DETAILED ACTION
This detailed action is in response to the amendments and arguments filed on 07/26/2026, and any subsequent filings.
Notations “C_”, “L_” and “Pr_” are used to mean “column_”, “line_” and “paragraph_”.
Claims 1-19 are pending. Claims 10-19 are withdrawn.
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I – Claims 1-9 in the reply filed on 07/28/2026 is acknowledged.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication US20030110815A1 (‘Poy’) in view of U.S. Publication US20080302139A1 (‘Zorn’).
The Applicant’s claims are directed towards an apparatus.
Regarding Claims 1-7 and 9, Poy teaches a tunnel washing system (abstract) comprising:
a housing (Fig. 1, [0043], housing 20A) including a main wash zone (Fig. 1-2, [0042], cells 2-9 define first wash zone 14 and second wash zone 15), and a rinse zone (Fig. 1-2, [0042], cells 10-11 define main rinse zone 16 and cell 17 defines fine rinse and finish zone 17),
the main wash zone having a fluid inlet (Fig. 1, [0044], flow line 52) and a fluid outlet (Fig. 1-2, [0052], flow line 63) and
the rinse zone having a fresh water fluid inlet (Fig. 1, [0050], receives water from fresh water header 24), a soiled water fluid inlet (Fig. 1, [0044] and [0047], rinse water in flow line 49 as controlled by valve 34), and
a recirculation line (Fig. 1, [0044], treated water flow line 50) coupled to recirculation inlet (Fig. 1, [0047], tank 38 receives flow from second wash zone via flow line 53) and recirculation outlet (Fig. 1, [0050], flow line 50 leads into flow line 53), the recirculation line configured to receive a portion of water from one or more zones of the tunnel washing system (Fig. 1, [0047]), the recirculation line including an integrated fluid sanitizer module (Fig. 1, [0047], treatment can include ozone injection 44 and/or ultraviolet treatment) configured to at least partially sanitize the portion of the water from one or more zones.
Poy does not teach that the rinse zone has the recirculation inlet and the recirculation outlet.
Zorn also relates to a tunnel washing system (abstract), including that the rinse zone has the recirculation inlet and the recirculation outlet (Fig. 2, [0042]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the rinse zone of Poy to have the recirculation inlet and the recirculation outlet, as demonstrated by Zorn, so that water from at least the rinse zone may be recycled (Zorn, [0020]) as rinse water from the rinse zone is still fairly clean and need not be discarded (Zorn, [0035]) and it may be advantageous to re-ozonate the rinse water for further use (Zorn, [0035]), such as with the ozone injection of Poy (Poy, [0047]).
Additional Disclosures Included:
Claim 2: the recirculation line further comprises a pump (Poy, Fig. 1, [0047], pump 42).
Claim 3: the fresh water fluid inlet is configured to receive fresh water and a fluid sanitizer (Zorn, [0035], fresh ozonated water) (It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the fresh water fluid inlet of the combination of Poy and Zorn to be configured to receive fresh water and a fluid sanitizer, as demonstrated by Zorn, because ozonated water allows for improved, faster washing at cooler water temperatures, saving water and energy costs and improving the wash results (Zorn, [0020])).
Claim 4: the fluid sanitizer is selected from a group consisting of ozone (Zorn, [0020] and [0035]), hydroxyl radicals, peroxide, and mixtures thereof.
Claim 5: the soiled water fluid inlet is configured to receive soiled water and a fluid sanitizer (Zorn, [0038], water from water extractor or press is recycled for re-ozonation) (It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the soiled water fluid inlet of the combination of Poy and Zorn to be configured to receive fresh water and a fluid sanitizer, as demonstrated by Zorn, because ozonated water allows for improved, faster washing at cooler water temperatures, saving water and energy costs and improving the wash results (Zorn, [0020])).
Claim 6: the fluid sanitizer is selected from a group consisting of ozone (Zorn, [0020] and [0035]), hydroxyl radicals, peroxide, and mixtures thereof.
Claim 7: the integrated fluid sanitizer module includes an oxidative gas generator (Zorn, Fig. 1, [0025-0026], ozone generator(s) 118) configured to deliver a volume of o-zone gas (Zorn, [0044]), wherein the volume of o-zone gas reacts with the portion of water from the rinse zone received by the recirculation line to produce peroxone, hydroxyl radicals, or both (It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the integrated fluid sanitizer module of the combination of Poy and Zorn to include an oxidative gas generator, as demonstrated by Zorn, because on-demand ozone generation is comparatively cheap and reliable when compared with the costs of and difficulties associated with heating water and/or ozone storage (Zorn, [0025])).
Claim 9: the integrated fluid sanitizer module includes a germicidal ultra-violet ("UV") lamp (Poy, [0025] and [0047]) configured to emit a sanitizing wavelength of light to aid in sanitizing the portion of water from the one or more zones received by the recirculation line.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication US20030110815A1 (‘Poy’) and U.S. Publication US20080302139A1 (‘Zorn’) as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Publication Eren, H.A., Yiğit, İ., Eren, S., Avinc, O. (2020). Ozone: An Alternative Oxidant for Textile Applications. In: Muthu, S., Gardetti, M. (eds) Sustainability in the Textile and Apparel Industries . Sustainable Textiles: Production, Processing, Manufacturing & Chemistry. Springer, Cham. (‘Eren’).
The Applicant’s claim is directed towards an apparatus.
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Poy and Zorn teaches the tunnel washing system of Claim 7, including that the oxidative gas generator is configured to react ambient air and produce the volume of o-zone gas (Zorn, [0026]), except that the oxidative gas generator includes an ultra-violet ("UV") lamp configured to emit a wavelength of light to react with ambient air and produce the volume of o-zone gas.
Eren also relates to a washing system (pg. 81, abstract), including that the oxidative gas generator includes an ultra-violet ("UV") lamp configured to emit a wavelength of light to react with ambient air and produce the volume of o-zone gas (pg. 81, abstract and pg. 94, section 6 Conclusion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the oxidative gas generator of the combination of Poy and Zorn to include an ultra-violet lamp, as demonstrated by Eren, because production of ozone gas by atmospheric oxygen is a factor leading to reduction in processing costs (Eren, pg. 94, section 6 Conclusion). Furthermore, Eren teaches that there are two main types of ozone generators, corona discharge units and ultraviolet lamps (Eren, pg. 81, abstract), and Zorn teaches that the ozone generator 118 may be corona discharge, but any method of generating sufficient quantities of ozone may be used (Zorn, [0026]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BOI-LIEN THI NGUYEN whose telephone number is (703)756-4613. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 8 am to 6 pm.
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/BOI-LIEN THI NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1779
/Bobby Ramdhanie/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1779
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