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
Claim 8 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.
Regarding claim 8, the phrase "in a broad sense" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear the degree to which the position of the inclination start point of each of the inclined plate electrodes changes in accordance with a monotonous change function.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bateman et al. U.S. PGPUB No. 2004/0026614.
Regarding claim 1, Bateman discloses an ion guide (“A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an AC or RF ion guide having a plurality of plate electrodes and an upper plate electrode and a lower plate electrode” [Abstract]) in which an ion travels in an internal space from an inlet side toward an outlet side (“ions are funnelled from a relatively large (small) inlet orifice to a relatively small (large) outlet orifice” [0038]), wherein the ion guide includes a plurality of plate electrodes (“plate electrodes” [Abstract]), the plurality of plate electrodes is stacked at intervals in a stacking direction (“the plates may be stacked in an assembly or array where the plates are spaced apart and insulated” [0073]) orthogonal to a traveling direction in which the ion travels (as understood from, at least, figures 3, 18B, and 19A), at least two plate electrodes, in the plurality of plate electrodes, are inclined plate electrodes having an inclined surface inclined with respect to the traveling direction in a part facing the internal space, each of the inclined plate electrodes has an inclination start point at which the inclined surface starts on an end surface on the inlet side (as illustrated in figure 3: “the spacing between the electrodes may progressively decrease (increase) so that ions are funnelled from a relatively large (small) inlet orifice to a relatively small (large) outlet orifice” [0038]), and positions of the inclination start points in a direction orthogonal to both the traveling direction and the stacking direction are different for at least two of the inclined plate electrodes adjacent in the stacking direction (as illustrated in figure 18B).
PNG
media_image1.png
486
648
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
384
640
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 3, Bateman discloses that the ion guide is connected to a power source configured to apply radio-frequency voltages having opposite phases to each other between the plate electrodes adjacent in the stacking direction, and a multipolar electric field is formed in the internal space by application of the radio-frequency voltages by the power source (“Adjacent plate electrodes may be supplied with opposite phases of the AC or RF voltage” [0042]).
Regarding claim 5, Bateman discloses that an area of an inscribed shape (“Such AC or RF ion guides 1a may also be constructed with cross-sectional shapes or profiles other than rectangular or circular” [0138]) of the plate electrodes forming the multipolar electric field is smaller on the outlet side than on the inlet side (“the spacing between the electrodes may progressively decrease (increase) so that ions are funnelled from a relatively large (small) inlet orifice to a relatively small (large) outlet orifice” [0038]).
Regarding claim 6, Bateman discloses that a barycenter of an inscribed shape (“Such AC or RF ion guides 1a may also be constructed with cross-sectional shapes or profiles other than rectangular or circular” [0138]) of the plate electrodes forming the multipolar electric field is eccentric between the inlet side and the outlet side (as illustrated in figure 3).
Regarding claim 7, Bateman discloses that each of the plate electrodes includes an insulator and a conductor layer that is formed on a part of a surface of the insulator (“a plurality of insulator layers interspersed or interleaved between the electrode layers” [0062]).
Regarding claim 8, Bateman discloses that the position of the inclination start point of each of the inclined plate electrodes changes in accordance with a monotonous change function in a broad sense, from an outside to an inside of the stacking direction (as illustrated in figure 18B).
Regarding claim 9, Bateman discloses that the stacking direction orthogonal to the traveling direction is a direction forming an angle within a range of 75 degrees to 105 degrees with respect to the traveling direction (the stacking direction forms an angle of 90 degrees with respect to the traveling direction, as illustrated in figure 18B).
PNG
media_image2.png
384
640
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 10, Bateman discloses a mass spectrometer (“A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an AC or RF ion guide having a plurality of plate electrodes and an upper plate electrode and a lower plate electrode” [Abstract]) comprising the ion guide according to claim 1 (as discussed with respect to the rejection of claim 1, above).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 4 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.
