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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Priority
The applicant’s priority to 371 application PCT/DE2023/100102 filed on February 8th, 2023 has been accepted.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements filed on May 14th, 2024 and September 13th, 2024 have been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 16-28 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.
The term “substantially” in claim 16 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. This claim will be interpreted as if the term “substantially” were removed. Additionally claim 16 is rendered indefinite for reciting “the stirring containers (L12-13).” It is unclear how many are required because the claim previously states “at least one stirring container.” This claim will be interpreted as if the phrase “the stirring containers” was “the at least one stirring container.”
Claim 19 is rendered indefinite for reciting “the compensation container” and “the stirring container.” There is no antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims. The claim will be interpreted as if it read “the at least one compensation container” and “the at least one stirring container.”
Claim 20 is rendered indefinite for disclosing “the compensation container” and “the second and optionally further stirring containers.” There is no antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims. The claim will be interpreted as if it read “the at least one compensation container” and “the at least two stirring containers”
Claim 21 is rendered indefinite for disclosing “the compensation container.” There is no antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims. The claim will be interpreted as if it read “the at least one compensation container.”
Claim 23 is rendered indefinite for reciting “the containers.” There is no antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
Claim 24 is rendered indefinite for reciting “the stirring containers.” There is no antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims. This claim will be interpreted as if it read “the at least two stirring containers”
Claim 25 is rendered indefinite for reciting “the compensation container.” There is no antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims. This claim will be interpreted as if it read “the at least one compensation container.
Claim 26 is rendered indefinite for reciting “the inlet” There is no antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
Claim 27 is rendered indefinite for reciting “the ground material of the plastic waste mixture.” There is no antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims. Claim 27 will be interpreted as if it depended on claim 17.
Claim 28 is rendered indefinite for reciting “the hydrocyclone.” There is no antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims. This claim will be interpreted as if it read “the at least one hydrocyclone.
Claims 17-18, and 22 are rejected by virtue of their dependencies.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 16-17, 19, and 27-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Neureither et al. (US 5948276), hereafter Neureither.
With regards to claim 16, Neureither discloses an arrangement for the self-sufficient regulation of liquid levels in a plastics recycling process (Abstract), comprising: at least one compensation container (sorting centrifuge 20), and at least one stirring container (mixing vessel 10) which has a stirring device (mixer 26) which rotates about a vertical axis ( Fig. 1), wherein the compensation container and the stirring container are filled with a process water (separation liquid 11; Col. 3, L32-33), so that the compensation container has a first liquid level and the stirring container has a second liquid level, wherein the at least one compensation container is fluidically connected (via line 28) to the stirring container, so that the process water can flow freely between the compensation container and the stirring container, as a result of which the first and the second liquid level of the at least one compensation container and of the at least one stirring container are the same (no structure to prevent this device from being used in this manner) wherein at least one hydrocyclone (15) is arranged downstream of the stirring containers in terms of process technology.
With regards to claim 17, Neureither discloses all the elements of claim 16 as outlined above. Neureither further discloses wherein the process water contains ground material of a plastics waste mixture having an inhomogeneous bulk density (Abstract).
With regards to claim 19, Neureither discloses all the elements of claim 16 as outlined above. Neureither further discloses wherein the compensation container further has an inlet via which process water flows (feed device 14) into the compensation container.
With regards to claim 27, Neureither discloses all the elements of claim 17 as outlined above. Neureither further discloses wherein the at least one hydrocyclone is configured to separate the ground material of the plastic waste mixture depending on a predeterminable density separation cut (Col. 2, L60-67).
With regards to claim 28, Neureither discloses all the elements of claim 27 as outlined above. Neureither further discloses wherein the hydrocyclone has an inlet for process water (running device 13), a first outlet for a light fraction (overflow 16); and a second outlet for a heavy fraction (underflow 17).
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) 20-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Neureither .
