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 § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-11 and 13-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Medina et al. (US20210387213. IDS provided by the Applicant. Medina hereinafter).
With respect to claim 1, Medina discloses a spray nozzle assembly (Figs. 1-8) comprising:
a body (14, 16, 20, 32) having a fluid inlet (upstream of 36) and a fluid outlet (50) with an internal fluid passage connecting the fluid inlet to the fluid outlet;
a spray tip (at 62) supported on the body, the spray tip including a fluid inlet passage (at 50) that communicates with the fluid outlet of the nozzle body, the fluid inlet passage terminating in an end wall (54, 60 and the wall/element marked in Fig. 3 with additional annotations below) at a downstream end in a direction of fluid flow from the fluid inlet passage, an annular discharge passage (64) in the spray tip, the annular discharge passage encircling at least a portion of the end wall and extending in the downstream direction of fluid flow relative to of the end wall and the fluid inlet passage, the annular discharge passage defining a circular ridge (pointed by “40” in Fig. 3) in an external downstream surface of the spray tip; and
a plurality of discharge orifices (18) through which fluid is discharged from the spray tip to (capable of) collectively produce a full conical spray pattern of discharging fluid (since Medina’s nozzle assembly is the same, if not identical, to the Applicant’s invention, Medina’s nozzle assembly must be above to perform the full conical spray pattern of discharging fluid. It is well settled that it is possible for functional language to define structure, but that where no distinguishing structure has been defined, the claim is not patentable and is fully met by the reference. See In re Swinehart, 169 USPQ 226), the plurality of discharge orifices being provided in the circular ridge and spaced from each other about a circumference of the circular ridge (Fig. 4); each discharge orifice communicating with the annular discharge orifice and being formed in a respective notch (68, 69) in the circular ridge, each notch having at least one sidewall.
With respect to claim 2, Medina discloses the spray nozzle assembly of claim 1, wherein the annular discharge passage has opposing, symmetric sidewalls that converge towards each other as they extend in the downstream direction to produce a V-shaped cross-section (Figs. 3, 5, 6B).
With respect to claim 3, Medina discloses the spray nozzle assembly of claim 2, wherein each discharge orifice is formed at a location in which the opposing sidewalls of the annular discharge passage intersect (at 69. Figs. 3, 5, 6B).
With respect to claim 4, Medina discloses the spray nozzle assembly of claim 2, wherein each discharge orifice produces a fan spray pattern (same configuration as the Applicant’s invention).
With respect to claim 5, Medina discloses the spray nozzle assembly of claim 4, wherein the fan spray pattern of each discharge orifice has a respective centerline (of 18) and the centerlines (of the plurality of 18) of the fan spray patterns of the discharge orifices are offset from a center (A) of the circular ridge (Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 6, Medina discloses the spray nozzle assembly of claim 1, wherein the annular discharge passage has opposing first (Interpretation A: of 16; Interpretation B: of 14) and second (Interpretation A: of 14; Interpretation B: of 16) sidewalls that are asymmetric with the first sidewall extending straight (Interpretation B: pointed by “54” in Fig. 3) in the downstream direction and the second sidewall extending at an angle (Interpretation B: at the two turns pointed around “44” in Fig. 3) that converges toward the first sidewall as the second sidewall extends in the downstream direction (Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 7, Medina discloses the spray nozzle assembly of claim 6, wherein the first sidewall of the annular discharge passage is a radially inward side of the annular discharge passage and the second sidewall is a radially outward side of the annular discharge passage (Fig. 3. Interpretation A of claim 6).
With respect to claim 8, Medina discloses the spray nozzle assembly of claim 6, wherein the second sidewall of the annular discharge passage is a radially inward side of the annular discharge passage and the first sidewall is a radially outward side of the annular discharge passage (Fig. 3. Interpretation B of claim 6).
With respect to claim 9, Medina discloses the spray nozzle assembly of claim 1, wherein each notch includes at least two sidewalls that define a V-shaped cross-section (Figs. 3, 5, 6B) of the notch.
With respect to claim 10, Medina discloses the spray nozzle assembly of claim 1, wherein the sidewall of each notch defines a U-shaped (Figs. 3, 5, 6B including the small chamfer between 56 and 74. Fig. 6B) cross-section of the notch.
With respect to claim 11, Medina discloses the spray nozzle assembly of claim 1, wherein each notch has a two sidewalls that are connected by a bottom (small chamfer between 56 and 74. Fig. 6B), the bottom extending in a single plane.
