CTNF 18/679,782 CTNF 96326 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Specification 06-31 AIA The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification. Claim Objections 07-29-01 AIA Claim s 2 and 15 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 2 recites “the sound insulation” which lacks antecedent basis. The claim introduces the term “sound insulation space” and the examiner believes this is what applicant is attempting to reference but this is not properly done in the claim. For examination purposes the examiner will interpret “the sound insulation” as “the sound insulation space” Claim 15 recites “the sound insulation space” which lacks antecedent basis as claim 15 depends from claim 1 . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15-aia AIA Claim(s) 1-4, 10 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Kosaka (US 20190366798 A1) . Regarding claim 1, A first embodiment of Kosaka teaches of: An air cleaner comprising: a housing (Fig. 1, 10) including a flow path through which air is movable (Fig. 1, see airflow A flowing along flow path); a fan (Fig. 1, 11) configured to operate to move air through the flow path (the fan 11 moves the air through the system); and an air guide adjacent to the fan (Fig. 1, 12) , the air guide including: a guide surface (Fig. 1, 12a) along which the air moving through the flow path flows while the fan operates (Fig. 2, air moves along 12a during operation of 11), and a sound absorption hole (Fig. 1, 12b) extending from the guide surface (12 extends from 12a) so that a sound generated by the fan while the fan operates is absorbed through the sound absorption hole (the air guide acts as a Helmholtz resonator and therefore sound enters through holes 12b and resonates with the air in the space 12c; ¶ [0029], “The bell mouth 12 of the present embodiment includes the through holes 12b and the closed space 12c, thereby configuring a Helmholtz resonator”) Regarding claim 2, Kosaka teaches of the air cleaner of claim 1, and Kosaka further teaches of: wherein the air guide includes: a guide portion (Fig. 2, guide portion is the upstream half of 12) including the guide surface and the sound absorption hole (Fig. 2, upstream portion of 12 has 12a and 12b); and a space forming portion (Fig. 2, downstream half of 12 covered by other surface and opposite the upstream half of 12) defining the sound insulation space (12c) between the space forming portion and the guide portion (12c is between both portions as described above), wherein the guide surface is on one side of the guide portion (12a is on one side facing upstream) which is opposite to another side of the guide portion facing the sound insulation (opposite side of guide portion is the opposite surface of 12a facing 12c), and wherein the sound absorption hole extends from the guide surface through the guide portion to the sound insulation space (12b extends through the entire guide portion to 12c). Regarding claim 3, Kosaka teaches of the air cleaner of claim 2, and Kosaka further teaches of: wherein a volume of the sound absorption hole is smaller than a volume of the sound insulation space (Fig. 2, 12b clearly has a smaller volume than 12c), to thereby prevent a sound wave generated while the fan operates from moving from the sound insulation space through the sound absorption hole (this would inherently happen with the given structure). Regarding claim 4, Kosaka teaches of the air cleaner of claim 2, and Kosaka further teaches of: wherein the air guide has a resonant frequency defined by the sound absorption hole and the sound insulation space so that, when a frequency of the generated sound is identical to the resonant frequency of the air guide, the air guide reduces the generated sound (¶ [0032], “The resonator configured by the bell mouth 12 can absorb sound with a frequency corresponding to the resonance frequency f.sub.0 by using the resonance between the air in the through holes 12b and an air layer in the closed space 12c”) Regarding claim 10, Kosaka teaches of the air cleaner of claim 1, and Kosaka further teaches of: wherein the air guide is configured to reduce a sound in a frequency region of 1000 Hz or less among frequencies of sounds generated while the fan operates (¶ [0031], “In the present embodiment, the hole diameter ϕ of the through hole 12b is set at approximately 2 to 6 mm. When the hole diameter ϕ is set at 2 mm, the resonance frequency becomes around 400 Hz. When the hole diameter ϕ is set at 6 mm, the resonance frequency becomes around 1000 Hz. Here, 400 Hz and 1000 Hz are main frequencies of noise generated in the vehicle air conditioner 1”), and the air guide has a meta structure in which a density of air being adjacent to the sound absorption hole has a negative value (the air within 12c would increase in density due to acoustic pressure of sound waves entering through holes 12b resulting in a negative pressure value adjacent to the holes 12b relative to the air pressure in 12c) Regarding claim 15, Kosaka teaches of the air cleaner of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach: wherein the air guide is spaced in a radial direction from a center of rotation of the fan and extends about the center of rotation of the fan in a circumferential direction (Fig. 1, 12 is space from 11a radially and extends away from 12a in a circumferential direction direction), and the sound insulation space is positioned between the air guide and the housing (Fig. 1, 12c is between 12 and 10) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 8-9 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kosaka (US 20190366798 A1) . Regarding claim 8, the first embodiment of Kosaka teaches of the air cleaner of claim 1, however, the first embodiment of Kosaka fails to explicitly teach: wherein a diameter of the sound absorption hole is less than 2.0 mm, so as to prevent a sound from resonating by the air moving through the flow path while the fan operates. