating a water-releasing substance (31, see paragraph [0016], for instance, “humidifying liquid 31 made of pure water or the like contained therein” is a water-releasing substance releasing water in the form of water vapor) situated within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device to release water, thereby increasing the humidity within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device (see paragraphs [0018]-[0019], for instance, i.e., “if the AE sensor 21 detects abnormal contact (not resulting in a crash) between the rotating magnetic disk 13 and the head slider 14 regardless of the relative humidity level inside the sealed container 11, the detection signal will cause the humidification control circuit 25 (see Figure 3) to operate the heater power supply 24 for a predetermined time (several minutes), causing the heater 32 built into the humidifier 23 to generate heat and heat the humidifying liquid 31. This heating causes the humidifying liquid 31 to become vapor, and the internal pressure… As the pressure rises, the spring-loaded pressure valve 34 is forced open, allowing the steam to flow out and humidify the inside of the sealed container 11” and/or paragraphs [0020]-[0021], for instance, i.e., “the detection signal of the humidity sensor 22 is input to a humidification control circuit 25 together with the detection signal of the AE sensor 21, and only when both detection signals are input, the humidification control circuit 25 outputs a heater drive signal. In this way, humidification can be performed in response to contact detection by the AE sensor 21 only when the relative humidity inside the sealed container 11 is 30% or less, making abnormal contact more likely to occur”) [as per claim 1]; wherein the trigger condition comprises one or more of a recording head of the data storage device has remained or will remain over a single track of a recording medium of the data storage device for a threshold amount of time, an adjacent track interference (ATI) refresh command or operation, a formatting command or operation, the humidity within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device is below a threshold, or a command or instruction (see paragraph [0020], for instance, i.e., “humidity sensor 22 is further installed on the inner wall of the sealed container 11, and the humidity sensor 22 detects a relative humidity of 30% or less inside the sealed container 11”) [as per claim 4]; wherein heating the water-releasing substance situated within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device comprises controlling a heater (32) within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device (as shown in Figure 2 relative to Figure 1, for instance, i.e., heater 32 is located in humidifier 23, which is disposed within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device) [as per claim 6]; wherein the trigger condition is a first trigger condition (one of detecting abnormal contact or detecting relative humidity of 30% or less as detailed above), and further comprising detecting a second trigger condition (the other of detecting abnormal contact or detecting relative humidity of 30% or less as detailed above), the second trigger condition being different from the first trigger condition; and in response to detecting the second trigger condition, heating the water-releasing substance a second time (when both the first and second trigger conditions are repeated a second time), thereby increasing the humidity within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device [as per claim 8]; wherein the method further comprises at least one of monitoring for the first trigger condition (via AE sensor 21, for instance); or monitoring for the second trigger condition (via humidity sensor 22, for instance) [as per claim 12]; wherein the method further comprises monitoring for the trigger condition (via humidity sensor 22, for instance) [as per claim 13]; and wherein monitoring for the trigger condition comprises at least one of measuring or estimating a current humidity within the interior of the enclosure, monitoring a service time of the data storage device, monitoring an operation time of a laser of a heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head of the data storage device, monitoring a communication channel for an instruction, or reading a register (see paragraph [0021], for instance, “humidity sensor 22 detects a relative humidity of 30% or less inside the sealed container 11”) [as per claim 14].
With respect to claims 17, 25 and 27, Sagara et al. (JP-H052865-A) teach a data storage device (see Figure 1, for instance) comprising a water-releasing substance (31, see paragraph [0016], for instance, “humidifying liquid 31 made of pure water or the like contained therein” is a water-releasing substance releasing water in the form of water vapor); a heater (32) configured to heat the water-releasing substance (see paragraph [0016], for instance, i.e., “heater 32 for heating a humidifying liquid 31”); and a controller (includes 25, for instance) configured to, in response to an occurrence of a trigger condition (see paragraph [0018], for instance, “AE sensor 21 detects abnormal contact (not resulting in a crash) between the rotating magnetic disk 13 and the head slider 14” and/or paragraph [0020], for instance, i.e., “humidity sensor 22 detects a relative humidity of 30% or less in the sealed container 11”), control the heater to increase a temperature of the water-releasing substance to cause the water-releasing substance to release water (see paragraphs [0018]-[0019], for instance, i.e., “if the AE sensor 21 detects abnormal contact (not resulting in a crash) between the rotating magnetic disk 13 and the head slider 14 regardless of the relative humidity level inside the sealed container 11, the detection signal will cause the humidification control circuit 25 (see Figure 3) to operate the heater power supply 24 for a predetermined time (several minutes), causing the heater 32 built into the humidifier 23 to generate heat and heat the humidifying liquid 31. This heating causes the humidifying liquid 31 to become vapor, and the internal pressure… As the pressure rises, the spring-loaded pressure valve 34 is forced open, allowing the steam to flow out and humidify the inside of the sealed container 11” and/or paragraphs [0020]-[0021], for instance, i.e., “the detection signal of the humidity sensor 22 is input to a humidification control circuit 25 together with the detection signal of the AE sensor 21, and only when both detection signals are input, the humidification control circuit 25 outputs a heater drive signal. In this way, humidification can be performed in response to contact detection by the AE sensor 21 only when the relative humidity inside the sealed container 11 is 30% or less, making abnormal contact more likely to occur”) [as per claim 17]; wherein the trigger condition comprises occurrence of a command; and the controller is further configured to detect or issue the command (see paragraph [0020], for instance, i.e., “humidification control circuit 25 outputs a heater drive signal”) [as per claim 25]; and wherein the trigger condition comprises a humidity within an interior of the data storage device being below a threshold, and further comprising a sensor (22) coupled to the controller, wherein the sensor is configured to detect the humidity within the interior of the data storage device (see paragraph [0020], for instance, i.e., “humidity sensor 22 detects a relative humidity of 30% or less inside the sealed container 11. As shown in Fig. 3, the detection signal of the humidity sensor 22 is input to a humidification control circuit 25”) [as per claim 27].
