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 § 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.
Claims 1 and 3-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Waddell Patent No. US 10,128,075.
Regarding claim 1, Waddell discloses an ion generator comprising:
a high voltage source [abstract, 5-7; col. 1 lines 48-52];
a central body [Fig. 1, base 12] defining a central axis, the central body comprising:
a primary conductive line [Fig. 2 and Fig. 5; part of the power supply lines/wires that is connected between the transformer/power source 38 up to the top portion 24] electrically coupled to the high voltage source [col. 1 lines 48-52; col. 5 lines 4-9]; and
a first insulating covering surrounding the primary conductive line [wires 40/42 are inherently surrounded by insulator]; and
a plurality of arms [Fig. 1, two hollow columns 44 as shown] extending from the central body, each arm in the plurality of arms comprising:
an emitter array disposed at a distal end of the arm [Fig. 1, each arm 44 has an emitter array 46 at the end of the arm], relative to the central body; and
a secondary conductive line [Fig. 1, part of high voltage wires 40/42 that are shown outside the top cover 24] electrically coupled to the primary conductive line at a proximal end of the arm, relative to the conductive body, and extending through the first insulating covering to the emitter array,
wherein the plurality of arms is distributed about the central axis, such that: orientations of the emitter arrays of each of the plurality of arms relative are helically, spirally, and/or symmetrically distributed with respect to others of the plurality of arms, relative to the central axis [Fig. 1, two arms/columns 44 are symmetrically arranged relative to the central axis of the body 12]; and
connection of each of the plurality of arms to the central body are helically, spirally, and/or symmetrically distributed with respect to others of the plurality of arms, relative to the central axis [Fig. 1, Fig. 2, connection of each of the columns 44 are symmetrically distributed relative to the central axis as shown].
Regarding claim 3, Waddell discloses that the central body has a cylindrical shape [col. 3 lines 52-59].
Regarding claim 4, Waddell discloses that each emitter array comprises a plurality of emitters arranged in a cluster [col. 5 lines 17-20; plurality of bristles].
Regarding claim 5, Waddell discloses that all emitters of each emitter array share a common angular orientation with an angular deviation of less than or equal to 5º [Fig. 2, the bristles of the brush 46 are extending outwardly away from the brush, and therefore inherently all bristles share a common angular orientation with an angular deviation of less than or equal to 5].
Regarding claim 6, Waddell discloses that each of the plurality of arms further comprises a second insulating covering surrounding the secondary conductive line and extending from the first insulating covering towards the distal end of the arm, but exposing the emitter array [Fig. 2, the hollow columns 44 surrounds the secondary conductive wires 40/42 and extending from the interior storage compartment 22 towards the distal end of the arm, but exposing the emitter array 46].
Regarding claim 7, Waddell discloses that the emitters of each emitter array are electrically connected to the corresponding secondary conductive line via crimping at least partially surrounded by the second insulating covering [Fig. 1, the bristles of the brush are held together by the brush which is connected to and covered by the hollow columns 44 via the wires 40/42].
Regarding claim 8, Waddell discloses that the plurality of emitters comprises a brush of carbon bristles [col. 2 lines 13-19, col. 5 lines 24-33].
Regarding claim 9, Waddell discloses that each of the plurality of emitters is a needlepoint bipolar ionization (NBPI) needle [col. 6 lines 5-63; Fig. 4, bipolar generator device 10 inherently uses needle-like emitters to generate bipolar ions as shown in Fig. 4].
Regarding claim 10, Waddell discloses that NBPI needles of each emitter array are parallel to each other [Fig. 1, 2, 4; the bristles attached to the brush are parallel to each other as shown].
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Waddell Patent No. US 10,128,075.
Regarding claim 2, Waddell does not disclose that the central body has a partial spheroid shape. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to have the central body that has a partial spheroid shape, since applicant has not been disclosed that having a spheroid central body solves any stated problem or is for any particular purpose and it appears that the invention would perform equally well with the cylindrical central body. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the invention to have an ionizer with a spheroid central body, for the benefit of promoting more omnidirectional and even distribution of ions.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-14 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance of claim 11: The prior art does not disclose that all of the plurality of arms are distributed about the central axis such that the plurality of arms forms rows, with a first arm of a first row having a parallel orientation to a second arm of a second row. This feature in combination with the rest of the claim limitations is not anticipated or rendered obvious by the prior art of record.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance of claim 12: The prior art does not disclose that the plurality of arms further comprises a third row disposed between and adjacent the first and second rows, wherein no arms of the third row are parallel to any arms of the first and second rows. This feature in combination with the rest of the claim limitations is not anticipated or rendered obvious by the prior art of record.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance of claim 13: The prior art does not disclose that the secondary conductive line is fully encapsulated within the central body. This feature in combination with the rest of the claim limitations is not anticipated or rendered obvious by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
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DHARTI PATEL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2836
/DHARTI H PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838