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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 3, and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 3-109625 (hereinafter referred to as JP ‘625) in view of US Patent No. 4,445,912 to Volk et al. (hereinafter referred to as Volk).
In regard to claim 1, as shown in figures 1 – 4, JP ‘625 discloses an adsorption and desorption apparatus that includes a structure for attachment of an adsorption and desorption member (A). The adsorption and desorption apparatus can be used to adsorb and desorb an organic solvent. Further, the adsorption and desorption apparatus is capable of cleaning raw gas containing the organic solvent by separating the organic solvent from the raw gas and emitting cleaned gas and recovering the organic solvent separated from the raw gas with carrier gas. In an upper portion in inside of the adsorption and desorption treatment apparatus a plate- shaped member (9) is provided. The plate-shaped member (9) is provided with one open hole or at least two open holes for insertion of the adsorption and desorption member (A). The adsorption and desorption member (A) includes a cylindrical adsorption and desorption element (4) and an attachment plate (1). The attachment plate (1) is provided on an upper surface of the adsorption and desorption element (4) and includes a flange portion that extends outward from an edge of the adsorption and desorption element. JP ‘625 includes an attachment region provided at a position where the flange portion (1) and the plate-shaped member (9) are superimposed on each other when the adsorption and desorption member (4) is accommodated in the inside of the adsorption and desorption treatment apparatus by being inserted in the open hole. The attachment region is shown to include a hexagon head bolt (8) and a nut (not numbered). The flange portion (1) is provided with a first hole portion and the plate-shaped member (9) is provided with a second hole portion. In the attachment region, by insertion of the hexagon head bolt (8) in the first hole portion and the second hole portion and tightening of a screw portion of the hexagon head bolt on an annular plate side with the nut to achieve hermetic sealing at a position where the flange portion and the annular plate are contiguous, a leakage cut-off structure is formed, the leakage cut-off structure cutting off leakage of raw gas or carrier gas.
JP ‘625 only discloses the plate-shaped member. JP ‘625 does not disclose an annular erected wall and an annular plate, where the annular erected wall being erected upward from the plate-shaped member and provided to surround an edge of the open hole, the annular plate extending outward from an upper end of the annular erected wall. Thus, JP ‘625 also fails to disclose the attachment region being formed where the flange portion and the annular plate are superimposed.
As best shown in figures 4 and 5, Volk discloses a similar device having a filter cartridge (D) with a flange portion (42) that is secured to a plate (30) of a filter device by passing the filter cartridge (D) through an opening in the plate and using a nut and bolt (not numbered). The plate (30) has an annular erected wall (33) and an annular plate (32) surrounding the opening. The annular erected wall (33) is erected upward from the plate (30) and provided to surround an edge of the open hole and the annular plate (32) extends outward from an upper end of the annular erected wall (33). As shown in figures 4 and 5, this provides a similar attachment region where the flange portion (42) and the annular plate (32) are superimposed. This attachment portion similarly includes holes for the bolt and acts to sealing connect the flange portion (42) of the filter cartridge to plate (30) the filter device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify JP ‘625 to further include an annular erected wall, which is erected upward from the plate-shaped member and provided to surround an edge of the open hole, and an annular plate extending outward from an upper end of the annular erected wall, where the annular plate rather than the plate-shaped member is used as part of the attachment region as suggested by Volk as this is an equivalently known mounting means in the art for forming a sealed connection between a flange of an annular member and the device the member is received in.
In regard to claim 3, in the combination of JP ‘625 and Volk, in the attachment region, a space portion in a shape of a hollow column or a hollow frustum is provided between the adsorption and desorption element and the annular erected wall. A raw gas or carrier gas is capable of passing through the space portion.
In regard to claim 4, JP ‘625 is used as the primary reference and does not specifically show a seal member on a lower surface of the flange portion. As shown in figure 5, Volk includes a gasket (34), or sealing member, on a lower surface of the flange portion (42). The gasket predictably provides for an improved seal between the flange portion (42) and the annular plate (32). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify JP ‘625 and Volk to include a sealing member on a lower surface of the flange portion in order to improve the sealing between the flange portion and the annular plate.
Claims 2, 5, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP ‘625 and Volk as applied to claims 1, 3, and 4 above, and further in view of US Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0298374 to Magden (hereinafter referred to as Magden).
The combination of JP ‘625 and Volk are discussed above in section 4. JP ‘625 shows the bolt extending upward through the plate-shaped member (9) and the flange (1) with the nut attached at the top. Volk includes the annular plate, but shows the opposite arrangement where the bolt extends downward with the nut attached at the bottom. Both arrangements of the nut and bolt are considered to function equivalently. Neither JP ‘625 nor Volk discloses plate-shaped member or annular plate to have a threaded portion. Otherwise, the combination of JP ‘625 and Volk discloses all of the features in claim 2 of the present application as discussed above.
Magden discloses a well head device having flange portions (60, 70, 160, 260, 360) connected together with nuts (92) and bolts (80), as shown in figures 5A – 7. This is considered to be analogous art as it relates to nut and bolt attachments. As discussed in paragraph [0049] of Magden, through-holes in one or both of the flanges can be threaded to allow the bolt to be connected to the flanges to help secure them in place. Predictably, a threaded hole in one flange will allow the bolt to be held in place while the other flange is attached and the nut secured, which may make it easier for a user to attached the flanges together and secure the nut to the bolt. This arrangement appears to shown between flanges “60” and “160” in figure 7 of Magden.
Thus, it would further have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify JP ‘625 and Volk to include a threaded hole in the annular plate to attach the bolt to as suggested by Magden in order to make attachment of the flange portion and the nut easier for at least some users as the bolt is not required to be held in place by the user.
In regard to claim 5, in the combination of JP ‘625, Volk, and Magden, in the attachment region, a space portion in a shape of a hollow column or a hollow frustum is provided between the adsorption and desorption element and the annular erected wall. A raw gas or carrier gas is capable of passing through the space portion.
In regard to claim 6, JP ‘625 is used as the primary reference and does not specifically show a seal member on a lower surface of the flange portion. As shown in figure 5, Volk includes a gasket (34), or sealing member, on a lower surface of the flange portion (42). The gasket predictably provides for an improved seal between the flange portion (42) and the annular plate (32). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify JP ‘625, Volk, and Magden to include a sealing member on a lower surface of the flange portion in order to improve the sealing between the flange portion and the annular plate.
Conclusion
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/ROBERT CLEMENTE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1773