The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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 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.
Claims 11, 12, 20-24, 26, and 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. US 2019/0328202 (hereafter Yang et al.) in view of Yasushi et al. JP 6643796 B2 (hereafter Yasushi et al.).
Regarding Claim 11, Yang et al. teaches:
11. A wet duster (cleaner, Title) configured to be connected to a cleaner, the wet duster comprising:
a housing (housing 100) that defines an inner space (internal cavities shown in Figure 6) therein;
a first passage (first flow path 112) that is configured to guide air and extends in a first direction (lateral directions, Figure 2) along a bottom surface (bottom surface of nozzle base 110, Figure 3) of the housing (Figure 2);
a second passage (second flow path 114) connected to the first passage (Paragraph [0108]) and configured to guide the air from the first passage, the second passage extending in a second direction (rearward) intersecting the first direction (Paragraph [0110] and Figures 3 and 5);
a plurality of rotation cleaners (rotation cleaning units 40 and 41) that are disposed at the bottom surface of the housing (Figure 2) and positioned rearward relative to the first passage in the second direction (Figure 3), the plurality of rotation cleaners being spaced apart from one another in the first direction (Figure 3), wherein the second passage is disposed between the plurality of rotation cleaners (Figures 3 and 5); and
a plurality of drivers (driving devices 170 and 171) that are disposed in the inner space of the housing (Figure 6) and spaced apart from one another in the first direction (Figure 6), the plurality of drivers being configured to rotate the plurality of rotation cleaners (Paragraph [0175]), respectively,
wherein the second passage and the inner space of the housing are fluidly connected to each other via a passage hole (see discussion below).
Yang et al. discloses substantially all the limitations of the claim(s) except for the inclusion of a passage hole allowing fluid communication between the second passage and the inner space of the housing. The reference Yasushi et al. discloses multiple passage holes 92 and 59 between an inner space of housing (lower case 35 and upper case 36) and the second passage as labeled in attached Figure 4 below. Yasushi et al. teaches that the holes are located in the suction passage of the first passage to promote cooling of the motor and electronics within the housing. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Yang et al. reference to include passage holes in the areas shaded in Yasushi et al. Figure 2 below consistent with the Yang reference with the motivation to provide cooling of the internal motors by fluidically connecting the inner space with the second passage through mutual connection to the first passage as shown.
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Regarding Claim 12, Yang et al. teaches:
12. The wet duster of claim 11, wherein the housing comprises:
a base (nozzle base 110) that defines the first passage (first flow path 112) and supports the plurality of drivers (driving devices 170 and 171);
a cover (nozzle cover 130 and water tank 200) coupled to an upper side of the base (Figure 6); and
a passage forming wall (flow path forming portion 150) that is coupled to the base and defines the second passage (second flow path 114)(Figures 5 and 6), the passage forming wall being disposed between the base and the cover (Figure 6).
Regarding Claim 20, Yang et al. teaches:
20. The wet duster of claim 11, wherein the housing comprises:
a base (nozzle base 110) that defines the first passage (first flow path 112) and supports the plurality of drivers (driving devices 170 and 171); and
a cover (nozzle cover 130 and water tank 200) coupled to an upper side of the base (Figure 6), the cover defining an outside air inlet hole (one air hole 219) configured to introduce outside air into a space defined by the base and the cover (internal volume as shown in Figure 41).
Regarding Claim 21, Yang et al. teaches:
21. The wet duster of claim 20, wherein the outside air inlet hole (one air hole 219) is disposed further rearward (shown in Figure 41) relative to a rearmost end of the plurality of drivers (driving devices 170 and 171).
Regarding Claim 22, Yang et al. teaches:
22. The wet duster of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of drivers (driving devices 170 and 171) comprises a motor (first driving motor 182 and second driving motor 184).
