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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7-13, 15-16 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burks (US 2015/0367365) in view of Wright (US 20170173607).
Regarding claim 1, Burks discloses a portable misting system comprising:
an insulated cooler portion (2; The insulated tank is interpreted as an insulated cooler, as paragraph 18 discloses that the tank is insulated by a layer 21, in order to maintain a lower temperature of the contents of the tank) configured to retain a volume of water (The tank is capable of holding water), a bottom surface of the insulated cooler portion (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1), but fails to disclose the insulated cooler portion comprising an aperture disposed on the bottom surface of the insulated portion.
Burks discloses that the storage tank is vertically positioned atop the tank to dispense fluid downwardly into the tank, but is silent as to whether this is done by an aperture.
Wright discloses a configuration wherein a tank is removable from a backpack base, and includes a bottom aperture (the aperture of pin valve 3255) on the bottom surface of a tank (3215), and the bottom aperture configured to interface with a water inlet (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) of a base assembly (2415).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Burks with the disclosures of Wright, making the tank removable, in order to provide for the ability to interchange the tank with another tank as disclosed by Wright (Paragraph 99).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the communication structure between the tank and pump to include a bottom aperture (Wright, the pin valve including the aperture of the pin valve 3255) on the bottom surface of a the tank (Burks, 2), and the bottom aperture configured to interface with a water inlet (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) of the base assembly (Burks, 11), in order to provide for a known structure that ensures connection of the base and tank, and management of fluid flow about the compartments of the backpack.
Burks in view of Wright discloses the aperture (Wright, the aperture of pin valve 3255) configured to receive a flow of water therethrough (Wright, Paragraph 163, Fluid (including water) is capable of being received through the aperture);
a base assembly (Burks, 11) comprising an upper surface (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) configured to interface with the bottom surface of the portion (Wright, Paragraph 162; As modified the pin valve of the bottom surface interfaces with the water inlet of the upper surface), wherein the base assembly comprises a water inlet (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) configured to interface with the aperture of the portion to receive the flow of water therethrough (Wright, Paragraph 162),
a pump (Burks, 6) housed in an interior portion of the base assembly (Burks, Figure 3); a first water line configured to transfer the flow of water from the water inlet to the pump; and a second water line configured to transfer the flow of water from the pump to a water outlet (12) disposed on an exterior surface of the base assembly (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 2).
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Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1
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Examiner’s Annotated Figure 2
Regarding claim 2, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting system of claim 1 further comprising a first hose segment (8) selectively coupled (Paragraph 23) to the water outlet (12) (Figure 1) and configured to receive the flow of water via the water outlet (Paragraph 22).
Regarding claim 3, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting system of claim 2 further comprising at least one first misting nozzle (34) coupled to a portion of the first hose segment (Figure 1, The misting nozzle is coupled to the hose segment through the extension wand 3), the at least one first misting nozzle configured to output a mist of water (Paragraph 22, The nozzle is capable of outputting water in a mist).
Regarding claim 4, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting system of claim 1 further comprising at least one battery (5) housed in the interior portion of the base assembly (Figure 3), the at least one battery being configured to provide a flow of power to the pump (Abstract).
Regarding claim 7, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting system of claim 1 wherein the insulated cooler portion (Burks, 2) is configured to be selectively removable from the base assembly (Burks, 11) (As modified, Wright, Paragraph 99).
Regarding claim 8, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting system of claim 1, further comprising a controller (7) operably engaged with the pump (Paragraph 16), wherein the controller is configured to control at least one operation of the pump (Paragraph 22, the controller controls the powering of the pump).
Regarding claim 9, Burks discloses a portable misting apparatus comprising:
an insulated cooler portion (2) comprising a bottom surface (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 2), side walls (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 2), and a top configured to define an internal area (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 2), the internal area being configured to retain a volume of water therein (The internal area is a tank, and therefore capable of retaining water therein), but fails to disclose the bottom surface of the insulated cooler portion comprises an aperture configured to receive a flow of water therethrough.
Burks discloses that the storage tank is vertically positioned atop the tank to dispense fluid downwardly into the tank, but is silent as to whether this is done by an aperture.
