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 § 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.
1.Claims 14, and 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Boretti (US6109387).
With respect to claim 14 Boretti discloses a noise damper (15 in figure 1) for a compressed air system, comprising:
At last one fiber mesh roll unit having at least two mesh density regions (see figure 5), at least one inlet (18) at least one outlet (19) and a housing (16);
Wherein the at least one fiber mesh roll unit is accommodated within the housing of the noise damper to dampen noise emissions of air flowing through from the at least one inlet to the at least one outlet (Column 3 lines 15-25).
With respect to claim 21 Boretti further discloses wherein the at least one fiber mesh roll unit includes one rolled-up fiber mesh with at least two mesh density regions (alternating layers are disclosed in column 4 lines 55-60) or a plurality of stacked rolled up fiber meshes each having one mesh density.
With respect to claim 22 Boretti further discloses wherein the roll-up direction is perpendicular to a direction of air flowing through the noise damper (see figure 1).
With respect to claim 23 Boretti as modified further discloses wherein the stacked roll up fiber meshes are connected to each other (see figures 1-3 and also figure 8 for further illustration of connected stacked elements).
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.
2.Claims 15-16 , and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boretti (US6109387).
With respect to claim 15 Boretti discloses the invention as claimed except expressly wherein the fiber mesh roll unit is made from thermoplastic fibers. Boretti discloses the use of textile fibers. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious prior to the time of the effective filing to select any known textile fiber to be used as the insulation material based upon the desired properties thereof. Thermoplastic fibers are known in the art to be both resistant to water damage and to be inexpensive. As such their selection would have been an obvious matter. Further it has ben held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 16 Boretti discloses the invention as claimed except expressly the mesh is knitted or woven. As Boretti discloses the use of a wire mesh, it would have been understood by one of ordinary skill the wire would need to be knitted or woven to form a mesh. The selection of knitted or woven would have been an obvious smatter to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing based upon the desired properties thereof. Further it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 28 Boretti as modified discloses the invention as claimed except expressly wherein compressed air system includes a brake system of a utility vehicle. This would be only an intended use of the muffling unit for compressed air structure and as such would have been an obvious use. Further it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex Parte Masham, 2 USPQ F.2d 1647 (1987).
3.Claims 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boretti (US6109387) in view of Fukano (US7753167).
With respect to claim 17 Boretti discloses the invention as claimed except expressly wherein the at least one fiber mesh roll unit includes at least one first mesh density region and at least one second mesh density region, and wherein the density of the at least one first mesh density region is lower than a density of the at least one second mesh density region.
Fukano discloses a layering of sound dampening mesh structures for a muffler wherein the density of the respective layers varies along a gradient from inlet to outlet (see layers 80,82 and 84).
It would have been an obvious matter to one of ordinary ksill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of Fukano to provide the layers in a gradient manner with the muffler of Boretti so as to allow for expansion of the waves prior to the passing through the denser layers to further reduce the sound.
With respect to claim 18 Boretti as modified further discloses wherein the at least one first mesh density region (80 in Fukano) is arranged adjacent to the at least one inlet and the at least one second mesh density region is arranged adjacent to the at least one outlet (84, so that air flowing through the noise damper first passes through the at least one first mesh density region and then the at least second mesh density region of the at least one fiber mesh roll unit.
With respect to claim 19 Boretti as modified further discloses wherein a plurality of the at least one first mesh density region and a plurality of the at least one second mesh density region are arranged alternately in the direction from the at least one inlet to the at least one outlet of the noise damper (see arrangement of layers of Boretti as shown in figures 3 and 5).
With respect to claim 20 Boretti as modified further discloses wherein the fiber mesh roll unit further includes at least one third mesh density region having a density greater than the second mesh density and wherein the at least one first second and third mesh density regions are arranged by increasing density in the direction from the at least one inlet to the at least one outlet (see layers of Fukano 80, 82 and 84).
4. Claims 24-27 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boretti (US6109387) in view of Fukano (US7753167) and Latham (US8100315).
With respect to claims 24 and 25 Boretti as modified discloses the invention as claimed except expressly disclosing the method of forming including the steps of knitting, flattening and rolling the fibers once knitted so as to arrive at the arrangement of layers taught by Boretti in view of Fukano. As in the above rejection of claim 15 the use of thermoplastic fibers would have been an obvious matter for the purposes of price and water resistance.
Latham discloses the formation of an insulating member of a muffler by means of knitting, flattening and rolling off the structure (see abstract and figures).
It would have been an obvious matter to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing to combine the teachings of Latham to sue the steps of knitting, flattening and rolling the structure to provide the insulating material of Boretti as modified. This would allow for the use of known processes and tools to form the structures.
With respect to claim 26 Boretti as modified further discloses connecting the rolled upfber meshes to each other (see the connections fromed as taught by Fukano, as well as the connecting of stacks by Boretti by means of a bolt passing through them)
With respect to claims 27 and 29 Boretti as modified discloses the invention as claimed except expressly wherein compressed air system includes a brake system of a utility vehicle. This would be only an intended use of the muffling unit for compressed air structure and as such would have been an obvious use. Further it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex Parte Masham, 2 USPQ F.2d 1647 (1987).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Anderson (US11371404) discloses an engine muffler apparatus; Callahan (US20100263762) discloses a wire tube structure for exhaust insulation; Wahlgren (US20070261914) discloses an insulating sleeve of wire mesh and wire cloth; and Gras (US5166479) discloses a silencer for gas flow.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FORREST M PHILLIPS whose telephone number is (571)272-9020. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00.
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, Dedei Hammond can be reached at (571) 272-3985. 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.
/FORREST M PHILLIPS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
Prosecution Insights