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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1, 4, and 5 have been amended.
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) 1 – 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 213931251, “Lai,” in view of JP 2007162467, “Yuei.”
Regarding Claim 1: Lai discloses a portable wind blowing device (Figures 1 – 6), comprising: a hanging body portion (Generally interpreted as the “U-shaped” housing formed by shells 10 and 20; [0024]), defining at least one air inlet (18, 32), a receiving cavity (Generally interpreted as the internal volume of the hanging body formed by at least the first accommodating cavity 17 and the air duct 16, shown receiving the fan in at least Figures 3 and 5), and at least one air outlet (19, 29); at least one fan assembly (40, 46), received in the receiving cavity (As shown in at least Figures 3 and 5); wherein each of the at least one fan assembly is arranged with: a centrifugal airflow zone (As shown in at least Annotated Figure A); a mixed-flow booster blower (As shown in at least Annotated Figure A; The term mixed-flow booster has been provided its broadest reasonable interpretation such that the centrifugal fan of Lau which provides a mixing of flow passing though the fan reads over the recited limitation), wherein the mixed-flow booster blower comprises diagonal fan blades (As shown in at least Annotated Figure A; The fan blades are shown being arranged angled to the center of rotation such that they are interpreted as being diagonal fan blades), the diagonal fan blades are configured to direct air from the exterior of the device into the centrifugal airflow zone and to generate a high pressure airflow (As shown in at least Annotated Figure A; The airflow which is produced by the centrifugal fan and provided through the centrifugal zone into the concentration channel for delivery to the outlets 19); an airflow concentration channel, configured to concentrate the high pressure airflow in the centrifugal airflow zone and to direct high pressure airflow to be blown out of the device through the at least one air outlet (As shown in at least Annotated Figure A); however, Lai fails to explicitly disclose wherein, the mixed-flow booster blower further comprises a hub on which the diagonal fan blades are arranged; the hub comprises a front side facing the at least one air inlet; each of the diagonal fan blades comprises a front edge portion that is extending from and is inclined with respect to the front side of the hub; in a direction from a circumference edge of the front side to a central region of the front side, the front side of the hub is gradually protruding to form a sloped front side; an air suction channel covers a region that is defined by the front edge portions of all of the diagonal fan blades.
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Annotated Figure A: Features of the Centrifugal Fan of Lai
Yuei teaches fan assembly comprising a mixed-flow booster blower used for blowing air (5) (As shown in at least Figures 1 – 5, 8, and 9; Described in at least [0002]), wherein, the mixed-flow booster blower further comprises a rotation shaft (10a) (As shown in at least Figures 1 and 5) and a hub (6) on which the diagonal fan blades (8b) are arranged (As shown in at least Figure 5); the hub comprises a front side facing the at least one air inlet (Interpreted as the upper side of hub 6 facing towards the airflow inlet shown as the upper direction as arranged in Figure 5); each of the diagonal fan blades comprises a front edge portion that is extending from and is inclined with respect to the front side of the hub (The front edge portion of each fan blade 8b interpreted as the top edge of the fan blade arranged opposite the hub and closest to the air inlet as shown in at least Figure 5; The top edge of each fan blade is shown inclined with respect to the front side of the hub as shown in each of Figures 1 and 5 wherein the top edge of each fan blade is shown arranged having a non-parallel curvature with respect to the curved surface of the front side of the hub); in a direction from a circumference edge of the front side to a central region of the front side, the front side of the hub is gradually protruding to form a sloped front side (As shown in at least Figure 5; The hub is shown gradually protruding along the radial direction of the hub, forming a sloped surface, which is shown protruding in the axial direction of the airflow inlet); an end of the rotation shaft is connected to a center of the front side of the hub (As shown in at least Figures 1 and 5; Where the front of the hub is interpreted as the side comprising the fan blades as previously discussed); the rotation shaft extends away from the front side of the hub and the diagonal fan blades (As shown in at least Figures 1 and 5; The rotation shaft is shown extending away from the front side of the hub and towards and away from the opposite side of the hub); the sloped front side is curved from the circumference edge to the rotation shaft (As shown in at least Figures 1 and 5; The front side of the hub is shown formed with a curved surface which extends from the circumference edge at the outer circumference to the center portion where the rotation shaft is integrated, it is noted that the claim is not directed towards a narrowly defined curve such that a broadest reasonable interpretation of the term “curved” reads over the shape of the sloped front side formed by Yuei); an air suction channel covers a region that is defined by the front edge portions of all of the diagonal fan blades (The air suction channel is interepted as comprising the channel formed above the diagonal fan blades and bounded by the inner radial surface of the partition plate 9, a secondary channel is shown formed between the partition plate 9 and the annular shroud 7 which further comprises an air suction channel).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the portable wind blowing device of Lai to have substituted the fan assembly with that of Yuei with the predicted results that such a fan assembly would be capable of use in the device of Lai and that such a modification amounts to a simple substitution of one know centrifugal blade assembly for that of another. Such a substitution would have been obvious since, an express suggestion to substitute one equivalent component or process for another is not necessary to render such substitution obvious (MPEP 2144.06).
