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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-13 in the reply filed on 4-9-26 is acknowledged.
Claims 14-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected method, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4-9-26.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3 and 5-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE10209115190 (DE’190) (cited in the IDS filed 2-17-26, machine translation provided used for citation) in view of Lin US 2011/0100225 (US’225).
Regarding claim 1, DE’190 teaches a cleaner station (a disposal station (1), abstract, see fig. 1) comprising:
a housing configured to define an external appearance and having a space formed therein (see fig. 1);
a coupling part disposed in the housing and including a coupling surface to which at least a part of a cleaner is coupled (a disposal station according to the invention with a vacuum cleaner connected to it, 2 a schematic diagram of a disposal station according to the invention with a receiving chamber, page 6 fig. 1);
a dust collecting part comprising a dust separating part accommodated in the housing, disposed at a lower side of the coupling part, and configured to separate dust from air introduced from a dust bin of the cleaner (dust collection area includes internal components of the based station including flow channel 4 assigned a cyclone separator to separate dirt and dust particles from the air flow and into the receiving chamber 3, page 6, see fig. 1-2 the flow channel 4 is located lower than the top of the coupling between the based station and the cleaner),
a dust bag configured to store the dust separated by the dust separating part, a bag support part configured to support the dust bag (bag 5 in chamber 3, see fig. 2-9, page 6),
and a joining device configured to join the dust bag (a closure device 9 for closing a bag filled with dirt 5, page 7 see fig, 9-13);
a bag accommodation space formed in the housing and configured to accommodate the bag support part (chamber 3, see fig. 1-2 and 9, page 6);
a dust collecting motor accommodated in the housing (blower 15, see fig. 1, page 6),
disposed at the lower side of the dust collecting part (the dust collection area of the base station includes internal components of the based station shown in fig. 1 of which any internal area can be considered a lower side, therefore the blower shown in fig. being internal to the base station reads on at the lower side),
and configured to generate a suction force for sucking dust in the dust bin (the blower is used to fill bag 5 in chamber 3 page 5); and
a flow path part comprising a first flow path configured to connect the dust bin of the cleaner and the dust collecting part (blower 15 moves dirt from the cleaner to the receiving chamber page 6),
a second flow path configured to guide air, which has passed through the dust collecting part, to the dust collecting motor (during a compression process, any dirt components that may escape from the bag, for example fine dust, can be sucked off by a blower of the disposal station, whereby these are preferably caught by a filter element, for example a motor protection filter, page 3),
wherein the dust collecting part further comprises a bag compressing member movably coupled to the bag accommodation space and configured to discharge the air in the dust bag by compressing the dust bag (stamp 6 compresses the bag 5 in order to compress it after filling, page 6-7, see fig. 9-13 any air in the bag would therefore be ejected).
DE’190 does not teach a bypass flow path configured to connect the bag support part and the dust collecting motor.
US’225 teaches a dust collector includes a shell, an exit tube, an inner tube, a suction device, a first dust container, a bypass tube and a first dust bag (abstract, see fig. 2). The main object of the present invention is to provide a dust collector that its dust bag can be efficiently expanded. due to the bypass tube 60, the pressure in the second chamber 54 substantially equals to that in the connection passage 31 which provides negative pressure via motor 40 to the duct collector. As such, a pressure drop is maintained between the second chamber 54 and the first bag chamber 71, sucking the first dust bag 70 against the extended-disposed mesh 52 tightly. Therefore, the first dust bag 70 is efficiently expanded for more dust to receive therein. Such design also prevents the first dust bag 70 from being sucked into the first receiving room 11 since the second chamber 54 provides stronger suction than the first receiving room 11 does (para. 14-24, see fig. 2-5). Therefore, US’225 teaches to provide a bypass flow path between the bag support and the motor suction inlet to efficiently expand the bag in the chamber of DE’190 so that more dust to receive therein
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus of DE’190 to include a bypass flow path configured to connect the bag support part and the dust collecting motor because US’225 teaches to provide a bypass flow path between the bag support and the motor suction inlet to efficiently expand the bag in the chamber of DE’190 so that more dust to receive therein and combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results is obvious, see MPEP 2141 III (A).
Regarding claim 3, the modified apparatus of DE’190 teaches the cleaning station of claim 1. DE’190 further teaches wherein the bag compressing member comprises a flow path closing member coupled to the bag accommodation space in a sliding manner, and wherein the flow path closing member is capable of opening or closing the bypass flow path by rectilinearly moving (stamp 6 is capable of pressing the bag against a lower surface, see fig. 9-10, this would restrict the bypass flow of the modified device of DE’190 since the bag cannot be expanded).
Regarding claim 5, the modified apparatus of DE’190 teaches the cleaning station of claim 1. DE’190 further teaches wherein the bag compressing member comprises a pressing member disposed in the bag support part, and wherein the pressing member is capable of compressing an outer surface of the dust bag by rectilinearly moving (see fig. 9-10, the bag is compressed by pushing down linearly).
Regarding claim 6, the modified apparatus of DE’190 teaches the cleaning station of claim 1. DE’190 further teaches wherein the joining device comprises: a stationary joining member (chamber 3 wall, see fig. 12); and a movable joining member configured to be movable toward the stationary joining member (heating device 10 of the compression stamp 6, page 7-8, see fig. 12), and wherein the dust collecting motor enables the movable joining member to operate in a state in which the movable joining member is spaced apart from the stationary joining member at a predetermined distance (it is noted that the applicant claimed configuration of “the dust collecting motor" recites the intended use of the apparatus. And a recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. The joining member of DE’190 are capable of being operated at a predetermined distance and the motor would not impact their operation. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made would have known that the structural limitations of the motor taught by the prior art and the motor claimed would have been the same and since the claim is directed towards an apparatus, the apparatus is independent of the intended use).
