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.
Claim(s) 3, 4, 14, 17, 21 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tom (US 9,103,104 B1) in view of Barker, II (US 5,934,362), Kim et al. (CN 114623543 A) and Xu et al. (US 2009/0052175 A1).
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Regarding claim 3, Tom teaches an airflow control system comprising:
an air blower (190) having an outlet port (192 – exhaust air output channel), from which an airflow with directivity is allowed to blow out;
a supplier (194; side air inlet opening);
a lighting fixture (light box 60 and light bulb 50; see at least figure 5-7) configured to emit light having directivity in a direction aligned with a direction in which the airflow blows out from the outlet port of the air blower (see at least figure 5-7); and
a controller configured to control the air blower and the lighting fixture (column 2, lines 7-16).
Tom does not explicitly teach the [supplier] configured to supply the airflow blowing out from the outlet port with a functional material to be eventually emitted into the air.
Barker, II teaches a supplier (see claim 1 of Barker II where a fan assembly having an inlet for receiving stale air and a fan assembly outlet is disclosed) configured to supply airflow blowing out from the outlet port with a functional material (fragrance generator coupled to the fan assembly; see claim 10 of Barker II; fragrance agent 244) to be eventually emitted into the air (see column 10, lines 29-42 where fragrance is delivered into the environment is disclosed).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify Tom to include a function material that be eventually emitted into the air as taught by Barker, II to provide a fragrance to the bathroom environment to provide a more pleasant experience (see column 12, lines 29-42 of Barker, II).
Tom modified by Barker, II does not explicitly teach wherein: the [air blower] includes a cylindrical member having a first end and a second end, the cylindrical member having an inlet port for a gas at the first end and the outlet port at the second end, and the lighting fixture is arranged to surround the outlet port of the cylindrical member.
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Kim et al. (CN 114623543 A) teaches an air blower (fan module 70; figure 12) includes a cylindrical member (figure 12) having a first end and a second end (see top portion above 70 and bottom portion below 70 in at least figure 12), the cylindrical member having an inlet port (inlet part 24) for a gas at the first end and the outlet port (31) at the second end (see at least figure 12), and the lighting fixture (190) is arranged to surround the outlet port (31) of the cylindrical member (see at least figure 12 where illuminating part 190 is positioned above and surrounding the outlet port 31).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify Tom to include a cylindrical member having an inlet and outlet port and the light fixture surrounding the outlet port as taught by Kim et al. to realize the air quality effectively visualize and display the illumination of the device (see abstract of Kim et al.).
Tom modified by Barker, II and Kim et al. does not explicilty teach the lighting fixture is arranged such that, when viewed in a direction aligned with a direction in which the airflow blows, the lighting fixture is located on a periphery of the outlet port of the cylindrical member and surrounds to surround the outlet port of the cylindrical member without overlapping the outlet port.
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Xu et al. teaches the lighting fixture (figure 2; LED module 20) is arranged such that, when viewed in a direction aligned with a direction in which the airflow blows (airflow not shown but fan 50 is positioned on a top center portion of 42 and blows air toward heatsink 30), the lighting fixture (20) is located on a periphery of the outlet port of the [cylindrical] member (see figure 2 where LEDs 22 of the LED module 20 are positioned on the periphery of the heatsink 30; see paragraph [0015]) and surrounds to surround the outlet port of the [cylindrical] member (30) without overlapping the outlet port (see claim 1 of Xu et al. where airflow outlet is disclosed).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify Tom to position the lighting fixture on a periphery of the outlet port without overlapping the outlet port as taught by Xu et al. so that the light fixture has an improved heat dissipating capability for preventing the light fixture from overheating (see paragraph [0021] of Xu et al.).
Regarding claim 7, Tom teaches the airflow control system of claim 3, wherein the controller is configured to control the air blower in a plurality of control modes including: a first control mode (column 2, lines 7-16); and a second control mode different from the first control mode (column 2, lines 7-16), a velocity of the airflow blowing out from the outlet port of the air blower when the controller controls the air blower in the second control mode is lower than a velocity of the airflow blowing out from the outlet port of the air blower when the controller controls the air blower in the first control mode, and the controller is configured to control the lighting fixture to change a lighting pattern of the lighting fixture depending on whether the controller (column 2, lines 7-16) controls the air blower in the first control mode or in the second control mode.
Regarding claim 14, Tom teaches the airflow control system of claim 3, wherein
the controller (column 2, lines 7-16) is configured to control, according to a velocity of the airflow allowed to blow out from the outlet port of the air blower (190), an irradiation range of the light emitted from the lighting fixture (65; see at least figure 7).
Regarding claim 17, Tom teaches the airflow control system of claim 3, wherein
the controller (column 2, lines 7-16) is configured to control the air blower in a plurality of control modes including:
a first control mode (column 2, lines 7-16); and
a second control mode (column 2, lines 7-16) different from the first control mode,
a velocity of the airflow blowing out from the outlet port of the air blower (190) when the controller controls the air blower in the second control mode is lower than a velocity of the airflow blowing out from the outlet port of the air blower when the controller controls the air blower in the first control mode (column 2, lines 7-16), and
the controller (column 2, lines 7-16) is configured to control the lighting fixture to change, depending on whether the controller controls the air blower (190) in the first control mode or in the second control mode, a color temperature of the light emitted from the lighting fixture (65).
Regarding claim 21, Tom teaches the airflow control system of claim 3, wherein the controller is configured to control the supplier (see column 2, lines 7-16).
Regarding claim 24, Tom modified by Barker, II, Kim et al. and Xu et al. teaches the airflow control system of claim 3, but Tom does not explitcilty teach wherein the lighting fixture includes a plurality of light sources that are arranged to surround the outlet port of the cylindrical member.
Xu et al. teaches wherein the lighting fixture (figure 2) includes a plurality of light sources (LEDs 22) that are arranged to surround the outlet port of the [cylindrical] member (30; see figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify Tom to position the light sources on a periphery of the outlet port as taught by Xu et al. so that the light fixture has an improved heat dissipating capability for preventing the light fixture from overheating (see paragraph [0021] of Xu et al.).
Claim(s) 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tom (US 9,103,104 B1) in view of Barker, II (US 5,934,362), Kim et al. (CN 114623543 A) and Xu et al. (US 2009/0052175 A1) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Lee (US 2012/0300433 A1).
Regarding claim 19, Tom modified by Barker, II, Kim et al. and Xu et al. teaches the airflow control system of claim 1, but are silent about further teaches wherein the functional material is supplied to the airflow in a form of mist.
Lee teaches a functional material that is supplied to the airflow in a form of mist (see claim 1 of Lee et al. where a liquid is converted into mist).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify Tom to include a function material that is a mist as taught by Lee to produce and provide both visual and olfactory effects to bring about a more pleasant environment (see paragraph [0005] of Lee).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 3, 7, 14, 17, 19, 21 and 24 have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection necessitated by applicant’s amendment and arguments against the rejection of record, Tom in view of Barker II and Kim et al.
Applicant amended independent claim 3 to include the limitation, “the lighting fixture is arranged such that, when viewed in a direction aligned with a direction in which the airflow blows, the lighting fixture is located on a periphery of the outlet port of the cylindrical member and surrounds the outlet port of the cylindrical member without overlapping the outlet port.” A new reference, Xu et al., has been found to teach the newly recited limitation. Therefore, independent claim 3 remains rejected. Claims 7, 14, 17, 19, 21 and 24 are rejected based on dependency on a rejected base claim.
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.
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/JESSICA M APENTENG/Examiner, Art Unit 2875
/ABDULMAJEED AZIZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2875