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 Objections
Claims 1, 2, 4-6, 10-17 and 22 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the first reservoir" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Appropriate correction/clarification is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 1, 2, 4-6, 10-17 and 22-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watts (US Patent 4,693,179) in view of Scaefer (US Patent 2,382,920).
With respect to claim 1, Watts teaches a rotary screen-printing apparatus, comprising:
a rotary cylindrical screen (34);
a reservoir configured to hold a coating material (interior of print cylinder 34 can be considered to be a reservoir, Column 9, Lines 62-65, Column 16, Lines 49-56);
a first heater (89) having an output directed toward the first reservoir and configured to heat and liquefy the coating material held in the reservoir (37, Figure 3, Column 16, Lines 25-47);
a first heat sensor (71) coupled to the reservoir (interior of print cylinder 34 can be considered to be a reservoir, Column 16, Lines 35-48);
a conduit (37) which provides fluid communication of the liquefied coating material from the reservoir into an internal volume of the rotary cylindrical screen (34, Figure 6); and,
a second heater (32) having an output is directed towards the conduit (Column 12, Lines 27-38, Column 18, Lines 63-67);
a second heat sensor (91) configured to detect a temperature associated with the coating material in the conduit (Column 9, Lines 62-65, Column 16, Lines 49-56, Figure 6); and
a controller in communication with the first heat sensor (71), the second heat sensor (91), the first heater (89) and the second heater (32) and configured to control the first heater (89) based on the output of the first sensor (71) so that the coating material held in the reservoir(interior of print cylinder 34 can be considered to be a reservoir, Column 9, Lines 62-65, Column 16, Lines 49-56) maintains a predetermined temperature (TR) above a liquification point of the coating material (Column 15, Lines 20-25) and to control the second heater (71) based on the second sensor so that the coating material maintains a second predetermined temperature (Tc) above a solidification point of the liquefied coating material as it passes through the conduit (Column 15, Lines 29-44).
However, Watts does not explicitly disclose a reservoir, located outside the rotary cylindrical screen and configure to hold a coating material. Scaefer teaches a reservoir (63), located outside a rotary cylindrical screen (2) and configure to hold a coating material (64).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the present invention was made to modify the invention taught by Watts to provide a reservoir located outside the rotary cylindrical screen as taught by Scaefer for the purpose of providing better filtering and minimizing contamination risk of the cylinders internal volume.
With respect to claim 2, Watts teaches a second heat sensor (91) is configured to detect one of: a temperature of the conduit (Column 9, Lines 62-65, Column 16, Lines 49-56, Figure 6); a temperature of a fluid passing through the conduit; or, a temperature of a fluid discharged from the conduit to the internal volume of the rotary cylindrical screen.
With respect to claim 4, Watts teaches the second heat sensor (91) is disposed on an external surface of the conduit (37, Figure 6).
With respect to claim 6, Watts teaches a squeegee (38) fixedly disposed in the internal volume of the rotary cylindrical screen (34) so that the squeegee (38) does not rotate within the rotary cylindrical screen (34) when the rotary cylindrical screen is rotated (Column 14, Lines 32-38).
With respect to claims 10-17, Watts teaches the claimed invention with the exception of wherein Tc is lower than TR, Tc is lower than the liquification point of the coating material TR is from 0.1 to 5°C above the liquification point of the coating material, TR is from 0.1 to2°C above the liquification point of the coating material, TR is from 0.1 to 1°C above the liquification point of the coating material, Tc is from 0.1 to 2°C above the solidification point of the coating material, Tc is from 0.1 to 1°C above the solidification point of the coating material, Tc is from 0.1 to 0.5°C above the solidification point of the coating material.
However, it has been held that held that where general conditions are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105USPQ 233.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the temperatures Tc is lower than TR, Tc is lower than the liquification point of the coating material TR is from 0.1 to 5°C above the liquification point of the coating material, TR is from 0.1 to2°C above the liquification point of the coating material, TR is from 0.1 to 1°C above the liquification point of the coating material, Tc is from 0.1 to 2°C above the solidification point of the coating material, Tc is from 0.1 to 1°C above the solidification point of the coating material or Tc is from 0.1 to 0.5°C above the solidification point of the coating material as claimed since such a modification would result in a variety of phases of liquification/solidification points of the coating material.
With respect to claim 22 and 23, Watts teaches the claimed invention with the exception of an additional heater of which the output heats the rotary cylindrical screen and the additional heater is a radiant heater disposed within the internal volume of the rotary cylindrical screen.
However, it has been held that mere duplication of essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art and has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. In re Plarza, 274, 124 USPQ 378 (1960). Watts does at least teach first (89) and second heaters (32), the second heater (32) is a radiant heater (Column 18, Line 63-Column 19, Line 10).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the present invention was made to provide an additional heater since such a modification would effectively provide an additional heater that provide a rapid response heat inside a printing cylinder and loses heat rapidly.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 18-19 and 21 are 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.
With respect to claim 5, the prior art does not teach or render obvious a processor and a memory storing instructions which when executed by the processor cause the controller to control the first heater so that the temperature of the coating material held in the reservoir remains at or above TR, and control the second heater so that the coating material remains at or above Tc while passing through the conduit.
With respect to claim 18, the prior art does not teach or render obvious a second reservoir to hold a second coating material; a third heater to heat and liquefy the second coating material held in the second reservoir; a third heat sensor coupled to the second reservoir; a second conduit providing fluid communication of the liquefied second coating material between the second reservoir and the internal volume of the rotary cylindrical screen; a fourth heater to heat the second conduit; and, a fourth heat sensor to detect one of the temperature of the second conduit, the temperature of the liquefied second coating material passing through the second conduit or the temperature of the liquefied second coating material discharged from the second conduit to the internal volume of the rotary cylindrical screen, wherein the controller is further in communication with the third heat sensor and the fourth heat sensor and the third heater and the fourth heater to control the third heater so that the second coating material held in the second reservoir has a third predetermined temperature (T2R) above the liquification point of the second coating material and to control the fourth heater so that the second coating material maintains a fourth predetermined temperature (T2c) above the solidification point of the liquefied second coating material as it passes through the second conduit.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10-19 and 21-23 have been considered but are moot in view of new ground(s) of the current rejection.
Conclusion
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.
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/Marissa Ferguson-Samreth/Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/CHRISTOPHER E MAHONEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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