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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 24 July 2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-9 are pending in the application.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-2 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Kang et al. (US 2014/0111809 A1), hereinafter Kang.
Regarding claim 1, Kang teaches an optical sensor device (Fig. 2) comprising:
a light source (Fig. 2 light source 210);
a sensing element (Fig. 1-2 SPR sensor element 100);
a photodetector (Fig. 2 detector 230, paragraph 0037);
a fixture (paragraph 0043 “a sensor holder”); and
an elastic sealing component (Fig. 2 o-ring 228, paragraphs 0035 and 0043),
wherein the sensing element includes:
a prism (Fig. 2 prism 122, paragraph 0043 “a prism (N-BK7 uncoated prism, stock No. NT32-549, from Edmund Optics, Barrington, N.J.)”) including a hypotenuse face and two leg faces (see Fig. 2, paragraph 0043; the N-BK7 uncoated prism, stock No. NT32-549, from Edmund Optics, Barrington, N.J., is a right angle prism and thus has a hypotenuse face and two leg faces); and
a sensing film (Fig. 2 metallic layer 110 and absorptive layer 130) on the hypotenuse face (see Fig. 1-2), the sensing film being configured to sense a target substance (see paragraphs 0016-0017, 0032, 0037),
wherein the sensing film is exposed to a gastight space to include the target substance (paragraphs 0035-0037),
wherein a confining wall (Fig. 2 vapor delivery chamber 220, paragraph 0035) confining the gastight space to include the target substance has an opening (Fig. 2 sampling port 226, paragraph 0035) and the opening is covered with the sensing element (see Fig. 2, paragraph 0035),
wherein the elastic sealing component is located between the sensing element and the opening (see Fig. 2 wherein o-ring 228 is located between SPR sensor element 100 and sampling port 226),
wherein the sensing element is fixed by being pressed by the fixture in such a strength that the elastic sealing component is elastically deformed (paragraph 0035 describes absorptive layer 130 and sampling port 226 are hermetically sealed together, paragraph 0043 recites that the SPR sensor mounted prism (100 in Fig. 2) is attached to a VOC delivery chamber (220) using an o-ring (228), a sensor holder, and screws; it is the examiner’s position that, in order to create the hermetic seal between the sampling port and the absorptive layer, the sensor holder would need to be attached to the delivery chamber through the screws with such a force that the o-ring would be elastically deformed),
wherein the light source and the photodetector are located outside the gastight space to include the target substance (see Fig. 2, paragraph 0043),
wherein light from the light source is configured to pass through one of the two leg faces and hit the sensing film (see Fig. 2, paragraphs 0034 and 0043),
wherein light reflected off the sensing film is configured to go out through the other one of the two leg faces (see Fig. 2, paragraph 0037), and
wherein the photodetector is configured to detect light that is reflected off the sensing film and comes out through the other one of the two leg faces (paragraphs 0037 and 0043).
It is the examiner’s position that all of the limitations above have been anticipated. In the alternative, it is the examiner’s position that in order to create the hermetic seal between the sampling port and the absorptive layer of Kang, the sensor holder would need to be attached to the delivery chamber through the screws with a sufficient force such that gases or other fluids cannot escape from areas surrounding the o-ring sealing component. A skilled artisan would have recognized that a rigid o-ring would be undesirable for use in the sensor of Kang as rigid o-rings are more prone to damage when subjected to sufficient forces. Additionally, using rigid o-rings would increase the likelihood of forming imperfect seals between the sensing element and the delivery chamber of Kang. On the contrary, elastic o-rings are less likely to be damaged under sufficient forces and can beneficially be molded to fit certain spaces through elastic deformation from an application of force.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify optical sensor device of Kang to have the o-ring sealing component be elastic such that the sensing element is fixed by being pressed by the fixture in such a strength that the elastic sealing component is elastically deformed, as doing so beneficially maximizes the strength of the hermetic seal between the sensing element and opening of Kang.
Regarding claim 2, Kang teaches the optical sensor device according to claim 1, as outlined above, and further teaches the opening is covered with the hypotenuse face (see Fig. 2 and paragraph 0043; since the prism of Kang is a right angle prism (see N-BK7 uncoated prism, stock No. NT32-549, from Edmund Optics, Barrington, N.J.), in order to achieve a proper reflection from the metallic layer 110, the hypotenuse face of prism 122 needs to be located on the side covering sampling port 226), and wherein the elastic sealing component is located between the hypotenuse face and the confining wall and surrounding the opening (see Fig. 2 o-ring 228 being between the hypotenuse face of prism 122 and the confining walls surrounding sampling port 226).