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the device of the first embodiment of Kosaka so that the diameter of 12b would be less than 2.0 mm based on the following rationale: Kosaka discloses that the diameter of the sound absorption holes is optimized so that “the resonance frequencies of the plurality of resonators can be differentiated” (¶ [0039] of Kosaka). As recited in paragraphs [0031] and [0038] of Kosaka, the diameter of the sound absorption holes is disclosed to be a result effective variable in that changing the diameter of the sound absorption hole changes the resonant frequency of the Helmholtz resonator. Further, it appears that the one of ordinary skill in the art would have a reasonable expectation of success in modifying the device of Kosaka to have sound absorption holes below 2.0 mm, as it involves only adjusting the dimension of a component disclosed to require adjustment. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device Kosaka to match the above claimed diameter range as a matter of routine optimization since it has been held that “where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). Regarding claim 9, the first embodiment of Kosaka teaches of the air cleaner of claim 1, however, Kosaka fails to explicitly teach: wherein the sound absorption hole penetrates the guide portion so as to prevent a distance between two points on an opening of the sound absorption hole from being greater than 2.0 mm. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of Kosaka to have the above dimensions, based on the following rationale: Kosaka discloses that the diameter of the sound absorption holes is optimized so that “the resonance frequencies of the plurality of resonators can be differentiated” (¶ [0039] of Kosaka). As presented, modifying the diameter of the hole of Kosaka would modify the distance between two point on an opening of the hole. As recited in paragraphs [0031] and [0038] of Kosaka, the diameter of the sound absorption holes is disclosed to be a result effective variable in that changing the diameter of the sound absorption hole changes the resonant frequency of the Helmholtz resonator. Further, it appears that the one of ordinary skill in the art would have a reasonable expectation of success in modifying the device of Kosaka to have sound absorption with an opening where two point on an opening are not greater than 2.0 mm, as it involves only adjusting the dimension of a component disclosed to require adjustment. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device Kosaka to match the above claimed dimensions as a matter of routine optimization since it has been held that “where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). Regarding claim 14, Kosaka teaches of the air cleaner of claim 2, however, Kosaka fails to explicitly teach: wherein a length to which the sound insulation space extends is 1/4 of a wavelength of the generated sound. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the length of the sound insulation space to be ¼ of the wavelength of the generated sound based on the following rationale: It has been held that “where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device” Gardner v. TEC Syst., Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 SPQ 232 (1984). In the instant case, the device of Kosaka would not operate differently with the claimed length of the sound insulation space as the resonators of Kosaka are dimensioned and tuned to absorb a desired frequency of sound and therefore could be tuned to absorb a frequency that has a wavelength equal to 4 times the length of the sound insulation space. Further, it appears that applicant has not placed criticality on the claimed dimension, indicating simply that the length “may” be 1/4 of the wavelength (¶ [00028] of applicant specification) 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 5 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kosaka (US 20190366798 A1) in view of Uskert (US 9310079 B2) . Regarding claim 5, the first embodiment of Kosaka teaches of the air cleaner of claim 2, however, the first embodiment of Kosaka fails to explicitly teach: wherein the air guide includes: a separating partition extending from the space forming portion toward the guide portion and partitioning the sound insulation space into a first sound insulation space and a second sound insulation space having a different volume from the first sound insulation space, a first sound insulation unit defining the first sound insulation space and having a resonant frequency, and a second sound insulation unit defining the second sound insulation space and having a resonant frequency that is different from the resonant frequency of the first sound insulation unit. The second embodiment of Kosaka teaches of: wherein the air guide includes: a separating partition (Fig. 3, 12d) extending from the space forming portion toward the guide portion (12d would have to extend from the two portions to partition the spaces) and partitioning the sound insulation space into a first sound insulation space and a second sound insulation space (see the plurality of spaces 12c) a first sound insulation unit defining the first sound insulation space and having a resonant frequency, and a second sound insulation unit defining the second sound insulation space and having a resonant frequency that is different from the resonant frequency