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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Appeal Brief
In view of the Appeal Brief filed on December 16, 2025, PROSECUTION IS HEREBY REOPENED. An update non-final office action is set forth below.
To avoid abandonment of the application, appellant must exercise one of the following two options:
(1) file a reply under 37 CFR 1.111 (if this Office action is non-final) or a reply under 37 CFR 1.113 (if this Office action is final); or,
(2) initiate a new appeal by filing a notice of appeal under 37 CFR 41.31 followed by an appeal brief under 37 CFR 41.37. The previously paid notice of appeal fee and appeal brief fee can be applied to the new appeal. If, however, the appeal fees set forth in 37 CFR 41.20 have been increased since they were previously paid, then appellant must pay the difference between the increased fees and the amount previously paid.
A Supervisory Patent Examiner (SPE) has approved of reopening prosecution by signing below:
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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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claims 13-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huo et al. US 2018/0146628 (hereafter Huo et al.) in view of McRedmond et al. US 2006/0254021 (hereafter McRedmond et al.).
Regarding Amended Claim 13, Huo et al. teaches:
13. (Currently Amended) A gardening apparatus (collection device 1) for blowing and sucking plant material, comprising an engine or motor (motor 4), at least one impeller (rotatable fan 3) mechanically connected to said engine or motor, a housing (housing 14, labeled in attached Figures 76 and 77 below) in which said impeller is arranged and a container (collecting apparatus 200, labeled in attached Figures 76 and 77 below),
said housing comprising a first opening (at duct 5, labeled in attached Figures 76 and 77 below) and a second opening (first opening 12, labeled in attached Figures 76 and 77 below),
said engine or motor being adapted to operate in a first direction of rotation (clockwise direction, Paragraph [0177]) and a second direction of rotation (anticlockwise direction, Paragraph [0177]),
said impeller being adapted to generate a first air flow entering from said first opening and exiting from said second opening when said engine or motor is operating according to said first direction of rotation (shown in attached Figure 76 below) and to generate a second air flow entering from said second opening and exiting from said first opening when said engine or motor is operating according to said second direction of rotation (shown in attached Figure 77 below),
wherein said second opening is fluidly coupled to the container (shown in attached Figure 76 below) and wherein when said engine or motor is operating according to said first direction of rotation (shown in attached Figure 76 below) the first air flow drags plant material with it and the container collects the plant material dragged at the outlet from the second opening (air flow in the direction shown in attached Figure 76 below), and wherein when said engine or motor is operating according to said second direction of rotation (shown in attached Figure 77 below), the second air flow reduces the volume (as discussed below, the first air flow will inflate the container to an inflated volume and the second air flow will create an airflow in the opposite direction which will reduce the volume of the container relative to the inflated volume) of the container (air flow in the direction shown in attached Figure 77 below – see discussion below)
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As presented in Paragraph [0425], the collecting apparatus 200 is made of “A common breathable material may be a nylon fabric, a nonwoven fabric, or the like” such that air is “exhausted to the outside through the surface of the collection main body 1209”. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that during operation in a “first direction of rotation” shown in Figure 76, the air flow under positive pressure from the fan will be directed through opening 12 into the breathable fabric collecting apparatus resulting in an inflation of the collecting apparatus to an inflated volume since the disclosed material will restrict airflow resulting in an inflating force. Additionally, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that operation in a “second direction of rotation” shown in Figure 77, a negative pressure will be created at opening 12 by the airflow through the breathable fabric collecting apparatus 200 and second opening causing the material to restrict airflow resulting in a contraction force that would cause the collecting apparatus to shrink to an uninflated volume different from and less than the inflated volume in the configuration shown in Figure 76. Once the negative pressure, created by the airflow through the collecting apparatus and second opening, is sufficient to allow the pivotal door to be opened, the airflow will equalize to be split between the pivotal door opening and through the container to a proportion where the pressure drop through the pivotal door opening and container/second opening are equal. It is important to point out that the second opening and container is configured the same way for both suction and blower operation. As shown in Figures 76 and 77, the second opening is over two times larger than the opening for the pivotal door. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the second opening appears to be sized to create a minimal pressure drop and allow passage of large debris. Therefore, based on the drawings, most of the pressure drop needed create the pressure to open or close the pivotal door is provided by restricted airflow though the container walls. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that, with a first air flow, the bag will inflate to a maximum volume during the suction operation where a first air flows outward through the container walls. Additionally, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that, with a second airflow, the bag will no longer be configured to inflate the bag to its inflated volume, but instead it will constrict to a minimum volume during the blower operation where a second air flows inward through the container walls. Despite being obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, Huo et al. does not disclose that air passing through a collecting apparatus 200 will inflate or constrict due to drag forces from air passing through the walls resulting in a change of the container volume between the first and second air flows.
