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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “lock” recited in claims 21-23 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 27 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 27 recites “said at least one media column” and “the carrier body” which lack antecedent basis due to the claim’s dependency to claim 15
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 15, 17-18 and 27-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpiger (US 10246877 B1) in view of Frantz (US 11371744 B2) and Luedi (US 20150087218 A1).
Regarding claim 15, Alpiger teaches of:
A laboratory assembly (Fig. 2, 1), the assembly comprising:
at least one workbench (Figs. 1-2, there are central workbenches 4a, 4b and workbenches arranged along the edges of the laboratory 2) having a rear longitudinal edge (connection point between 4a and 4b is along the rear longitudinal edge) and a ventilation system (see ventilation system attached to ceiling 12 via 6) arranged above said workbench (the ventilation system is above 4a and 4b), said ventilation system having a central supply air channel (8a+8b) being a combined air supply channel (the interior portion of 8a+8b is the air supply channel) and air outlet (Col. 4, lines 19-29, “The first air supply conduit 8a has air outlets or exits. The outlets are preferably slot-shaped (not shown in detail) and are arranged on the bottom wall and/or lateral side wall to direct the air toward the walking area. The first air supply conduit 8a may be fastened to the under or bottom sides of the first extension arms 14a. A second air supply conduit 8b, preferably a mirror image to the first air supply conduit 8a, is received on the lower side of the second extension arms 14b and accordingly extends above the right side or second row 4b of the laboratory table row 4”), and an exhaust air channel (34) above said central-supply air channel (34 is above 8a+8b), and said ventilation system being received above said workbench on a frame of support profiles (the ventilation system is attached to frame 6 above 4a and 4b)
Alpiger fails to explicitly teach:
air guiding panels being arranged on a first and second side of said central- supply air channel, said air guiding panels having panel edges angled in an upwards direction and being configured to deflect air which has been heated under said workbench by laboratory equipment and/or EDP devices; and
a gap arranged along said rear longitudinal edges of said workbench, and the air being guided to rise through said gap away from said central supply air channel in an upwards direction into a room region above said air guiding panels.
Frantz teaches of:
air guiding panels (Figs. 11-13, 232) being arranged on a first and second side of said central- supply air channel (Fig. 13, 232 is positioned on both sides of 820), said air guiding panels having panel edges angled in an upwards direction (232 is angled in an upward direction) and being configured to deflect air which has been heated under said workbench by laboratory equipment and/or EDP devices (this function would occur with the given structure in the combined teachings)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
attach panels 232 on the left and right sides of 8a+8b at 14a and 14b
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
the are guiding panels of Frantz are acoustic panels which would absorb sound generated in the laboratory (Col. 8, lines 49-53, “the ceiling panel is an acoustic panel. The acoustic panel can be made from a range of fibers, porous materials including mineral fiber, wood wool, fiberglass, rock wool, sintered metals, foamed polymeric materials, and perforated metals, for example.”)
Luedi teaches of:
a gap (Figs. 2-3, 100) arranged along said rear longitudinal edges of said workbench (100 is arranged on a rear longitudinal side 120), and the air being guided to rise through said gap away from said central supply air channel in an upwards direction into a room region above said air guiding panels (Fig. 2, see arrows denoting airflow flowing through gap 100 in an upward direction).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify all workbenches in the laboratory of Alpiger to be the workbenches of Luedi
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for heat generated under a workbench of typical laboratory appliances to flow upward and out of the area under the workbench, preventing heat accumulation (Luedi, ¶ [0013], “The invention is characterized in that at least one of the work tables, but preferably all of the work tables, have around their back a slit-like opening through which warm air, which is generated for example by electrical appliances such as workstation computers, refrigerators, plug socket strips etc., as well as also the body heat from personnel working at the tables, can flow upward out from the area underneath the table top.”)