of the first sound insulation unit (Kosaka teaches of each of the sound insulated spaces 12c being able to absorb different resonant frequencies; ¶ [0039], “The resonance frequencies of the plurality of resonators can be differentiated by making the respective plurality of closed spaces 12c different in terms of the size of the through hole 12b, the distance between the adjacent through holes 12b, the aperture ratio of the through hole 12b, and the like. Consequently, noise with a plurality of frequencies, which has been generated with the rotation of the blower fan 11, can be resonance-absorbed by the plurality of resonators. Thus, the noise can be effectively reduced even in the presence of a plurality of kinds of noise with different frequencies”) The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows: add the partitions to the first embodiment of Kosaka so that there are a plurality of Helmholtz resonators in the air guide and each of the Helmholtz resonators has a set of sound absorption holes 12b as shown in Fig. 3 A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because: it would allow for a plurality of different sounds to be absorbed (¶ [0039], “Thus, the noise can be effectively reduced even in the presence of a plurality of kinds of noise with different frequencies.”) Uskert teaches of: the second sound insulation space having a different volume from the first sound insulation space (Col. 6, lines 5-10, “Various parameters may be controlled in order to achieve a desired acoustic damping, including the size and volume of cells 94, the size of openings 96, the thickness of inner wall 74, as well as other parameters, e.g., the selection of material properties of one or more of outer wall 72, inner wall 74 and honeycomb 92”) The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows: modify the position of partitions 12d so that the different sound insulation spaces 12c have different volumes A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because: it is known in the art to modify the volume of the sound insulation space (see above citation from Uskert) of a Helmholtz resonator along with other parameters regarding its sound absorption holes (see ¶ [0039] citation from Kosaka above) to change what frequencies it can absorb Regarding claim 7, the combined teachings teach of the air cleaner of claim 5, and the combined teachings further teach: wherein the sound absorption hole is a sound absorption hole among a plurality of sound absorption holes including: a first sound absorption hole corresponding to the first sound insulation space, and a second sound absorption hole corresponding to the second sound insulation space (Kosaka, Fig. 3, see the plurality of sound absorption holes 12b for each of the sound insulation spaces 12c) a diameter of the first sound absorption hole is different from a diameter of the second sound absorption hole (Kosaka, ¶ [0039], “The resonance frequencies of the plurality of resonators can be differentiated by making the respective plurality of closed spaces 12c different in terms of the size of the through hole 12b, the distance between the adjacent through holes 12b, the aperture ratio of the through hole 12b, and the like”), such that the resonant frequency of the first sound insulation unit is different from the resonant frequency of the second sound insulation unit (see above citation from Kosaka, the size of the holes can be different so as to change the frequency for each resonator) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kosaka (US 20190366798 A1) in view of Uskert (US 9310079 B2) and in further view of Shimokawa (JP H0962267 A) . Regarding claim 6, the combined teachings teach of the air cleaner of claim 5, and the combined teachings further teach: wherein the sound absorption hole is a sound absorption hole among a plurality of first sound absorption holes and a plurality of second sound absorption holes (Kosaka, Fig. 3, see each of the sets of sound absorption holes 12b on each of the Helmholtz resonators), the plurality of first sound absorption holes correspond to the first sound insulation space, the plurality of second sound absorption holes correspond to the second sound insulation space (Kosaka, Fig. 3, 3ach of the sets of the plurality of sounds absorption holes 12b correspond to one space 12c), and such that the resonant frequency of the first sound insulation unit is different from the resonant frequency of the second sound insulation unit (Kosaka, ¶ [0039], “The resonance frequencies of the plurality of resonators can be differentiated”) The combined teachings fail to explicitly teach: a number of sound absorption holes of the plurality of first sound absorption holes for a volume of the first sound insulation space is different from a number of sound absorption holes of the plurality of second sound absorption holes for a volume of the second sound insulation space Shimokawa teaches of: varying the number of sound absorption holes to modify the sound frequency absorbed by the Helmholtz resonators (¶ [0011], “the number of acoustic holes or the shape of the openings is appropriately determined according to the size of the opening area of the acoustic holes, which corresponds to the resonant frequency set for each Helmholtz resonator”) The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows: modify the number of sound absorption holes for each resonator to be different A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because: Kosaka already teaches of modifying the frequency absorbed by each resonator so that a variety of frequencies can be absorbed and Shimokawa further recites that the number of holes can be modified