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 .
Response to Amendment
This office action responds to the amendment filed on 02/27/2012. Claims 1-8 are pending in the application. Claims 1, and 7-8 have been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-7, filed on 09/30/2025, with respect to the rejection of the amended claims 1, and 7-8 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections are withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of new references as indicated in the below rejection.
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) 1-2, and 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohashi et al. (US 4,125,356) and Smirnov (US 2014/0246097).
With regards to claim 1:
Ohashi et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 1 below) a powered gas shutoff valve assembly comprising:
a shutoff valve (9) comprising a passage (10, 11), a valve seat (12), and a valve member (18) movable into and out of engagement with said valve seat (12) to close and open said passage;
an actuator (28, 14, 15, 16) operatively connected to said valve member (18) to move said valve member;
a control system (27, 22) comprising a control unit (27) and a gas detection sensor (22) operatively connected to said control unit (27), wherein said control unit is operatively connected to said actuator (28, 14, 15, 16) to permit selective or automatic activation of said actuator to close said passage when said gas detection sensor detects the presence of harmful gas in the surrounding environment at or above a selected threshold (Column 3, lines 3-49); and
a power source (26) to supply power to said control system and said actuator.
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Fig. 1
Ohashi et al. does not disclose the valve seat having a lower section and an upper protrusion, said lower section having a conical cross-sectional shape, said upper protrusion extending upwardly from an apex of said lower section, said upper protrusion being positioned within a gap in a peripheral wall of said passage.
Smirnov discloses (refer to Fig. 2 below) a valve for control gas having a passage (P), a valve seat (105, S), and a valve member (not shown) movable into and out of engagement with said valve seat (105, S) to close and open said passage (P); the valve seat having a lower section (L) and an upper protrusion (U), said lower section (L) having a conical cross-sectional shape, said upper protrusion extending upwardly from an apex of said lower section, said upper protrusion being positioned within a gap in a peripheral wall of said passage (P).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the powered gas shutoff valve assembly of Ohashi et al. to have the valve design as disclosed by Smirnov as an alternative for the shut-off valve (9) to provide the same expected result since they are in the same endeavor of controlling gas through the passage.
Ohashi et al., as modified, discloses the powered gas shutoff valve assembly of claim 1.
With regards to claim 1:
Ohashi et al., as modified, discloses the powered gas shutoff valve assembly of claim 1, wherein said control unit (27) is configured to automatically activate said actuator when said gas detection sensor (22) detects the presence of harmful gas in the surrounding environment at or above a selected threshold (Column 3, lines 3-49).
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Fig. 2
With regards to claim 5:
Ohashi et al., as modified, discloses the powered gas shutoff valve assembly of claim 1, wherein said shutoff valve is connectable to any gas line including gas lines for appliances, heating units, and buildings.
With regards to claim 6:
Ohashi et al., as modified, discloses the powered gas shutoff valve assembly of claim 1, wherein said actuator comprises a solenoid (28, 14) (see Column 3, lines 35-45).
Claim(s) 3-4, and 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohashi et al. and Smirnov, as applied to claims 1 above, and further in view of Kushner (US 6,237,618).
With regards to claim 3:
Ohashi et al., as modified, discloses the powered gas shutoff valve assembly of claim 1 (see rejected claim 1 above).
Ohashi et al. dos not disclose control system comprises a wireless transmitter operatively connected to said control unit and configured to transmit information between said control unit and an electronic remote control device to permit selective closure of said passage by a user.
Kushner discloses (refer to Fig. 3 below and Column 3, lines 1-33) a power shut off valve assembly (18) comprises a wireless transmitter (WL) operatively connected to control unit (32) and configured to transmit information between said control unit (32) and an electronic remote control device (30) to permit selective closure of said passage by a user.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the powered gas shutoff valve assembly of Ohashi et al. to have a wireless transmitter operatively connected to control unit and configured to transmit information between said control unit and an electronic remote control device to permit selective closure of said passage as disclosed by Kushner to provide the assembly with the ability of remotely controlling the operating of the valve as taught by Kushner (Column 3, lines 1-33).