The reference McRedmond et al. discloses in Figures 1 and 2 a container configured to be mounted to a common vacuum shredder (depicted as a common leaf blower) with the container attached in a fashion similar to the first direction of operation of the Huo et al. device (see attached Figure 76 above) that sucks debris from the ground and collects it in the container. McRedmond et al. discloses a debris bagger assembly 3 (container) comprising an air vented tapered filter bag 2, a common plastic trash bag 8, and an adapter ring 4 connecting the two bags. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the debris bagger assembly is connected to the positive pressure side of the common vacuum shredder (correlating to the Huo et al. labeled second opening) with a clamp 9. McRedmond et al. discloses in Paragraph [0019] that in operation air flowing from the shredder inflates the plastic trash bag 8 and tapered filter bag 2 and that the tapered filter bag 2 allows air pressure from the shredder to be vented which reduces backpressure on the shredder that would otherwise reduce the ability to pick up debris as disclosed in Paragraph [0004].
McRedmond et al. discloses a container that is specifically designed to allow the operator to choose the size of plastic trash bag from 20 to 50 gallons that connects to an air permeable bag. During operation, air forced into the container inflates both the plastic trash bag 8 and tapered filter bag 2, with air venting through the tapered filter bag (Paragraph [0023]). As disclosed, the venting through the inflated tapered filter bag prevents the backpressure on the shredder from increasing because the filter bag will not begin to fill up until after the disposal bag is full preventing the ability to pick up debris from being reduced. This arrangement makes the flow through the vacuum shredder more efficient (Paragraph [0025]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that if the McRedmond et al. device, without modification, were clamped onto the suction side of the vacuum shredder, being equivalent to changing to the second direction of rotation of the Huo et al. device, air would be removed from both the plastic trash bag 8 and tapered filter bag 2 reducing the volume relative to its previously inflated volume state. Since the tapered filter bag 2 is vented, suction air pressure will draw airflow through the filter bag 2 into the shredder allowing air to flow through the device and create a blowing air force at the positive pressure outlet. In this scenario, it would have been obvious that the volume of the tapered filter bag and plastic trash bag would shrink to a stabilized point where the airflow/pressure drop (resistance) matches that point on the shredder’s fan performance curve.
McRedmond et al. discloses a container that solves several known problems in the prior art, such as: bagging directly into a common plastic trash bag, increasing collection volume allowing longer operation between emptying, and eliminating the need to carry the bag weight. Therefore, it would be obvious that this container would be commercially appealing to users. That being said, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the container of the Huo et al. reference with the debris bagger as taught by McRedmond et al. with the motivation to improve the efficiency of debris collection as taught by McRedmond et al. That being said, commonly known fluid dynamics teaches that air flowing through a material will create a drag resistance to the flow that will create a drag force. Therefore, a first air flow flowing out of the positive pressure side of the blower passes through the filter bag creates a drag force that inflates the filter bag, a second air flow flowing into the negative pressure side of the blower passes through the filter bag in the opposite direction creates a drag force that shrinks the filter bag to a volume less than the inflated volume as claimed.
Regarding Claim 14, Huo et al. teaches:
14. (Previously Presented) The gardening apparatus according to claim 13, wherein, when said engine or motor (motor 4) is operating according to said second direction of rotation (Figure 77), said second air flow is further adapted to generate vacuum conditions in said container (negative pressure created inside container 200, see attached Figure 77 above).
Regarding Claim 15, Huo et al. teaches:
15. (Previously Presented) The gardening apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a control unit (control switch 91, speed adjustment switch 748, and trigger switch 82) adapted to control the operation of said engine or motor (motor 4), wherein said control unit is selectively adapted to:
- operate said engine or motor according to said first direction of rotation (first operation position, Paragraph [0392]),
- operate said engine or motor according to said second direction of rotation (second operation position, Paragraph [0392]),
- keep said engine or motor stationary (“off” - third operation position, Paragraph [0392])
- vary the speed of said engine or motor (speed adjustment switch 748 including stop step, a high speed step, and a low speed step, Paragraph [0402]).
