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 .
Status of Application
Claims 1-14 & 18 are pending and have been examined in this application. This communication is the first action on the merits. The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed on 05/31/2024, 09/12/2024, 04/25/2025 & 11/04/2025 have been considered by the Examiner.]
Claim Objections
Claims 13-14 are objected to because of the following informalities: In Claim 13, the semi-colon at the end of line 1 should be a colon. Appropriate correction is required. Claim 14 is objected to due to their dependency on Claim 13.
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.
(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) 1-9, 11-14 & 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KR102186471B1 to Kwon.
A) As per Claims 1 & 18, Kwon teaches an air-conditioning clothing for air-conditioning an inner space that exists between a wearer and the air-conditioning clothing is worn by the wearer (Kwon: Figure 1), comprising:
a clothing body (Kwon: Figure 1, Item 1) that can be worn by the wearer;
an attaching portion (Kwon: Figure 7, Item 20) provided on the clothing body and capable of attaching and detaching the air-conditioning fan unit; and
an air-conditioning fan unit (Kwon: Figure 1, Item 10) comprises:
an air-conditioning fan unit that has an air intake inlet portion (Kwon: Figure 4, Item 11a) for taking in outside air from outside the air-conditioning clothing, and has an exhaust outlet portion (Kwon: Figure 4, Item 12a) for exhausting airflow into an inside of the air-conditioning clothing;
a first cylindrical portion (Kwon: Figure 4, Item 11) that has one end and the other end located between the air intake inlet portion and the exhaust outlet portion;
a second cylindrical portion (Kwon: Figure 4, Item 12) that has one end and the other end located between the air intake inlet portion and the exhaust outlet portion; and
a fan unit (Kwon: Figure 4, Item 15) that is housed in a space surrounded by the first cylindrical portion and the second cylindrical portion, the fan unit having a plurality of fins provided to generate airflow from the air intake inlet portion toward the exhaust outlet portion by rotating around a rotation center line,
wherein the exhaust outlet portion is provided with a plurality of ribs (Kwon: Figure 5, ribs between each Item 12a, all at angles in 6 sets in different directions to making airflow pattern as shown in Figure 8) for adjusting the direction of the exhaust airflow to a preset setting direction from the direction of the airflow taken in from the air intake inlet portion.
B) As per Claim 2, Kwon teaches that each of the plurality of ribs has a plate-like shape (Kwon: Figure 5, ribs between each Item 12a, all at angles in 6 sets in different directions to making airflow pattern as shown in Figure 8).
C) As per Claim 3, Kwon teaches that at least some of the plurality of ribs are inclined with respect to the rotation center line so that the direction of airflow discharged from the exhaust port is adjusted to the setting direction (Kwon: Figure 5, ribs between each Item 12a, all at angles in 6 sets in different directions to making airflow pattern as shown in Figure 8).
D) As per Claim 4, Kwon teaches that at least some of the plurality of ribs are set to have different inclinations with respect to the rotation center line (Kwon: Figure 5, ribs between each Item 12a, all at angles in 6 sets in different directions to making airflow pattern as shown in Figure 8).
E) As per Claim 5, Kwon teaches that the plurality of ribs are set differently in stages so that the inclination with respect to the rotation center line is adjusted to a preset setting direction from the direction of the airflow taken in from the air intake inlet portion (Kwon: Figure 5, ribs between each Item 12a, all at angles in 6 sets in different directions to making airflow pattern as shown in Figure 8).
F) As per Claim 6, Kwon teaches that the setting direction is inclined in a direction from the rotation center line toward a collar provided at a top of the air-conditioning clothing, in a state where the air conditioning fan unit is attached to the air-conditioning clothing (Kwon: Figure 5, ribs between each Item 12a, all at angles in 6 sets in different directions to making airflow pattern as shown in Figure 8, some of which are toward the collar).
G) As per Claim 7, Kwon teaches that the setting direction is set in a plurality of directions (Kwon: Figure 5, ribs between each Item 12a, all at angles in 6 sets in different directions to making airflow pattern as shown in Figure 8).
H) As per Claim 8, Kwon teaches that the air conditioning fan unit exhausts airflow from the exhaust outlet portion into the interior of the air-conditioning clothing in the setting direction toward the collar provided on the upper part of the air-conditioning clothing, in a state where the air conditioning fan unit is attached to an attachment portion located on the lower side of the air-conditioning clothing (Kwon: Figure 5, ribs between each Item 12a, all at angles in 6 sets in different directions to making airflow pattern as shown in Figure 8, some of which are toward the collar).
I) As per Claim 9, Kwon teaches that the first cylindrical portion has a first fixing mechanism provided on a side surface of the first cylindrical portion (Kwon: Figure 6, Item 11c),
wherein the second cylindrical portion includes: a flange (Kwon: Figure 5, Item 12c) provided to surround a side surface of the second cylindrical portion; and a second fixing mechanism (Kwon: Figure 5, Item 12f) provided on a side surface of the second cylindrical portion between the flange and the other end of the second cylindrical portion, and
wherein, in a state where the other end of the second cylindrical portion is inserted from the other end of the first cylindrical portion into the inside of the first cylindrical portion to a preset insertion position, the first fixing mechanism and the second fixing mechanism is fixed, whereby the first cylindrical portion and the second cylindrical portion are fixed, and the air-conditioning fan unit is attached to the attachment portion of the air-conditioning clothing by sandwiching the attachment portion of the air-conditioning clothing between the other end of the first cylindrical portion and the flange of the second cylindrical portion (Kwon: screw portions come together to sandwich Item 20).
J) As per Claim 11, Kwon teaches that the first fixing mechanism is provided on the inner surface of the first cylindrical portion, wherein the flange is provided so as to surround the outer surface of the second cylindrical portion, and wherein the second fixing mechanism is provided on the outer surface of the second cylindrical portion so as to be located between the flange and the other end of the second cylindrical portion (Kwon: Figure 7, Item 11c & 12f).
K) As per Claim 12, Kwon teaches that the one end of the first cylindrical portion is connected to the air intake inlet portion, and the other end of the first cylindrical portion is open (Kwon: Figures 5-6, Item 11), and wherein the one end of the second cylindrical portion is connected to the exhaust outlet portion, and the other end of the second cylindrical portion is open (Kwon: Figures 5-6, Item 12).
L) As per Claim 13, Kwon teaches an intake casing that includes the air intake inlet portion and the first cylindrical portion as an intake cylindrical portion and is attached to the outside of the air-conditioning clothing; and an exhaust casing that includes the exhaust outlet portion and the second cylindrical portion as an exhaust cylindrical portion and is attached to the inside of the air-conditioning clothing (Kwon: Figures 5-6, Items 11 & 12).
M) As per Claim 14, Kwon teaches that the first fixing mechanism and the second fixing mechanism are fixed by rotating the intake casing relative to the exhaust casing, whereby the intake casing and the exhaust casing are fixed, and the fan unit is housed in a space surrounded by the intake casing and the exhaust casing (Kwon: screw portions come together to sandwich Item 20).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALLEN SCHULT whose telephone number is (571)272-8511. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-5PM.
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/Allen R. B. Schult/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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