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
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) 1-3, 7-8, 10, and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tada (20140183283).
Regarding claim 1, Tada discloses a valve spring made of plastic configured to pretension a valve stem against a valve seat of a dispensing unit which is configured to dispense a product, wherein the valve spring comprises: a plurality of spring elements (22) arranged axially one behind the other, wherein one or more of: each spring element of the plurality of spring elements has two curved portions which are formed mirror-symmetrically with respect to one another and are connected to one another at their ends (Fig. 2A), and the valve spring has a leaf-spring-like or cup-spring-like construction (Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 2, one or more of the spring elements and the portions are formed in the same way (Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 3, the portions extend substantially transversely to the axis and/or are planar (Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 7, the spring elements and/or portions each comprise one or more of polyethylene and polypropylene (par. 0051).
Regarding claim 8, the portions of a spring element are arranged mirror-symmetrically with respect to a mirror plane that runs transversely or perpendicularly to the axis (Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 10, the two portions of a spring element are each curved away from the respective mirror plane, so that a distance between the two portions of a spring element decreases with increasing distance from the axis (Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 12, the spring elements are compressible (par. 0058).
Regarding claim 13, spring elements are formed by the curvature of the portions in combination with the connected ends, which spring elements each have a free space between the portions, which free space extends substantially transversely to the axis (Fig. 2A).
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) 5, 11, 14, 18-22, and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tada.
Regarding claim 5, the portions each have one or more of: at least a substantially constant thickness (Fig. 2B).
Tada discloses the claimed invention except for a thickness of a portion is at least 0.2 mm, and the thickness of a portion at most 0.8 mm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the portions to have a thickness of at least 0.2 mm or at most 0.8 mm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art (MPEP2144.05 II-A).
Regarding claim 11, Tada discloses the claimed invention except for the maximum distance between two portions of a spring element is at least 0.75 mm at most 1.15 mm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the maximum distance between two portions of a spring element at least 0.75 mm and at most 1.15 mm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art (MPEP2144.05 II-A).
Regarding claim 14, Tada discloses the claimed invention except for the width of the free space and an extent of a free space perpendicular to the axis, is at least 3.0 mm and at most 5.0 mm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the width of the free space and an extent of a free space perpendicular to the axis, to be at least 3.0 mm and at most 5.0 mm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art (MPEP2144.05 II-A).
Regarding claim 18 and 20, Tada discloses a pump for a product wherein the pump comprises: a pump housing (3), a piston (11), a pump chamber (Fig. 4), an inlet (at 24), an outlet (11c), an inlet valve (24) and an outlet valve (11c, 21, 22), wherein the piston is axially movable in order to convey the product via the inlet into the pump chamber and out of the pump chamber to the outlet (Figs. 4-5), wherein one or more of: the outlet valve has a valve spring according to claim 1 (Figs. 4-5).
Tada discloses the claimed invention except for all parts of the pump comprise the same basic material or of materials of the same material class; the basic material is one or more of: plastic, polyethylene and polypropylene. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the same material for all parts, where the basic material is one or more of: plastic, polyethylene and polypropylene, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice (MPEP 2144.07).
Regarding claim 19, the outlet valve has the valve spring (22), a valve seat (11c) and a shaft (21), wherein the shaft is pretensioned by the valve spring against the valve seat into a closed position (par. 0058), and wherein the valve spring and the shaft are formed by different portions of a one-piece component (Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 21, the component or the valve spring and the shaft are arranged at least partially in a housing (11d).
Regarding claim 22, the housing is arranged or fastened on the piston and/or is arranged and/or movable within the pump chamber and/or the pump housing (Figs. 4-5).
Regarding claim 24, Tada discloses a dispensing device for dispensing a product (Figs. 6A-6B and 13), wherein the dispensing device has a dispensing unit (100), the dispensing unit having a pump according to claim 18 and a dispensing head (Figs. 4-5), and a container (1) with or for the product, and wherein the dispensing head is fluidically connected to the container via the pump (Figs. 4-5), so that the product can be conveyed from the container with the pump and can be dispensed via the dispensing head.
Claim(s) 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tada in view of Nilsson et al. (20180281004).
Regarding claim 15, Tada DIFFERS in that it does not disclose two adjacent spring elements are each connected to one another by a connecting piece. Attention, however, is directed to the Nilsson reference, which discloses two adjacent spring elements are each connected to one another by a connecting piece (412). Nilsson teaches that the connection pieces allow the spring properties to be modified (par. 0066).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Tada reference in view of the teachings of the Nilsson reference by including a connection piece between each adjacent spring element for the purpose of modifying the spring properties.
Regarding claim 16, one or more of the connecting piece or the connecting pieces comprise the same material as the spring elements and formed in one piece with the spring elements (Fig. 2A; par. 0051 of Tada; par. 0062 of Nilsson).
Regarding claim 17, the connecting piece or the connecting pieces is/are arranged centrally and/or in the region of the axis (Figs. 6-7 of Nilsson).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DONNELL ALAN LONG whose telephone number is (571)270-5610. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8AM-5PM.
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/DONNELL A LONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754