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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/29/24 and 12/11/25 is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Status
Claims 1-18 are pending and are examined.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tajima (WO 2012/114562).
Regarding Claim 1, Tajima teaches a PCR device (reaction container. See Abstract) comprising:
a vessel configured to house a reaction solution to be subjected to PCR; (Fig. 1a 1b, The reaction container 1 includes a narrow tube part 1b that can store a nucleic acid amplification solution or a part thereof, which is a reaction reagent for nucleic acid amplification, and communicates with the narrow tube part 1b above the narrow tube part 1b).
a heater-cooler configured to heat and cool the reaction solution in the vessel (Fig. 4, The block 29a is heated and cooled by a Peltier element 29b and a heat sink 29c.)
a cap configured to seal the vessel (FIG. 3 shows a reaction vessel 2 including a sealing lid 251 and a reaction container 1 sealed with the sealing lid 251); and
a detection end portion configured to detect a state of the reaction solution through the cap (Fig. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the translucent sealing lid 251 is translucent. The translucent portion would be capable for allowing detection to occur).
Regarding Claim 2, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 1, wherein the vessel includes a vessel upper portion and a vessel lower portion protruding downward from the vessel upper portion, and the vessel lower portion is made smaller in diameter than the vessel upper portion, the cap includes a cap upper portion and a cap lower portion protruding downward from the cap upper portion, and the cap lower portion is made smaller in diameter than the cap upper portion, and in a state where the cap is mounted on the vessel, the cap upper portion is housed in the vessel upper portion, and the cap lower portion is housed in the vessel lower portion (see Fig. 2C, the cap 251 is and 2a, 2b where the cap lower portion gets smaller in diameter and the vessel 1 has an upper portion and a lower portion. The cap lower portion is mounted to the vessel upper portion).
Regarding Claim 3, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 2, wherein the vessel upper portion includes a vessel upper protrusion on an inner surface, the cap upper portion includes a cap protrusion on an outer surface, and the cap is held to the vessel by engagement of the vessel upper protrusion and the cap protrusion (Fig. 3(a) and 3(b) A plurality of protrusions 251b along the axial direction provided on the upper side of the plug portion 251a have a cylindrical member 251c arranged on the outer surface, and the plug portion 251a has an annular protrusion protruding radially along its outer periphery.).
Regarding Claim 4, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 2, further comprising an elastic seal configured to seal a gap between the vessel upper portion and the cap upper portion (Fig. 10, In step s4, Here, as the adhesive, for example, a one-component moisture-curing versatile elastic adhesive (for example, HT-Bond Miracle 4) is used.).
Regarding Claim 5, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 4, wherein the vessel upper portion includes a vessel lower protrusion on an inner surface, and the elastic seal is held to the vessel by engagement of the vessel lower protrusion and the elastic seal (Fig. 10, In step s4, Here, as the adhesive, for example, a one-component moisture-curing versatile elastic adhesive (for example, HT-Bond Miracle 4) is used.).
Regarding Claim 6, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 2, wherein, in the state where the cap is mounted on the vessel, a lower end of the detection end portion faces a light transmitting part provided on the cap lower portion (FIG. 6A shows that the linking portion 31i (here, i = 1, for example) protruding downward from a horizontal plate 32 a of the light guide base 32 described later is a wide-mouth tube portion of the reaction accommodating portion 3. 3ai shows a state of being indirectly linked to the reaction accommodating portion 3 through a light-transmitting sealing lid 251i attached to the sealing lid 251i, and the linkage is put in the cavity of the sealing lid 251i. The portion 31i is inserted, and the end surface thereof is in close contact with the bottom surface of the cavity of the sealing lid 251i.).
Regarding Claim 7, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 6, wherein the light transmitting part faces a vessel lowermost part of the vessel lower portion (FIG. 6A shows that the linking portion 31i (here, i = 1, for example) protruding downward from a horizontal plate 32 a of the light guide base 32 described later is a wide-mouth tube portion of the reaction accommodating portion 3. 3ai shows a state of being indirectly linked to the reaction accommodating portion 3 through a light-transmitting sealing lid 251i attached to the sealing lid 251i, and the linkage is put in the cavity of the sealing lid 251i. The portion 31i is inserted, and the end surface thereof is in close contact with the bottom surface of the cavity of the sealing lid 251i.).
Regarding Claim 8, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 7, wherein the vessel houses 3 ul to 10 ul of the reaction solution between the light transmitting part and the vessel lowermost part (the vessel would be capable of housing 3 ul to 10 ul of the reaction solution).