Regarding claim 8, Kang teaches the optical sensor device according to claim 1, as outlined above, and further teaches the elastic sealing component is an O-ring (Fig. 2 o-ring 228, paragraph 0043).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang (US 2014/0111809 A1) in view of Wang et al. (US Patent No. 7,869,013 B2), hereinafter Wang.
Regarding claim 5, Kang teaches the optical sensor device according to claim 2, as outlined above, and further teaches the sensing film is deposited on a transparent plate (Fig. 1-2 transparent plate 126), wherein an oil is present between the transparent plate and the hypotenuse face (Fig. 1-2 transparent fluid 124, paragraph 0043 “a drop of index matching oil”), wherein the elastic sealing component is located between the transparent plate and the confining wall (see Fig. 2).
Kang does not teach the elastic sealing component is in contact with a main face of the transparent plate.
Wang, which relates to SPR sensors and is thus from the same field of endeavor as Kang, teaches an elastic sealing component in contact with a main face of a transparent plate that is mounted on a prism (Wang: Fig. 3 prism 11, transparent quartz substrate 1, index matching liquid 10, and o-rings 7 and 9, in which o-ring 7 is in contact with a main face of the quartz substrate 1; see col. 7 line 15-col. 8 line 7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the optical sensor device of Kang to have the elastic sealing component is in contact with a main face of the transparent plate, as taught by Wang, for the benefit of creating a seal for the index matching oil of Kang (see Wang col. 12 lines 8-10).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang (US 2014/0111809 A1) in view of Mao et al. (US 2024/0118201 A1), hereinafter Mao.
Regarding claim 6, Kang teaches the optical sensor device according to claim 1, as outlined above, but does not teach the sensing film is deposited directly on the hypotenuse face of the prism.
Mao, which relates to SPR sensors and is thus from the same field of endeavor as Kang, teaches a sensing film deposited directly on a hypotenuse face of a prism (Mao: paragraphs 0010, 0037-0041, 0065).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the sensing element of Kang to have the sensing film be deposited directly on the hypotenuse face of the prism, as taught by Mao, for the benefit of simplifying the design of the sensing element of Kang by eliminating the need to worry about coupling a glass slide to the prism and sensing film (see Mao paragraph 0010).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang (US 2014/0111809 A1) in view of Hikage et al. (US 2016/0370289 A1), hereinafter Hikage.
Regarding claim 7, Kang teaches the optical sensor device according to claim 1, as outlined above, but does not teach the entire sensing film is located in a region surrounded by the elastic sealing component.
Hikage, which relates to SPR sensors and is thus from the same field of endeavor as Kang, teaches a sensing film (Hikage: Fig. 3 sensor section 303, paragraphs 0050-0057) in which the entire sensing film is located in a region surrounded by an elastic sealing component (Hikage: Fig. 3 sealing member 306, paragraphs 0070, 0082).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the sensing film of Kang to be entirely located in a region surrounded by the elastic sealing component, as taught by Hikage, for the benefit of preventing leakage of a target substance to undesired areas of the sensing element (see Hikage paragraphs 0070, 0082).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang (US 2014/0111809 A1) in view of Xiao et al. (US Patent No. 7,943,092 B2), hereinafter Xiao.
Regarding claim 9, Kang teaches the optical sensor device according to claim 1, as outlined above, but does not teach the elastic sealing component has a surface including viscosity or adhesiveness.
Xiao, which relates to SPR sensors and is thus from the same field of endeavor as Kang, teaches an elastic sealing component having a surface including viscosity or adhesiveness (Xiao: Fig. 3 rubber o-ring 76, prism 30, metallic film 60, sample layer 66; col. 8 line 67).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the elastic sealing component of Kang to have a surface including viscosity or adhesiveness, as taught by Xiao, for the benefit of enhancing the seal strength between the sensing element and the vapor delivery chamber of Kang.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 4 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, neither anticipates nor renders obvious the optical sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the prism further includes a conic side face, wherein the opening is covered with the two leg faces and parts of the conic side face, and wherein the elastic sealing component is located between the conic side face and the confining wall (emphasis added via bolded words, extra emphasis added via underlined words).
Kang (US 2014/0111809 A1), Wolf et al. (US 2006/0087654 A1), Wang (US Patent No. 7,869,013 B2), Xiao (US Patent No. 7,943,092 B2), Mao (US 2024/0118201 A1), Otsuki et al. (JP 2004069401 A), and Nooke (Nooke, Alida "Gas detection by means of surface plasmon resonance enhanced ellipsometry." (2012).) all teach triangular prisms, and do not teach a prism including a hypotenuse face, two leg faces, and a conic side face, wherein the opening is covered with the two leg faces and parts of the conic side face, and wherein the elastic sealing component is located between the conic side face and the confining wall.
