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(s) was/were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) was/were considered by the examiner.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tomoyuki et al. (JP2011033088), hereinafter “Tomoyuki”.
In regards to claim 1, Tomoyuki discloses a three-way valve, comprising: a first port (11a), a second port (12a), and a third port (13a); a straight flow path (14a) including an end continuous with the first port (11a), another end continuous with the second port (12a), an intermediate portion continuous with the third port (13a), a first valve orifice between the first port (11a) and the third port (13a), the first valve orifice having an opening area changeable in response to a first valve element (4a) moving toward or away from the first valve orifice, and a second valve orifice between the second port (12a) and the third port (13a), the second valve orifice having an opening area changeable in response to a second valve element (4b) moving toward or away from the second valve orifice; a shaft (7a) drivable by a motor (9) to move in an axial direction of the shaft parallel to the straight flow path (14a), the shaft (7a) including a first end at which the first valve element (4a) and the second valve element (4b) are located, the first valve element (4a) and the second valve element (4b) being movable along the straight flow path (14a) together with the shaft (7a) to change an amount of fluid flowing between the first port (11a) and the third port (13a) and an amount of fluid flowing between the second port (12a) and the third port (13a); a guide(3a) including a bearing (b) through which the shaft (7a) is placed, the bearing (b) supporting the shaft (7a) to allow the shaft (7a) to move in the axial direction; and a driver (8a) being cylindrical and including, on an outer peripheral surface of the driver (8a), a gear (83a) to which a driving force is transmitted from the motor (9), the driver (8a) having an insertion hole being open in an end face of the driver (8a) facing the first valve element (4a) and the second valve element (4b), the insertion hole receiving a second end of the shaft (7a) opposite to the first valve element (4a) and the second valve element (4b), the driver (8a) being bonded to the second end of the shaft (7a), wherein where a direction in which the driver (8a) is located with respect to the shaft (7a) in the axial direction is upward, and an opposite direction in which the first valve element (4a) and the second valve element (4b) are located with respect to the shaft (7a) in the axial direction is downward, the driver (8a) includes, downward from the gear (83a), an externally threaded portion (82a) having an outer peripheral surface with an external thread, and the guide includes (3a), upward from the bearing (b), an internally threaded portion (32a) having an inner peripheral surface with an internal thread, when the driver (8a) is driven by the motor (9) and rotates about an axis of the shaft (7a) with the externally threaded portion (82a) placed in the internally threaded portion (32a), the shaft (7a) moves in the axial direction in response to the externally threaded portion (82a) being screwed into the internally threaded portion (32a), and the driver (8a) includes a cylindrical portion (cp) protruding downward from a lower end face of the externally threaded portion (82a), the cylindrical portion (cp) includes the insertion hole inside the cylindrical portion (cp), and the cylindrical portion (cp) has an outer diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the internally threaded portion (32a).
The office notes that the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion (cp) is smaller than the widest inner diameter of the threaded portion (32a) as illustrated in Fig. 1.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 3 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to R.K. Arundale whose telephone number is 571-270-3453. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (9:30AM-6:00PM EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881, and Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT K ARUNDALE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753