Wright discloses a configuration wherein a tank is removable from a backpack base, and includes a bottom aperture (the aperture of pin valve 3255) on the bottom surface of a tank (3215), and the bottom aperture configured to interface with a water inlet (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) of a base assembly (2415).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Burks with the disclosures of Wright, making the tank removable, in order to provide for the ability to interchange the tank with another tank as disclosed by Wright (Paragraph 99).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the communication structure between the tank and pump to include a bottom aperture (Wright, the pin valve including the aperture of the pin valve 3255) on the bottom surface of a the tank (Burks, 2), and the bottom aperture configured to interface with a water inlet (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) of the base assembly (Burks, 11), in order to provide for a known structure that ensures connection of the base and tank, and management of fluid flow about the compartments of the backpack.
Burks in view of Wright discloses the aperture (Wright, the aperture of pin valve 3255) configured to receive a flow of water therethrough (Wright, Paragraph 163, Fluid (including water) is capable of being received through the aperture);
and a base assembly (Burks, 11) comprising a rigid housing (The disclosure suggests the housing is rigid, as it supports the tank), the rigid housing comprising an upper surface (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 2) and an interior area (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 2), wherein the base assembly comprises a water inlet (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) disposed on the upper surface of the rigid housing (As modified) and a water outlet (Burks, 12) disposed on a first surface of the rigid housing (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 2), wherein the bottom surface of the insulated cooler portion is interfaced with the upper surface of the rigid housing such that the water inlet is interfaced with the aperture of the insulated cooler portion to receive the flow of water therethrough (Wright, Paragraph 162; As modified the pin valve of the bottom surface interfaces with the water inlet of the upper surface), wherein the base assembly (Burks, 11) comprises a pump (6) housed in the interior area of the rigid housing (Burks, Figure 3 and Examiner’s Annotated Figure 2), wherein the pump is operably configured to receive the flow of water from the water inlet and output a pressurized flow of water to the water outlet (Burks, Paragraph 19, the pump is capable of receiving a flow of water from the inlet, and outputting the water to the outlet).
Regarding claim 10, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting apparatus of claim 9 wherein the water outlet (12) is configured to be selectively interfaced with at least one misting hose (8) (Paragraph 23).
Regarding claim 11, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting apparatus of claim 9 wherein the insulated cooler portion is configured to be selectively removable from the base assembly (As modified, Wright, Paragraph 99).
Regarding claim 12, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting apparatus of claim 9 further comprising at least one battery (Burks, 5) housed in the interior area of the rigid housing (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 2), the at least one battery being configured to provide a flow of power to the pump (Burks, Abstract).
Regarding claim 13, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a controller (7) operably engaged with the pump (Paragraph 16), wherein the controller is configured to control at least one operation of the pump (Paragraph 22, the controller controls the powering of the pump).
Regarding claim 15, Burks discloses a portable misting system comprising:
an insulated cooler portion (2; The insulated tank is interpreted as an insulated cooler, as paragraph 18 discloses that the tank is insulated by a layer 21, in order to maintain a lower temperature of the contents of the tank) configured to retain a volume of water therein (The tank is capable of holding water), a bottom surface (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1), but fails to disclose the insulated cooler portion comprising an aperture disposed on the bottom surface of the insulated portion.
Burks discloses that the storage tank is vertically positioned atop the tank to dispense fluid downwardly into the tank, but is silent as to whether this is done by an aperture.
Wright discloses a configuration wherein a tank is removable from a backpack base, and includes a bottom aperture (the aperture of pin valve 3255) on the bottom surface of a tank (3215), and the bottom aperture configured to interface with a water inlet (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) of a base assembly (2415).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Burks with the disclosures of Wright, making the tank removable, in order to provide for the ability to interchange the tank with another tank as disclosed by Wright (Paragraph 99).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the communication structure between the tank and pump to include a bottom aperture (Wright, the pin valve including the aperture of the pin valve 3255) on the bottom surface of a the tank (Burks, 2), and the bottom aperture configured to interface with a water inlet (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1) of the base assembly (Burks, 11), in order to provide for a known structure that ensures connection of the base and tank, and management of fluid flow about the compartments of the backpack.
