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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 12, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by TW 201732156 (herein Horng).
A machine translation of Horng is provided with the current application and relied upon herein.
Horng teaches:
limitations from claim 1, a fan device (FIG. 3), comprising: a fan frame (1); a fan assembly (see FIG. 1) rotatably disposed in the fan frame; and a plurality of mount component assemblies (2-3), each plurality of mount component assemblies includes a fixing assembly (11) and a mount assembly (3), the mount assembly comprising a mount component (3; FIG. 4) and a bracket (2), the bracket fixed to the mount component (FIG. 5), the fixing assembly disposed on the fan frame (FIG. 2-2e), the mount assembly fixedly locked to the fixing assembly via the bracket (FIG. 4-5);
limitations from claim 6, wherein the mount component comprises a cavity (32) bracket housing and pair of fixing members, each pair of fixing members disposed perpendicularly protruding from the cavity bracket housing at opposing perimeter ends of the cavity bracket housing (see FIG. 4, each portion including holes 31), each pair of fixing members includes a through hole (31), the through hole configured for a fastener (“S”, FIG. 4) to be inserted through the through hole for fastening of the fan device;
limitations from claim 12, wherein the mount assembly is fixedly locked to the fixing assembly via a pushing force (this is considered a product-by-process limitation; the fan of Horng otherwise meets the claimed final product and therefore anticipates the claim. Further, Horng states that flexible portions of the bracket 2 are forced into the mount 3 - “In this embodiment, the free end of the latching portion 2b is provided with two claws 21 extending obliquely, and the fixing member 3 is provided with an opening 32; the fixing member 3 can cover the latching portion 2b, so that the free end of the latch portion 2b penetrates from the inner side of the opening 32 of the fixing member 3 to the outer side, and the two hooks The claw 21 is elastically reset to abut against the end edge of the opening 32.”);
limitations from claim 14, wherein the plurality of mount component assemblies comprises four plurality of mount component assemblies, each plurality of mount component assemblies disposed on opposing corners of the fan frame (see FIG. 4-5);
Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liang (US PGPub No. 2007/0237625).
Liang teaches:
limitations from claim 1, a fan device, comprising: a fan frame (20); a fan assembly rotatably disposed in the fan frame (see FIG. 1-2 showing a fan within the frame; paragraph 10 and 27); and a plurality of mount component assemblies (30/40), each plurality of mount component assemblies includes a fixing assembly (~22) and a mount assembly (30), the mount assembly comprising a mount component (30) and a bracket (40), the bracket fixed to the mount component (see FIG. 5), the fixing assembly disposed on the fan frame (FIG. 1-2), the mount assembly fixedly locked to the fixing assembly via the bracket (FIG. 5; paragraph 28 for example);
limitations from claim 2, wherein the bracket (40) includes a material having a second hardness and the mount component (30) includes a material having a third hardness, wherein the second hardness is greater than the third hardness (paragraph 27 describing the component 30 as rubber, paragraph 19 describing the component 40 as a hard material);
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) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TW 201732156 (herein Horng).
Horng teaches a rotor (FIG. 1; “a shaft portion 12 for coupling the rotor of the fan”) and blades thereon (FIG. 1), but does not explicitly teach a motor;
However, it is commonly known in the art that fan devices include motors in order to drive the rotors and operate the fan; the examiner maintains that such a motor would have been obvious to provide in the fan of Horng in order to provide a motive for to the rotor.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TW 201732156 (herein Horng) as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Chang et al (US PGPub No. 2015/0226230).
Horng does not teach PBT (glass fiber reinforced polybutylene terephthalate) as a frame material;
However, Chang teaches that PBT is a known material with which to form fan frames (paragraph 4-5);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of fans at the time the invention was filed to use PBT material to form the fan frame of Horng, as taught by Chang, in order to produce a cheaper fan frame (paragraph 4 of Chang).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang (US PGPub No. 2007/0237625) as applied to claims 1-2 above, and in further view of Chen (US PGPub No. 2008/0137295).
Liang teaches rubber as the third material, rather than one of the claimed materials;
However, Chen teaches a fan assembly (FIG. 1), and wherein elastic buffers (4) used to mount the fan frames are formed from silica gel (paragraph 23);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of fans at the time the invention was filed to substitute one known elastic material for another, such as silica gel taught by Chen for the rubber taught by Liang, in order to reach an expected result (i.e. the damping of vibrations). Chen teaches that silica gel and rubber are alternatives to one another (paragraph 23).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang (US PGPub No. 2007/0237625) as applied to claims 1-2 above, and in further view of Chang et al (US PGPub No. 2015/0226230).
Laing does not teach PBT (glass fiber reinforced polybutylene terephthalate) as a material for the bracket;
However, Chang teaches that PBT is a known material with which to form fan components (paragraph 4-5);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of fans at the time the invention was filed to use PBT material to form the bracket member of Laing, as taught by Chang, in order to produce a cheaper fan (paragraph 4 of Chang).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-11 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.
Claims 6 and 7 require the mount component having a pair of fixing members protruding from a cavity bracket housing, each protrusion having a through hole for a fastener; Claim 7, which depends from Claim 6 requires secondary fixing members protruding perpendicularly from the bracket and also including through holes, the holes aligning with the through holes of the mount.
The closest prior art to Horng and Liang do not teach such a combination of mounting member protrusions with holes and bracket members with holes.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 9777918 teaches a fan having corner mounts (24);
US 9222479 teaches a fan having corner mounts (102);
US 2015/0050133 teaches a fan having corner mounts (134);
US 2012/0063886 teaches a fan having corner mounts (20);
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER S BOBISH whose telephone number is (571)270-5289. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Essama Omgba can be reached at 469-295-9278. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER S BOBISH/Examiner, Art Unit 3746
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