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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
-Claim 1, Line 11: “DO” should be corrected to “dissolved oxygen (DO)”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2004/0108268 A1 to Liu et al. (hereinafter “Liu”).
Regarding claim 1, Liu discloses an organic wastewater treatment apparatus for biologically treating nitrogen-containing organic wastewater in activated sludge (see paragraph [0001]), comprising (see paragraphs [0023] - [0026]; fig. 1):
a biological treatment tank at least including an anoxic tank (12) and an aerobic tank (see aerated membrane tank 16, in addition according to paragraph [0026] " ...membrane tank 16 and aerobic tank 14 may be merged by placing the membrane module 18 in a part or zone of the aerobic tank 14"),
the aerobic tank having a membrane separator (18) immersed in activated sludge therein (see membrane module 18),
the membrane separator being configured to repeat a filtration operation and a filtration pause (see paragraph [0037] " ...supply of air is increased during permeation and a lower total supply of air is provided when permeate is not produced");
a sludge return path (32) configured to return activated sludge from the aerobic tank to the anoxic tank (see paragraph [0024]: retentate return line 32);
an air release pipe provided to the aerobic tank (see pipe 40 that provides air process aerator 42 into the aerobic tank 14: the feature "air release pipe" has to be broadly interpreted as a pipe that is suitable to transport air to the aerobic tank: no further limitations can be acknowledged for such feature; paragraph [0038]); and
a switching mechanism configured to switch between supplying air to an aerator provided to the membrane separator and supplying air to the air release pipe (paragraph [0033]: "The supply of air from the blower may further be cycled between the membrane aerator 38 and the process aerator 42'),
wherein the apparatus is configured to, based on a dissolved oxygen (DO) value of the aerobic tank, supply air selectively either to the air release pipe or to the aerator via the switching mechanism (see paragraph [0034]: “An air valve 46 is provided in the air line 36, 40 leading to the higher of the aerators 38, 42 or the one which has higher air flow if both air lines 36, 40 are open. The air valve 46 may be closed partially or fully such that a major portion, substantially all or all of the air provided by the blower 44 then flows through the other of the aerators 38, 42. For example, the process aerator 42 may be located above the elevation of the membrane aerator 38 and the air valve 46 provided in the process air line 40. The relative elevations of the aerators 38, 42 and the head losses involved in flowing air to and through the aerators 38, 42 are such that, with the air valve 46 fully open, 90% or more of the air provided by the blower 44 flows through the process aerator 42. From time to time, the air valve 46 is fully, or substantially fully, closed and all, or substantially all, for example 90% or more, of the air from the blower 44 then flows to the membrane aerator 38”; see paragraph [0036]: “particularly during periods of high feed flow (demanding high dissolved oxygen level), the cycle may also be changed to increase the duration or amount of airflow to the process aerator 42 (via air releasing pipe 40) relative to the membrane aerator 38 if required to maintain an appropriate dissolved oxygen concentration in the aerobic tank 14”; paragraph [0037]: “The higher blower speed may also be used when the level of mixed liquor in the reactor 10 is high. In this case, the aeration cycle may be modified to favor the process aerator 42 (via air releasing pipe 40) to provide sufficient air to maintain aerobic conditions in the aerobic tank 14”).
Regarding claim 2, Liu discloses that the air release pipe (40) is at a position spaced apart from the sludge return path (32)(see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, Liu discloses that a discharge pressure of the air release pipe is adjusted to be equivalent to a discharge pressure of the aerator (see paragraph [0043]: “ As mentioned above, an excess of flow back towards the aerobic tank 14 can be cured by altering the retentate return line 32 so that less pressure is created in the membrane tank 16 by the membrane air. In the exemplary embodiment, the retentate return line 32 was configured so that there was no back flow from the membrane tank 16 to the aerobic tank 14 at any time during the aeration cycle.”).
Regarding claims 5-7, Liu discloses a method for operating the organic wastewater treatment apparatus of claims 1-3 respectively including the step, in response to a DO value of the aerobic tank exceeding a predetermined threshold, switching from supplying air to the aerator to supplying air to the air release pipe via the switching mechanism during a filtration pause of the membrane separator (see paragraph [0036]: “particularly during periods of high feed flow (demanding high dissolved oxygen level), the cycle may also be changed to increase the duration or amount of airflow to the process aerator 42 (via air releasing pipe 40) relative to the membrane aerator 38 if required to maintain an appropriate dissolved oxygen concentration in the aerobic tank 14”; paragraph [0037]: “The higher blower speed may also be used when the level of mixed liquor in the reactor 10 is high. In this case, the aeration cycle may be modified to favor the process aerator 42 (via air releasing pipe 40) to provide sufficient air to maintain aerobic conditions in the aerobic tank 14”).
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.
Claims 4 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu.
Liu teaches the organic wastewater treatment apparatus of claim 1 as described above.
Claim 4 differs from Liu in reciting the biological treatment tank includes a plurality of biological treatment units connected in series.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the apparatus of Liu to include a plurality of biological treatment units connected in series, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960).
Regarding claim 8, Liu discloses a method for operating the organic wastewater treatment apparatus of claim 4 respectively including the step, in response to a DO value of the aerobic tank exceeding a predetermined threshold, switching from supplying air to the aerator to supplying air to the air release pipe via the switching mechanism during a filtration pause of the membrane separator (see paragraph [0036]: “particularly during periods of high feed flow (demanding high dissolved oxygen level), the cycle may also be changed to increase the duration or amount of airflow to the process aerator 42 (via air releasing pipe 40) relative to the membrane aerator 38 if required to maintain an appropriate dissolved oxygen concentration in the aerobic tank 14”; paragraph [0037]: “The higher blower speed may also be used when the level of mixed liquor in the reactor 10 is high. In this case, the aeration cycle may be modified to favor the process aerator 42 (via air releasing pipe 40) to provide sufficient air to maintain aerobic conditions in the aerobic tank 14”).
Conclusion
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/John Kim/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1772
JK
7/21/26
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