Regarding claim 7, the modified apparatus of DE’190 teaches the cleaning station of claim 1. DE’190 further teaches wherein the joining device comprises a heating wire capable of joining the dust bag by the heating wire (electrical resistance heating element 10 page 4 and 7-8, see fig. 12).
Regarding claim 8, the modified apparatus of DE’190 teaches the cleaning station of claim 7. DE’190 further teaches wherein the joining device further comprises a stationary joining member (chamber wall, see fig. 12); and a movable joining member (heating device 10 located on movable stamp 6, see fig. 10-12, page 7) configured to close the dust bag by moving toward the stationary joining member (see fig. 10-12, page 7), and wherein the heating wire is disposed on at least any one of the stationary joining member and the movable joining member (heating device 10 is located on movable stamp 6, page 8, see fig. 12).
Regarding claim 9, the modified apparatus of DE’190 teaches the cleaning station of claim 8. DE’190 further teaches wherein the movable joining member comprises: a first movable joining member configured to rectilinearly move toward the stationary joining member in a first direction; and a second movable joining member configured to rectilinearly move toward the stationary joining member in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction (the stamp can be moved horizontally and vertically, see fig. 9-12).
Regarding claim 10, the modified apparatus of DE’190 teaches the cleaning station of claim 1. DE’190 further teaches wherein the dust collecting part further comprises a dust bag cartridge separably coupled to the housing and configured to supply the dust bag (the bags can, for example, be wound up one behind the other on a roll and can be separated from one another at a separation point provided for this purpose, page 4, see fig. 2).
Regarding claim 11, the modified apparatus of DE’190 teaches the cleaning station of claim 1. DE’190 further teaches wherein the dust bag is supported by the bag support part and configured to be discharged from the bag accommodation space (see fig.3-14, page 7the bag lines the chamber and is discharged by chamber opening 18).
Regarding claim 12, the modified apparatus of DE’190 teaches the cleaning station of claim 1. DE’190 further teaches wherein the first flow path is connected to an upper side of the bag accommodation space (the first flow path flows into the bag to fill from the upper side, as discussed above, see fig. 1 and 9), and the second flow path is connected to the upper side of the bag accommodation space (the second flow path is dust sucked off by a blower of the disposal station due to compression of the bag, as discussed above which would also go through the upper side).
Regarding claim 13, the modified apparatus of DE’190 teaches the cleaning station of claim 12. DE’190 further teaches wherein the bypass flow path is connected to a lower side of the bag accommodation space (see fig. 1-2 of US’225).
Claim(s) 2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE’190 in view of US’224 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Harting et al. US 2019/0335968 (US’968).
Regarding claims 2 and 4, the modified apparatus of DE’190 teaches the cleaning station of claim 1.
The modified apparatus of DE’190 does not teach wherein the bag compressing member comprises a flow path closing member hingedly coupled to the bag accommodation space, and wherein the flow path closing member is capable of opening or closing the bypass flow path by rotating, with regard to claim 2 and wherein the bag compressing member comprises a pressing member hingedly coupled to the inside of the bag support part, and wherein the pressing member is capable of compressing an outer surface of the dust bag by rotating, with regard to claim 4.
US’968 teaches a docking station for a robotic vacuum cleaner may include a suction motor, a collection bin, and a filter system fluidly coupled to the suction motor (abstract). The filter roll 203 may be unrolled such that the filter medium 106 extends over the suction cavity 202. The suction cavity 202 has a first open end 204 for receiving at least a portion of the filter medium 106 and a second open end 206 fluidly coupled to the suction motor 104 for drawing air through the filter medium 106. The flow path through the filter system 200 is generally illustrated by arrow 205. As shown, a compactor 210 extends outwardly from a first cavity sidewall 212 of the suction cavity 202 and urges a first portion 214 of the filter medium 106 towards a second portion 216 of the filter medium 106 that is adjacent a second cavity sidewall 218 of the suction cavity 202. the filter medium 106 may generally be described a defining a V-shape or a U-shape. The pusher 208 may have any cross-sectional shape. For example, the cross-sectional shape of the pusher 208 may be wedge shaped, circular shaped, square shaped, pentagonal shaped, and/or any other suitable shape (para. 26-29). As shown in fig. 4-12 the compactor rotates about a point. DE’190 further teaches hinged doors used in cooperation with the pressing member for performing the compacting (see fig. 9-14). stamp 6 is capable of pressing the bag against a lower surface, see fig. 9-10, this would restrict the bypass flow of the modified device of DE’190 since the bag cannot be expanded, and see fig. 9-10, the bag is compressed by pushing down linearly, as discussed above. Therefore, the combined teachings of DE’190 and US’968 teaches that compacting mechanisms useful in the cleaning station of DE’190 can include the structures recited in claims 2 and 4.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the modified apparatus of DE’190 to include wherein the bag compressing member comprises a flow path closing member hingedly coupled to the bag accommodation space, and wherein the flow path closing member is capable of opening or closing the bypass flow path by rotating, with regard to claim 2 and wherein the bag compressing member comprises a pressing member hingedly coupled to the inside of the bag support part, and wherein the pressing member is capable of compressing an outer surface of the dust bag by rotating, with regard to claim 4 because the combined teachings of DE’190 and US’968 teaches that compacting mechanisms useful in the cleaning station of DE’190 can include the structures recited and it is prima facie obvious to substitute art recognized equivalents known for the same purpose, see MPEP 2144.06 II.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIN FLANAGAN BERGNER whose telephone number is (571)270-1133. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joshua Allen can be reached at 571-270-3176. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIN F BERGNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713
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