Regarding claim 17, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory assembly of claim 15, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein, the air guiding panels are made of a sound-absorbing plastics foam (Frantz, Col. 8, lines 53-54, “foamed polymeric materials”)
Regarding claim 18, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory assembly of claim 15, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein said frame has horizontal profile supports (Alpiger, Fig. 4, 28+14a+14b) opposite one another in pairs and extend away from said central supply air channel to the first and second sides (28+14a+14b extends from the central air supplies 8a and 8b and to the first and second sides of 8a and 8b), and said air guiding panels are received between and/or on the horizontal profile supports (see combination made in the rejection of claim 15 above, panels are attached to 14a and 14b)
Regarding claim 27, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory assembly according to claim 15, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein, said at least one workbench is at least two workbenches positioned mutually back-to-back (Alpiger, Fig. 2, 4a and 4b are back-to-back), said at least one media column is at least two media columns (Alpiger, there are multiple media columns; Col. 2, lines 16-22, “Additionally, shelves and/or media columns may extend from the longitudinal carrier for making available laboratory media such as technical gases, vacuum, water or electricity. The wall elements, shelves and media columns can be fastened to the longitudinal carrier in a detachable manner and can be freely positioned along the longitudinal carrier.”), and said at least two media columns are arranged between the mutually back-to-back work benches (Alpiger, Figs. 2-4, the media columns are attached to the bottoms of the support profiles 6 which are positioned centrally between 4a and 4b; Col. 4, lines 5-9, “The vertical column elements 6a are preferably arranged centrally over an imaginary vertical central plane which runs down the center of the table row or between the opposing back sides of the tables 4 of the first and second row 4a, 4b”); and
said at least two workbenches has a clear distance between the rear longitudinal edges of the mutually back-to-back workbenches, said clear distance is greater than twice the depth of the profile of the carrier body at a height of the rear longitudinal edges of the worktops (the two workbenches of 4a and 4b can be arranged in rows at a distance from one another, such an arrangement where the clear distance is greater than twice the depth of the profile of the carrier is possible)
Regarding claim 28, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory assembly of claim 15, and the combined teachings further teach:
A method of operating a laboratory assembly, the method comprising:
providing the laboratory assembly according to claim 15;
angling a panel edge of the air guiding panel in an upwards direction (Frantz, Fig. 13, 232 are angled in an upward direction);
deflecting air, which has been heated under the workbenches by laboratory equipment and/or EDP devices, via the panel edge (air rising from under the workbenches in the combined teachings would be deflected by the panels); and
guiding air to rise through the gap provided along the rear longitudinal edges of the workbench, away from the central supply air channel, in the upwards direction, into the room region above the air guiding panels (air rising from the gap in the combined teachings would be guided by the panels up and away from the central panels).
Claim(s) 19-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpiger (US 10246877 B1) in view of Frantz (US 11371744 B2) and Luedi (US 20150087218 A1) and in further view of Wendt (US 6467228 B1).
Regarding claim 19, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory assembly according to claim 15, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein said air guiding panels are each pivotable about pivot axes.
Wendt teaches of:
wherein said air guiding panels are each pivotable about pivot axes (Figs. 1-6, 10 is pivotable about 36)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the ends of 14a and 14b of Alpiger to match the shape of 36 and modify the ends of the panels of Frantz attached to 14a and 14b to match the shape of 24 of the panel of Wendt, further modify the distal end of the panel of Frantz to match the shape of 26 of Wendt and add attachment 12 positioned to receive the distal end at a position higher than 24 so that the panel can maintain its upward angle
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It would allow for the panels to be pivoted downward providing access to the space above the panels (Wendt, abstract, “The invention is directed to a hinged ceiling panel, which is pivotally attached to a suspended ceiling grid structure to provide for a hinged ceiling panel that pivots to allow access to the area above the grid”)
Regarding claim 20, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory assembly according to claim 19, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein said air guiding panels are configured to be folded down about the pivot axes with their angled panel edges, such that access is provided to said supply lines and/or to ceiling-side supply points (Wendt, Fig. 6, see panel 10 being folded down about the pivot axis at 24 on the right side of the page and 26 in the combined teachings would be the angled panel edges of the panel of Frantz).