Regarding Claim 23, Yang et al. teaches:
23. The wet duster of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of rotation cleaners (rotation cleaning units 40 and 41) comprises a rotating plate (rotating plates 420 and 440) configured to rotate about an axis perpendicular to the bottom surface (bottom surface of nozzle base 110, Figure 3) of the housing (housing 100)(Figure 6).
Regarding Claim 24, Yang et al. teaches:
24. The wet duster of claim 11, wherein a width of the second passage (first flow path 112) in the first direction (lateral directions, Figure 2) is greater than a width of the first passage (second flow path 114) in the second direction (rearward)(Figure 3).
Regarding Claim 26, Yang et al. teaches:
26. A wet duster for a cleaner (cleaner, Title), the wet duster comprising:
a housing (housing 100) that defines an inner space (internal cavities shown in Figure 6) therein, the housing defines a first passage (first flow path 112) that is configured to guide air and extends in a first direction (lateral directions, Figure 2) along a bottom surface (bottom surface of nozzle base 110, Figure 3) of the housing (Figure 2);
a passage forming wall (flow path forming portion 150) that is disposed in the housing and defines a second passage (second flow path 114)(Figures 5 and 6), the second passage being connected to the first passage and extending in a second direction (rearward) intersecting the first direction (Paragraph [0110] and Figures 3 and 5);
a rotation cleaner (rotation cleaning units 40 and 41) disposed at the bottom surface of the housing (Figure 2) and positioned rearward relative to the first passage in the second direction (Figure 3); and
a drive motor (first driving motor 182 and second driving motor 184) disposed in the inner space of the housing (Figure 6) and configured to rotate the rotation cleaner,
wherein the passage forming wall further defines a passage hole (see discussion below) that fluidly connects the second passage and the inner space of the housing to each other, and
wherein the second passage and the passage hole are disposed rearward relative to the first passage in the second direction (shown in attached Figure 2 below).
Yang et al. discloses substantially all the limitations of the claim(s) except for the inclusion of a passage hole allowing fluid communication between the second passage and the inner space of the housing. The reference Yasushi et al. discloses multiple passage holes 92 and 59 between an inner space of housing (lower case 35 and upper case 36) and the second passage as labeled in attached Figure 4 below. Yasushi et al. teaches that the holes are located in the suction passage of the first passage to promote cooling of the motor and electronics within the housing. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Yang et al. reference to include passage holes in the areas shaded in Yasushi et al. Figure 2 below consistent with the Yang reference with the motivation to provide cooling of the internal motors by fluidically connecting the inner space with the second passage through mutual connection to the first passage as shown.
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Regarding Claim 28, Yang et al. teaches:
28. The wet duster of claim 26, wherein the rotation cleaner is one of a pair of rotation cleaners (rotation cleaning units 40 and 41) that are disposed at the bottom surface (bottom surface of nozzle base 110, Figure 3) of the housing (Figure 2) and spaced apart from each other in the first direction (lateral directions, Figure 2)(Figure 3), and
wherein the second passage (second flow path 114) is disposed between the pair of rotation cleaners (Figures 3 and 5).
Regarding Claim 29, Yang et al. teaches:
29. The wet duster of claim 28, wherein the drive motor (first driving motor 182 and second driving motor 184) is one of a pair of drive motors that are disposed in the inner space of the housing (Figure 6) and spaced apart from each other in the first direction (lateral directions, Figure 2)(Figure 6), the pair of drive motors being configured to rotate (through gears shown in Figure 27) the pair of rotation cleaners (rotation cleaning units 40 and 41), respectively.
Regarding Claim 30, Yang et al. teaches:
30. The wet duster of claim 26, wherein the rotation cleaner (rotation cleaning units 40 and 41) comprises a rotating plate (rotating plates 420 and 440) configured to rotate about an axis perpendicular to the bottom surface (bottom surface of nozzle base 110, Figure 3) of the housing (housing 100)(Figure 6).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-19, 25, and 27 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but it would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure can be found in form PTO-892 Notice of References Cited. Specifically, the prior art references include pertinent disclosures of cleaning heads.
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/MARC CARLSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723