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 § 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.
Claims 1-5 and 7-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuan CN 110539539B in view of Pilpel (US 2010/0279060).
Figure 1 of Yuan discloses:
(1) regarding Claim 1:
A composite plate used for a radome, the composite plate comprising:
a middle layer (core layer of the sandwich layers); and
a surface layer combined with the middle layer (skin layer),
wherein the surface layer includes first fibers and thermoplastic resin
filled between the first fibers (upper skin made of a fiber reinforced
polyether sulfone resin composite material),
the surface layer and the middle layer are arranged in a first direction,
and the first direction is a thickness direction of the composite plate
(See Fig 1).
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However Yuan does not disclose the fiber details.
Pilpel, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
the first fibers in the surface layer are a composite fiber including inorganic fibers and organic fibers ([0038]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the features of Pilpel into the device of Yuan according to applicant’s own specification [0113]-[0115], [0142]) composite fibers formed by compounding inorganic fibers (glass) and organic fibers (PP) as routine variations, demonstrating that such combinations are well-known in the art.
(2) regarding Claim 2:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the first fiber has a melting point higher than a melting point
of the thermoplastic resin (See paragraph, of Yuan, below about flame retardant properties).
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(3) regarding Claim 3:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the thermoplastic resin₂ in the surface layer, is made of a
same material as the middle layer (paragraph 6 above).
(4) regarding Claim 4:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the middle layer is made of a thermoplastic foam material
("the core layer is a thermoplastic foam material").
(5) regarding Claim 5:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the first fibers in the surface layer are of a woven fiber
structure, and the thermoplastic resin, in the surface layer, is filled in a gap
in the woven fiber structure (See Fig 1 of Yuan).
(6) regarding Claim 7:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the inorganic fibers in the surface layer are arranged in an
unordered manner (See Fig 1 of Yuan).
(7) regarding Claim 8:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the inorganic fibers in the surface layer are glass fibers, and
the glass fibers are arranged in an unordered manner and form a glass mat
(See Fig 1 of Yuan).
(8) regarding Claim 9:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the inorganic fibers in the surface layer comprises include at
least one of a glass fiber, a basalt fiber, an andesite fiber, an aluminum
silicate fiber, a boron nitride fiber, an aluminum oxide fiber, and a quartz
fiber (see paragraphs cited in Claim 1 of Yuan).
(9) regarding Claim 10:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the organic fibers in the surface layer include at least one of
a polypropylene fiber, a polybutylene terephthalate fiber, a polyethylene
fiber, a polyethylene glycol terephthalate fiber, and a polytrimethylene
terephthalate fiber (see paragraphs cited in Claim 1 of Yuan).
(10) regarding Claim 11:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein a weaving manner of the woven fiber structure comprises
includes any one of plain weaving, square plain weaving, rib weaving, twill
weaving, and satin weaving (See Fig 1 of Yuan).
(11) regarding Claim 12:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the first fibers in the surface layer include a plurality of fiber
layers arranged in the first direction, and an included angle between fibers
in two fiber layers, of the plurality of fiber layers, is a first preset angle (See
Fig 1 of Yuan).
(12) regarding Claim 13:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the first preset angle includes at least one of 30 degrees, 45
degrees and 60 degrees (See Fig 1 of Yuan).
(13) regarding Claim 14:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
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further comprising: a weather-resistant coloring layer, wherein the
weather-resistant coloring layer is located on a side of the surface layer
away from the middle layer (paragraph of Yuan above).
(14) regarding Claim 15:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
further comprising: a weather-resistant coloring layer, and wherein
the weather-resistant coloring layer and the surface layer are integrally
formed (paragraph above).
(15) regarding Claim 16:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the composite plate is of a sandwich structure, and the
sandwich structure is an A-type sandwich structure or a C-type sandwich
structure (See Fig 1 of Yuan).
(16) regarding Claim 17:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the thermoplastic resin includes at least one of
polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polybutylene terephthalate,
polyethylene glycol terephthalate, polytrimethylene terephthalate,
polycarbonate, and polyphenylene oxide (see paragraphs cited in Claim 1 of Yuan).
(18) regarding Claim 18:
Yuan discloses:
A radome, wherein the radome is manufactured by using a composite
plate through hot pressing or compression molding, wherein the composite
plate comprises:
a middle layer (core layer of the sandwich layers); and
a surface layer combined with the middle layer (skin layer),
wherein the surface layer includes first fibers and thermoplastic resin
filled between the first fibers (upper skin made of a fiber reinforced
polyether sulfone resin composite material),
the surface layer and the middle layer are arranged in a first direction,
and the first direction is a thickness direction of the composite plate
(See Fig 1).
However Yuan does not disclose the fiber details.
Pilpel, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
the first fibers in the surface layer are a composite fiber including inorganic fibers and organic fibers ([0038]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the features of Pilpel into the device of Yuan according to applicant’s own specification [0113]-[0115], [0142]) composite fibers formed by compounding inorganic fibers (glass) and organic fibers (PP) as routine variations, demonstrating that such combinations are well-known in the art.
(19) regarding Claim 19:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the first fiber has a melting point higher than a melting point
of the thermoplastic resin (See paragraph from Claim 2 about flame
retardant properties).
(20) regarding Claim 20:
The combination of Yuan and Pilpel further discloses:
wherein the thermoplastic resin, in the surface layer, is made of a
same material as the middle layer (See Fig 1 of Yuan).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CRYSTAL L HAMMOND whose telephone number is (571)270-1682. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12pm-4pm Alt Fridays.
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/CRYSTAL L HAMMOND/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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