Regarding claim 21, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory assembly according to claim 20, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein said air guiding panels are configured to be fixed in their horizontal working positions by lock (Wendt, Figs. 3-4, 48 is the lock that holds 10 in its working position)
Regarding claim 22, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory assembly according to claim 21, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the lock is at least one of spring-loaded displaceable locking bolts (Wendt, Figs. 3-4, 48 acts as a spring-loaded displaceable locking bolt as it deflects past 42 and locks the panel 10 in place), displaceable spring-loaded locking balls, and permanent magnets fastened to the lateral edges of the air guiding panels.
Regarding claim 23, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory according to claim 21, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein said lock interacts with corresponding complementary mates on horizontal profile supports on said frame (Wendt, Fig. 3, see complementary mates 42 locks with 48)
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpiger (US 10246877 B1) in view of Frantz (US 11371744 B2) and Luedi (US 20150087218 A1) and in further view of Mei (CN 107476484 A).
Regarding claim 16, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory assembly according to claim 15, and the combined teachings further teach:
said air guiding panels have one longitudinal edge in a region above the associated central supply air channel and the other free longitudinal edge is angled in the upwards direction (in the combined teachings the air guiding panels are attached to the ends of 14a and 14b of Alpiger which are above the central supply air channel 8a+8b of Alpiger and further the air guiding panels extend upward from their attachment so that their free longitudinal edge is angled in the upwards direction)
The combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein, said air guiding panels have a curved air-guiding surface directed downwards and is a flattened horizontal S shape or a lever shape
Mei teaches of:
wherein, said air guiding panels have a curved air-guiding surface directed downwards (Fig. 1, the panel 2 is curved and the air guiding surface from the free longitudinal edge to the longitudinal edge connected to 3 is directed downwards) and is a flattened horizontal S shape or a lever shape (2 is lever shaped)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the air guiding panels to be curved on either side of the central air supply as shown in Fig. 1 of Mei
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the air to be guided smoothly off the surface of the air guiding panels, improving efficiency of the system and increasing airflow to the exhaust above the central air supply (Mei, ¶ [0036], “The two shorter sides of the main body of the ceiling unit are bent upward to form a curved surface. This arc-shaped ceiling form can avoid excessive interference with the climate in the venue”)
Claim(s) 24-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpiger (US 10246877 B1) in view of Frantz (US 11371744 B2) and Luedi (US 20150087218 A1) and in further view of Montague (US 5618090 A), Sigg (EP 0800865 A2) and Ludi (US 20080202050 A1).
Regarding claim 24, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory assembly according to claim 15, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising:
at least one media column (Alpiger, Col. 2, lines 16-22, “Additionally, shelves and/or media columns may extend from the longitudinal carrier for making available laboratory media such as technical gases, vacuum, water or electricity. The wall elements, shelves and media columns can be fastened to the longitudinal carrier in a detachable manner and can be freely positioned along the longitudinal carrier.”)
The combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
further comprising:
at least one media column with a carrier body that extends in a vertical direction;
at least one module element detachably fastened on a front side of said carrier body, said at least one module element being configured to receive gaseous and/or liquid media supplied via supply lines, and said at least one module element having a housing with a front side;
at least one extraction fitting being received in said front side of said housing, said extraction fitting being configured to output the gaseous and/or liquid media;
said carrier body having a flat rigid profile elongated in the vertical direction, said profile being fastened by a first lower end on an upper side of a standing platform;
said at least one module element being arranged on said front side of said profile at a distance from the upper side of the standing platform such that an underside of said housing is located at a small distance above the worktop of the workbench and the housing protrudes over the worktop; and
said supply lines having flexible line portions configured to be guided in a curved manner from a second upper end of the profile to a ceiling-side supply point for the media.