Burks in view of Wright discloses the aperture (Wright, the aperture of pin valve 3255) configured to pass a flow of water therethrough (Wright, Paragraph 163, Fluid (including water) is capable of being received through the aperture);
a base assembly (Burks, 11) comprising a rigid housing (The disclosure suggests the housing is rigid, as it supports the tank) comprising an upper surface (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1), a water inlet disposed on the upper surface of the rigid housing (as modified, the water inlet is placed at the inlet of the first water lines) (Examiner’s Annotated Figures 1 and 2),
wherein the bottom surface of the insulated cooler portion is interfaced with the upper surface of the rigid housing (Wright, Paragraph 162; As modified the pin valve of the bottom surface interfaces with the water inlet of the upper surface), such that the aperture disposed on the bottom surface is interface with the water inlet to pass the flow of water therethrough (Wright, Paragraph 162),
wherein the pump (Burks, 6) is operably configured to receive the flow of water from the water inlet (The pump is capable of receiving the flow of water from the water inlet, as the water inlet leads to the first water line which leads to the pump) and output a pressurized flow of water to the water outlet (The pump is capable of pressurizing water to the water outlet); and at least one hose segment (8) selectively coupled to the water outlet (Paragraph 22), the at least one hose segment comprising at least one misting nozzle (34),
wherein the at least one hose segment is configured to receive the pressurized flow of water via the water outlet and output a mist of water via the at least one misting nozzle (Figure 1, The misting nozzle is coupled to the hose segment through the extension wand 3), (Paragraph 22, The nozzle is capable of outputting water received from the pump through the hose segment in a mist via the nozzle 34).
Regarding claim 16, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting system of claim 15 further comprising at least one battery (Burks, 5) housed in the internal area of the rigid housing (Examiner’s Annotated Figure 2), the at least one battery being configured to provide a flow of power to the pump (Burks, Abstract).
Regarding claim 19, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting system of claim 16 wherein the at least one battery (5) is removable from the internal area of the rigid housing (Paragraph 4; The battery is charged with a dedicated charging dock, which suggests the battery can be removed from the internal area of the housing).
Regarding claim 20, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting system of claim 15 wherein the base assembly is configured to provide structural support for the insulated cooler portion (Figure 1, the base assembly supports the cooler portion about its top surface).
Claim(s) 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burks in view of Wright and Rotondo (US 8,662,413).
Regarding claim 5, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting system of claim 3, but fails to disclose the system further comprising a second hose segment selectively coupled to the first hose segment, wherein the second hose segment is configured to receive the flow of water via the first hose segment.
Rotondo discloses an improved misting system that includes a plurality of hose segments connected in series, each terminating in a misting nozzle (125, 130, 135).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the hose segment and misting nozzle of Burks in view of Wright with the improved system of Burks that includes a plurality of hose segments that each terminate in a misting nozzle (125, 130, 135), in order to provide for a system that provides for more robust coverage of the discharged fluid.
Burks in view of Wright and Rotondo discloses a system that includes a first hose segment (Rotondo, 120), a first misting nozzle (Rotondo, 125), and a second hose segment (Rotondo, the hose segment extending between nozzle 125 and nozzle 130).
Regarding claim 6, Burks in view of Wright and Rotondo discloses the portable misting system of claim 5, further comprising at least one second misting nozzle (Burks, 130) coupled to a portion of the second hose segment (Rotondo, Figure 1), the at least one second misting nozzle configured to output the mist of water (Column 2, lines 58-62).
Claim(s) 13-14 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burks in view of Wright and Laikind (US 20190001354).
Regarding claims 13 and 17, Burks in view of Wright discloses the portable misting apparatus of claims 9 and 15.
Laikind discloses an improved system further including a controller (pump control 140 shown in figure 2) operably engaged with a pump (110) (Paragraph 18), wherein the controller is configured to control at least one operation of the pump (Paragraph 18, the controller controls pump pressure and flow rate), and further including as to claims 14 and 18 a user interface (pump controls 140) disposed on a surface of the rigid housing (of the pump) (Paragraph 22), wherein the user interface is operably engaged with the controller and configured to command one or more operations of the controller in response to a user input (Paragraph 22).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve Burks in view of Wright with the disclosures of Laikind, further providing the system to include a controller (Laikind, pump control 140 shown in figure 2) operably engaged with a pump (Burks, 6) (Laikind, Paragraph 18), wherein the controller is configured to control at least one operation of the pump (Laikind, Paragraph 18, the controller controls pump pressure and flow rate), and further including, as to claim 14, a user interface (Laikind, pump controls 140) disposed on a surface of the rigid housing (of the pump) (Burks, 11) (Laikind, Paragraph 22), wherein the user interface is operably engaged with the controller and configured to command one or more operations of the controller in response to a user input (Laikind, Paragraph 22), as the enhanced configuration provides for management of additional features, including pump pressure and flow rate).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to arrange the user interface on a second surface of the rigid housing, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER R. DANDRIDGE whose telephone number is (571)270-1505. The examiner can normally be reached M-T 9am-7pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur O. Hall can be reached at (571)270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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CHRISTOPHER R. DANDRIDGE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3752
/CHRISTOPHER R DANDRIDGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752