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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed 09/04/2024, 04/10/2026, and 04/16/2026 are acknowledged by the Examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the housing portion" in line 18. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purpose of examination, the limitation will be interpreted as “the accommodating portion”.
Claim 5 is rejected due to being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected, as well as claims 4-5 as far as they are definite, under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Smith (US 3930635).
Smith discloses:
Claim 1. A valve device (see fig. 3 and col. 2, ll. 35-39) capable of being used for controlling a coolant used in an automobile, the valve device comprising: a valve member (14, 28) that includes a shaft portion (28) rotatable about a rotation axis, and a rotor (14) connected to an end of the shaft portion, wherein the end of the shaft portion is an end in a first direction along the rotation axis, and wherein on an outer circumferential surface of the rotor there is a first flow path (at 90 in fig. 3) with a first opening (16); a housing (8) that includes an accommodating portion (10) for accommodating the valve member, and a second flow path (not shown, but col. 2, ll. 35-39 states "Plug 14 has a through opening or port 16 defining a flow passageway which is adapted to be placed in and out of registry with ports in the body member and liner incident to rotation of the plug, as is common with rotary type plug valves" having a second opening communicable with the first opening (as seen in fig. 3), the accommodating portion having on its inner circumferential surface the second opening (in order to connect with 90); a first seal (12) disposed between an outer circumferential surface of the rotor and an inner circumferential surface of the accommodating portion, wherein: the rotor includes a first region (75) on which a fluid pressure acts in the first direction (pressure acts on 58) within the accommodating portion, and a second region (54) on which the fluid pressure acts in a second direction (pressure acts on 80) opposite to the first direction, and a first area of the first region is below a second area of the second region (interpreted as the right side as seen in fig. 3 as the bottom, and the left as the top, thereby placing the first region 75 below the second region 54).
Claim 2. The valve device according to claim 1, wherein: the outer circumferential surface of the rotor includes a conical surface (as seen in fig. 3), wherein an outer diameter of the conical surface at an end in the first direction (narrower end of conical 14) is above an outer diameter at another end in the second direction (larger end of 14), and the first seal (12) is in contact with the conical surface (as seen in fig. 3).
Claim 3. The valve device according to claim 2, further comprising an elastic body (44) that biases the valve member in the first direction (col. 3, ll. 8-12 states “flexible, metallic disc 44 or the like is interposed between the diaphragm 40, the pressure ring 38 and cover 18 to distribute the force supplied by the pressure ring and screws 24.”).
Claim 4. A valve device (see fig. 3 and col. 2, ll. 35-39) capable of being used for controlling a coolant used in an automobile, the valve device comprising: a valve member (14, 28) that includes a shaft portion (28) rotatable about a rotation axis, and a rotor (14) connected to an end of the shaft portion, wherein the end of the shaft portion is an end in a first direction along the rotation axis, and wherein on an outer circumferential surface of the rotor there is a first flow path (at 90 in fig. 3) with a first opening (16); a housing (8) that includes an accommodating portion (10) for accommodating the valve member, and a second flow path (not shown, but col. 2, ll. 35-39 states "Plug 14 has a through opening or port 16 defining a flow passageway which is adapted to be placed in and out of registry with ports in the body member and liner incident to rotation of the plug, as is common with rotary type plug valves" having a second opening communicable with the first opening (as seen in fig. 3), the accommodating portion having on its inner circumferential surface the second opening (in order to connect with 90); a first seal (12) disposed between an outer circumferential surface of the rotor and an inner circumferential surface of the accommodating portion, wherein: the rotor includes a first region (75) on which a fluid pressure acts in the first direction (pressure acts on 80) within the accommodating portion, and a second region (54) on which the fluid pressure acts in a second direction (pressure acts on 58) opposite to the first direction, and a first area of the first region is above a second area of the second region (interpreted as the left side as seen in fig. 3 as the bottom, and the left as the bottom side, thereby placing the first region 75 above the second region 54).
Claim 5. The valve device according to claim 4, wherein: the outer circumferential surface of the rotor includes a conical surface (as seen in fig. 3), wherein an outer diameter of the conical surface at an end in the first direction (narrower end of conical 14) is below an outer diameter at another end in the second direction (larger end of 14), and the first seal (12) is in contact with the conical surface (as seen in fig. 3).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. JP 6810929 B2, WO 2015123965 A1, and JP 2013092176 A each disclose related rotary conical valves.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARINA TIETJEN, whose telephone number is 571-270-5422. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (10:30AM-7:00PM CST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Tom Barrett can be reached at 571-272-4746, Ken Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881, and Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MARINA A TIETJEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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