Regarding Claim 16, Huo et al. teaches:
16. (Previously Presented) The gardening apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said impeller (rotatable fan 3) is further adapted to shred the plant material (with shredding mechanism 6) entering from said first opening (at duct 5), said plant material being dragged by said first air flow (Figure 76).
Regarding Amended Claim 17, Huo et al. teaches:
17. (Currently Amended) The gardening apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said second opening (first opening 12, labeled in attached Figures 76 and 77 below) is associated with:
- a portion (labeled in attached Figure 77 below) provided with a plurality of openings (two openings labeled in attached Figure 77 below), and
- an air passageway air passageway
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Regarding Amended Claim 18, Huo et al. teaches:
18. (Currently Amended) The gardening apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said air passageway
Huo et al. discloses a pivotally connected operation portion 204 that appears to operate without user control. In Paragraph [0426] Huo et al. discloses – “In another embodiment, the blowing-suction device is provided with a guide mechanism for guiding the cover to move, so that the cover can open or close the opening in a translation manner.” It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Huo et al. embodiment taught in Figures 76 and 77 to replace the pivotal connection with a guide mechanism allowing the user to selectively move the cover in a translation manner, as taught by this embodiment, with the motivation to allow the user to selectively open or close the cover in either the first or second directions of rotation. Opening cited air passageway while in the first direction of rotation would quickly reduce the pressure inside the container if debris is found to be leaking through a damaged sidewall of the container.
Regarding Amended Claim 19, Huo et al. teaches:
19. (Currently Amended) The gardening apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said air passageway
Regarding Claim 20, Huo et al. teaches:
20. (Previously Presented) The gardening apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said second opening (first opening 12) is associated with a movable grille (operation portion 204) adapted to selectively and alternately switch from an open position (Figure 51) to a closed position (Figure 50), wherein when said movable grille is in said closed position it is adapted to block the passage of a flow of plant material (holes in security shield 121 shown in Figure 52 are too small for larger pieces of plant material).
Regarding Claim 21, Huo et al. teaches:
21. (Previously presented) The gardening apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said movable grille (security shield 121) is adapted to assume said closed position (Figure 50 - to protect accidental exposure to impeller) when said engine or motor (motor 4) is operating according to said second direction of rotation (creating air flow direction shown in Figure 76).
Regarding Amended Claim 22, Huo et al. teaches:
22. (Currently amended) The gardening apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the container (collecting apparatus 200) is adapted to connect , to said second opening (first opening 12)(Paragraph [0425] – “the collection apparatus 200 is fixedly installed on the first opening 12 of the blowing-suction device 1”).
Regarding Amended Claim 23, Huo et al. teaches:
23. (Currently amended) The gardening apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a seal (see discussion below)
Huo et al. discloses a collecting apparatus 200 with an opening secured to the installation portion 203 that mechanically secures the collecting apparatus to the device. Huo et al. does not disclose the use of a seal between the collecting apparatus and installation portion that closes any gap therebetween. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a seal between the cited parts with the motivation to prevent debris from escaping between any gaps between the two parts. This is particularly important since the collecting apparatus will be pressurized, therefore, air/debris will naturally want to escape through any unsealed gaps since they will be the path of least resistance.
Regarding Claim 24, Huo et al. teaches:
24. (Previously Presented) The gardening apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said first opening (at duct 5) is adapted to be connected (through connector 25) to an accessory tubular element (air tube 2) for cleaning outdoor spaces.
Response to Arguments
Rejections Under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)
Applicant’s arguments, filed December 16, 2025, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) rejection(s) Claims 13-17, 19-22, and 24 under Huo et al. US 2018/0146628 have been fully considered and are not persuasive. However, the rejections have been withdrawn and recreated as 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections including reference McRedmond et al. US 2006/0254021 for clarity.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure can be found in form PTO-892 Notice of References Cited. Specifically, the prior art references include pertinent disclosures of leaf blower devices and accessories.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARC CARLSON whose telephone number is (571)272-9963. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6:30am-3:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, BRIAN KELLER can be reached on (571) 272-8548. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARC CARLSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723