Regarding Claim 2: Lai, in view of Yuei, teaches the portable wind blowing device according to claim 1; once combined, Yuei further teaches the fan assembly is further arranged with an auxiliary fan (As shown in at least Figure 5; The portion of the fan formed by the radial outermost blades 8a is interpreted as forming an auxiliary fan), two airflow intaking ports are defined on one side of the fan assembly (As shown in at least Figures 4 and 5; The space of the inlet formed between the hub, the partition plate, and the blades forms a first air inlet port, and the space of the inlet formed between the partition plate, the shroud, and the blades forms a second air inlet port), and the two airflow intaking ports comprise: a main airflow intaking port (As shown in at least Figures 4 and 5; The main airflow intaking port is interpreted as the first air inlet (previously described herein) proving the flow path as shown being pressurized by blades 8b), communicating with the mixed-flow booster blower to form the high pressure airflow; and an auxiliary airflow intaking port (As shown in at least Figures 4 and 5; The auxiliary airflow intaking port is interpreted as the second air inlet (previously described herein) proving the flow path as shown being pressurized by blades 8a), communicating with the auxiliary fan to form an auxiliary airflow; wherein, the high pressure airflow and the auxiliary airflow are converged in the airflow concentration channel (As shown in at least Figures 4 and 5; The first and second airflows converge when exiting the fan assembly such that they would converge in a flow channel in which the fan assembly is placed in service.).
Regarding Claim 3: Lai, in view of Yuei, discloses the portable wind blowing device according to claim 2; once combined, Lai further discloses wherein the number of the at least one fan assembly is two, the two fan assemblies are respectively located at two ends of the hanging body portion (As shown in a least Figures 1 – 4; The apparatus comprises two fan assemblies 40 which are shown located at opposing extents of the “u-shaped” body forming the hanging body portion such that they are interpreted as being located at the two ends of the hanging body portion). It is noted that claim 3 presents Clause A, followed by the conjunction “and/or,” Clause B, followed by the conjunction “or,” followed by Clause C. As such, a minimum of one element of clauses A, B, and C is required to meet the limitations of the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 – 13, and 16 – 20 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.
Lai, in view of Yuei, fails to explicitly disclose or teach “an inner side surface that is adjacent to and facing a neck when the neck fan is worn around the neck; and an outer side surface that is facing away from the neck when the neck fan is worn around the neck; both the inner side surface and the outer side surface are surfaces that are exposed to an exterior of the neck fan; the body portion further defines one or more vent holes that penetrate the body portion, from the inner side surface to the outer side surface, for air circulation, the fan assembly is configured to intake air through the at least one air inlet and blow the air out of the fan through the at least one air outlet, the one or more vent holes are configured to allow air, which is located at a side of the body portion away from the neck, to flow through freely to circulate with air, which is located at a side of the body portion adjacent to the neck,” as recited by newly amended claim 4.
Lai, in view of Yuei, fails to explicitly disclose or teach “each airflow guiding blade further comprises a front edge portion connected between the blade top portion and the front side of the hub; and the front edge portion is inclined with respect to the front side of the hub; and the blade top portion of the airflow guiding blade comprises a first top portion disposed near the front edge portion and a second top portion away from the front edge portion; the second top portion is recessed toward the front side of the hub,” as recited by newly amended claim 13 which has incorporated subject matter from previously objected to claims 14 and 15.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2026.06.18 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues on page 11 of their Remarks that the shape of the front side of the hub of Yuei “is not ‘curved from the circumference edge to the rotation shaft’.” [emphasis in original]
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However, as shown in at least Figures 1 and 5, the front side of the hub of Yuei is shown formed with a curved surface which extends between the rotation shaft and the hub such that it is broadly interpreted as being formed in a position which reads over the “from-to” limitation as recited. It is noted that the claim language is directed towards the existence of a sloped surface which comprises a curve, and it is further noted that the well known interpretation of a mathematical curve can read over a segment which is flat (i.e. reading over the “no curve” areas as noted by Applicant’s annotated figure of Yuei. It is noted that the recited limitation does not call for a line which does not have a component perpendicular the shaft as appears to be alleged by Applicant’s arguments (such as segment formed by a parabolic arc extending the length of the hub originating at the shaft and terminating at the outer circumference). It is further noted that the written description does not appear to provide any further support for Applicant’s interpretation of the shape of the rotor at Figure 34 and only appears to discuss a slope with reference to a portion of the airflow channel 151 in at least [0194].
Applicant further argues on page 11 of their Remarks that “the rotation shaft of the motor is protruding outwardly at the central region of the hub towards a same side of the blades.”
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However, Applicant is referred to Figure 1 of Yuei which shows that “the rotation shaft extends away from the front side of the hub” as it extends past the back side of the hub and to the motor in the same manner as the shaft of the hub in Applicant’s Figure 34. It is noted that Applicant’s arguments appear to be directed towards non-claimed subject matter, namely that the shaft does not extend or protrude outwardly at a central region of the hub towards a same side of the blades.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN DOYLE whose telephone number is (571)270-5821. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 0900 - 1700.
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/BENJAMIN DOYLE/Examiner, Art Unit 3746 2026.07.16
/MARK A LAURENZI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3746 7/17/2026
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