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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With regards to claim 1, line 2 states that the “main body part mounted in the vehicle”. The claims are directed to “an ultraviolet sterilizer for a vehicle”. The claims do not positively recite a vehicle. This makes it unclear what is required to meet the claim limitations as a vehicle would be necessary for the main body to be mounted to but it is not positively recited. Claim 1 is interpreted as “a main body part configured to be mounted in the vehicle”.
With regards to claim 7, “the mounting guide” lacks antecedent basis. It is unclear if this is introducing a new component or attempting to refer to a previously introduced component. Prior art is not applied to claim 7 given the confusion.
Dependent claims are rejected for the same reasons from which they depend.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 12, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ramanand et al. (US 2020/0085983).
With regards to claim 1, Ramanand et al. teaches an ultraviolet (UV) sterilizer (abstract and fig 1) capable of the intended use of being for a vehicle, the UV sterilizer comprising: a main body part (cabinet 16) capable of being mounted in the vehicle, the main body part having a storage area formed therein (area that received head assembly 18 when folded down; compare fig 1 and 2); a sterilization part (head unit 18 with UV lamp 30 behind window 33) configured to be withdrawn into and stored in the storage area and to be deployed from the storage area to selectively emit ultraviolet rays to a vehicle interior (folds out or in and emits UV light into the space the sterilizer is selected for use with); a driving part (tilt mechanism 38) coupled to the main body part and configured to provide a rotational driving force to deploy the sterilization part from or to withdraw the sterilization part into the storage area fig 1-3; para [0049]); and a controller (control system controls operation of the device) configured to selectively control operations of the main body part, the sterilization part, and the driving part (para [0052]-[0054]; see whole document).
With regards to claim 2, wherein the main body part includes a cover member (outer housing) configured to shield an open interior of the main body part (the main body part houses components inside that are shielded by the outer housing) in the vehicle interior and wherein the sterilization part is mounted on the cover member (fig 1-4).
With regards to claim 3, the cover member has a U shaped connection member (the housing has a generally U shaped recess into which the sterilization part 18 recessed into) connected to the driving part through a rotation shaft (pivot point for the sterilization part 18)(connected as parts of the same device) (fig 1-2).
With regards to claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to provide the rotational driving force to the driving part to deploy the sterilization part and open the storage area and to control, upon determining that the storage area is open, the operation of the sterilization part for emission of the ultraviolet rays (para [0048]; fig 1 to 2; the controller is disclosed throughout as controlling the whole device).
With regards to claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to provide, upon determining that a predetermined sterilization time has elapsed (the disinfection cycle is complete; discusses generally time dependent control at least in [0108]-[0109] and elsewhere), reverse rotational driving force to the driving part so that the sterilization part is rotated and is withdrawn into and stored in the storage area (para [0098], [0048]; the controller is disclosed as controlling the entire device operation.
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) 5 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ramanand et al. (US 2020/0085983).
With regards to claim 5, Ramanand et al. teaches wherein the sterilization part comprises a mounting frame (outer housing or frame inside16; fig 3 and 4) mounted on the cover member (mounted on top); a heat sink (44) coupled to the mounting frame (part of 16) and configured to be cooled by an air flow generated by a cooling fan (fan 42) (para [0051]). Ramanand et al. teaches a xenon lamp 30 mounted on the mounting frame in a state of facing the heat sink (has a side that faces) and is formed to emit UV light at a plurality of locations (locations throughout the area being treated). The UV light emits UVC light (para [0101]).
Elsewhere Ramanand et al. teaches other UV lamps that can be used including UV light emitting diode. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to have used another taught UV light such as an LED motivated by an expectation of successfully generating the desired UV light. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to have duplicated the LEDs as desired in order to achieve the desired amount of UV light treatment.
With regards to claim 6, Ramanand et al. teaches a reflector 40 to shape and direct the UV light from a light source to the target (para [0050]). A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to have added a reflected for each of the duplicated LEDs in order to direct the light as desired.
Ramanand et al. teaches the reflector can create a wide beam to maximize coverage of the target area. Thus the emission range is expanded (made wider).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 8-11 contain allowable subject matter.
With regards to claim 4, Ramanand et al. rotates the sterilizer unit out of the housing of the main body part but does not rotate any portion of the main body part to do so. There is no teaching or motivation to motivate modifying Ramanand et al. to result in the claimed invention.
With regards to claim 8, Ramanand et al. teaches all the driving parts being in the housing of the main body part or on top of the main body part (fig 2-4). There is no teaching of the driving part being a housing to the rear that contains all the claimed motors, gears, and clutches. Zhang et al. (CN 109589421) (English machine translation teaches a rotating UV light with multiple gears and a clutch but there is no motivation for why someone would use this particular gear and clutch arrangement in the device of Ramanand et al. or would motivate placing it all in a housing to the rear of the main body.
9-11 depend on claim 8 and contain at least the same allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DONALD R SPAMER whose telephone number is (571)272-3197. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday from 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Marcheschi can be reached at (571)272-1374. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DONALD R SPAMER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1799
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