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 Objections
Claims 1, 4, and 9 are objected to because of the following informalities: multiple sentences are embedded in each claim, when each should claim begin with a single capital letter and end with single a period. Periods may not be used elsewhere in the claims except for abbreviations. MPEP 608.01(m) 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.
Claims 1-12 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the liquid outlet hole; the plunger hole; the suction tube hole; the bottom; the lower sleeve level; the lower bush; the said guide wall; the thru hole; the inner hole; the central column; the bush rod groove; the lower ring groove; the groove mouth; the large circle." The features above are first recited in the claim using “the” or “said,” thus implying referring back to already properly introduced features in the claim however there is no previous recitation of these features in the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 2 recites the limitations "the mouth edge; the beveled edge; the cap groove.” The features above are first recited in the claim using “the” or “said,” thus implying referring back to already properly introduced feature earlier in this claim or in the claim from which this claim depends; however, there is no previous recitation of these features in the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the chamfer.” The features above are first recited in the claim using “the” or “said,” thus implying referring back to already properly introduced feature earlier in this claim or in the claim from which this claim depends; however, there is no previous recitation of these features in the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the bottom cap mouth; the cap mouth ring.” The features above are first recited in the claim using “the” or “said,” thus implying referring back to already properly introduced feature earlier in this claim or in the claim from which this claim depends; however, there is no previous recitation of these features in the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the bush hole." The features above are first recited in the claim using “the” or “said,” thus implying referring back to already properly introduced feature earlier in this claim or in the claim from which this claim depends; however, there is no previous recitation of these features in the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 9 recites the limitation "the ring mouth; the bottle mouth bar; the bottle mouth threads". The features above are first recited in the claim using “the” or “said,” thus implying referring back to already properly introduced feature earlier in this claim or in the claim from which this claim depends; however, there is no previous recitation of these features in the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 3, 7, 8, and 10 are rejected for their incorporation of the above through their dependency of claim 1.
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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 9, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rossignol (US 2008/0251542 A1).
Re: Claim 1, discloses the claimed invention including a small spray pump head, comprising:
a head cap (12), an inner plug (18), a spring (14), and a large ring (5), the head cap has a spray hole on one side (13) (Fig. 1), while the inner plug is placed in a liquid outlet hole (10) of the large ring (Fig. 1);
wherein the liquid outlet hole of the large ring is a plunger hole (25) (Fig. 1), with the plunger hole on top of the large ring communicating with the suction tube hole (6) on the bottom (Fig. 1);
the plunger hole of the large ring has a bush groove and a spring groove sequentially disposed around its outer diameter (Depicted in Fig. 1, circumferential grooves in the large ring spreading out from the center), with the spring (16) placed in the spring groove (Fig. 1 depicts spring placed in a groove);
the inner plug is T-shaped, with the lower sleeve level (18) having an upper spring plug (22) (Fig. 1, narrow bottom and wide top);
the lower bush (18) of the inner plug also has a central column (30) and a wall guide groove (32) in the lower bush (Fig. 1);
the wall guide groove is connected to the thru-hole on top of the inner hole (Depicted in Fig. 1, wall guide grooves in the central column);
the central column of the inner plug is inserted into the plunger hole of the large ring (Depicted in Fig. 1), while the lower bush (18) of the inner plug is inserted into the bush rod groove (17) of the large ring (Depicted in Fig. 1, lower bush inserted);
one end of the spring is placed against the bottom inside of the spring groove of the large ring (Fig. 1), with the other end placed against the lower ring groove (19) on the bottom of the upper spring plug of the inner plug (Depicted in Fig. 1, spring depicted between the inner plug and large ring);
the outer diameter of the lower ring groove of the inner plug is an elastic sleeve (Para. 51, elastic sleeve), a spring cavity is formed as the groove mouth at the lower ring groove of the inner plug is placed against the groove mouth outside of the spring groove of the large spring, the spring is then sealed within this cavity (Fig. 1 spring cavity depicted that is sealed between inner plug and large ring);
a top cover groove (43) is disposed on top of the upper spring plug of the inner plug, and an upwardly protruding cover piece (40) is disposed in the top cover groove of the inner plug (Fig. 1);
the thru-hole of the inner plug is located within the said cover piece: upon pressing the head cap (1) (Depicted in Fig. 2), the inner plug moves downward to cause deformation of the spring, cover piece, and the elastic sleeve of the inner plug, the thru-hole of the inner plug is sealed by the cover piece, allowing liquid to be sprayed through the spray hole of the head cap via the wall guide groove of the inner plug, and by means of atomization resulting from the deformation of cover piece and the elastic sleeve of the inner plug (movement of the inner plug and deformation of the spring depicted across Figs. 1-6);
there are retained seals (21) between the inner diameter of the head cap and the outer diameter of the upper spring plug of the inner plug (Fig. 1), and the outer diameter of the mouth of the elastic groove of the large circle (Fig. 1 depicts the friction fit seals between constituent parts);
upon releasing the head cap, the inner plug moves upwardly and the spring, the cover piece and the inner plug of the elastic sleeve return to the original positions (Depicted in Fig. 1, the fully released position), the cover piece at the thru-hole of the inner hole opens, allowing air to enter the large circle via the clearance formed between the inner diameter of the head cap and the large circle, inner plug, or via the spray hole of the head cap, and the wall guide groove of the inner plug (Para. 65, air is sucked back in and enters the large circle clearance).
