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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks , filed 8/6/26, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 2-8,11-16 under 35USC102a1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Ooi in view of Nakayama and Davenport.
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.
1.Claims 2-4, 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ooi (US20230270967) in view of Nakayama (US20180355773).
With respect to claim 2 Ooi discloses an exhaust muffler comprising a muting housing (170) and
a check valve assembly (142,144), wherein the muting housing comprises a cavity, a gas inlet (105) and a gas outlet (174), and the gas inlet and the gas outlet are in communication with the cavity; the check valve assembly is mounted in the cavity and in unidirectional communication with the gas inlet and the gas outlet to allow a gas to only unidirectionally flow from the gas inlet to the gas outlet (see para 50).
Ooi does not expressly disclose a soundproof sponge and the soundproof sponge is filled in the cavity and is provide with a mounting cavity for mounting the check valve assembly.
Nakayama (se para 31 and figures 2 and 5) discloses the use of a soundproof sponge member (56) for the silencing of a flow through a check valve (67) and a portion of soundproof sponge (78) which surrounds a flow.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of Nakayama to use a soundproof sponge member to absorb the sounds form the check valve with he check vale of Ooi. The motivation for doing so would be to reduce the noise therefrom and to enhance the user experience. It would have been further obvious in view of the teachings of Nakayama to surround the valve in the sponge member so as to reduce the sound in all directions from the flow escaping the check valve.
With respect to claim 3 Ooi further discloses (para 51) wherein the check valve assembly comprises a check valve core and a check valve housing (described as including such check valves as ball check valves which inherently include the claimed structures); the check valve housing is formed with a gas passage for communicating the gas inlet and the gas outlet; the check valve is disposed in the gas passage, and the check valve core is configured to move in a forward direction to unblock the gas passage under a gas pressure form the inlet, and move in a reverse direction to block the gas passage when the gas pressure is lost (paras 49-51 disclose this movement).
With respect to claim 4 Ooi as modified further discloses wherein the check valve assembly further comprises an elastic member (Nakayama element 68), wherein the check valve core is movably disposed in the gas passage, and the check valve core is configured to move in the forward direction under the gas pressure from the gas inlet to unblock the gas passage, and move in the reverse direction under a restoring force of the elastic member to block the gas passage when the gas pressure is lost (as to the directions of forward and backward such directions can be so defined).
With respect to claim 6 Ooi as modified further discloses (see figure 5 of Nakayama) wherein
the check valve housing comprises an inlet end housing and an outlet end housing, wherein the inlet end housing and the outlet end housing are detachably connected and together define the gas passage, the inlet end housing is provided with an entrance port communicating the gas inlet and the gas passage, and the outlet end housing is provided with an exit port communicating the gas outlet and the gas passage.
With respect to claim 15 Ooi as modified further discloses an oxygen concentrator (abstract and figures) comprising: an adsorption tower and the exhaust muffler according to claim 2, wherein the adsorption tower comprises a filling chamber for filling a molecular sieve (see para 55), and a nitrogen exhaust port in communication with the filling chamber; the gas inlet of the exhaust muffler is in communication with the nitrogen exhaust port (see figure 1B).
2.Claim 5, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ooi (US20230270967) in view of Nakayama (US20180355773) as applied to claims 2-4 above, and further in view of CN111425634 (hereinafter ‘634).
With respect to claim 5 Ooi as modified discloses the invention as claimed except expressly
wherein a first end of the check valve comprises a plug (124), and a second end of the check valve comprises a mounting groove for the elastic member (mounting groove 44 in on the dividing body), wherein the Gas passage is provided with a vent (passage 1204) for matching with the plug to block the gas passage and a stopper (20) for stopping the elastic member at an opposite side of the check valve core to compress the elastic member when the check valve moves in the forward direction.
‘634 disclsoes the use of a check valve including an elastic member (30) wherein a first end of the check valve comprises a plug (124) and a second end of the check valve comprising a mounting grove for the elastic member (groove 44) wherein the gas passage is provided with a vent (passage 1204) for matching with the plug to block the gas passage and a stopper (20) for stopping the elastic member at an opposite side of the check valve core to compress the elastic member when the check valve moves in the forward direction.
It would have been an obvious matter to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of ‘634 to use the groove to mount the elastic member, the plug body and the stopper to stop the flow in the desired manner as these are well known structure in check valves known to perform he functions as desired.
