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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: In the 3 pages of amendments to the specification, as filed by applicant with the preliminary amendment filed 12-2-24, other than the added paragraph pertaining to the CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPICATIONS, which included instructions as to where it is to be placed in the specification, each of the other amendments fail to include such instructions. Further, applicant has utilized paragraph numbers [0001]-[0004] to identify the paragraphs to be amended, which do not correspond to the proper locations (paragraph numbers) within the specification, as filed. Lastly, paragraph [0081], identified by applicant as paragraph [0004] has been included in the amendment with no apparent changes made to the paragraph, as filed.
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.
Claims 1-3, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by JP 2-185684 A.
JP 2-185684 A (Figs. 1 and 2; English Abstract) teaches a deaeration device (1) having an annular channel (B) through which a fluid (5) flows, the channel being formed by a rotatably driven central member (6) that includes partition means (7) that cooperates with air vent (11) to create an area of low pressure to allow for the release of air bubbles from the fluid and removal of the air from the device (claim 1). The reference further discloses an inlet port (9) and an outlet port (10) that allows for the fluid to flow into and from the annular channel during the deaeration process. The partition means (7) of the rotatable inner member (6) drives the fluid through the annular channel, creating a high pressure zone near the outlet (10), a low pressure zone near the air vent (11), and a medium pressure zone near the inlet (9) to the channel (claims 2 and 3), the channel being defined by the rotatable inner member (6), the fixed outer member (4), and the axial end walls that form fixed side walls at each end of the rotating inner member, thereby confining the fluid flow path within the annular channel between the inlet port and the outlet port (claim 6).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2-185684 A taken together with Yano et al.
JP 2-185684 A (Figs. 1 and 2; English Abstract) as applied above substantially discloses applicant’s invention as recited by instant claim 4, except for the inlet and outlet ports being separated from one another in an axial direction of the annular channel.
Yano et al (Abstract; Fig. 1) disclose a deaeration device having a central rotor (30) within a fixed body, wherein the inlet port (34) and the outlet port (60) are arranged at opposite, axially separated ends of the annular channel (102). It would have been obvious for an artisan at the time of the filing of the application, to modify the positioning of the inlet and outlet ports of JP ‘684 to be at opposite spaced apart ends of the annular channel thereof, in view of Yano et al, since such would provide the greatest residence time of the fluid within the deaerator by requiring the fluid to traverse the entire length of the inner rotating member.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, and 7-11 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.
The prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest the pressure sensor/control means of dependent claim 5, as well as the specific construction of the inner and outer or first and second members of the device, as set forth by instant claims 7-11.
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 CHARLES S BUSHEY whose telephone number is (571)272-1153. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 6:30-5:00.
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/C.S.B/9-29-26
/CHARLES S BUSHEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776