With regards to claim 20, Neureither discloses all the elements of claim 16 as outlined above. Neureither does not directly disclose which has at least two or more stirring containers fluidically connected to the compensation container, wherein the at least two stirring containers each have a liquid level which is equal to the first and the second liquid level. However, this is a simple duplication of parts and is therefore rendered obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to increase throughput (MPEP 2144.04.VI. B).
With regards to claim 21, Neureither discloses all the elements of claim 20 as outlined above. Neureither further discloses wherein the at least two stirring containers are fluidically connected to the compensation container via a respective pipeline (line 11).
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Neureither as applied to claims 16 above, and further in view of Kong et al. (CN 108340510), hereafter Kong.
With regards to claim 18, Neureither discloses all the elements of claim 16 as outlined above. Neureither further discloses the at least one stirring container has at least one vent opening above the liquid level (Fig. 1). Neureither does not disclose wherein the at least one compensation container has at least one vent opening above the respective liquid level. However, Kong discloses wherein the at least one compensation container (6) has at least one vent opening above the liquid level (Fig. 1). It would be obvious to have the compensation container have a vent opening to let the water flow more freely in the device.
Claim(s) 22-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Neureither as applied to claims 20 and 21 above, and further in view of Kong.
With regards to claim 22, Neureither discloses all the elements of claim 21 as outlined above. Neureither does not disclose wherein the connections of the pipelines each open into the respective container below the first and/or the second predetermined liquid level.
However, Kong discloses wherein the connections of a pipeline opens into the respective container below the first and/or the second predetermined liquid level (Fig 1). It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to locate the pipelines disclosed by Neureither in the manner disclosed by Kong in order to avoid contaminating process water.
With regards to claim 23, Neureither discloses all the elements of claim 21 as outlined above. Neureither does not disclose wherein the containers each have the same container height and the connections each open into the respective container at a height between half and two thirds of the container height.
However, Kong discloses wherein the containers each have the same container height and the connections each open into the respective container at a height between half and two thirds of the container height (Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to structure the container size and the pipeline as disclosed by Neureither in the manner disclosed by Kong in order to make things more uniform so that anomalies can be easily detected.
With regards to claim 24, Neureither discloses all the elements of claim 21 as outlined above. Neureither does not disclose wherein the pipelines are each flanged tangentially to the stirring containers via their connections on the stirring container side. However, Kong discloses a tangential pipeline connecting a stirring container and a compensation container (Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to tangentially attach the pipelines disclosed by Neureither in the manner disclosed by Kong in order to increase flow velocity to increase efficiency.
Claim(s) 25-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Neureither as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Rothon et al (US 4563274), hereafter Rothon.
With regards to claim 25, Neureither discloses all the elements of claim 16 as outlined above. Neureither does not disclose wherein the at least one compensation container has a level detection device and a control device which is configured to keep the filling level in the compensation container at a constant level.
However, Rothon discloses wherein a compensation container (tank 14) has a level detection device (rangefinder 46) and a control device (controller 44) which is configured to keep the filling level in the compensation container at a constant level (via actuator 38 on gate 34; Abstract). It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to add a level detection device and control device as disclosed by Rothon, in the arrangement disclosed by Neureither, in order for enough liquid to be in the arrangement for the components to work properly (Rothon Col. 5, L3-6)
With regards to claim 26, Neureither and Rothon disclose all the elements of claim 25 as outlined above. Neureither does not disclose wherein the control device is connected to the level detection device via a data connection and controls an actuator of a valve arranged at an inlet, via which the liquid level in the at least one compensation container can be regulated.
However, Rothon further discloses wherein the control device is connected to the level detection device via a data connection and controls an actuator (38) of a valve (gate 34) arranged at an inlet, via which the liquid level in the at least one compensation container can be regulated. Therefore, the combination of Neureither and Rothon disclose this feature.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA LYNN BURKMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5824. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30am to 6:00pm EST.
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/J.L.B./Examiner, Art Unit 3653
/MICHAEL MCCULLOUGH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3653
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