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 without traverse of Group I, claims 1-9 in the reply filed on 7/23/2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 2/11/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 2 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 2, lines 2-3, “DC” should read --direct current--.
In claim 2, line 5, “swithed” should read --switched--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-9 is/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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the phrase "in a sealed way" renders the claim(s) indefinite because the claim(s) include(s) elements not actually disclosed (those encompassed by "in a sealed way"), thereby rendering the scope of the claim(s) unascertainable. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 1 recites “the switch” in line 12. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, “the switch” is interpreted to read --a switch--.
Claim 2 recites “the water outlet of the DC variable frequency water pump” in lines 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, “the water outlet of the DC variable frequency water pump” is interpreted to read --a water outlet of the DC variable frequency water pump--.
The term “slowly” in claim 3 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “slowly” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claim 3 recites “the water outlets” in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, “the water outlets” is interpreted to read --the water outlet--.
Claim 5 recites “the rotation of the rotation shaft” in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, “the rotation of the rotation shaft” is interpreted to read --rotation of the rotation shaft--.
Claim 5 recites “the rotation of the shunt valve” in lines 5-6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, “the rotation of the shunt valve” is interpreted to read --rotation of the shunt valve--.
Claim 6 recites “one water inlet” in line 5. It is unclear if this language refers to the water inlet recited in claim 1, line 7, one of the two water inlets recited in claim 6, line 3, or an additional water inlet. For examination purposes, “one water inlet” is interpreted to read --one of the two water inlets--.
Claim 6 recites “the other water inlet” in line 5. It is unclear if this language refers to the water inlet recited in claim 1, line 7 or one of the two water inlets recited in claim 6, line 3. For examination purposes, “the other water inlet” is interpreted to read --the other of the two water inlets--.
Claim 6 recites “the auxiliary liquid tank” in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, “the auxiliary liquid tank” is interpreted to read --an auxiliary liquid tank--.
Claim 6 recites “the foam liquid” in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, “the foam liquid” is interpreted to read --foam liquid--.
Claim 6 recites “the water outlet” in line 7. It is unclear if this language refers to the water outlet recited in claim 1, line 8, the one water outlet recited in claim 6, lines 3-4, or an additional water outlet. For examination purposes, “the water outlet” is interpreted to read --the one water inlet--.
Claim 8 recites “the bottom” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, “the bottom” is interpreted to read --a bottom--.
Any remaining dependent claim(s) are indefinite insofar as they depend on a rejected base claim.
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) 1 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (CN 217150521; machine translation attached; hereinafter Lin ‘521) in view of Groombridge (US 4162548).
Regarding claim 1, Lin ‘521 discloses a flushing system, comprising:
a sealed water tank (1), comprising a tank body (body of 1) and a tank cover (cover of 1 including the element connecting 3-4 to 1) connected to the tank body in a sealed way (see Fig. 1-2; p. 4, ll. 17-33); and
an integrated mechanical valve (4),
wherein the integrated mechanical valve is set on the tank cover and is connected to the tank cover in a sealed way (see Fig. 1-2; p. 4, ll. 17-33);
wherein the integrated mechanical valve comprises a water inlet (inlet of 4; see Fig. 1-5 and 7), a water supplementation inlet (412) connected to the water inlet (p. 4, ll. 17-33), a water outlet (outlet of 4) at the water supplementation inlet and away from the water inlet (see Fig. 1-5 and 7), a buoy mechanism (43) at the water supplementation inlet, and a pressing connecting rod structure (42) between the water inlet and the water outlet (see Fig. 1-5); and
wherein the buoy mechanism controls switching of the water supplementation inlet based on a water level (p. 5, ll. 13-28), and the pressing connecting rod structure controls the switch at the water outlet by pressing (p. 5, ll. 13-28).
However, Lin ‘521 does not explicitly disclose the tank cover connected to the tank body in a sealed way by hot plate welding process as claimed.
Groombridge discloses water closets wherein ridges fuse together upon subsequent hardening of the plastic by hot plate welding (col. 4, ll. 1-12). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the tank cover of Lin ‘521, to be connected to the tank body in a sealed way by hot plate welding process as claimed, as taught by Groombridge, since it was known in the art that hot plate welding is a conventional technique (col. 4, ll. 1-12). Furthermore, in accordance with MPEP § 2113, the method of forming the device is not germane to the issue of patentability of the device itself. Please note that even though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product, i.e., sealed water tank, does not depend on its method of production, i.e., hot plate welding.
Regarding claim 9, the combination above and specifically Lin ‘521 further discloses the tank cover of the sealed water tank is set with an air inlet (p. 5, ll. 13-28) and an auxiliary buoy (441) corresponding to the air inlet (p. 5, ll. 13-28);
wherein the auxiliary buoy moves towards the air inlet under an action of a rising water level (p. 5, ll. 13-28); and
wherein the air inlet is closed when the water level rises to a set water level to form a closed air chamber (p. 5, ll. 13-28).
Claim(s) 2-5 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (CN 217150521; machine translation attached; hereinafter Lin ‘521) in view of Groombridge (US 4162548) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Liu (CN 109487875; machine translation attached).
Regarding claim 2, the combination above discloses substantially all the elements of the present invention as stated above in the rejection of claim 1.
Lin ‘521 further discloses the sealed water tank comprises a water pump (2) and a shunt valve (3) connected to the water outlet of the water pump (see Fig. 1-2 and 7), and
wherein the shunt valve comprises a lateral flushing outlet (lateral outlet of 3) and a bottom flushing outlet (bottom outlet of 3), and the lateral flushing outlet and the bottom flushing outlet are switched by controlling a core of the shunt valve (see Fig. 1-2 and 7; p. 5, ll. 29-47).
