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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/12/2024 was filed after the mailing date of the Application on 12/12/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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, 8, 11, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (US 2023/0073993).
With regards to claim 1:
Kim et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 1-3 below) a ball valve (131) comprising:
a housing including a first housing hole (131a), a second housing hole (131b), and a third housing hole (1311) disposed to communicate with one another;
a ball (1313) rotatably disposed in the housing; and
an actuator (1370) configured to rotate the ball,
wherein the ball (1313) comprises:
a ball body (1313a) having a spherical shape;
first (1313c) and second (1313b) holes disposed in the ball body and configured to communicate with each other; and
two grooves (1313d) formed to have a predetermined length in a circumferential direction of the ball body so as to be connected to the first hole (1313c),
wherein the second hole (1313b) is disposed to correspond to the third housing hole (1311), and
wherein the grooves (1313d) of the ball communicate with the first housing hole (131a) or the second housing hole (131b) in accordance with a position of the ball (1313).
PNG
media_image1.png
1091
1171
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Fig.1
PNG
media_image2.png
918
1184
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Fig. 2
PNG
media_image3.png
732
1048
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Fig. 3
With regards to claim 2:
Kim et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 4 below) the ball valve of claim 1, wherein the grooves (1313d) of the ball (1313) are positioned at positions that do not communicate with the first housing hole (131a) and the second housing hole (131b).
PNG
media_image4.png
706
1116
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Fig. 4
With regards to claim 3:
Kim et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 3-4 above) the ball valve of claim 1, wherein an end of one of the two grooves (1313d) is disposed to communicate with the first housing hole (131a), and an end of the other of the two grooves is disposed to communicate with the second housing hole (131b) (the grooves (1313d) arranged on both sides of the first hole (1313c) communication with the first housing hole (131a) or the second housing hole (131b) depending on the rotation angle of the ball valve (1313)).
With regards to claim 8:
Kim et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 2 above) the ball valve of claim 1, a connection portion of the actuator (1370) is disposed to overlap the second hole (1313b) in an axial direction.
With regards to claim 11:
Kim et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 2 above) the ball valve of claim 1, wherein a diameter of the first hole (1313c) is equal to a diameter of the second hole (1313b).
With regards to claim 13:
Kim et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 3 above) the ball valve of claim 1, wherein a depth of the groove (1313d) decreases toward an end side thereof.
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) 4-7, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al., as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Le Pellec (US 2021/0254728).
With regards to claim 4:
Kim et al. discloses the ball valve of claim 1 (see rejected claim 1 above) wherein the ball (1313) is coupled to the actuator (1370).
Kim et al. does not disclose the ball comprises a groove coupled to the actuator.
Le Pellec discloses (refer to Fig. 5 below) a ball valve (1) is actuated by an actuator (2, 3, 20) wherein the ball (4) comprises a groove (21) coupled to the actuator (2, 3, 20).
PNG
media_image5.png
1120
1244
media_image5.png
Greyscale
Fig. 5
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the ball valve of Kim et al. to use the connection design as disclosed by Le Pellec wherein the ball comprises a groove coupled to the actuator as an alternative design for the connection between the actuator and the ball to provide the same functional result of actuating the ball by the actuator.
With regards to claim 5:
Kim et al. discloses the ball valve of claim 1 (see rejected claim 1 above).
Kim et al. does not disclose the valve comprising:
a ring-shaped first sealing part disposed in the first housing hole while corresponding to the ball; and
a ring-shaped second sealing part disposed in the second housing hole while corresponding to the ball.
Le Pellec discloses (refer to Fig. 6 below) a ball valve (1) comprising:
a ring-shaped first sealing part (9, 10, 22, 17) disposed in the first housing hole (F) while corresponding to the ball (4); and
a ring-shaped second sealing part (9, 10) disposed in the second housing (S) hole while corresponding to the ball (4).
PNG
media_image6.png
1391
1289
media_image6.png
Greyscale
Fig. 6
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the ball valve of Kim et al. to use the ring-shaped second sealing parts as disclosed by Le Pellec to provide the better seal between the ball of the ball valve and the housing openings when the valve is in closed position.
With regards to claim 6:
Kim et al., as modified, discloses (refer to Fig. 5 above) the ball valve of claim 5, wherein an inner diameter of the first sealing part and an inner diameter of the second sealing part are equal to a diameter of the first hole.
With regards to claim 7:
Kim et al., as modified, discloses (refer to Fig. 5-6 above) the ball valve of claim 5, comprising:
a support means (17) configured to prevent separation of the first sealing part, wherein the support means is detachably coupled in the first housing hole.
With regards to claim 12:
Kim et al., as modified, discloses the ball valve of claim 1, wherein a diameter of the first hole (1313c) is smaller than a diameter of the second hole (1313b).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-19, and 25-28 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The prior art fails to disclose or render obvious “based on a rotation center, a first included angle defined between the two first and second grooves is smaller than a second included angle defined between one point disposed on an inner diameter of the first sealing part and one point disposed on an inner diameter of the second sealing part so as to be adjacent, in the circumferential direction, to the point disposed on the inner diameter of the first sealing part.” in combination with the other limitations set forth in the independent claims.
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 Minh Le, whose telephone number is 571-270-3805. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (8:30AM-5:00PM EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881 or Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MINH Q LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753