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 § 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 2, 8, 13 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.
The term ““external appearance” is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Also claim 8 is unclear as to what are the metes and bounds of the claim.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1-5,7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiang CN 105877614 A in view of Cho KR 102161708 B1.
Re claim 1, Xiang discloses a cleaner station [fig. 2], comprising:
a housing [100, 200] coupled to a dust collecting attachment 10;
a dust collecting motor 205 accommodated in the housing and configured to generate a suction force sucking in dust inside the dust collecting attachment 10;
a dust separating part 101 accommodated in the housing, disposed above the dust collecting motor 205, and configured to separate dust contained in air sucked in by the dust collecting motor;
a flow path part comprising a first suction flow path connecting the dust collecting attachment 10 and the dust separating part 10 [figs. 1-2] and a second suction flow path 204 configured to guide air passed through the dust separating part 101 to the dust collecting motor 205;
a dust bag supporting part 202 disposed below the dust separating part 101 and providing a dust bag 211 accommodating space so as to accommodate a dust bag 211 storing dust separated in the dust separating part; and
a partition portion [portion with vent 2021] disposed in the dust bag supporting part 202 and configured to partition the dust bag accommodating space into a first space and a second space [space with dust bag, and space with channel 204].
Xiang does not teach a dust bin coupled to the housing and the first suction flow path connecting the dust bin.
However, Cho teaches a cleaner station with a housing coupled to a dust bin [“[t]he station 1 may be a device that is docked with a dust bin of a vacuum cleaner to suck dust collected in the dust bin into the dust bag 400”] with a first suction path [A1, fig. 3] connecting the dust bin.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the dust bin of Cho with the cleaner station of Xiang in order to yield the predictable result of retrieving the sucked dust collected in the dust bin into the dust bag.
Re claim 2, Xiang further teaches wherein the dust bag supporting part 202 comprises:
a supporting part main body 202 forming an external appearance of the dust bag accommodating space; and
an air hole 2021 formed in the supporting part main body and configured to communicate the second suction flow path and the dust bag accommodating space with each other.
Re claim 3, Xiang further teaches wherein the partition portion comprises an air hole 2021 configured to communicate the second space and the first space with each other.
Re claims 4-5, Xiang further teaches wherein at least some of air sucked by the dust collecting motor flows through a bypass suction path [path through the dust bag 211 and vent hole 2021] connected to the second suction flow path 204, the second space, the first space and the dust collecting motor 205.
Re claim 7, Xiang further teaches wherein when the dust collecting motor 205 is driven, the dust bag expands by a negative pressure formed in the dust bag accommodating space [Abstract], “the separated clean air is set on downstream of the vacuum electric motor outlet, parallel upstream of the vacuum motor is connected to the second passage with a dusty gas stream flows into the first passage providing vacuum negative pressure “].
Re claim 8, Xiang further teaches wherein in order not to interrupt an airflow of the second space disposed on one side, the partition portion is configured to support an external appearance of the expanded dust bag on another side [as best understood, see 112b rejection above, Xiang teaches the limitation].
Re claim 9, Xiang further teaches a pre-filter 102 configured to filter debris from air which has passed through the dust separating part 101.
Claim(s) 1, 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Menge DE 3542976 A1 in view of Cho KR 102161708 B1.
Re claim 1, Menge discloses a cleaner station [fig. 2], comprising:
a housing 10 coupled to a suction connection 18;
a dust collecting motor 1 accommodated in the housing 10 and configured to generate a suction force sucking in dust from the suction connection 18;
a dust separating part 19 accommodated in the housing, and configured to separate dust contained in air sucked in by the dust collecting motor;
a flow path part comprising a first suction flow path 20 connecting the suction connection 18 and the dust separating part 19 and a second suction flow path 12 configured to guide air passed through the dust separating part 19 to the dust collecting motor 1;
a dust bag supporting part 3 disposed below the dust separating part 19 and providing a dust bag 4 accommodating space so as to accommodate a dust bag 4 storing dust separated in the dust separating part; and
a partition portion [ribs 14, 15, 16] disposed in the dust bag supporting part 3 and configured to partition the dust bag accommodating space into a first space and a second.
Menge does not teach a dust bin coupled to the housing, the first suction flow path connecting the dust bin and the dust separating part, and the filter 19, disposed above the dust collecting motor 1.
However, Cho teaches a cleaner station with a housing coupled to a dust bin [“[t]he station 1 may be a device that is docked with a dust bin of a vacuum cleaner to suck dust collected in the dust bin into the dust bag 400”] with a first suction path [A1, fig. 3] connecting the dust bin.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the dust bin of Cho with the cleaner station of Menge in order to yield the predictable result of retrieving the sucked dust collected in the dust bin into the dust bag.
Furthermore, Cho teaches a filter 12 above the dust collecting motor 30.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to rearrange the motor and the filter since it has been held that shifting the position of the filter and the motor were the modification would not have modified the operation of the device, as taught by Cho, is unpatentable MPEP 2144.04 VI C.
Re claim 6, Menge and Cho teach the invention as discussed above for claim 1. Menge further teaches wherein the dust bag is formed of an impermeable material [“Dust container of this vacuum cleaner made of air-impermeable material, especially made of plastic or plastic film”].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-12, 14-15 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record does not show or fairly render obvious the combination set forth in the claims. In particular, the prior art does not show that when the dust collecting motor is driven, a main suction flow path through which sucked air flows from the second suction flow path directly to the dust collecting motor, a first bypass flow path through which sucked air flows to the dust collecting motor through the second suction flow path, the second space, and the first space; and a second bypass flow path through which sucked air flows to the dust collecting motor through the second suction flow path, and the second space is formed.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Carlos A. Rivera whose telephone number is (571)270-5697. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM -4PM.
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C. A. R.
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3723
/C. A. RIVERA/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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