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 .
Priority
This application claims priority to application CN202323423874.1 filed in China on 12/14/2023. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55, which were received on 7/15/2024.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Each instance of the word “van” in the specification should be revised to “vane” to ensure proper spelling.
Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “the rotating van is rotatably arranged in the annular groove” (See Claim 7) must be clearly shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. See Figs. 1-3 which appear to show the “rotating van” #28 and “guide van” #27 installed outside of annular groove #205 between water outlet jacket #23 and surface cover #4
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 3-7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In Claim 3 Line 2, “in sleeve connection” should be revised to “in sleeved connection” to ensure proper grammar.
In Claim 4 Line 4, “in sealing contacted” should be revised to “in sealing contact” to ensure proper grammar.
In Claim 5 Lines 2-3, “the rest of water inlet holes” should be revised to “the rest of the water inlet holes” to ensure proper grammar.
In Claim 6 Lines 2-3, “the rest of water inlet holes” should be revised to “the rest of the water inlet holes” to ensure proper grammar.
In Claim 7, each instance of “van” should be revised to “vane” to ensure proper spelling.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 7 is indefinite because Lines 1-8 state “wherein the second water sealing base is provided with an annular groove and water through holes; the water through holes connect with the annular groove and the water chamber; and the annular groove is connected with one of the water diversion waterways; the multifunctional shower head also comprises a guide van and a rotating van; the rotating van is rotatably arranged in the annular groove and is provided with a closed section and an open section, the closed section is configured to shield the water through hole, and the open section is configured to open the water through hole” and there is improper antecedent basis for “the water through hole” in the claim. It is not clear if “the water through hole” applies to a single water through hole of the water through holes or if “the water through holes” is intended to apply to all of the water through holes. For the purpose of examination, Claim 7 Lines 1-8 will be interpreted to state “wherein the second water sealing base is provided with an annular groove and water through holes; the water through holes connect with the annular groove and the water chamber; and the annular groove is connected with one of the water diversion waterways; the multifunctional shower head also comprises a guide vane and a rotating vane; the rotating vane is rotatably arranged in the annular groove and is provided with a closed section and an open section, the closed section is configured to shield the water through holes, and the open section is configured to open the water through holes”.
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.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US-2020/0038887-A1 to Cacka et al. (“Cacka”).
As to Claim 1, Cacka discloses a multifunctional shower head (See #100 in Fig. 1A), comprising:
a water inlet base (#104 and #144), provided with a water inlet channel (#172), a plugging part (#144) and a water inlet through hole connected with the water inlet channel (See WITH in Annotated Fig. 4), wherein the plugging part and the water inlet through hole are located on a circular trajectory (See Fig. 4 and See Figs. 8A-9B);
a water outlet component (#126), rotatably connected with the water inlet base (See Paragraph 0073) and being provided with a water chamber (See a water chamber WC at #398 in Annotated Fig. 4 that is a space where water travels), a water outlet hole (See a water outlet hole WOC at an outlet on #226 in Annotated Fig. 4) and at least two water inlet holes (See multiple water inlet holes #284, #286, #288, and #290 in Figs. 8A-8B), wherein the water inlet holes and the water outlet hole are respectively connected with the water chamber (See Annotated Fig. 4 and Figs. 7A-8B. The water inlet holes allow fluid to travel into the water chamber and one water inlet hole allows fluid to flow out of the water outlet hole via the water chamber.), and a rotating path of the water inlet holes are set corresponding to the circular trajectory (See Figs. 8A-8B and Paragraphs 0073-0074 and 0085-0086),
wherein when the water inlet through hole is arranged corresponding to one of the water inlet holes, the water inlet through hole is connected with the one of the water inlet holes in a sealing manner, and the rest of the water inlet holes are sealed and plugged by the plugging part (See Paragraph 0132).
As to Claim 2, in reference to the multifunctional shower head of Cacka as applied to Claim 1 above, Cacka further discloses wherein the water outlet component comprises a first water sealing base (#146), a second water sealing base (#158 and #148) and a water outlet jacket (#156) which are connected in sequence (See Fig. 2);
the first water sealing base is rotatably connected with the water inlet base and is provided with the water inlet holes (See Annotated Fig. 4 and Fig. 8A);
water diversion waterways are formed between the second water sealing base and the first water sealing base; the water diversion waterways are configured to connect with the water inlet holes and the water chamber (See Fig. 2 and See Fig. 8B and Paragraph 0091. Multiple waterways #310, #312, #314, and #316 are formed between #146 and #158 of the second water sealing base);
the water outlet jacket is provided with the water outlet hole (See Annotated Fig. 4, the water outlet hole is on #226 of the water outlet jacket), and the water chamber is formed between the water outlet jacket and the second water sealing base (See Fig. 2 and See Annotated Fig. 4).
