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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Summary
This is the initial Office action based on the 18605296 application filed 03/14/24
Claim(s) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20 are pending and claim(s) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20 have been fully considered
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN109107291A (herein known as ZHANG) in view of US 20200406182 (herein known as GRIEVE)
With regard to claim 1, ZHANG sufficiently teaches a filter device 9 comprising: , especially at para 25, fig
a filter device inlet that capable of receiving a non-specific processable medium from an additive manufacturing apparatus, especially at para 1,25, fig; Apparatus claims must be structurally distinguishable from the prior art in terms of structure, not function. The manner of operating an apparatus does not differentiate an apparatus claim from the prior art, if the prior art apparatus teaches all of the structural limitations of the claim (see MPEP § 2114 & § 2173.05(g))
a filter module 4 that separates particulates and inert gas from the processable medium, especially at para 25, fig
a filter housing (as depicted) with a "air pipe" (i.e. filter housing inlet) that is fluidly connected to the filter device inlet that is capable of receiving the processable medium, especially at para 25,26, fig
a primary filter 9 mounted within an interior of the filter housing (as depicted), especially at para 25,26, fig
a nozzle 10 mounted to the filter housing and at least partially positioned within the primary filter (as depicted), especially at para 25,26, fig
ZHANG does not specifically teach a rotatable nozzle
But, GRIEVE sufficiently teaches a rotatable nozzle, especially at abstract, fig 5, para 50
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (or at the time the invention was made; if pre-AIA ) to provide ZHANG with a rotatable nozzle of GRIEVE teaches that stationary vs rotational nozzle are art-recognized as interchangeable, especially at GRIEVE para 48-50
ZHANG sufficiently teaches wherein the nozzle capable of ejecting a cleaning gas in a radial direction toward the primary filter during a cleaning operation (as depicted), especially at para 25,26, fig
a collection container 6 fluidly connected to the filter housing, especially at para 25,26, fig
a filter device inert gas outlet (generally 11) that discharges the inert gas, especially at para 25,26, fig
With regard to claim 2, ZHANG sufficiently teaches
a nozzle arm extending within the primary filter (as depicted), especially at para 25,26, fig
a nozzle inlet that provides the cleaning gas to the nozzle arm (as depicted), especially at para 25,26, fig
With regard to claim 3, ZHANG sufficiently teaches
wherein the rotatable nozzle comprises a pair of nozzle arms (as depicted), especially at para 25,26, fig
a plurality of nozzle arm outlets are distributed over the pair of nozzle arms capable of dispersing the cleaning gas, especially at para 25,26, fig
With regard to claim 4, ZHANG sufficiently teaches
the cylindrical shape (thereby, in combination within the scope of the primary filter and the rotatable nozzle are concentrically aligned about a center axis), especially at wherein the primary filter and the rotatable nozzle are concentrically aligned about a center axis (as depicted), especially at para 25,26, fig;
in an alternative, ZHANG does not specifically teach a cylindrical primary filter
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (or at the time the invention was made; if pre-AIA ) to provide of ZHANG with the cylindrical shape (thereby, in combination within the scope of the primary filter and the rotatable nozzle are concentrically aligned about a center axis) of ZHANG since a cylinder is an elongated circle and a circle is the most efficient two dimensional shape as for providing space and conserving material
With regard to claim 7, ZHANG sufficiently teaches
the cylindrical shape (thereby, in combination within the scope of the primary filter and the rotatable nozzle are concentrically aligned about a center axis), especially at wherein the primary filter and the rotatable nozzle are concentrically aligned about a center axis (as depicted), especially at para 25,26, fig;
in an alternative, ZHANG does not specifically teach a cylindrical primary filter
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (or at the time the invention was made; if pre-AIA ) to provide of ZHANG with the cylindrical shape (thereby, in combination within the scope of the primary filter and the rotatable nozzle are concentrically aligned about a center axis) of ZHANG since a cylinder is an elongated circle and a circle is the most efficient two dimensional shape as for providing space and conserving material
Claim(s) 8, 18, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN109107291A (herein known as ZHANG) in view of US 20200406182 (herein known as GRIEVE) and US 20190022940 (herein known as HOFMANN)
With regard to claim 8, ZHANG does not specifically teach a passivation system fluidly connected to at least one of the filter housing and the collection container.
