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 § 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, 3-7, 9, 12, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by He (CN111920104, with English machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, He discloses an atomization core (atomization core 30), comprising:
a substrate having an atomization surface and through holes extending to the atomization surface, the substrate being configured to guide an aerosol-forming material to the atomization surface (see gas body 100 made of a porous material, e.g. ceramic, with through holes 101; Figs. 5-7, [0046]);
a heating element arranged on the atomization surface and configured to heat and atomize the aerosol-forming material to form aerosols (see heating body 200); and
conductor leads arranged in the through holes and fixed to the substrate to form an integral structure, a first end of each conductor lead of the conductor leads being electrically connected to the heating element, and a second end of each conductor lead of the conductor leads being configured to connect a power supply assembly (see connectors 400; substrate and heating element are integrally formed, [0048,0055]).
Regarding claims 3 and 4, He discloses solid conductors which occupy the volume of the through holes ([0055,0048], Fig. 5-7).
Regarding claim 5, the substrate has a first surface and second surface in opposite arrangement and the first surface comprises the atomization surface (top, Fig. 5) and the through holes extend from the first surface to the second surface (see Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 6, the through holes are straight through holes that are perpendicular to the first surface (see Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 7, He discloses electrodes arranged on the first surface and electrically connected to the heating element (see connectors 400 which extend to the first surface and connected to heating body 200)),
bonding pads arranged on the second surface and configured to be connected to the power supply assembly (see electrode 300),
wherein the first end of each conductor lead is electrically connected to the electrode, and the second end of each conductor lead is electrically connected to the bonding pad (see Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 9, He discloses the substrate has porosity of 20 to 80% with specific examples of 40%, 50% and 80% and that the average pore size ranges from 20 to 55 microns ([0045]).
Regarding claim 12, He discloses an atomizer (atomizer 10) with atomization core (see core 30) arranged in an accommodating cavity (airflow channel 22) with liquid storage cavity (see liquid storage chamber 21)([0044], Fig. 1). A housing is inherently present to contain and/or define the airflow channel, liquid storage chamber, and mouthpiece.
Regarding claim 13, He discloses a power supply (power source) connected to the atomizer ([0027]).
Claims 1, 3, 4, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chen (WO 2022233221, with English machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Chen discloses an atomization core (Fig. 1), comprising:
a substrate having an atomization surface and through holes extending to the atomization surface, the substrate being configured to guide an aerosol-forming material to the atomization surface (see porous body 10 with pins 22 extending through the body and thus forming through holes, Fig. 1);
a heating element arranged on the atomization surface and configured to heat and atomize the aerosol-forming material to form aerosols (see heating body 21); and
conductor leads arranged in the through holes and fixed to the substrate to form an integral structure, a first end of each conductor lead of the conductor leads being electrically connected to the heating element, and a second end of each conductor lead of the conductor leads being configured to connect a power supply assembly (see pines 22 which extend through the body). See [0035].
Regarding claims 3 and 4, Chen discloses a metal pin that extends through the porous body--Chen does not disclose or illustrate the metal pin with porosity or volume between the pin and the porous body ([0035], Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 11, Chen's substrate has a first surface with atomization surface (bottom), second surface (top), side surfaces (surfaces extending between top and bottom), and through holes that extend from the first surface to the side surface (see pins that bend and extend out the sides ([0035], Fig. 1).
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 2 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He (CN111920104, with English machine translation) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Long (US 20230346028).
Regarding claim 2, He does not disclose the conductor leads have protrusions on sidewalls and the through holes have depressions wherein the protrusions are embedded in the depressions. He discloses the substrate 100 is a porous ceramic substrate that can be formed integrally or with the heating element or formed separately ([0045-0046,0048]). Thus, the through holes formed in the ceramic would have depressions formed by the porosity. In the same field of endeavor of atomizers, Long discloses forming a heating assembly by obtaining a porous ceramic substrate, forming a heating layer having a porous structure on the surface of the porous ceramic substrate, and then sintering such that the heating layer is partially filled in the porous ceramic substrate ([0030]). Long discloses that by partially filling the heating layer in the porous ceramic substrate, the to-be-vaporized substrate contacts the heating layer more fully which helps the heating layer transfer heat to the to-be-vaporized substrate around the heating manner in a timely manner; increases an aerosol amount; avoids dry burning, carbon deposition, and burning smell; and improves user experience ([0036]). Given the porous nature of the ceramic substrate, the conductive slurry of the heating would be expected to at least partially fill the porosity and thereby resulting in protrusions when the structure is sintered.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the atomization core such that the conductor leads having protrusions on sidewalls that are embedded in depressions of the through holes since (1) He discloses providing a porous ceramic substrate having through holes for conductive connectors ([0045-0048]) and (2) Long discloses forming a heating layer on a porous ceramic substrate using a conductive slurry allows for the heating layer to partially fill in the porous ceramic, thereby improving heat transfer, aerosol amount, burning, and user experience ([0030,0036]). One would expect to the heating layer to partially fill in the porosity of the ceramic substrate, resulting in protrusions embedded within depressions (note the uneven surface having depressions and protrusions in Figs. 5,6 of Long).
Regarding claim 10, He does not disclose the conductor leads as prepared by filling a conductive paste into the through holes and sintering; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have prepared the heating layer as claimed since Long, similarly directed towards an atomization core, discloses forming a heating layer on a porous ceramic substrate using a conductive slurry allows for the heating layer to partially fill in the porous ceramic, thereby improving heat transfer, aerosol amount, burning, and user experience ([0030,0036]).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He (CN111920104, with English machine translation) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhu (US 20220053830).
Regarding claim 8, He does not disclose the diameter of the conductor lead or the material; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the material with one of Ag, Cu, or Au and diameter as claimed since Zhu, similarly directed towards an atomization element, teaches that the wires connecting to the heating element can be made of copper or silver and have diameters of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm ([0034,0093])--one would have been motivated to select a material and dimension known to be suitable for supplying electricity to a heating element.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT C DYE whose telephone number is (571)270-7059. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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/ROBERT C DYE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
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