However, Lin ‘521 does not explicitly disclose a DC variable frequency water pump as claimed.
Liu discloses an intelligent closestool flushing system of immersion bath water pump in water including a DC variable frequency water pump (p. 4, ll. 18-21). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the water pump of Lin ‘521, to be a DC variable frequency water pump as claimed, as taught by Liu, since it was known in the art that a direct current brushless water pump improves pumping efficiency (p. 4, ll. 18-21).
Regarding claim 3, the combination above and specifically Lin ‘521 further discloses the water outlets of the integrated mechanical valve comprise an upper flushing outlet (upper outlet of 4; p. 4, ll. 17-33) and a lower flushing outlet; (lower outlet of 4; p. 4, ll. 17-33) and wherein the integrated mechanical valve comprises:
a switching valve core (valve of 4) configured to switch the upper flushing outlet and the lower flushing outlet (see Fig. 1-5 and 7), and
a delay reset mechanism (p. 5, ll. 13-28) connected to the pressing connecting rod structure in parallel (p. 5, ll. 13-28), and the delay reset mechanism slowly switches the switching valve core from the lower flushing outlet to the upper flushing outlet (p. 5, ll. 13-28).
Regarding claim 4, the combination above and specifically Lin ‘521 further discloses the upper flushing outlet of the integrated mechanical valve and the lateral flushing outlet of the shunt valve are connected to a lateral flushing nozzle (nozzle of 62) via a lateral flushing tee (5; see Fig. 1-2 and 7; p. 5, ll. 29-47).
Regarding claim 5, the combination above and specifically Lin ‘521 further discloses the shunt valve comprises a shunt valve core (core of 3), a rotation shaft (shaft of 3) on the shunt valve core (see Fig. 6), a shunt valve cover (cover of 3) on one side of the shunt valve core away from the tank body (see Fig. 1-2 and 6), and a shunt valve motor (32) connected to the rotation shaft and is fixed on the shunt valve cover (see Fig. 1-2 and 6; p. 5, ll. 29-47); and
wherein the shunt valve motor drives the rotation of the rotation shaft to drive the rotation of the shunt valve core so as to open and close the bottom flushing outlet (p. 5, ll. 29-47).
Regarding claim 8, the combination above and specifically Lin ‘521 further discloses the lower flushing outlet of the integrated mechanical valve and the bottom flushing outlet of the shunt valve are connected to a bottom flushing nozzle (61-62 and the outlet of 6) at the bottom (bottom of 6) of a toilet (6) with two water pipes (paths of 61-62); and
wherein the bottom flushing nozzle comprises two water inlets (inlets of 61-62) and one water outlet (outlet of 6), and the water outlet corresponds to a drainage outlet of the toilet (see Fig. 1-2 and 7).
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (CN 217150521; machine translation attached; hereinafter Lin ‘521) in view of Groombridge (US 4162548) and Liu (CN 109487875; machine translation attached) as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Lin (CN 218204760; machine translation attached; hereinafter Lin ‘760)
Regarding claims 6-7, the combination above discloses substantially all the elements of the present invention as stated above in the rejection of claim 4.
However, Lin ‘521 does not disclose wherein a lateral flushing suction pipe is set between the lateral flushing tee and the lateral flushing nozzle, a suction tee is set on a lateral wall of the lateral flushing suction pipe, and the suction tee comprises two water inlets and one water outlet; wherein one water inlet is connected to an external water way, and the other water inlet is connected to the auxiliary liquid tank with the foam liquid of the sealed water tank via a hose; and wherein the water outlet is connected to the lateral flushing nozzle to suck the foam liquid from the auxiliary liquid tank by Venturi effect of the suction tee and to mix the foam liquid with liquid in the lateral flushing suction pipe; wherein the lateral flushing suction pipe is set with a lateral flushing flocculent flow film at the water outlet of the suction tee as claimed.
Lin ‘760 discloses a foam injection device and foaming component wherein a lateral flushing suction pipe is set between the lateral flushing tee and the lateral flushing nozzle (p. 2, ll. 4-12; see Fig. 10), a suction tee (10, 50) is set on a lateral wall of the lateral flushing suction pipe (see Fig. 1-3 and 10), and the suction tee comprises two water inlets (inlets of 10 and 50) and one water outlet (outlet of 10); wherein one water inlet is connected to an external water way (p. 6, ll. 2-6), and the other water inlet is connected to the auxiliary liquid tank (40) with the foam liquid of the sealed water tank via a hose (see Fig. 10); and wherein the water outlet is connected to the lateral flushing nozzle to suck the foam liquid from the auxiliary liquid tank by Venturi effect of the suction tee (p. 4, ll. 14-30) and to mix the foam liquid with liquid in the lateral flushing suction pipe (p. 4, ll. 14-30); wherein the lateral flushing suction pipe is set with a lateral flushing flocculent flow film (see Fig. 3) at the water outlet of the suction tee (p. 4, ll. 14-30). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the flushing device of Lin ‘521, to include a suction tee as claimed, as taught by Lin ‘760, in order to generate a foam to increase the surface tension of the water, improving the bad experience of the dirt falling and splashing, isolating dispersion of dirt odor (p. 3, ll. 7-15).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record in the PTO-892 form and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sun (US 11566409) is directed to the state of the art as disclosing a water supply mechanism for a bowl rim and a water inlet mechanism including a water tank (1), an outlet pipe (44), a suction pipe (43), a water inlet assembly (35), a water inlet valve (32), a vacuum breaker (31), and a power unit (42).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM R KLOTZ whose telephone number is (571)272-0274. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 11AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David P Angwin can be reached at (571)270-3735. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIAM R KLOTZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3754
/DAVID P ANGWIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3754