to further tune the resonator 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kosaka (US 20190366798 A1) in view of Pan (US 20210356151 A1) . Regarding claim 11, the first embodiment of Kosaka teaches of the air cleaner of claim 1, and Kosaka further teaches of: wherein the fan includes a fan inlet (Fig. 1, 13) having a first cross-sectional area (Fig. 1, 13 has a cross-sectional area) Kosaka fails to explicitly teach: a filter having a second cross-sectional area that is larger than the first cross- sectional area is installable in the air cleaner so as to be spaced apart from the fan, and when the filter is installed in the air cleaner, the guide portion includes a guide flow path of which a cross-sectional area is reduced toward the fan inlet from the filter to prevent, while the fan operates, air passed through the filter and moving toward the fan inlet from forming turbulence. Pan teaches of: a filter (Fig. 2, 200) having a second cross-sectional area that is larger than the first cross-sectional area (Fig. 2, 200 is larger than 300 which has the inlet to the fan 400) is installable in the air cleaner so as to be spaced apart from the fan (200 is spaced from 400), and when the filter is installed in the air cleaner, the guide portion includes a guide flow path of which a cross-sectional area is reduced toward the fan inlet from the filter to prevent (in combination, Kosaka in Fig. 1, 12 reduces the cross-sectional area from the space upstream of it), while the fan operates, air passed through the filter and moving toward the fan inlet from forming turbulence (Kosaka, Fig. 1, 12 has smooth edges and therefore reduces turbulence). The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows: position filter 200 of Pan in the space upstream from 12 A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because: a filter would clean the air entering the device of Kosaka Regarding claim 12, the combined teachings teach of the air cleaner of claim 11, and the combined teachings further teach: wherein the fan includes: a blade (Kosaka, Fig. 1, fan 11 must have blades), a fan outlet (Kosaka, Fig. 1, see bold arrows above and below the fan at the fan outlet), and a shroud positioned between the blade and the air guide (see annotated Fig. 1 of Kosaka below), the shroud extending radially from a center of rotation of the blade toward the fan outlet along an axis of rotation of the blade (Kosaka, Fig. 1, extends radially from 11a toward the outlet denoted by bold arrows along 11a), and the air guide includes: a flow induction flow path of which a cross-sectional area increases gradually toward the shroud from an end of the guide flow path such that air moves in an extension direction of the shroud while the fan operates (See annotated fig. 1 of Kosaka below; the flow induction flow path increases the cross-sectional area gradually toward the shroud) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kosaka (US 20190366798 A1) in view of Shimokawa (JP H0962267 A) . Regarding claim 13, the first embodiment of Kosaka teaches of the air cleaner of claim 2, and Kosaka further teaches of: such that the air guide includes a Helmholtz resonance structure (¶ [0029], “The bell mouth 12 of the present embodiment includes the through holes 12b and the closed space 12c, thereby configuring a Helmholtz resonator”) Kosaka fails to explicitly teach: wherein the sound absorption hole corresponds one-to-one to the sound insulation space Shimokawa teaches of: modifying the number of absorption holes per sound insulation space to tune the frequency of the Helmholtz resonator (¶ [0011], “the number of acoustic holes or the shape of the openings is appropriately determined according to the size of the opening area of the acoustic holes, which corresponds to the resonant frequency set for each Helmholtz resonator”) The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows: modify the number of holes 12b to be only one A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because: Kosaka already teaches of modifying the frequency absorbed by each resonator so that a variety of frequencies can be absorbed and Shimokawa further recites that the number of holes can be modified to further tune the resonator Annotated Figures PNG media_image1.png 775 864 media_image1.png Greyscale Annotated Fig. 1 of Kosaka Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL J GIORDANO whose telephone number is (571)272-8940. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fr 8 AM - 5 PM EST. 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, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at (571) 272-9059. 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. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762 /HELENA KOSANOVIC/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 2 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 4 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 5 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 6 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 7 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 8 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 9 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 10 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 11 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 12 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 13 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 14 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 15 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 16 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/679,782 Page 17 Art Unit: 3762
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