Claims 1, 4, 6, 15-17, 28 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takahashi et al. (JP-H0393088-A).
With respect claims 1, 4, 6, 15 and 16, Takahashi et al. (JP-H0393088-A) teach a method of adjusting a humidity (via 17) within an interior of an enclosure (11) of a data storage device (see Figure 1, for instance), the method comprising detecting a trigger condition (see the “Scope of Claims” section on page -585-, for instance, i.e., “when the magnetic disk drive is powered on, the electromagnetic on-off valve (24) opens the opening (22) of the humidifier container (19) and simultaneously closes the opening (23) of the desiccant container (21), thereby controlling the inside of the device to a constant relative humidity”); and in response to detecting the trigger condition, heating (see the sentence above the “Effect of the invention” section on page -587-, for instance, i.e., “It is also possible to provide a forced humidification mechanism using a heater… inside… the humidifier container to speed up response”) a water-releasing substance (18, see the “Means to solve the problem” section on page -586-, i.e., “humidifying agent 18”) situated within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device to release water, thereby increasing the humidity within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device (see the first full sentence on the left side of page -587-, for instance, i.e., “As a result, the inside of the case 11 is humidified by the humidifier 18”) [as per claim 1]; wherein the trigger condition comprises one or more of a recording head of the data storage device has remained or will remain over a single track of a recording medium of the data storage device for a threshold amount of time, an adjacent track interference (ATI) refresh command or operation, a formatting command or operation, the humidity within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device is below a threshold, or a command or instruction (see the “Scope of Claims” section on page -585-, for instance, i.e., “when the magnetic disk drive is powered on…” is considered a command or instruction) [as per claim 4]; wherein heating the water-releasing substance situated within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device comprises controlling a heater within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device (see the sentence above the “Effect of the invention” section on page -587-, for instance, i.e., “It is also possible to provide a forced humidification mechanism using a heater… inside… the humidifier container to speed up response”) [as per claim 6]; wherein the method further comprises a water-absorbing material (20, see the “Means to solve the problem” section on page -586-, i.e., “dehumidifying agent 20”) decreasing the humidity within the interior of the enclosure of the data storage device (see the last full sentence on the right side of page -586-, for instance, i.e., “the inside of the case 11 to be dehumidified by the dehumidifying agent 20”) [as per claim 15]; and wherein the water-absorbing material comprises at least one of a desiccant, calcium peroxide (CaO2), magnesium peroxide (MgO2), sodium peroxide (Na2O2), or a hydrogel (see the “Scope of Claims” section on page -585-, for instance, i.e., “desiccant (20)” and see the “Means to solve the problem” section on page -586-, i.e., “the dehumidifier 20 in the dehumidifier container 21 may be, for example, silica gel,” which is both a desiccant and a hydrogel) [as per claim 16].
With respect to claims 17, 28 and 29, Takahashi et al. (JP-H0393088-A) teach a data storage device (see Figure 1, for instance) comprising a water-releasing substance (18, see the “Means to solve the problem” section on page -586-, i.e., “humidifying agent 18”); a heater configured to heat the water-releasing substance (see the sentence above the “Effect of the invention” section on page -587-, for instance, i.e., “It is also possible to provide a forced humidification mechanism using a heater… inside… the humidifier container to speed up response”); and a controller configured to, in response to an occurrence of a trigger condition (see the “Scope of Claims” section on page -585-, for instance, i.e., “A humidity control device for a magnetic disk drive, characterized in that… when the magnetic disk drive is powered on, the electromagnetic on-off valve (24) opens the opening (22) of the humidifier container (19) and simultaneously closes the opening (23) of the desiccant container (21), thereby controlling the inside of the device to a constant relative humidity”), control the heater to increase a temperature of the water-releasing substance to cause the water-releasing substance to release water (see the sentence above the “Effect of the invention” section on page -587-, for instance, i.e., “It is also possible to provide a forced humidification mechanism using a heater… inside… the humidifier container to speed up response”) [as per claim 17]; wherein the data storage device further comprises a water-absorbing material (20, see the “Means to solve the problem” section on page -586-, i.e., “dehumidifying agent 20”) [as per claim 28]; and wherein the water-absorbing material comprises at least one of a desiccant, calcium peroxide (CaO2), magnesium peroxide (MgO2), sodium peroxide (Na2O2), or a hydrogel (see the “Scope of Claims” section on page -585-, for instance, i.e., “desiccant (20)” and see the “Means to solve the problem” section on page -586-, i.e., “the dehumidifier 20 in the dehumidifier container 21 may be, for example, silica gel,” which is both a desiccant and a hydrogel) [as per claim 29].
