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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen (CN214400925U, see English translation provided.)
Regarding claim 5, Yoon meets the claimed, An apparatus for manufacturing an electret melt blown nonwoven fabric, comprising: a spinning section of spinning a non-electroconductive polymer, (the section having a plurality of spinning holes in a width direction; (Chen [0027] describes a spinneret 10 with a plurality of holes 101 along the x direction) a water spraying section of spraying water to the spun yarn discharged from the spinning section; (Chen [0027] describes spray assembly 30 for spraying water onto the fiber) and a sheet-making section of collecting the spun yarn, (Chen [0025] describes receiving device 20 to form a web) wherein the water spraying section is a spray nozzle including a plurality of water discharge openings arranged in the width direction and a pair of air discharge openings that are opened continuously or intermittently in the width direction (Chen [0026]-[0027] describes the spray assembly 30 includes nozzles 3 arranged along the x direction that spray both water and air) and are arranged to sandwich the plurality of water discharge openings, (Chen Figure 2 showing the nozzles are faced and can spray towards one another) and causing air discharged from the air discharge openings to collide with water discharged from the plurality of water discharge openings (Chen [0026]-[0027] describes the air disperses the water and thereby atomizes the water.)
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon (KR KR20160141384A, previously made of record on the IDS dated 12/22/2025, see English translation provided for mapping within this action) modified by Chen (CN214400925U, see English translation provided.)
Regarding claim 1, Yoon meets the claimed, A method for manufacturing an electret melt blown nonwoven fabric, wherein, when a non-electroconductive polymer (Yoon [0030] describes non-conductive polymer) is melt-spun from a spinneret (Yoon [0065] and [0068] both describe melt-blown and [0078] describes spinning) and a spun yarn is collected (Yoon [0078] and [0081] describe spinning the free fibers from a radiating unit 3 and accumulating the free fibers to form a non-woven fabric) by a yarn collection device provided below to form a melt blown nonwoven fabric, (Yoon [0081] describes accumulating the fibers on the capture surface 30a) water is sprayed by a spray nozzle onto the spun yarn between the spinneret and the yarn collection device to electretize the melt blown nonwoven fabric, (Yoon [0082] describes spraying a polar solvent on the fibers while they are being radiated to the capturing surface to generate electrostatic charge on the fibers) the spray nozzle includes a plurality of water discharge openings arranged in the width direction (Yoon Figure 1, [0043], [0047] and [0054]-[0055] describe the polar solvent injection unit 10 which has a plurality of spray nozzles for spraying a polar solvent such as water and gas mixture) and a pair of air discharge openings that are opened continuously or intermittently in the width direction (Yoon [0050]-[0052] describe the nozzles 12 sprays both gas and the water/polar solvent.)
Yoon does not explicitly describe the structure of the radiating unit and does not meet the claimed, having a plurality of spinning holes in a width direction. Yoon also does not describe openings which are arranged to face one another and does not meet the claimed, and a pair of air discharge openings that are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the plurality of water discharge openings, and air discharged from the air discharge openings is made to collide with water discharged from the plurality of water discharge openings to spray the water on the spun yarn.
Analogous in the field of non-woven fabrics, Chen meets the claimed, spinneret having a plurality of spinning holes in a width direction (Chen [0006] describes a spinneret with a plurality of spinneret holes in the x direction) and a pair of air discharge openings that are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the plurality of water discharge openings, (Chen [0026] describes air outlets 21 which provide air to nozzle 3, see Figure 2 showing the nozzles are faced and can spray towards one another) and air discharged from the air discharge openings is made to collide with water discharged from the plurality of water discharge openings to spray the water on the spun yarn (Chen [0026] describes the water being atomized and dispersed by the air.)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to combine the radiating unit of Yoon with the spinneret having multiple holes as described in Chen in order to form multiple ultra-fine fibers, see Chen [0033]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to combine the nozzles of Yoon with the spray assembly having air outlets as described in Chen in order to form an atomizing apparatus that can spray water evenly across the fiber, see Chen [0027].
Regarding claim 2, Yoon does not explicitly describe the ratio of water to the fiber and does not explicitly meet the claimed, The method for manufacturing an electret melt blown nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, wherein a water/polymer percentage [%] represented by the formula is 300% or more and less than 500%:formula: (Wp/Wf) x 100 (wherein Wp represents a water discharge mass of the spray nozzle in a unit time per unit width, and Wf represents a discharge mass of the non-electroconductive polymer in a unit time per unit width), however, Yoon [0052] describes that the flow rate of the polar solvent (water) may be adjusted in order to adjust the drying rate, particle removal rate, and quality factor of the fibers. Yoon discloses that the flow rate of the water being sprayed is a result-effective variable which affects the quality factor of the performance of the final filter product. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to modify the amount of water being added to the fiber through routine optimization in order to optimize the quality factor of the final product, see Yoon [0052].
Regarding claim 3, Yoon meets the claimed, The method for manufacturing an electret melt blown nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, wherein a horizontal distance from the spray nozzle to the spun yarn is 50 mm or more and 150 mm or less (Yoon [0057] describes the distance between the fiber and the spray nozzle 11 is less than 150 mm.) In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists, see MPEP §2144.05(I). Additionally, Yoon [0091] also discloses that the distance between the fiber and the spray nozzle is a result effective variable which affects the quality factor and drying rate. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date modify the distance between the nozzle and the fiber through routine optimization in order to optimize the quality factor of the final product, see Yoon [0052].
Regarding claim 4, Yoon meets the claimed, The method for manufacturing an electret melt blown nonwoven fabric according to claim 1, wherein the spray nozzle is provided only on a transport direction side of the electret melt blown nonwoven fabric collected by the yarn collection device as seen from the spun yarn (Yoon Figure 2 shows the spray nozzle 11 is on the same side of the fabric as the direction the fiber is being transported in as it is collected on the capturing surface 30a as shown by the directional arrow.)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 2023/0183886: see [0052]-[0060] describing a spinning method including spinning fibers from a spinneret and spraying with an air stream
US 2002/0129624: see [0030] onwards describing a filament forming system and process including pulling filaments out of a bushing, spraying the filaments with a mixture of air and water for cooling
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VICTORIA BARTLETT whose telephone number is (571)272-4953. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am-5:00 pm EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sam Zhao can be reached at 571-270-5343. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/V.B./Examiner, Art Unit 1744
/XIAO S ZHAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1744