3.Claims 7-8,11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ooi (US20230270967) in view of Nakayama (US20180355773) as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Ren (US20200149527).
With respect to claim 7 Ooi discloses wherein the muting housing comprises an extended partially round housing, having a first end and a second end and having cover portions thereon (the curved ends of the housing which serve to allow gas in and cooling flow out) which respectively cover both first and second ends wherein the first end cover is provided with a gas inlet and is served as an inlet end cover, and the second end cover is provided with a gas outlet and is swerved as an outlet end cover (that is to say it provides an outlet for the cooling gas flow.
Ooi does not expressly disclose the cover being a barrel and having an inlet and an outlet end covers in the manner as claimed. Ren discloses the use of a pressure valve with silencing member (270) which includes a porous silencing means (274) (see also para 28-30), further the housing of the muffling means is shown to be barrel shaped (see embodiment of figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of Ren to have a check valve with muffler combined in a unit with the teachings of Ooi to provide a check valve associated with the release of air to the environment and a muffler (see figure 2). The motivation for doing so would be to provide a simplified installation of the structures by combining them into one unit to be attached by threaded fastening means.
With respect to claim 8 Ooi as modified further discloses wherein the gas inlet comprises an inlet through hole formed at a center of the inlet end cover( figure 4c of Ren and figures 1 and 2 of Ooi) the gas outlet comprises a plurality of outlet holes formed on the outlet end cover and arranged at intervals along a circumference of the outlet end cover (see openings 272 as taught by embodiment of figure 4b of Ren) The use of a plurality of openings would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing so as to reduce backpressure.
With respect to claims 11 and 12 Ooi as modified further discloses wherein the check valve assembly further comprises an exhaust barrel (see 270 of Rin); a first end of the exhaust barrel is in a closed shape (see embodiment of figure 2 Rin) and a second end of the exhaust barrel is in an open shape (that is to say the inlet to the exhaust barrel as shown in figure 2); the second end of the exhaust barrel is connected to an outlet end of the gas passage, and an exhaust hole is provided on a barrel wall of the exhaust barrel (see figure 4b element 272).
4.Claims 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ooi (US20230270967) in view of Nakayama (US20180355773) as applied to claim2 above, and further in view of Guo (CN211141526).
With respect to claim 13 and 14 Ooi as modified discloses the invention as claimed except expressly comprising a spigot joint mounted at the gas inlet. The use of such spigot joint valves in an oxygen concentrator are known from at least Guo (see figures 6-9). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of Guo to use such a spigot valve with the oxygen concentrator of Ooi so as to allow for the flow therethrough.
5. Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ooi (US20230270967) in view of Nakayama (US20180355773) as applied to claim15 above, and further in view of Lin (US20230347094).
With respect to claim 16 Ooi further discloses the use of an inlet filter (108 serves both as a muffler and as a filter in that it removes moisture thus filtering moisture from the air), an inlet muffler (again element 108 serves both functions both the reduction of sound and in filtering the flow, the formation of this single element into separate elements would have been an obvious matter to one of ordinary skill as it has been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill in the art. Nerwin V. Erlichman, 168 USPQ 177, 179.),
an air compressor (200, see also para 46), an oxygen storage tank (302), an oxygen filter (129 see para 82),
wherein the inlet filter, the inlet muffler and the air compressor are in sequential communication with each other; the oxygen storage tank and the oxygen filter are in communication with one another,
while not expressly taught to be in the claimed sequency the rearrangement of the parts so as to provide filtering to the gas exiting the tank would have been an obvious matter as it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Further wherein the adsorption tower comprises an air inlet and an exhaust oxygen exhaust port (174), wherein the air inlet (108) and the oxygen exhaust port are in communication with the filling chamber; and air discharge port (133) of the air compressor is in communication with the air inlet, and an oxygen inlet of the oxygen storage tank is in communication with the oxygen exhaust port (see again figure 2 of Ooi).
Ooi as modified does not discloses the inclusion of a humidification cup.
Lin discloses (para 32) the use of a humidification cup with an oxygen concentrator.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of Lin to use a humidification cup with the oxygen concentrator of Ooi so as to enhance user comfort by providing humid air rather than dry air.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 2-8, and 11-16 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FORREST M PHILLIPS whose telephone number is (571)272-9020. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dedei Hammond can be reached at (571) 272-3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/FORREST M PHILLIPS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
Prosecution Insights