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, 6, 8-12, and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 107558558 (A) (hereinafter Lin).
Regarding claim 1, Lin discloses a shifter (see Figs. 1-5) comprising an upper shifter body (1), wherein the upper shifter body is provided with an inlet (about 10) for sewage to flow in; and a lower shifter body (2, 3), wherein the lower shifter body is provided with an outlet (see Fig. 2: the outlet defined by body 3) for sewage to flow out, the lower shifter body and the upper shifter body are connected by a sliding connection structure (5, 7), and the lower shifter body and the upper shifter body jointly enclose a sewage discharge flow channel (see Fig. 2) with an adjustable length (see abstract), the sewage discharge flow channel is communicated with the inlet and the outlet (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 2, the shifter according to claim 1, wherein the sliding connection structure (5, 7) comprises a sliding rail (5) and a sliding slot (7) that cooperate with each other, and one of the sliding rail and the sliding slot is provided on the upper shifter body, and the other of the sliding rail and the sliding slot is provided on the lower shifter body.
Regarding claim 3, the shifter according to claim 2, wherein the sliding rail and the sliding slot are located outside the sewage discharge flow channel (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 6, the shifter according to claim 2, wherein, one end of the sliding rail is a fixed end (the end of 5 fixed to member 4), and the other end of the sliding rail is a free end (see Fig. 1); the fixed end is located outside the sliding slot and is connected with the upper shifter body or the lower shifter body; the free end is slidably embedded in the sliding slot (see Fig. 5); a first limiting protrusion (the protrusion on limit block 71 that snap into slot 7) is provided in the sliding slot, and a second limiting protrusion (raised strip 221) is provided in a portion (see Fig. 2) of the sliding rail located in the sliding slot; the first limiting protrusion is provided to abut against the second limiting protrusion to limit the sliding rail from detaching from the sliding slot in an extension direction of the sliding slot, so that the upper shifter body is confined to the lower shifter body (see English translation para. [0048]).
Regarding claim 8, the shifter according to claim 6, wherein, there is a distance between an abut-against position of the first limiting protrusion and the second limiting protrusion and one end of the sliding slot close to the fixed end, so as to define a minimum insertion length of the upper shifter body and the lower shifter body (see Figs. 2 and 5).
Regarding claim 9, the shifter according to claim 6, wherein, one end of the sliding slot away from the fixed end is provided to be opened for the sliding rail to be inserted into the sliding slot in the extension direction of the sliding slot; the sliding slot is also provided with a third limiting protrusion, the third limiting protrusion is used to abut against the sliding rail, to restrict the sliding rail from detaching from the sliding slot in a direction perpendicular to the extension direction of the sliding slot.
Regarding claim 10, the shifter according to claim 2, wherein, a plurality of sliding protrusions (see Fig. 5: the downwardly protrusions on left and right sides about where 5 is pointing in Fig. 1) are provided on the sliding rail, the sliding protrusions contact and cooperate with a slot wall (see Fig. 5) of the sliding slot to reduce a contact area between the sliding rail and the sliding slot.
Regarding claim 11, the shifter according to claim 1, wherein, the upper shifter body comprises a first flow channel part and an inlet part (see Fig. 2), wherein the inlet part is provided with the inlet , and the first flow channel part is provided with a first flow channel; the lower shifter body comprises a second flow channel part and an outlet part (see Fig. 2), wherein the outlet part is provided with the outlet, and the second flow channel part is provided with a second flow channel; the first flow channel part and the second flow channel part are fitted in an insertion manner (see Fig. 2), so that the second flow channel and the first flow channel jointly form the sewage discharge flow channel; and a seal structure (8, 22) is further provided between the first flow channel part and the second flow channel part (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 12, the shifter according to claim 11, wherein the seal structure comprises at least one seal ring (see Fig. 1: 8); a plurality of limiting ribs (ribs about grooves 23) are provided on an outer side wall (see Fig. 2) of one of the first flow channel part and the second flow channel part that is located inside (about 23), and a sealing groove (23) is formed between two adjacent limiting ribs, and the seal ring is embedded into the sealing groove (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 15, the shifter according to claim 11, wherein the upper shifter body further comprises a support part (6), the support part is located below the inlet and is connected to the first flow channel part and the inlet part, and is provided to abut against the ground.
Regarding claim 16, the shifter according to claim 11, wherein a first sealing element (10) is provided at the inlet and a second sealing element (9) is provided at the outlet.
Regarding claim 17, the shifter according to claim 1, wherein one of the upper shifter body and the lower shifter body is provided with an identification (221) for identifying a service length of the shifter (see English translation para. [0049]).
Regarding claim 18, Lin teaches a toilet (see paras. [0004] to [0006]), comprising a toilet body (see para. [0004]: toilet wall); and further comprising the shifter according to claim 1; wherein the inlet is in communication with a sewage discharge port provided in the toilet body.
Regarding claim 19, the shifter according to claim 3, wherein, one end of the sliding rail is a fixed end (the end of 5 fixed to member 4), and the other end of the sliding rail is a free end (see Fig. 1); the fixed end is located outside the sliding slot and is connected with the upper shifter body or the lower shifter body; the free end is slidably embedded in the sliding slot (see Fig. 5); a first limiting protrusion (the protrusion on limit block 71 that snap into slot 7) is provided in the sliding slot, and a second limiting protrusion (raised strip 221) is provided in a portion (see Fig. 2) of the sliding rail located in the sliding slot; the first limiting protrusion is provided to abut against the second limiting protrusion to limit the sliding rail from detaching from the sliding slot in an extension direction of the sliding slot, so that the upper shifter body is confined to the lower shifter body (see English translation para. [0048]).
Regarding claim 20, the shifter according to claim 3, wherein, a plurality of sliding protrusions (see Fig. 5: the downwardly protrusions on left and right sides about where 5 is pointing in Fig. 1) are provided on the sliding rail, the sliding protrusions contact and cooperate with a slot wall (see Fig. 5) of the sliding slot to reduce a contact area between the sliding rail and the sliding slot.
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) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin in view of KR 20210158210 A (hereinafter Shin).
Lin teaches all of the claimed limitation as discussed regarding claim 12 above except for the limitation an insertion end of the first flow channel part is provided obliquely, and a top part of the insertion end of the first flow channel part is further away from the inlet than a bottom part of the insertion end; and an insertion end of the second flow channel part is provided obliquely and is parallel to the insertion end of the first flow channel part. Attention is directed to the Shin reference which teaches an analogous toilet shifter further comprises an insertion end of a first flow channel part (10) is provided obliquely (see Figs. 1 and 3a), and a top part of the insertion end of the first flow channel part is further away from the inlet than a bottom part of the insertion end (see Fig. 3a); and an insertion end of the second flow channel part is provided obliquely and is parallel to the insertion end of the first flow channel part (see Figs. 1 and 3a). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to modify the insertion ends of Lin to include oblique configuration as taught by Shin in order to provide the ease of aligning the free ends during installation.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5, 7, and 13 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: None of the prior art of record alone or in combination teaches the limitations of claims 4-5, 7, and 13.
Conclusion
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/TUAN N NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754