Regarding Claim 9, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 1, wherein the detection end portion includes an optical component, an end-portion housing configured to house a part of the optical component, and an end-portion protrusion protruding downward from the end-portion housing and configured to house a lower end part of the optical component ( i) An annular push-in part 251di surrounding the central part through which light passes is inserted into the narrow-mouthed pipe part, so that the optical fiber (bundle) 33i as a light guide part passing through the inside of the linkage part 31i diameter is preferably either equal to the magnitude of the diameter of the opening of the narrow mouth tube portion 3bi greater it than. ).
Regarding Claim 10, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 2, wherein the detection end portion includes an optical component, an end-portion housing configured to house a part of the optical component, and an end-portion protrusion protruding downward from the end-portion housing and configured to house a lower end part of the optical component, and a lower part of the end-portion housing is housed in the cap upper portion, and the end- portion protrusion is housed in the cap lower portion (i) An annular push-in part 251di surrounding the central part through which light passes is inserted into the narrow-mouthed pipe part, so that the optical fiber (bundle) 33i as a light guide part passing through the inside of the linkage part 31i diameter is preferably either equal to the magnitude of the diameter of the opening of the narrow mouth tube portion 3bi greater it than.).
Regarding Claim 11, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 9, wherein the optical component at least includes an optical fiber and a light guide provided at a lower end of the optical fiber (In this example, the optical fiber (bundle) 33i is a light receiving optical fiber (bundle) 332i that can be connected to the second measuring end 43j and the light receiving portion that can be connected to the first measuring end 42j. Optical fiber (bundle) 331j).
Regarding Claim 12, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 11, wherein the light guide faces a light transmitting part provided on the cap lower portion the optical fiber (bundle) 33i is a light receiving optical fiber (bundle) 332i that can be connected to the second measuring end 43j and the light receiving portion that can be connected to the first measuring end 42j. Optical fiber 331j. FIG. 6B shows that the optical fiber (bundle) 33i is an optical fiber bundle composed of a plurality of light receiving optical fibers connectable to the second measurement end 43j and the first measurement end. An example of an optical fiber bundle in which 42j and an optical fiber bundle composed of a plurality of optical fibers for irradiation that can be connected are mixed so as to be homogeneous is shown.).
Regarding Claim 13, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 1, further comprising a detection end portion moving mechanism configured to move the detection end portion in a horizontal direction and a perpendicular direction (FIG. 12 (a) shows the appearance of the reaction vessel optical measuring device 10. Of the container group 20, the nozzle head 50, the nozzle head moving mechanism 51 described with reference to FIG. 1. In FIG. 12B, the nozzle head 50 is broadly divided into various moving mechanisms 52 including the arrayed body Y-axis moving mechanism 41, the gantry Z-axis moving mechanism 35, and the nozzle Z-axis moving mechanism 75.).
Regarding Claim 14, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 13, wherein the detection end portion is mounted with the cap (Fig. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the translucent sealing lid 251 is translucent. The translucent portion would be capable for allowing detection to occur).
Regarding Claim 15, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 2, wherein the heater-cooler includes a concave part configured to receive a part of the vessel lower portion (Fig. 4, The block 29a is heated and cooled by a Peltier element 29b and a heat sink 29c. See concave part where the bottom of the vessel 1d fits into the Pelter elements).
Regarding Claim 16, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 15, wherein the heater-cooler includes a heat conductive block including the concave part, a Peltier element provided under the heat conductive block, and a heat exchange heatsink provided under the Peltier element (Fig. 4, The block 29a is heated and cooled by a Peltier element 29b and a heat sink 29c. The block 29a is heated and cooled by a Peltier element 29b and a heat sink 29c.).
Regarding Claim 17, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 16, wherein the heat conductive block includes a block protrusion protruding upward in a tapered shape, and the concave part is provided at an upper end of the block protrusion (Fig. 4, The block 29a is heated and cooled by a Peltier element 29b and a heat sink 29c. 29a gets more narrow at the top.).
Regarding Claim 18, Tajima teaches the PCR device according to claim 1, further comprising a heater configured to heat the vessel or the vessel lower portion (Fig. 4, The block 29a is heated and cooled by a Peltier element 29b and a heat sink 29c.).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACQUELINE BRAZIN whose telephone number is (571)270-1457. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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/JB/
/CHARLES CAPOZZI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1798
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