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 2, 3, 22 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sagara et al. (JP-H052865-A) in view of Thomas et al. (US 2024/0110901).
Sagara et al. (JP-H052865-A) teach the method/device as detailed in paragraph 8, supra. Sagara et al. (JP-H052865-A), however, remain silent as to “wherein the trigger condition is that a particular amount of time has passed” as per claim 2, “wherein the trigger condition comprises passage of a specified amount of time” as per claim 22, “wherein the particular amount of time is an amount of time that (a) the data storage device has been in operation, or (b) a laser of a heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head has been in operation” as per claim 3, and “wherein the specified amount of time is an amount of time the data storage device is in service; and the controller is further configured to determine the amount of time the data storage device is in service” as per claim 23.
Thomas et al. (US 2024/0110901) teach that passage of a specified amount of time is a notoriously old and well known heater control trigger condition (see lines 5-8 in claim 16 thereof, for instance, i.e., “circuitry is configured to apply power to the one or more heating elements in an on/off manner according to a predetermined time interval to heat the composition to a temperature”), wherein the first time interval would correspond to an amount of time the data storage device has been in operation or is in service. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have had the trigger condition in Sagara et al. (JP-H052865-A) be that a particular amount of time has passed or comprises passage of a specified amount of time, as taught/suggested by Thomas et al. (US 2024/0110901), whereby the first time interval would correspond to an amount of time that the data storage device has been in operation or an amount of time the data storage device is in service. The rationale is as follows:
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have had the trigger condition in Sagara et al. (JP-H052865-A) be that a particular amount of time has passed or comprises passage of a specified amount of time, as taught/suggested by Thomas et al. (US 2024/0110901), whereby the first time interval would correspond to an amount of time that the data storage device has been in operation or an amount of time the data storage device is in service, since such is a notoriously old and well known heater control trigger condition, and selecting a known heater control trigger condition on the basis of its suitability for the intended use is considered to be within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi et al. (JP-H0393088-A) in view of Luebben et al. (US 11,631,436).
Takahashi et al. (JP-H0393088-A) teach the method/device as detailed in paragraph 9, supra. Takahashi et al. (JP-H0393088-A), however, remain silent as to “wherein the water-releasing substance comprises one or more of: an inorganic hydrate, a hydrate of metal sulfate, a hydrate of metal nitrate, an inorganic halide, an organic hydrate, a gas hydrate, a salt compound that is compounded with hydrogen peroxide, a superabsorbent polymer, a hygroscopic salt, a zeolite, a silica gel, montmorillonite, a hydrogel, lithium chloride, or a metal-organic framework (MOF).”
Luebben et al. (US 11,631,436) teach that a zeolite is a notoriously old and well known water-releasing substance (see lines 43-45 in column 3, for instance, i.e., “zeolite compositions in an amount that can… desorb water vapor to provide the interior gas space of the electronic device with a relative humidity”). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have had the water-releasing substance of Takahashi et al. (JP-H0393088-A) comprise a zeolite as taught/suggested by Luebben et al. (US 11,631,436). The rationale is as follows:
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have had the water-releasing substance of Takahashi et al. (JP-H0393088-A) comprise a zeolite as taught/ suggested by Luebben et al. (US 11,631,436) since such is a notoriously old and well known water-releasing substance, and selecting a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use is within the level of ordinary skill in the art, In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960).
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. This includes Maeta (JP-H0391186-A), Hasegawa (JP-H0397188-A), Kurokawa (US 5,436,776), Feliss et al. (US 2004/00956681), Lee et al. (US 2008/0165447), Nakamura et al. (US 2009/0040659), Frink et al. (US 9,888,615), Sun et al. (US 10,734,035), Castaneda et al. (US 2021/0005226), Cheung et al. (US 11,594,261), Zaima et al. (US 2025/0104741), which each individually teaches a data storage device with a humidity control configuration.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 7, 9-11, 19-21, 24 and 26 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Craig A. Renner whose telephone number is (571) 272-7580. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 AM - 7:30 PM.
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/CRAIG A. RENNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2688