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 .
Drawings
New corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in this application because of the informal nature of the drawings. Applicant is advised to employ the services of a competent patent draftsperson outside the Office, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office no longer prepares new drawings. The corrected drawings are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The requirement for corrected drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, “flexible tubes” in claims 15-28, must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities:
-In claim 18, line 2, “ is fixed” should be changed to --- is fixed. ---. Appropriate correction is required.
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 15-26 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suzuki et al. (Suzuki) (Patent/Publication Number JP H0691010A).
Regarding claim 15, Suzuki discloses a device (1) for controlling the passage of a liquid into a series of flexible tubes (48, 49) (e.g. See Pages 4: Therefore, the flexible tube aseptic joining apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This flexible tube aseptic joining apparatus 1 includes a first clamp 3 and a second clamp 2 that hold at least two flexible tubes 48 and 49 in a parallel state, and a first clamp 3 and a second clamp 2. The first clamp 3 is arranged so that the cutting means 5 for cutting the flexible tubes 48, 49 between and the joined ends of the flexible tubes 48, 49 cut by the cutting means 5 face each other. ..... ), comprising: a set of clamps (2, 3) (e.g. See English Translation Document on Pages 4), each being able to clamp a flexible tube (48, 49), and comprising a first jaw (3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 2, 2a, 2b, 2c) arranged on a lever (22, 24, 16) and a second jaw (3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 2, 2a, 2b, 2c) forming a pincer (2h, 2g, 3h, 3g) with said first jaw (e.g. See Figures 4-8; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7), each lever being pivotably mounted between an open position in which said clamp is open and a closed in which said is closed (e.g. See Figures 4-8; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7) (e.g. See Pages 7: As shown in FIG. 6, two cams 19 and 17 are fixed to the shaft 32 of No. 1 and the cams 19 and 17 rotate together with the rotation of the gear 31. A cam groove 19a for driving the first clamp having a shape as shown in FIG. 7 is provided on the right side surface of the cam 19. A first clamp moving arm 18 having a follower 18a sliding in the cam groove 19a of the cam 19 at the center is provided. Further, the lower end of the arm 18 is connected to the frame 9 by the fulcrum 18b.), position clamp and a set of wheels (31, 32, 17) mounted for conjoint rotation about the same axis A, each of said wheels forming a cam (17, 19) and being associated with one of said levers, the rotation of each wheel enables the passage of said lever from its closed position to its open position, and vice versa, and a first stop limiting movement of said lever in the open position and a second stop limiting movement in the closed position (e.g. See Pages 6: Moves without distortion. Therefore, in the aseptic joining apparatus 1 of this embodiment, the first clamp moving mechanism includes the linear table, the motor, the gear 30, the gear 31, the shaft 32, and It is composed of a drive arm 18 and a cam 19. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the joining device 1 is provided with a spring member 27 that connects the rear of the first clamp fixing base 3c and the frame of the joining device 1 to each other. Is always pulled rearward, and the rattling of the first clamp 3 (to be exact, the first clamp fixing base 3c) is reduced. A prevention member 11 for preventing the movement is fixed to the side surface of the frame 9.) (e.g. See Figures 4-8; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 16, Suzuki further discloses wherein each lever is biased in the closed position via an elastic means (27) (e.g. See Pages 6: ….. It is composed of a drive arm 18 and a cam 19. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the joining device 1 is provided with a spring member 27 that connects the rear of the first clamp fixing base 3c and the frame of the joining device 1 to each other. Is always pulled rearward, and the rattling of the first clamp 3 (to be exact, the first clamp fixing base 3c) is reduced. A prevention member 11 for preventing the movement is fixed to the side surface of the frame 9. Therefore, in the tube mounting position, the first clamp 3 is in a state of being pulled rearward by the spring member 27, that is, a state in which there is no rattling on the rear side, and a front rattling prevention member prevents It cannot move forward.) (e.g. See Figures 4-8; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 17, Suzuki further discloses wherein said elastic means is a spring (27, 33) (e.g. See Pages 8: It has a cam groove 17c for driving the clamp 2. The cam groove 17c has a left side surface 17f and a right side surface 17e, and the left side surface 17f and the right side surface 17e control the position of the second clamp. The second clamp fixing base 2c has a protruding portion extending downward, and a follower 20 is provided at the tip thereof. The follower 20 slides in the cam groove 17c for driving the second clamp 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, a slight gap is formed between the follower 20 and the side surface of the cam groove 17c. Then, the second clamp fixing base 2c has the spring member 33.) (e.g. See Figures 4-8; English Translation Document on Pages 8).