Re: Claim 2, Rossignol discloses the claimed invention including the mouth edge of the said cover piece (5) is provided with a downwardly protruding sealing skirt (38), or the outer radial direction of the sealing skirt is upwardly upturned to fit into the beveled edge of the inner diameter of the cap groove (43) at the top of the inner plug (Depicted in Fig. 1), and the sealing skirt of the cover piece is placed and sealed against the inner thru-hole in the cap groove at the top of the inner plug (Depicted in Fig. 1).
Re: Claim 3, Rossignol discloses the claimed invention including the said cover piece is provided with a raised locating pin (42) or locating ring bar in the middle of the top of said cover piece (40), the locating cylindrical pin or the locating ring bar is inserted into the corresponding groove at the top of the head cap (Fig. 1).
Re: Claim 4, Rossignol discloses the claimed invention including a raised step bar is provided at the chamfer of the outer diameter of the plunger hole at the bottom of the bush groove of the said large ring (Fig. 1 depicts a raised step bar at the bottom of the bush groove), the bottom part of the lower bush (201) to which the step bar corresponds to the inner plug (2) is provided with a lower bush groove (2013); and upon pressing the head cap (1), the lower bush of the inner plug is constrained by the step bar of the large ring, and the mouth of the lower ring groove of the inner plug deforms outwardly and is sealed to the inner diameter of the head cap
Re: Claim 5, Rossignol discloses the claimed invention including the bottom cap mouth of the said head cap is provided with an inwardly protruding cap mouth bar (15), the outer diameter (7) of the cap mouth bar of the large circle in the head cap above the cap mouth bar is provided with a raised groove ring (Depicted in Fig. 1), the groove mouth ring of the large ring is inserted into the cap mouth bar of the head cap by interference fit, the lower outer diameter of the cap mouth ring is sealed against the cap mouth bar of the head cap (Fig. 1, Para. 36, interference fit).
Re: Claim 6, Rossignol discloses the claimed invention including the groove mouth outer diameter of the lower ring groove (2) of the upper spring plug (202) in the said inner plug (2) is outwardly protruding and stretching out, and is placed and sealed against the inner diameter of the head cap (Depicted in Fig. 1, Para. 37); the bush hole outer diameter at the lower bush of the inner plug is outwardly protruding and stretching out, and is placed and sealed against the inner wall at the bush groove of the large ring (Depicted in Fig. 1); the spray hole of the head cap is located on one side above where the groove mouth outer diameter of the said lower ring groove is outwardly protruding and stretching out (Depicted in Fig. 1).
Re: Claim 7, Rossignol discloses the claimed invention including the inner diameter of the groove mouth at the lower ring groove of the said inner plug is provided with an inner pour outlet (24) underneath the groove mouth (Fig. 1, Para. 63, inner pour outlet), and the said inner pour outlet is located above the groove mouth outer diameter of the spring groove of the large spring (Depicted in Fig. 1); upon pressing the head cap, the inner pour outlet of the inner plug is constrained against the groove mouth outer diameter of the large spring (Depicted in Fig. 5).
Re: Claim 9, Rossignol discloses the claimed invention including the ring mouth inner diameter at the bottom of the large ring (4) is provided with a raised bottle mouth bar (7); and the large ring is snap-fit to the mouth of the bottle body through the bottle mouth bar (Fig. 1, Para. 30, snap fit into place).
Re: Claim 10, Rossignol discloses the claimed invention including the inner diameter of the bottle mouth bar of the said large ring is provided with a raised inner bottle groove (16), the large ring is snap-fit to the mouth of the outer bottle body, and the large ring is securely set to the mouth of the inner bottle body (Fig. 1, Para. 30, snap fit into place).
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) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rossignol (US 2008/0251542 A1) as applied to claim 1 above.
Re: Claim 8, Rossignol discloses the claimed invention including the inner wall of the lower bush of the said inner plug is provided with four equally spaced wall guide grooves, correspond to the thru-holes on top of the inner plug (Fig. 1, inner plug central column defines 4 equally spaced grooves to deliver fluid to the thru holes) except for specifying the claimed number of three equally spaced grooves corresponding to three thru holes. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to include three grooves and three through holes, since such a modification 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The references cited on the PTO-892 provides additional examples of small spray pump heads.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES P. CHEYNEY whose telephone number is (571)272-9971. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm.
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/CHARLES P. CHEYNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754