Regarding claim 2; Bateman et al. U.S. PGPUB No. 2004/0026614 discloses an ion guide (“A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an AC or RF ion guide having a plurality of plate electrodes and an upper plate electrode and a lower plate electrode” [Abstract]) in which an ion travels in an internal space from an inlet side toward an outlet side (“ions are funnelled from a relatively large (small) inlet orifice to a relatively small (large) outlet orifice” [0038]), wherein the ion guide includes a plurality of plate electrodes (“plate electrodes” [Abstract]), the plurality of plate electrodes is stacked at intervals in a stacking direction (“the plates may be stacked in an assembly or array where the plates are spaced apart and insulated” [0073]) orthogonal to a traveling direction in which the ion travels (as understood from, at least, figures 3, 18B, and 19A), at least two plate electrodes, in the plurality of plate electrodes, are inclined plate electrodes having an inclined surface inclined with respect to the traveling direction in a part facing the internal space, each of the inclined plate electrodes has an inclination start point at which the inclined surface starts on an end surface on the inlet side (as illustrated in figure 3: “the spacing between the electrodes may progressively decrease (increase) so that ions are funnelled from a relatively large (small) inlet orifice to a relatively small (large) outlet orifice” [0038]), and positions of the inclination start points in a direction orthogonal to both the traveling direction and the stacking direction are different for at least two of the inclined plate electrodes adjacent in the stacking direction (as illustrated in figure 18B). Bateman discloses that each of the inclined plate electrodes has an inclination end point at which the inclined surface ends in a part facing the internal space (figure 3 illustrates that one plate, for example the upper plate in the figure, is inclined from an inlet side to an outlet side and the inclination end point faces the internal space in which the ions travel). However, there is no disclosure that positions of the inclination end points in the traveling direction are different for at least two of the inclined plate electrodes adjacent in the stacking direction.
The prior art fails to teach or reasonably suggest, in combination with the other claim limitations, an ion guide in which an ion travels in an internal space from an inlet side toward an outlet side, wherein the ion guide includes a plurality of plate electrodes, the plurality of plate electrodes is stacked at intervals in a stacking direction orthogonal to a traveling direction in which the ion travels, at least two plate electrodes, in the plurality of plate electrodes, are inclined plate electrodes having an inclined surface inclined with respect to the traveling direction in a part facing the internal space, each of the inclined plate electrodes has an inclination start point at which the inclined surface starts on an end surface on the inlet side, and positions of the inclination start points in a direction orthogonal to both the traveling direction and the stacking direction are different for at least two of the inclined plate electrodes adjacent in the stacking direction; and positions of the inclination end points in the traveling direction are different for at least two of the inclined plate electrodes adjacent in the stacking direction.
Regarding claim 4; Bateman et al. U.S. PGPUB No. 2004/0026614 discloses an ion guide (“A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an AC or RF ion guide having a plurality of plate electrodes and an upper plate electrode and a lower plate electrode” [Abstract]) in which an ion travels in an internal space from an inlet side toward an outlet side (“ions are funnelled from a relatively large (small) inlet orifice to a relatively small (large) outlet orifice” [0038]), wherein the ion guide includes a plurality of plate electrodes (“plate electrodes” [Abstract]), the plurality of plate electrodes is stacked at intervals in a stacking direction (“the plates may be stacked in an assembly or array where the plates are spaced apart and insulated” [0073]) orthogonal to a traveling direction in which the ion travels (as understood from, at least, figures 3, 18B, and 19A), at least two plate electrodes, in the plurality of plate electrodes, are inclined plate electrodes having an inclined surface inclined with respect to the traveling direction in a part facing the internal space, each of the inclined plate electrodes has an inclination start point at which the inclined surface starts on an end surface on the inlet side (as illustrated in figure 3: “the spacing between the electrodes may progressively decrease (increase) so that ions are funnelled from a relatively large (small) inlet orifice to a relatively small (large) outlet orifice” [0038]), and positions of the inclination start points in a direction orthogonal to both the traveling direction and the stacking direction are different for at least two of the inclined plate electrodes adjacent in the stacking direction (as illustrated in figure 18B). However, there is no disclosure that a number of the plate electrodes effectively contributing to formation of a multipolar electric field and a number of poles of the multipolar electric field are smaller on the outlet side than on the inlet side.
The prior art fails to teach or reasonably suggest, in combination with the other claim limitations, an ion guide in which an ion travels in an internal space from an inlet side toward an outlet side, wherein the ion guide includes a plurality of plate electrodes, the plurality of plate electrodes is stacked at intervals in a stacking direction orthogonal to a traveling direction in which the ion travels, at least two plate electrodes, in the plurality of plate electrodes, are inclined plate electrodes having an inclined surface inclined with respect to the traveling direction in a part facing the internal space, each of the inclined plate electrodes has an inclination start point at which the inclined surface starts on an end surface on the inlet side, and positions of the inclination start points in a direction orthogonal to both the traveling direction and the stacking direction are different for at least two of the inclined plate electrodes adjacent in the stacking direction; wherein a number of the plate electrodes effectively contributing to formation of a multipolar electric field and a number of poles of the multipolar electric field are smaller on the outlet side than on the inlet side..
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON L MCCORMACK whose telephone number is (571)270-1489. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:00AM-5:00PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Kim can be reached at 571-272-2293. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JASON L MCCORMACK/Examiner, Art Unit 2881
Prosecution Insights