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 .
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 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Parker (U.S. 2,332,007).
Regarding claim 1, Parker teaches a liquid shut-off valve device comprising: a pipe 7 that is supported by a fulcrum (the tank provides the same function as the fulcrum of the instant invention) and is configured to be tilted to one side thereof or to an other side thereof opposite to the one side (see figures 1-3); a supply port configured to supply a liquid to the pipe (5, 9); a first valve 15 configured to stop a flow of the liquid from the pipe in response to the pipe being tilted to the one side; and a second valve 16 disposed on an opposite side of the first valve from the supply port, wherein each of the first valve and the second valve includes a spherical-shaped object (18, 18a) and a cylinder 2 having openings at both ends thereof, the openings having diameters smaller than a diameter of the spherical-shaped object (see figure 4), wherein the first valve and the second valve do not stop the flow of the liquid from the pipe while the pipe is not tilted (based on the disclosure, both spherical objects are moved by gravity to close a respective valve), wherein the spherical-shaped object of the first valve engages with the cylinder of the first valve to stop the flow of the liquid from the pipe in response to the pipe being tilted to the one side, and wherein the spherical-shaped object of the second valve engages with the cylinder of the second valve to prevent a liquid from flowing from an outside of the pipe toward the first valve in response to the pipe being tilted to the other side (see column 2, lines 30-35).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is allowed.
The closest prior art of record Parker does not explicitly teach the rod-shaped body including a measurement unit at one side thereof and a reservoir for storing a fluid at an other side thereof opposite to the one side with the supported portion therebetween; and wherein the spherical-shaped object of the first valve engages with the cylinder of the first valve in response to the pipe being tilted to the one side where the measurement unit is provided, so as to stop the flow of the liquid from the pipe.
Therefore, the closest prior art of record fails to teach the invention as set forth in claim 2, and the Examiner can find no teaching of the measurement apparatus; nor reasons within the cited prior art or on his own to combine the elements of these references other than the applicant’s own reasoning to fully encompass the current pending claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMEL E WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)270-7027. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 10am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Breene can be reached at (571)272-4107. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMEL E WILLIAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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