DETAILED ACTION
Receipt and entry of Applicant’s Preliminary Amendment dated September 16, 2024 is acknowledged.
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 § 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 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, (b) or second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention. More specifically,
- In claim 1, line 8, “the pumping chamber” lacks antecedent basis.
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.
(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 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Stenbeck et al. (Stenbeck) (Patent/Publication Number 10,100,830).
Regarding claim 1, Stenbeck discloses a diaphragm pump (100, 300, 400) comprising: a pump part that pumps a target liquid (107, 108, 109, 110) (as such cultured milk products) by suctioning and ejecting (e.g. See Col. 6, lines 1-32), and a drive part that drives the pump part to pump the target liquid (e.g. See Column 6, lines 22-32: Through cavities in the pump block 106 the product enters a first homogenizing device 107 and thereafter, in many cases, a second homogenizing device 108. As described above, by forcing the product through one or several gaps the properties of the product can be changed. The reciprocating motion of the pump pistons 105 creates pulsations. To reduce the pulsations it is common practice today to place an inlet damper 109 on an inlet of the homogenizer. Further, in order to reduce vibrations and noise it is common practice to place an outlet damper 110 on an outlet.) (e.g. See Col. 6, lines 1-32), the pump part comprising: a pumping part (101-105) that comprises a suction part (107, 108, 109, 110) that suctions the target liquid, and an ejection part that ejects the suctioned target liquid (107, 108, 109, 110), a working chamber (310, 410) that is filled with hydraulic liquid, an intermediate chamber (312, 412) that is located between the pumping chamber (314, 414) and the working chamber (310), and that is filled with intermediate liquid, a liquid contact diaphragm that is configured to close between the pumping chamber and the intermediate chamber (e.g. See Column 6, lines 51-59: In this high pressure pump a first membrane 306 and a second membrane 308 are provided. The first membrane 306 can be arranged such that a first membrane cavity 310, i.e. a hydraulic fluid chamber, and a membrane interior space 312, that is, a space formed between the first membrane 306 and the second membrane 308, is kept apart. The second membrane 308 can be arranged such that the membrane interior space 312 and a second membrane cavity 314, i.e. a product chamber, are kept apart.) (e.g. See Col. 6, lines 45-67), a working diaphragm (306, 308) that is configured to close between the intermediate chamber (312, 412) and the working chamber (310, 410), and a working mechanism (105, 302, 402, 440) that is configured to cause the liquid contact diaphragm and the working diaphragm to deform in one direction when the target liquid is suctioned, and to deform in an-other direction opposite to the one direction when the target liquid is ejected, so as to change the volume of each of the pumping chamber, the working chamber, and the intermediate chamber (e.g. See Col. 6, lines 45-67; col. 7, lines 17-37), the working mechanism including a working part that is connected to the working diaphragm and configured to reciprocates in the one direction and the other direction by the driving of the drive part, a coupling part (450, 550) that couples the liquid contact diaphragm and the working diaphragm (e.g. See Col. 9, lines 45-63), and a biasing part (428, 430, 448, 457, 458) (as such, using hydraulic actuating) that biases at least one of the liquid contact diaphragm and the working diaphragm toward the one direction side (e.g. See Column 10, lines 31-41: During the suction stroke the piston is displaced in a direction from left to right in FIG. 4. As the volume of the piston cavity increases, the hydraulic fluid is forced through the channels and through the axle element towards the piston cavity. The pressure in the first membrane cavity portion drops, and the first and second membranes 406, 408 are moved towards a first operational turning point near the rear wall 454 of the membrane cavity. Simultaneously, the liquid product is filled into, and gradually expands, the second membrane cavity portion 414. The volume of the membrane interior space 412 stays constant. When a normal suction stroke is completed the membranes have reached the first operational turning point of FIG. 5, and the second membrane cavity portion has reached its largest volume.) (e.g. See Col. 10, lines 15-67; col. 11, lines 1-67; col. 12, lines 1-17).
Regarding claim 2, Stenbeck further discloses in which the coupling part is located in the intermediate chamber and is configured to couple center portions of the liquid contact diaphragm and the working diaphragm (e.g. See Column 9, lines 45-63: Further, with reference to FIG. 4, the first and second membranes 406 and 408 are interconnected by means of a rod 450. Said rod 450 provides an axial distance between the first and the second membranes 406, 408, such that the membrane interior space 412 is formed therebetween. The first and second membranes 406, 408 are coaxially arranged. The rod 450 is arranged at the centres of the membranes 406, 408, and attached in an reinforcement disc 452 of the first membrane 406 and a similar reinforcement disc 452 attached to the second membrane 408. Further, the rod 450 is axially aligned with the axle element 440.) (e.g. See Col. 9, lines 45-63).
Regarding claim 3, Stenbeck further discloses wherein the biasing part is configured to bias at least one of the liquid contact diaphragm and the working diaphragm so as to make the pressure of the pumping chamber smaller than the pressure of the intermediate chamber and the pressure of the working chamber, and make the pressure of the intermediate chamber smaller than the pressure of the working chamber (e.g. See Col. 9, lines 1-63).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 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; and also to overcome the claim objections set forth in this Office action, such as to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101, and 112 2nd paragraph.
Since allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant is encouraged to submit Final Formal Drawings (If Needed) in response to this Office action. The early submission of formal drawings will permit the Office to review the drawings for acceptability and to resolve any informalities remaining therein before the application is passed to issue. This will avoid possible delays in the issue process.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and consists of eight patents:
Gardner et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 4854832), Swanson et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2024/0200547), Jahn et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2004/0136843), Loeffler et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 5707217), Robinson et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 5277555), Schall et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 3838946), Frikker et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 4496294), and Scholle et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 4123204), all discloses a diaphragm pump for use with fluid dispensing system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Primary Examiner Binh Tran whose telephone number is (571) 272-4865. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors, Mark Laurenzi, can be reach on (571) 270-7878. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are (571) 273-8300 for regular communications and for After Final communications.
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Binh Q. Tran
/BINH Q TRAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3748
January 24, 2026