As to Claim 3, in reference to the multifunctional shower head of Cacka as applied to Claim 2 above, Cacka further discloses wherein the water outlet component also comprises a rotating support (#282, See Paragraph 0127), the rotating support is rotatably in sleeve connection with the water inlet base (See Fig. 4, #282 sleeves around #144 of the water inlet base) and an outer side of the first water sealing base (See Fig. 4, #282 forms a sleeve on an outer side of #146 such that a “sleeved connection” is formed on an outer side of the first water sealing base) so that the water inlet base is rotatably connected with the first water sealing base (See Fig. 4. The lips #320 form a sleeve around #330 and on an outer side of #146 such that the rotating support is rotatably in a sleeved connection with the water inlet base from an outer side of #146).
As to Claim 4, in reference to the multifunctional shower head of Cacka as applied to Claim 2 above, Cacka further discloses wherein the water outlet component also comprises a sealing gasket (#138 and #128, which can be integrated together per Paragraph 0107 and can be made of rubber per Paragraph 0106, thus forming a sealing gasket) and an elastic member (#134, which is shown as a spring in Fig. 2) which are arranged inside the water inlet through hole and the plugging part (See Fig. 2 and See Annotated Fig. 4),
the sealing gasket is provided with an inner hole (#410, See paragraph 0106) and is in sealing contacted with an inner side of the water inlet through hole (See Paragraph 0107 and Annotated Fig. 4), the elastic member is supported by the water inlet base to push the sealing gasket (See Fig. 4 and Paragraph 0124), so that the sealing gasket is in sealing contact with the first water sealing base (See Fig. 4, the sealing gasket is in sealing contact with the first water sealing base via #128);
when the water inlet through hole is arranged corresponding to the one of the water inlet holes, the water inlet through hole is connected with the sealing gasket inside the one of the water inlet holes in a sealing manner (See Paragraph 0106 and 0132).
As to Claim 5, in reference to the multifunctional shower head of Cacka as applied to Claim 1 above, Cacka further discloses wherein when the water inlet through hole is arranged corresponding to the one of the water inlet holes, the rest of water inlet holes are arranged corresponding to the plugging part (See Annotated Fig. 4, Figs. 8A-9B, and Paragraph 0132).
As to Claim 6, in reference to the multifunctional shower head of Cacka as applied to Claim 4 above, Cacka further discloses wherein when the water inlet through hole is arranged corresponding to the one of the water inlet holes, the rest of water inlet holes are arranged corresponding to the plugging part (See Annotated Fig. 4, Figs. 8A-9B, and Paragraph 0132).
As to Claim 7, in reference to the multifunctional shower head of Cacka as applied to Claim 2 above, Cacka further discloses wherein the second water sealing base is provided with an annular groove (#236 and #234) and water through holes (#110, #112, #114 and #116, See Paragraph 0078); the water through holes connect with the annular groove (See Fig. 2 and Fig. 4, some of the water through holes that are #116 fluidly connect with the annular groove) and the water chamber (See Annotated Fig. 2 and Fig. 4, some of the water through holes that are #112 fluidly connect with the water chamber); and the annular groove is connected with one of the water diversion waterways (#316, See Fig. 4 and Fig. 8B); the multifunctional shower head also comprises a guide van (#164, which is a fluid guide having vane structures #354, #356, and #358) and a rotating van (#360, which has blades #368 that are equivalent to van structures); the rotating van is rotatably arranged in the annular groove (See Fig. 4 and Paragraph 0110) and is provided with a closed section (#368, which closes some flow area) and an open section (See spaces between #368 in Fig. 13A, which are open to fluid flow); the guide van is arranged at an opening of the annular groove (See Fig. 4) and are provided with water guide holes (#366), and the water guide holes are configured to obliquely guide a water flow of the water diversion waterway into the annular groove, so that the rotating van rotates (See Paragraph 0135).
As to Claim 8, in reference to the multifunctional shower head of Cacka as applied to Claim 1 above, Cacka further discloses wherein the water outlet component also comprises a branch waterway (#146 and #158), the branch waterway is provided with a water inlet (#312 and #284) and a water outlet (#256); a rotating path of the water inlet is arranged corresponding to the water inlet through hole (See Annotated Fig. 4 Figs. 7A-8B. The water inlet forms a circular path such that it is equivalent to a rotating path); and the water inlet and the water inlet through hole are sealed and connected with each other when the water inlet and the water inlet through hole are arranged correspondingly (See Paragraph 0132).
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See Notice of References Cited Form PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN E SCHWARTZ whose telephone number is (571)272-1770. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00AM - 5:00PM MST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur O Hall can be reached at (571)-270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN EDWARD SCHWARTZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752 May 20, 2026
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