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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claims 29 and 30 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 29 & 30 depend from cancelled claim 1, however for purposes of examination, the claims were examined as dependent from claim 28. Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference characters "332" and "322" have both been used to designate sealing isolation device (SEE [0043] & [0045]). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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(s) 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Burlion (EP 0588742). Burlion discloses a temperature measurement device (Figure 1) for detecting the temperature of a processing element in a furnace chamber of a furnace (column 1, lines 1-5), wherein the top wall (1) of the furnace has a furnace chamber top opening (column 2, lines 28-31), comprising: a temperature detection component (2) configured to detect the temperature of the processing element; a support shroud (8) for supporting on the top wall around a furnace chamber top opening of the furnace, the support shroud (8) having a shroud cavity inside, the shroud cavity communicating with the furnace chamber through the furnace chamber top opening (@ 44); and a sealing isolation device (column 4, lines 7-14) connected to the support shroud; wherein the temperature detection component (2) is supported over the support shroud (Figure 1) (column 1, lines 24-29), the sealing isolation device (column 4, lines 7-14) configured to sealingly enclose the shroud cavity from above such that the temperature detection component can be isolated from gas within the furnace chamber. In re claim 17, Burlion discloses that the support shroud (8) has a shroud top opening (44) and a shroud bottom opening (59), the shroud top opening and the shroud bottom opening communicating through the shroud cavity; the sealing isolation device is connected to the top of the support shroud and sealingly encloses the shroud top opening to isolate the temperature detection component from gas within the furnace chamber (SEE element 7 of the sealing isolation device). In re claim 18, Burlion discloses that
the temperature detection component comprises an infrared camera; wherein the support shroud and the sealing isolation device are configured to support the infrared camera to reach a preset height (H) spaced from a top wall of the furnace to provide a detection field of view of the temperature of the infrared camera and to detect the processing element through the shroud cavity and the furnace chamber top opening (SEE column 2, lines 42-49).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dawson (4,969,035). Dawson discloses a temperature measurement device (column 2, lines 39-43) for detecting the temperature of a processing element in a furnace chamber of a furnace, wherein the top wall of the furnace has a furnace chamber top opening (column 1, lines 51-54), comprising: a temperature detection component (column 2, line 43) configured to detect the temperature of the processing element; a support shroud (5) for supporting on the top wall around a furnace chamber top opening of the furnace, the support shroud having a shroud cavity (9) inside, the shroud cavity communicating with the furnace chamber through the furnace chamber top opening (which would be below the device of Figure 1 as per column 1, lines 29-33); and a sealing isolation device (3) connected to the support shroud; wherein the temperature detection component is supported over the support shroud, the sealing isolation device configured to sealingly enclose the shroud cavity from above such that the temperature detection component can be isolated from gas within the furnace chamber (SEE Figure 1 and column 2, lines 17-24).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 19-30 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY A WILSON whose telephone number is (571)272-4882. The examiner can normally be reached M-F; 7:00am-4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at 571-272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY A WILSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762 September 22, 2026
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