But, HOFMANN sufficiently teaches a passivation system fluidly connected to at least one of the filter housing and the collection container, especially at claims 9,18,21, para 45, fig 4
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (or at the time the invention was made; if pre-AIA ) to provide ZHANG -GRIEVE with a passivation system fluidly connected to at least one of the filter housing and the collection container. of HOFMANN to improve the safety and operability of CN109107291A
With regard to claim 18, ZHANG sufficiently teaches a filter device 9 comprising: , especially at para 25, fig
a filter device inlet that capable of receiving a non-specific processable medium from an additive manufacturing apparatus, especially at para 1,25, fig; Apparatus claims must be structurally distinguishable from the prior art in terms of structure, not function. The manner of operating an apparatus does not differentiate an apparatus claim from the prior art, if the prior art apparatus teaches all of the structural limitations of the claim (see MPEP § 2114 & § 2173.05(g))
a filter module 4 that separates particulates and inert gas from the processable medium, especially at para 25, fig
a filter housing (as depicted) with an "air pipe" (i.e. filter housing inlet) that is fluidly connected to the filter device inlet that is capable of receiving the processable medium, especially at para 25,26, fig
a primary filter 9 mounted within an interior of the filter housing (as depicted), especially at para 25,26, fig
a nozzle 10 mounted to the filter housing and at least partially positioned within the primary filter (as depicted), especially at para 25,26, fig
ZHANG does not specifically teach a rotatable nozzle
But, GRIEVE sufficiently teaches a rotatable nozzle , especially at abstract, fig 5, para 50
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (or at the time the invention was made; if pre-AIA ) to provide ZHANG with a rotatable nozzle of GRIEVE teaches that stationary vs rotational nozzle are art-recognized as interchangeable, especially at GRIEVE para 48-50
ZHANG does not specifically teach a passivation system fluidly connected to at least one of the filter housing
But, HOFMANN sufficiently teaches a passivation system fluidly connected to at least one of the filter housing , especially at claims 9,18,21, para 45
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (or at the time the invention was made; if pre-AIA ) to provide ZHANG with a passivation system fluidly connected to at least one of the filter housing of HOFMANN to improve the safety and operability of CN109107291A
With regard to claim 19, ZHANG sufficiently teaches
a pair of nozzle arms extending within the primary filter (as depicted), especially at para 25,26, fig
implicit a nozzle inlet that capable of providing a cleaning gas, especially at para 25,26, fig
a plurality of nozzle arm outlets are distributed over the pair of nozzle arms capable of dispersing the cleaning gas, especially at para 25,26, fig
the cylindrical shape (thereby, in combination within the scope of the primary filter and the rotatable nozzle are concentrically aligned about a center axis), especially at wherein the primary filter and the rotatable nozzle are concentrically aligned about a center axis (as depicted), especially at para 25,26, fig;
in an alternative, ZHANG does not specifically teach a cylindrical primary filter
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (or at the time the invention was made; if pre-AIA ) to provide of ZHANG with the cylindrical shape (thereby, in combination within the scope of the primary filter and the rotatable nozzle are concentrically aligned about a center axis) of ZHANG since a cylinder is an elongated circle and a circle is the most efficient two dimensional shape as for providing space and conserving material
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN109107291A (herein known as ZHANG) in view of US 20200406182 (herein known as GRIEVE) and US 20070087071 (herein known as DEVOS)
With regard to claim 6, ZHANG does not specifically teach a locking mechanism capable of maintaining a fluid connection between the filter housing and the collection container
But, DEVOS sufficiently teaches a locking mechanism capable of maintaining a fluid connection between the filter housing and the collection container, especially at para 29; Apparatus claims must be structurally distinguishable from the prior art in terms of structure, not function. The manner of operating an apparatus does not differentiate an apparatus claim from the prior art, if the prior art apparatus teaches all of the structural limitations of the claim (see MPEP § 2114 & § 2173.05(g))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (or at the time the invention was made; if pre-AIA ) to provide ZHANG -GRIEVE with a locking mechanism capable of maintaining a fluid connection between the filter housing and the collection container of DEVOS for the benefit of a secure fit, during use, as determined as needed, with reasonably expected results
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 12, 13,14,15,16,17 allowed; and As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Claim(s) 5,9,10,11, 20 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.
Prior art discussion: US 12201926 B2 teaches a filter device with a filter housing, see abstract
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY R SHUMATE whose telephone number is (571)270-5546. The examiner can normally be reached on M,T,Th,F.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benjamin Lebron can be reached on (571)272-0475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANTHONY SHUMATE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1773
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