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 § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Johnson (US 20050126993).
Regarding claim 1, (Original) A blower for wastewater treatment apparatus comprising: a pump configured to output oxygen-containing gas; (“The Aerator Alarm Unit ("AAU") is a device which comprises an aerator (for pumping air/oxygen into the aerobic sewage treatment device)” Johnson: paragraph 8)
and an alarm device fixed to the pump, wherein the alarm device has: a buzzer; a lamp; a control unit configured to control the buzzer and the lamp depending on a pressure of gas to be output by the pump; (“The sensor-alarm panel typically includes both a high and low pressure sensor, and one or more alarm elements. The alarm elements can be, for example, audible and/or visual, with an audible sound alarm and/or a visual light signal” & “Typically, the sensor-alarm panel is set up to monitor for high pressure, while also monitoring for low (or even no) pressure. Thus, the alarm will activate whenever the air pressure in the air supply tube between the aerator and the aerobic tank of the sewage treatment device falls below or rises above normal operating pressures.” Johnson: paragraph 6)
and a cover fixed to the pump, the cover has an inner surface to form an internal space surrounded by the inner surface, the cover houses the buzzer and the control unit within the internal space, the cover comprises a plurality of sections including a first cover section and a second cover section, and the buzzer, the lamp, and the control unit are fixed to the first cover section. (Johnson: figures 3-5)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 2-6 & 10-18 disclose a buzzer that is composed of an oscillator with a drive device configured to oscillate the oscillator with a first beaten element to be beaten repeatedly by the oscillating oscillator to produce the buzzer sound and a second element to be beaten repeatedly by the oscillating oscillator to produce a second buzzer sound.
Claims 7-9 disclose a buzzer with a through hole with a fixing element that fixes the buzzer to the cover by passing through the through hole and a position restricting element that restricts a rotational position of the buzzer about the through hole by coming in contact with the buzzer.
Conclusion
Related Art:
US 20220282835 A1 – a pump system with audible/visual alarms
US 4884065 A – an audible alarm using an oscillator
US 1091533 A – an audible alarm using an oscillator
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRAVIS R HUNNINGS whose telephone number is (571)272-3118. The examiner can normally be reached M: 6-7:30a, 9:30a-4:45p, 8:30-10p; T: 6-7:30a, 12-4p, 7:30p-12a; W: 6-7:30a, 9:30a-4:45p; H: 6-7:30a, 8:15a-4:45p; F: 12:00-4:45p.
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/TRAVIS R HUNNINGS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689