Ohashi et al., as further modified, discloses the powered gas shutoff valve assembly of claim 3.
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Fig. 3
With regards to claim 4:
Ohashi et al., as further modified, discloses (refer to Fig. 3 above) the powered gas shutoff valve assembly of claim 1, except wherein said control system comprises a light operatively connected to said control unit to indicate operating status of said control system.
Kushner further discloses (Column 3, lines 18-23) a light (30) operatively connected to control unit to indicate operating status of said control system.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify he powered gas shutoff valve assembly of Ohashi et al. to have the light operatively connected to control unit (27) to indicate operating status of said control system as disclosed by Kushner.
With regards to claim 7:
Ohashi et al., as modified, discloses (refer to Fig. 1-3 above) a powered gas shutoff valve assembly comprising:
a shutoff valve (9) comprising a passage (10, 11; P), a valve seat (12, S), and a valve member (18) movable into and out of engagement with said valve seat to close and open said passage, wherein said shutoff valve is connectable to any gas line including gas lines for appliances, heating units, and buildings, said valve seat (S) having a lower section (L) and an upper protrusion (U), said lower section having a conical cross-sectional shape, said upper protrusion extending upwardly from an apex of said lower section, said upper protrusion being positioned within a gap in a peripheral wall of said passage (P);
an actuator (28, 14, 15, 16) operatively connected to said valve member (18) to move said valve member, wherein said actuator comprises a solenoid (28, 14);
a control system (27, 22) comprising a control unit (27) and a gas detection sensor (22) operatively connected to said control unit, wherein said control unit is operatively connected to said actuator to permit selective activation of said actuator to close said passage when said gas detection sensor detects the presence of harmful gas in the surrounding environment at or above a selected threshold (Ohashi et al., Column 3, lines 3-49), wherein:
said control system comprises a wireless transmitter operatively connected to said control unit and configured to transmit information between said control unit and an electronic remote control device to permit selective closure of said passage by a user,
said control system comprises a light operatively connected to said control unit to indicate operating status of said control system;
a power source (26) to supply power to said control system and said actuator; and
a housing (H) mounted on said shutoff valve, wherein said housing contains said actuator, said control unit, said wireless transmitter, and said light, and wherein said valve member is movable into and out of said housing via an orifice in said housing, and wherein said gas detection sensor (22) and said power source (27) are connected to said control unit by wires at a distance from said housing (H).
With regards to claim 8 :
Ohashi et al., as further modified, discloses a powered gas shutoff valve assembly comprising:
a shutoff valve (9) comprising a passage (10, 11, P), a valve seat (12, S), and a valve member (18) movable into and out of engagement with said valve seat to close and open said passage, wherein said shutoff valve is connectable to any gas line including gas lines for appliances, heating units, and buildings, said valve seat (S) having a lower section (L) and an upper protrusion (U), said lower section having a conical cross-sectional shape, said upper protrusion extending upwardly from an apex of said lower section, said upper protrusion being positioned within a gap in a peripheral wall of said passage (P);
an actuator (28, 14, 155, 16) operatively connected to said valve member to move said valve member, wherein said actuator comprises a solenoid (14, 28);
a control system (27, 22) comprising a control unit (27) and a gas detection sensor (22) operatively connected to said control unit, wherein said control unit is operatively connected to said actuator to permit automatic activation of said actuator to close said passage when said gas detection sensor (22) detects the presence of harmful gas in the surrounding environment at or above a selected threshold (Ohashi et al., Column 3, lines 3-49), wherein:
said control unit is configured to automatically activate said actuator when said gas detection sensor detects the presence of harmful gas in the surrounding environment at or above a selected threshold,
said control system comprises a light (30) operatively connected to said control unit to indicate operating status of said control system;
a power source (26) to supply power to said control system and said actuator; and
a housing (H) mounted on said shutoff valve, wherein said housing contains said actuator, said control unit, and said light, and wherein said valve member is movable into and out of said housing via an orifice in said housing, and wherein said gas detection sensor and said power source are connected to said control unit by wires at a distance from said housing.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
/MINH Q LE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753