Montague teaches of:
further comprising:
at least one media column (Fig. 1, 10) with a carrier body that extends in a vertical direction (Figs. 1-2, 16+18+20+22 make up the carrier body);
at least one module element (Fig. 1, 26+58+59) fastened on a front side of said carrier body (Figs. 1 and 14, 59 is mounted onto horizontal member 26 on a front side of the carrier body), said at least one module element being configured to receive gaseous and/or liquid media supplied via supply lines (59+58 receives gaseous media via supply lines 91 that extend from the ceiling via 12; Col. 4, lines 1-3, “A gas flow meter 58 is attached to a gas block 59 mounted on the horizontal member 26. The vertical members 16, 18, 20 and 22 have internal raceways to route gas conduits 68 to the gas rail 63. The gas rail 63 is connected to a flow meter 58 by a gas line hose 91 shown in FIG. 10”; Col. 4, lines 44-45, “Cap 12 feeds the various gas lines 68 and high voltage electrical conduits 71”) said at least one module element having a housing with a front side (26 defines the housing with a front side);
at least one extraction fitting (Fig. 1, 58) being received in said front side of said housing (59 is received on the front of 26), said extraction fitting being configured to output the gaseous and/or liquid media (58 is a gas flow meter for outputting gas);
said carrier body having a flat rigid profile elongated in the vertical direction (16+18+20+22 all have flat rigid profiles elongated in a vertical direction), said profile being fastened by a first lower end on an upper side of a standing platform (16+18+20+22 are connected to 14);
said at least one module element being arranged on said front side of said profile at a distance from the upper side of the standing platform (Fig. 1, 26+58+59 is arranged on the front side of the profile defined by 16+18+20+22 and is at a distance from the upper side of 14)
and said supply lines having flexible line portions (Figs. 1 and 8-10, supply line 59 has a further flexible line portion 68; Col. 4, lines 1-3, “internal raceways to route gas conduits 68 to the gas rail 63. The gas rail 63 is connected to a flow meter 58 by a gas line hose 91 shown in FIG. 10”) configured to be guided in a curved manner (Fig. 9, 68 is guided in a curved manner) from a second upper end of the profile (Figs. 8-9, 45) to a ceiling-side supply point for the media (Fig. 8, 68 is guided through 45 to 41 which connects to the ceiling).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace the media column of Alpiger with the media column of Montague
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
the media column of Montague can be moved around the room via rollers while utilizing pivotable arms connected to the ceiling to guide electrical and gas conduits into the media column without tangling
Sigg teaches of:
at least one module element detachably fastened on a front side of said carrier body (Fig. 1, modules 12 are detachable from the carrier 9; ¶ [0030], “Since all vertical branch lines are equipped with hoses, module 12 can be easily disassembled and removed from its holding position. Then the hoses 45 can be removed and the module can be positioned in a different location. It is also possible to retrofit a fitting, and retrofits of the same media can be easily carried out by simply inserting an additional coupling piece into the branch line”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
make 26+58+59 of Montague detachable
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It would allow for the position of the modules to be rearranged as needed for particular situations
Ludi teaches of:
such that an underside of said housing is located at a small distance above the worktop of the workbench and the housing protrudes over the worktop (Fig. 2, 40 is a media column positioned above the worktop of workbench 4)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
position the module of 26+58+59 of Montague when in the laboratory of Alpiger so that it is at a small distance above the worktop of the workbenches
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the user of the workbench to access the module easily while working at a workbench
Regarding claim 25, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory assembly according to claim 24, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the standing platform has rollers on an underside of said standing platform (Montague, Fig. 1, 32), said rollers having axes of rotation with a rotational plane extending in parallel with the front side of the profile (32 are typical rollers that pivot about an axis parallel to the front side of 16+18+20+22; Col. 3, lines, 43-44, “The base member 14 has mounted therein multi- directional casters 32”).
Regarding claim 26, the combined teachings teach of the laboratory assembly according to claim 25, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the media column is arranged having the front side of the profile adjacent the rear longitudinal edge of the worktop of a workbench, and the housing of a lowest module element extends above the upper side of the worktop, such that the media column can be moved to different positions in the lateral direction along the rear longitudinal edge of the worktop of the workbench (in the combined teachings neither the media column of Montague or the workbenches of Alpiger are stationary and can be rearranged as desired about the laboratory, therefore it is possible to rearranged the media column of Montague to be positioned so that the front side of the profile Is adjacent the rear longitudinal edge of the workbench)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL J GIORDANO whose telephone number is (571)272-8940. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fr 8 AM - 5 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at (571) 272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/HELENA KOSANOVIC/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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