Regarding claim 18, Suzuki further discloses wherein said second jaw is fixed (e.g. See Figures 4-8; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 19, Suzuki further discloses wherein said first and second jaws of two contiguous clamps are arranged in a staggered manner (e.g. See Figures 4-8; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 20, Suzuki further discloses wherein each second stop is arranged so that said first and second jaws are not in contact in the closed position (e.g. See Pages 8: In the normal state, the follower 20 comes into contact with the left side surface 17f of the cam groove 17c, and a slight gap is formed between the follower 20 and the right side surface 17e of the cam groove 17c. However, when the two tubes are held by the first and second clamps 3 and 2, the two clamps 3 and 2 respectively close and hold the two tubes so as to crush them as described above. Repulsive force is generated due to the blockage of. ) (e.g. See Figures 4-8; English Translation Document on Pages 8).
Regarding claim 21, Suzuki further discloses wherein said first and second jaws are separated by a space equivalent to that of the thickness of a flexible tube when it is crushed (e.g. See Pages 7: As shown in FIG. 18, 2h indicates the tip of the closing member 2hf and the tip of a portion of the closing member 2g that faces 2hf projects slightly toward the first clamp side from the tip of the closing member 2he, although not shown. Therefore, the distance X1 between the wafer 6 and the closing member 2hf is equal to the distance X1 between the wafer 6 and the closing member 2hf. It is smaller than the distance X3 from e. Usually, in this aseptic joining apparatus 1, a tube 49 in use, which is filled with a liquid, is mounted in the front slots 2f and 3f and joined. ) (e.g. See Figures 4-8, 18; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 22, Suzuki further discloses wherein each second stop is arranged such that each lever does not bear on the cam track when said lever is in the closed position (e.g. See Figures 4-8, 18; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 23, Suzuki further discloses wherein each lever comprises an arm which extends perpendicularly to the axis of rotation A (e.g. See Pages 7: A first clamp moving arm 18 having a follower 18a sliding in the cam groove 19a of the cam 19 at the center is provided. Further, the lower end of the arm 18 is connected to the frame 9 by the fulcrum 18b. The arm 18 is rotatably supported by the fulcrum 1 provided on the clamp fixing base 3 c of the first clamp 3.) (e.g. See Figures 4-8, 18; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 24, Suzuki further discloses wherein each lever is pivotably mounted about an axis B parallel to the axis of rotation A (e.g. See Figures 4-8, 18; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 25, Suzuki further discloses wherein each lever comprises an arm from which an L-like shaped blade (tab) extends perpendicularly (e.g. See Figures 4-8, 18; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 26, Suzuki further discloses wherein each lever comprises, at its distal end, a tab intended to enable opening of the clamp by a user (e.g. See Figures 4-8, 18; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7).
Regarding claim 28, Suzuki further discloses wherein said set of wheels is associated with a motor with determination of the angular position capable of driving said set of wheels in rotation about the axis A (e.g. See Figures 4-8, 18; English Translation Document on Pages 6-7).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 27 is 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 six patents:
Gloor et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2023/0272863), Brown et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2017/0354941), Davis et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2010/0211002), Akahori et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2005/0053501), Barone et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 5273517), and Simons et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 5056992), all discloses device for controlling the passage of a liquid into a series of flexible tubes of a 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 22, 2026