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 .
Response to Amendment
Claims 1, 4 and 6-15 are pending, claims 2, 3 and 5 having been cancelled and claims 9-15 having been withdrawn. Applicant's response filed July 9, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1, 4 and 6-8 will be examined on the merits.
Claim Objections
The objection to claim 1 is withdrawn based on Applicant’s amendments to the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 6 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2003-137228A to Yamaguchi et al. (see machine translation) in view of U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2013/0092196 to Nagatani et al.
As to claims 1 and 4, Yamaguchi discloses an apparatus for sterilizing and rinsing containers, comprising: a sterilizing unit configured to treat the contains by means of a sterilizing solution in a first tank, the sterilizing unit comprising a corresponding first rotating carousel (see Yamaguchi Fig. 3, ref.#4 and/or 6 showing a first rotating carousel, paragraph [0009]); a rinsing unit arranged downstream the sterilizing unit and configured to rinse the containers advancing along a curvilinear path with sterile water, the rinsing unit comprising a corresponding second rotating carousel (see Yamaguchi Fig. 3, ref.#7 and 8 showing a second rotating carousel; paragraph [0011]); a UHT device configured to provide sterile water to the rinsing unit (see Yamaguchi paragraph [0011] disclosing UHT sterile water); dispensing means in selective fluid communication with the UHT device so as to dispense a first amount of sterile water towards the containers in a first rinsing tract of the curvilinear path and a second amount of sterile water towards the containers in a second rinsing tract of the curvilinear path that is downstream of the first rinsing tract, the first rinsing tract and the second rinsing tract being arcuate portions of the curvilinear path (see Yamaguchi Fig. 3 disclosing pre-rinser 7 considered the first amount in a first rinsing tract of the path and rinser 8 considered the second amount in a second rinsing tract of the path that is downstream of the first rinsing tract and where the pre-rinser 7 and rinser 8 are rotating carousels which form the curvilinear path and contain arcuate portions along said curvilinear path; see paragraph [0011] disclosing the nozzles to spray the sterile water); and a recovery collector arranged at the second rinsing tract of the curvilinear path for collecting at least part of exhaust sterile water dropping from the containers advancing along the second rinsing tract, said recover collector being in selective fluid communication with the UHT device (see Yamaguchi paragraph [0017] disclosing that a portion of the water recovered from the rinser 8 (the second rinsing tract) can be fed to the UHT heater and used as part of the washing water for the pre-rinser 7). While Yamaguchi does not explicitly disclose selective fluid communication between the recovery collector and the UHT device, use of valves to control the flow is well known in the art and does not provide patentable significance.
Yamaguchi does not explicitly disclose a further recovery collector arranged at the first rinsing tract of the path for collecting at least part of the exhaust sterile water dropping from the containers advancing along the first rinsing tract, said further recovery collector being in selective fluid communication with the first tank. Nagatani discloses a similar apparatus for sterilizing and rinsing containers wherein recovery collectors are arranged along the track for collecting at least part of the exhaust sterile water dropping from the containers and reusing the exhaust sterile water upstream in the track (see Nagatani Fig. 1, ref.#6A, 6B or 6C; paragraph [0033]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify Yamaguchi to include a further recovery collector arranged at the first rinsing tract of the path for collecting at least part of the exhaust sterile water dropping from the containers advancing along the first rinsing tract, said further recovery collector being in selective fluid communication with the first tank as suggested by Nagatani in order to reduce costs (see Nagatani paragraphs [0015]-[0016]). While Yamaguchi/Nagatani does not explicitly disclose selective fluid communication between the further recovery collector and the first tank, use of valves to control the flow is well known in the art and does not provide patentable significance. Furthermore, the combination of Yamaguchi and Nagatani discloses that the recovery collector and the further recovery collector can be separate and have distinct piping systems configured to establish fluid communication respectively between the first recovery track and the second recovery track (see Nagatani Fig. 1 disclosing multiple recovery collectors 6A, 6B and 6C as well as separate and distinct piping systems (see piping system between recovery tanks 6A, 6B and 6C to the pumps 7A, 7B, and 7C and to the next upstream stage)).
As to claim 6, the combination of Yamaguchi and Nagatani discloses that the sterilizing unit and the rinsing unit can comprise a corresponding linear conveyor or belt (see Nagatani Fig. 2).
As to claim 8. the combination of Yamaguchi and Nagatani discloses that both the pre-rinser and the rinsing device supplies sterile water to the containers for 2 to 3 seconds (see Yamaguchi paragraph [0016]) and thus it is reasonably expected that the dispensing means is configured to dispense the sterile water by a single dispensing pulse which supplies both the first amount of sterile water and the second amount of sterile water.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2003-137228A to Yamaguchi et al. (see machine translation) in view of U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2013/0092196 to Nagatani et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2016/0185584 to Hayakawa et al.
Yamaguchi and Nagatani are relied upon as discussed above with respect to the rejection of claim 1.
As to claim 7, the combination of Yamaguchi and Nagatani does not explicitly disclose a second tank arranged downstream of the UHT device so as to receive the sterile water from it, said second tank being configured to supply the sterile water to the dispensing means. Hayakawa discloses that it is known in the art to have a tank after a UHT device (see, e.g., Hayakawa Fig. 5 disclosing UHT 18 and tank 11). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to include a tank downstream of the UHT device as is known in the art and the results would have been predictable (storing of sterilized liquid).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed July 9, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding Applicant’s arguments directed to the newly added limitations regarding the curvilinear path, the cited prior art discloses that the path of the containers is along a series of rotating carousels as discussed above. Since the carousels are circular, the path would therefore be comprised of arcs along the path and as such would meet the claim recitation of a curvilinear path (where it is understood that curvilinear path means a curved line path).
Regarding Applicant’s arguments directed to the further recovery collector arranged at the first rinsing tract of the curvilinear path, as discussed in the rejection above, Nagatani discloses a similar apparatus for sterilizing and rinsing containers wherein recovery collectors are arranged along the track for collecting at least part of the exhaust sterile water dropping from the containers and reusing the exhaust sterile water upstream in the track (see Nagatani Fig. 1, ref.#6A, 6B or 6C; paragraph [0033]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify Yamaguchi to include a further recovery collector arranged at the first rinsing tract of the path for collecting at least part of the exhaust sterile water dropping from the containers advancing along the first rinsing tract, said further recovery collector being in selective fluid communication with the first tank as suggested by Nagatani in order to reduce costs (see Nagatani paragraphs [0015]-[0016]). It is noted that Nagatani discloses numerous recovery collectors along the path to recover cleaning solution in order to reuse it (see Nagatani Fig. 1 disclosing recovering solution from 8B into recovery tank 6C to reuse into 8A, recovering solution from 5C into recovery tank 6A to reuse into 5B and recovering solution from 5B into recovery tank to reuse into 5A).
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.
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/DOUGLAS LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1714
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