DETAILED ACTION
The Preliminary Amendment has been entered.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Interpretation
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3, 11, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 3 recites “a diameter of the first cylindrical portion is different from that of the second cylindrical portion”. However, claim 2, from which claim 3 depends, only requires one “cylindrical portion”. How does claim 3 limit the structure required by claim 2? Similarly, claims 11 and 12 recite further limit only one of the cylindrical portions. But, only one of the cylindrical portions is required by the claims. Are these claims merely optional limitations?
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jikihara et al. (US 10,201,836).
Regarding independent claim 1, Jikhara discloses a pneumatic classifier comprising: a casing (12) having a ceiling wall (14) and an annular wall (19) provided continuously to an outer edge of the ceiling wall; a classifying plate (16) disposed such that a surface of the classifying plate faces the ceiling wall of the casing; a classifying chamber (18) constituted between the ceiling wall of the casing and the surface of the classifying plate; a gas supply section (34) configured to supply gas into the classifying chamber to generate a whirling stream; a feed powder supply section (36) configured to supply feed powder to the whirling stream generated in the classifying chamber; a fine powder discharging port (30) provided at a central part of one of the ceiling wall of the casing and the surface of the classifying plate that constitute the classifying chamber; a coarse powder discharging port (32) opening along an outer periphery of the classifying chamber on a side of either the ceiling wall or the surface of the classifying chamber that faces the ceiling wall; and a groove portion (24b, 26b, and see col. 6, lines 53-63) provided in at least one of the ceiling wall or the surface of the classifying plate.
Regarding dependent claims 2-18, Jikihara discloses at least one of a first cylindrical portion (20) provided at the fine powder discharging port or a second cylindrical portion (22) provided in the surface of the classifying plate of the classifying chamber to face the first cylindrical portion at a predetermined distance. An inclined surface is formed in at least one of the ceiling wall of the casing or the surface of the classifying plate (see Fig. 1), and the groove portion is provided in the inclined surface (see col. 6, lines 53-63). An inclined surface is formed in at least one of a peripheral edge of the first cylindrical portion of the ceiling wall of the casing or a peripheral edge of the second cylindrical portion of the surface of the classifying plate (see Fig. 1), and the groove portion is provided in the inclined surface (see col. 6, lines 53-63). The fine powder discharging port has a circular shape (see Fig. 1), and the groove portion is arranged concentrically with the fine powder discharging port (see Fig. 1). The groove portion is provided in each of the ceiling wall and the surface of the classifying plate (see Fig. 1). The fine powder discharging port has a circular shape (see Fig. 1), the groove portion is arranged concentrically with the fine powder discharging port (see Fig.1), and the groove portion provided in the ceiling wall faces the groove portion provided in the surface of the classifying plate (see Fig. 1). In one of the ceiling wall and the surface of the classifying plate, the one having the fine powder discharging port, the groove portion is provided concentrically with the fine powder discharging port along a periphery of the fine powder discharging port (see Fig. 1), and in another of the ceiling wall and the surface of the classifying plate, the another having no fine powder discharging port, a groove portion of concentric circle shape is provided to face the groove portion of the concentric circle shape provided in a region around the fine powder discharging port (see Fig. 1), and the groove portion of the concentric circle shape provided in the one having the fine powder discharging port and the groove portion of the concentric circle shape provided in the another having no fine powder discharging port are disposed at a same position in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the ceiling wall of the casing of the classifying chamber and the surface of the classifying plate face each other (see Fig. 1). A plurality of the groove portions are provided along a periphery of the fine powder discharging port (see Fig. 1 and col. 6, lines 53-63). The first cylindrical portion is provided in the ceiling wall (see Fig. 1), and the groove portion is provided in the surface of the classifying plate (see Fig. 1). The second cylindrical portion is provided in the surface of the classifying plate (see Fig. 1), and the groove portion is provided in the ceiling wall (see Fig. 1). The inclined surface is inclined such that a height of the classifying chamber is gradually increased from an outer side to a center of the classifying chamber (see Fig. 1, a portion of the inclined surface increases the height and a portion of the surface decreases the height). The inclined surface is inclined such that a height of the classifying chamber is decreased from an outer side to a center of the classifying chamber (see Fig. 1, a portion of the inclined surface increases the height and a portion of the surface decreases the height). The feed powder supply section is connected to one of the ceiling wall of the casing and the surface of the classifying plate that constitute the classifying chamber (see Fig. 1) and supplies the feed powder to the swirling stream generated in the classifying chamber. The feed powder supply section includes an ejection nozzle (36) that supplies the feed powder to the swirling stream generated in the classifying chamber. The gas supply section includes a plurality of air nozzles (34, 38), and the plurality of air nozzles are arranged at regular intervals in a circumferential direction of the classifying chamber along an outer edge of the classifying chamber (see col. 5, lines 20-30). The gas supply section includes a plurality of guide vanes, and the plurality of guide vanes (see col. 5, lines 60-65) are arranged at regular intervals in a circumferential direction of the classifying chamber along an outer edge of the classifying chamber. The examiner notes that claim 3 is anticipated because it is an optional limitation (see rejection under 35 USC § 112 above).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kozawa et al. (US 9,597,712) and Taketomi et al. (US 8,100,269) disclose similar pneumatic classifiers utilized to separate fine powder from coarse powder.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK HEWEY MACKEY whose telephone number is (571)272-6916. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael McCullough can be reached at 571-272-7805. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PATRICK H MACKEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653
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