DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 19-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Farley et al. (3,320,727).
Regarding claims 19, 28 and 37 (addressed together due to only slightly varying language), Farley discloses a vacuum cleaner comprising:(a) an air flow path extending from a dirty air inlet (19) to a clean air outlet (21); (b) first housing (11; claims 28 and 37) comprising a chamber (within housing 11; claim 37) with a cyclone (23/27) that is positioned downstream of the dirty air inlet, the cyclone/chamber comprising a cyclone/chamber air inlet (20), a cyclone/chamber air outlet (25) and a cyclone axis of rotation (A; see annotated Fig. 2 below) defining a direction that air flows through the chamber (particularly in the air outlet 25 and dirty air outlet 29); (c) a second housing (18; claims 28 and 37) that is laterally spaced from the first housing in a forward/rearward direction (X) that is transverse to the cyclone axis and direction that air flows through the chamber, the second housing comprising a pre-motor filter (46) that is positioned in the air flow path downstream of the cyclone, the pre-motor filter is laterally spaced from the cyclone in a forward/rearward direction that is transverse to the cyclone axis of rotation; (d) a suction motor (33) that is positioned in the air flow path downstream of the pre- motor filter, the suction motor is laterally spaced from the cyclone in a direction transverse to the cyclone axis of rotation; (e) an end portion (13) moveable between a closed position, in which the end position overlies the cyclone and the pre-motor filter and the cyclone axis of rotation extends through the end portion (as seen in Fig. 2) and the first and second housing are closed (claims 28 and 37), and an open position in which the pre-motor filter is accessible (Col. 3, lines52-53) and the first and second housing are open (claims 28 and 37); and, (f) a handle (66), which is mounted to the vacuum cleaner at a first location and a second location that is rearward of the first location, wherein a first plane (B), which is parallel to the cyclone axis of rotation and which is also laterally spaced from the cyclone axis of rotation in the forward/rearward direction, extends through the suction motor, the pre-motor filter and the handle.
Regarding claims 20, 24, 29 and 33 (claims 24 and 33 depending from claims to be addressed below), Farley further discloses a second plane (C), which is transverse to the cyclone axis of rotation, extends through the cyclone and the pre-motor filter.
Regarding claims 21, 25, 30, 34 and 38, Farley further discloses a third plane (D), which is transverse to the cyclone axis of rotation extends through the cyclone and the suction motor and wherein the third plane is axially spaced from the second plane in a direction of the cyclone axis of rotation.
Regarding claims 22 and 31, Farley further discloses that the cyclone air inlet and the cyclone air outlet are at a common end of the cyclone.
Regarding claims 23 and 32, Farley further discloses that the cyclone air inlet and the cyclone air outlet are located adjacent the end portion.
Regarding claims 26, 27, 35 and 36, Farley further discloses that the dirty air inlet is located adjacent the end portion.
PNG
media_image1.png
750
601
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Each of the Conrad (2008/0216282 and 2008/0134460) references are also considered to anticipate all pending claims and Eriksson et al. (3,877,902) provides similar structure as well. The Farley reference is applied above as a better prior art due to being an older reference with no common assignee or inventor.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRYAN R MULLER whose telephone number is (571)272-4489. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Keller can be reached at 571-272-8548. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BRYAN R MULLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723 20 May 2026
Prosecution Insights