With respect to claim 13, Medina discloses a spray tip for a spray nozzle assembly (Figs. 1-8), the spray tip comprising:
a spray tip body (14, 16, 20, 32) including a fluid inlet passage (upstream of 36 to 50), the fluid inlet passage terminating in an end wall (54, 60 and the wall/element marked in Fig. 3 with additional annotations below) at a downstream end in a direction of fluid flow from the fluid inlet passage, an annular discharge passage (64) in the spray tip the annular discharge passage encircling at least a portion of the end wall and extending in the downstream direction of fluid flow relative to the end wall and the fluid inlet passage, the annular discharge passage defining a circular ridge (pointed by “40” in Fig. 3) in an external downstream surface of the spray tip; and
a plurality of discharge orifices (18) through which fluid is discharged from the spray tip to (capable of) collectively produce a full conical spray pattern of discharging fluid (since Medina’s nozzle assembly is the same, if not identical, to the Applicant’s invention, Medina’s nozzle assembly must be above to perform the full conical spray pattern of discharging fluid. It is well settled that it is possible for functional language to define structure, but that where no distinguishing structure has been defined, the claim is not patentable and is fully met by the reference. See In re Swinehart, 169 USPQ 226), the plurality of discharge orifices being provided in the circular ridge and spaced from each other about a circumference of the circular ridge (Fig. 4); each discharge orifice communicating with the annular discharge orifice and being formed in a respective notch (68, 69) in the circular ridge, each notch having at least one sidewall.
With respect to claim 14, Medina discloses the spray tip of claim 13, wherein the annular discharge passage has opposing, symmetric sidewalls that converge towards each other as they extend in the downstream direction to produce a V-shaped cross-section (Figs. 3, 5, 6B).
With respect to claim 15, Medina discloses the spray tip of claim 13, wherein the annular discharge passage has opposing first (Interpretation A: of 16; Interpretation B: of 14) and second (Interpretation A: of 14; Interpretation B: of 16) sidewalls that are asymmetric with the first sidewall extending straight (Interpretation B: pointed by “54” in Fig. 3) in the downstream direction and the second sidewall extending at an angle (Interpretation B: at the two turns pointed around “44” in Fig. 3) that converges toward the first sidewall as the second sidewall extends in the downstream direction (Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 16, Medina discloses the spray tip of claim 15, wherein the first sidewall of the annular discharge passage is a radially inward side of the annular discharge passage and the second sidewall is a radially outward side of the annular discharge passage (Fig. 3. Interpretation A of claim 6).
With respect to claim 17, Medina discloses the spray tip of claim 15, wherein the second sidewall of the annular discharge passage is a radially inward side of the annular discharge passage and the first sidewall is a radially outward side of the annular discharge passage (Fig. 3. Interpretation B of claim 6).
With respect to claim 18, Medina discloses the spray tip of claim 13, wherein each notch includes at least two sidewalls that define a V-shaped cross-section (Figs. 3, 5, 6B) of the notch.
With respect to claim 19, Medina discloses the spray tip of claim 13, wherein the sidewall of each notch defines a U-shaped (Figs. 3, 5, 6B including the small chamfer between 56 and 74. Fig. 6B) cross-section of the notch.
With respect to claim 20, Medina discloses the spray tip of claim 13, wherein each notch has a two sidewalls that are connected by a bottom (small chamfer between 56 and 74. Fig. 6B), the bottom extending in a single plane.
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.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Medina in view of Harlow, Jr. et al. (US 5429682. Harlow hereinafter).
With respect to claim 12, Medina discloses the spray nozzle assembly of claim 1 except for wherein the body includes a pulse width modulation valve assembly.
However, Harlow teaches a spray nozzle assembly (Figs. 1-20) comprising a body (Fig. 1) includes a pulse width modulation valve assembly (Col. 2, line 65 to Col. 3, line 4; Col. 8, lines 25-45; Col. 13, lines 1-57 and Figs. 17A-18F).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of using a pulse width modulation valve assembly, as taught by Harlow, to Medina’s spray nozzle assembly, in order to provide a precise yet optimum spraying performance. Col. 3, lines 5-17, lines 54-63; Col. 7, lines 4-13, lines 32-57; Col. 14, lines 14 to Col. 15, line 21).
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Response to Arguments
The applicant argues that Medina fails to disclose the annular discharge passage encircling at least a portion of the end wall. The applicant’s argument has been considered but is moot due to the new interpretation of the Medina reference. The end wall is now being interpreted as elements shown in Fig. 3 with additional annotations above (see new rejection above).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 CHEE-CHONG LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-1916. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am -5pm.
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/CHEE-CHONG LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752 August 29, 2026
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