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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1 – 8 are newly amended prior to examination.
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 – 8 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.
Regarding claims 1, 2, 6, and 8, the phrase "in particular" renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Dependent claims not specifically rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite, are interpreted as being rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite, for depending from a rejected claim.
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 – 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 6,027,317, “Barthod.”
Regarding Claim 1: Barthod discloses a displacement machine according to the spiral principle (Figures 1 – 3), in particular, a scroll compressor ([Abstract], “scroll type machine including a fixed disk (5) comprising a spiral working wall (6) and a mobile disk (7)”), comprising an electric motor (25, 26), an orbiting displacement spiral (7) and a counter spiral (5), the displacement spiral and the counter spiral engaging into one another in such a way that variable compression chambers are formed between the displacement spiral and the counter spiral in order to receive and compress a working medium flowing through a working medium circuit (Cl. 2, ln. 8, “active pumping parts located inside the casing 1A and comprising a fixed disk 5 comprising a spiral wall 6 and a mobile disk 7 also comprising a spiral wall 8 cooperating with that of the fixed disk. With their disk the two spiral walls 6 and 8 delimit a working volume 9”), and wherein the electric motor is connected to the displacement spiral by means of a motor shaft (12) (At least Cl. 2, ln. 50, “main rotary shaft 19 is rotated by an electric motor the rotor 25 of which is joined to the shaft 19 and the stator 26 of which is joined to the frame 1”), and the motor shaft is supported by a single shaft bearing (32) which is located between the electric motor and the displacement spiral (As shown in at least Figures 2 and 3 and as further discussed in at least Cl. 3, ln. 18 – 28, “main rotary shaft 19 is mounted cantilever fashion in a single prestressed bearing 32 with two rows of balls mounted in the part 1B of the body of the frame”).
Regarding Claim 2: Barthod discloses the displacement machine according to claim 1; Barthod further discloses wherein the motor shaft on one side of the electric motor opposite the shaft bearing is self-supporting, in particular, not supported by anything (As shown in at least Figures 2 and 3 and as further discussed in at least Cl. 3, ln. 18 – 28, “main rotary shaft 19 is mounted cantilever fashion in a single prestressed bearing 32 with two rows of balls mounted in the part 1B of the body of the frame”).
Regarding Claim 3: Barthod discloses the displacement machine according to claim 1; Barthod further discloses wherein the shaft bearing is formed as a two-row angular contact ball bearing (As shown in at least Figures 2 and 3 and as further discussed in at least Cl. 3, ln. 18 – 28, “main rotary shaft 19 is mounted cantilever fashion in a single prestressed bearing 32 with two rows of balls mounted in the part 1B of the body of the frame”) or as a pair of interconnected single-row angular contact ball bearings in an O-arrangement (The arrangement of Barthod could be broadly interepted as disclosing two single-rows of angular contact bearings as the optionally recited arrangement does not specifically claim that each arrangement of bearings is received in in an independent race).
Regarding Claim 4: Barthod discloses the displacement machine according to claim 1; Barthod further discloses wherein the shaft bearing is fixed in a bearing plate (As shown in at least Figures 2 and 3; The radially extending portion of part 1B of the body frame is interpreted as forming a bearing plate as such component is arranged to receive the bearing of the shaft as shown and described in at least Cl. 3, ln. 18 – 28) which is located between the electric motor and the displacement spiral (As shown in at least Figures 1 – 3).
Regarding Claim 5: Barthod discloses the displacement machine according to claim 1; Barthod further discloses wherein the bearing plate forms an inner housing in which the electric motor is located (As shown in at least Figures 1 – 3; The part 1B of the body frame is shown extending axially along the length of the motor such that the body frame forms a housing in which the electric motor is located such that the bearing plate formed by the body frame is broadly interpreted as forming an inner housing).
Regarding Claim 6: Barthod discloses the displacement machine according to claim 4; Barthod further discloses wherein the electric motor, the bearing plate, the displacement spiral and the counter spiral form a compression assembly (As shown in at least Figures 1 – 3 and as further described in at least Cl. 1, ln. 2, “the invention applies to scroll type machines operating as vacuum pumps but equally suitable for pumping liquids or for use as a compressor”), in particular, a mechanically independent one (As shown in at least Figures 1 – 3; The disclosed elements of the compressor are disclosed as those which perform the compression operation such that they are broadly interpreted as forming a mechanically independent arrangement for performing their recited function), which is located in a housing (1B). It is noted that claim 6 is dependent from claim 4, and not claim 5 wherein the body portion 1B is also interpreted as forming “an inner housing” in the aforesaid rejection of claim 5 under this heading.
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) 6 – 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 6,027,317, “Barthod,” in view of US 2014/0271242, “Calhoun.”
Regarding Claim 6: Barthod discloses the displacement machine according to claim 4; Barthod further discloses wherein the electric motor, the bearing plate, the displacement spiral and the counter spiral form a compression assembly (As shown in at least Figures 1 – 3 and as further described in at least Cl. 1, ln. 2, “the invention applies to scroll type machines operating as vacuum pumps but equally suitable for pumping liquids or for use as a compressor”), in particular, a mechanically independent one (As shown in at least Figures 1 – 3; The disclosed elements of the compressor are disclosed as those which perform the compression operation such that they are broadly interpreted as forming a mechanically independent arrangement for performing their recited function); however, Barthod is silent as to wherein the compression elements are located in a housing.