Hikage (US 2016/0370289 A1) teaches a prism that can be conically shaped (see Hikage paragraph 0044), however, Hikage does not teach, among other elements, wherein the opening is covered with the two leg faces and parts of the conic side face, and wherein the elastic sealing component is located between the conic side face and the confining wall.
Harrick (US Patent No. 4,602,869 A) teaches an optical sensor device comprising a prism including a hypotenuse face, two side legs, and two planar side walls (see Harrick Fig. 5), in addition to a triangular prism (see Fig. 6). However, Harrick does not teach, among other elements, wherein the opening is covered with the two leg faces and parts of the conic side face, and wherein the elastic sealing component is located between the conic side face and the confining wall.
Additionally, the remaining references cited on applicant’s information disclosure statement, that are not specifically mentioned above, have been considered by the examiner. None of these references teach the bolded and/or underlined limitations outlined above, in combination with the remaining limitations from the claim.
Therefore, for the reasons outlined above, claim 3 is indicated as having allowable subject matter.
Regarding claim 4, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, neither anticipates nor renders obvious the optical sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the opening is a first opening and the elastic sealing component is a first elastic sealing component, wherein the optical sensor device further comprises a second elastic sealing component, wherein the first opening is covered with a first leg face of the two leg faces, wherein the first elastic sealing component is located between the first leg face and the confining wall and surrounding the first opening, wherein the confining wall further has a second opening and the second opening is covered with a second leg face of the two leg faces, wherein the second elastic sealing component is located between the second leg face and the confining wall and surrounding the second opening, and wherein the prism is fixed by being pressed by the fixture in such a strength that the first elastic sealing component and the second elastic sealing component are elastically deformed (emphasis added via bolded words, extra emphasis added via underlined words).
While the above mentioned prior art references all teach optical arrangements in which light from a light source enters a first leg face of a prism, reflects off of a hypotenuse face of the prism, and exits out of a second leg face of the prism, none of the above-mentioned prior art teach the opening is a first opening and the elastic sealing component is a first elastic sealing component, wherein the optical sensor device further comprises a second elastic sealing component, wherein the first opening is covered with a first leg face of the two leg faces, wherein the first elastic sealing component is located between the first leg face and the confining wall and surrounding the first opening, wherein the confining wall further has a second opening and the second opening is covered with a second leg face of the two leg faces, wherein the second elastic sealing component is located between the second leg face and the confining wall and surrounding the second opening, and wherein the prism is fixed by being pressed by the fixture in such a strength that the first elastic sealing component and the second elastic sealing component are elastically deformed.
Xu et al. (CN 103698304 A), hereinafter Xu, teaches an optical measuring sensor device including a light source, sensing element, and photodetector (Xu: Fig. 3 light excitation arm 12, SPR unit 11, light detection arm 13). The SPR unit has a first opening represented by round mounting ring 1115 (see Xu Fig. 4) comprising a first elastic seal in the form of rubber soft sleeve 1102, where the first opening is covered by a first leg face (Xu: Fig. 4 side face 1112) of a quadrangular prism, and a second opening represented by round mounting ring 1116 (see Xu Fig. 4) comprising a second elastic seal in the form of rubber soft sleeve 1103, where the second opening is covered by a second leg face (Xu: Fig. 4 side face 1113) of a quadrangular prism (see Xu Fig. 3-4 and paragraphs 0055-0056). However, Xu does not teach, among other elements, wherein the first elastic sealing component is located between the first leg face and the confining wall and surrounding the first opening, wherein the second elastic sealing component is located between the second leg face and the confining wall and surrounding the second opening, and wherein the prism is fixed by being pressed by the fixture in such a strength that the first elastic sealing component and the second elastic sealing component are elastically deformed. Additionally, Xu teaches away from the use of a prism comprising a hypotenuse face and two leg faces (see Xu paragraphs 0002-0008).
Additionally, the remaining references cited on applicant’s information disclosure statement, that are not specifically mentioned above, have been considered by the examiner. None of these references teach the bolded and/or underlined limitations outlined above, in combination with the remaining limitations from the claim.
Therefore, for the reasons outlined above, claim 4 is indicated as having allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NOAH J HANEY whose telephone number is (571)270-1282. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-6pm eastern time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michelle Iacoletti can be reached at (571) 270-5789. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NOAH J. HANEY/Examiner, Art Unit 2877
/Michael A Lyons/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877
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