Calhoun discloses a scroll type compressor (Figures 1A – 4) comprising a displacement spiral (230) and a counter spiral (221) forming the scroll (As discussed in at least [0034]), a motor (300) arranged to drive a shaft (242) of the displacement spiral, a bearing plate (210) arranged to housing a bearing (246) supporting the shaft between the motor and the displacement spiral (As shown in at least Figures 1A and 1B), the bearing plate and the motor casing extending to form an inner housing supporting the compression components (As shown in at least Figures 1A and 1B) and wherein the compression elements are located in a housing (100, 500) ([0032], “the present invention includes a sound muffling enclosure 100, a pump head 200, a pump motor 300, and a cooling fan 400 housed in the sound muffling enclosure 100”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the arrangement of Barthod to plate the recited compression components and inner housing into a housing, as taught by Calhoun, with the predicted results that such an arrangement will provide for a resilient mounting means and method of sound suppression for mounting the compression components therein (Calhoun, [0039] – [0041], “Because the sound muffling enclosure 100 constitutes the exterior of the scroll pump 1, these vibrations are not imparted to the exterior of the scroll pump or the support surface. Hence, the transmitted noise and vibration produced by the rotary components of the pump head/motor assembly 200/300 is substantially reduced.”). This rejection is provided as a parallel rejection to claim 6 wherein the housing elements of the claim are interpreted as comprising an inner housing and a housing in the alternative that claim 6 was dependent from claim 5.
Regarding Claim 7: Barthod, in view of Calhoun, teaches the displacement machine according to claim 4; once combined, Calhoun further teaches wherein the compression assembly is vibration-decoupled from the housing (As shown in at least Figures 1A and 1B; [0039] – [0046], “the pump head/motor assembly 200/300 is supported by a vibration isolation system 500”).
Regarding Claim 8: Barthod, in view of Calhoun, teaches the displacement machine according to claim 6; once combined, Barthod further discloses wherein the housing comprises a housing floor (1C) to which an inverter housing can be connected or which forms part of an inverter housing (The housing is shown formed with a generally flat surface onto which an inverter or other components could be arranged, such that the structure is disclosed as an area which is capable of supporting other elements, it is noted that the claim does not explicitly require the presence of either an inverter or part of an inverter housing and the elements following the coordinating conjunction “or” are interpreted as being optionally recited by the claim), the housing floor being spaced away from the electric motor (As shown in at least Figures 1 – 3), in particular, being spaced away from a free end of the electric motor located opposite the shaft bearing (As shown in at least Figures 1 – 3; The housing floor portion 1C of the housing is shown arranged to the right of the free end of the motor such that it is arranged spaced away from the free end of the motor opposite that supported by the single bearing as shown).
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 6,027,317, “Barthod,” in view of US 2014/0271242, “Calhoun,” and US 2019/0203709, “Her.”
Regarding Claim 8: Barthod, in view of Calhoun, teaches the displacement machine according to claim 6; once combined, Barthod further discloses wherein the housing comprises a housing floor (1C), the housing floor being spaced away from the electric motor (As shown in at least Figures 1 – 3), in particular, being spaced away from a free end of the electric motor located opposite the shaft bearing (As shown in at least Figures 1 – 3; The housing floor portion 1C of the housing is shown arranged to the right of the free end of the motor such that it is arranged spaced away from the free end of the motor opposite that supported by the single bearing as shown); however, Barthod is silent as to wherein an inverter housing [is] connected or which forms part of an inverter housing. It is noted that the aforesaid features of claim 8 are presented following the coordinating conjunction “or,” and are interpreted as being optionally recited by the claim; however, the instant rejection is being provided in the alternative wherein the recited features are positively recited by the claim.
Her teaches a scroll compressor (Figures 1 – 13), similarly arranged to that of the compressor of Barthod and Calhoun, and further teaches wherein the compression elements are located in a housing (101, 120, 110, 112), a housing floor (112) arranged being spaced away from an electric motor (103) (As shown in at least Figure 2), wherein the housing floor is arranged such that an inverter housing (200, 210) [is] connected or which forms part of an inverter housing (As shown in at least Figure 2; [0067], “inverter module 200 is coupled to an outer surface of the sealing portion 112 and the compression mechanism unit 105 is coupled to the opening 113 to seal the suction space S1”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have arranged an inverter connected to the housing floor of Barthod, as taught by Her, with the predicted results that such an inverter will be capable of controlling the compressor such that the combined apparatus will be capable of operating the motor at variable speeds in a manner well known in the art (Her, [0005], [0059], [0062]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN DOYLE whose telephone number is (571)270-5821. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 0900 - 1700.
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, Mark Laurenzi can be reached at 571-270-7878. 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.
/BENJAMIN DOYLE/Examiner, Art Unit 3746 2026.06.24
/MARK A LAURENZI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3746 6/25/2026
Prosecution Insights