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 § 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.
Claims 1-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al (US 20210186285).
Regarding claim 1, Yang discloses a vacuum cleaner, comprising:
a suction generator (item 10 in annotated figure 3, below) to generate an airflow (paragraph [0066]);
a dirt separator (item 30 in figure 2 included below) comprising an opening to permit the airflow (shown in annotated figure 3 below, defined as the space between the compactor in the first position and the top of the filter assembly item 30) to pass into the dirt separator (Paragraphs [0066], [0080] and [0081] detail the air flow into the dirt separator), a filter (item 35 in annotated figure 3, below) assembly to separate dirt from the airflow (paragraph [0081]), and a dirt collection chamber (S1 and S2 in annotated figure 3, below) to collect dirt separated from the airflow (paragraph [0077]); and
an attachment attached to the dirt separator, the attachment comprising:
a housing (items 3 and 40 in figure 2 included below) comprising a duct (item 42 and item 8 in figure 2 included below) to deliver the airflow (paragraph [0100]) to the opening of the dirt separator; and
a compaction member (item 110 in figure 2, below) movable between a first position (shown in annotated figure 3 below and figure 5A, paragraphs [0071] and [0105]) in which all of the compaction member is upstream of the opening (shown in annotated figure 3 below, being above items 30 and 35), and a second position (shown in annotated figure 4 below and figure 5B, paragraphs [0085] and [0105]) in which the compaction member extends through the opening of the dirt separator (item 110 extends through the opening in that it moves vertically through the opening, as shown in the differences between annotated figure 3 and figure 4, below and described in paragraph [0085]) and into the dirt collection chamber (paragraph [0085]) to compact dirt collected in the dirt collection chamber (paragraph [0062]).
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Regarding claim 2, Yang discloses the vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the compaction member is movable between the first and second positions in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the attachment (shown in annotated figure 3, above).
Regarding claim 3, Yang discloses the vacuum cleaner according to claim 2, wherein a longitudinal axis of the dirt separator is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the attachment (shown in annotated figure 3, above).
Regarding claim 4, Yang discloses the vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein an end of the compaction member (items 122 and 130, both are elements of 110, form a guide edge, GE, in annotated figure 3) is disposed at an acute angle (paragraph [0127] describes it having an inclination surface item 135, that appears to be steeply inclined at an acute angle but does not give a specific angle) relative to a direction of travel of the compaction member between the first and second positions (paragraph [0128] describes the angle relative to the motion of the compacting member).
Regarding claim 5, Yang discloses the vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the compaction member comprises a wiper (items 139 in figure 13A) configured to wipe a surface of the dirt separator (item 30 in figure 13A) as the compaction member is moved between the first and second positions (paragraph [0146]).
Regarding claim 6, Yang discloses the vacuum cleaner according to claim 5, wherein the wiper (items 139 in figure 13A) wipes a surface of the filter (item 35 in figure 13A, paragraph [0111]) assembly.
Regarding claim 7, Yang discloses the vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the attachment comprises a recess defined (recess is formed between items 40 and 21 from figure 2 included above, shown in annotated figure 4 below) in the housing and arranged to accommodate the compaction member (shown in annotated figure 3, above).
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Regarding claim 8, Yang discloses the vacuum cleaner according to claim 7, wherein the attachment comprises a sealing element (item 23 in figure 2 included above) disposed at an opening of the recess through which the compaction member extends in the second position (as shown in annotated figure 4 above), the sealing element arranged to provide a seal between the housing and the compaction member (paragraph [0071], item 23 stops the air flow when the cleaning unit is in the initial position) when the compaction member is in the first position (annotated figure 3, above).
Regarding claim 9, Yang discloses the vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the compaction member comprises a user actuator (items 160 and 165 in figure 2 included above) configured to cause the compaction member to move between the first (figure 5A) and second positions (figure 5B) upon application of a force to the user actuator by a user (paragraph [0068]).
Regarding claim 10, Yang discloses the vacuum cleaner according to claim 9, wherein the user actuator protrudes through a slot in the housing (oval slot in upper part of item 151 as shown in figure 2 included above, paragraph [0103] the manipulation lever 160 protrudes through the slot to the outside of the housing).
Regarding claim 11, Yang discloses the vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the attachment comprises a biasing assembly (item 173 in figure 5A) configured to bias the compaction member towards the first position (paragraph [0109]).
Regarding claim 12, Yang discloses the vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the filter assembly extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of the dirt separator (shown in annotated figure 3, above).
Regarding claim 14, Yang discloses the vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, however, does not disclose that the attachment is removably attached to the dirt separator. Yang does disclose assembling the attachment to the dirt separator in paragraph [0073]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Yang to have the attachment removably attached. As discussed in Yang paragraph [0104] the compacting element can become eccentric, when this occurs it would be necessary to disassemble the device to perform maintenance.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 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.
The specific limitations of “the valve is movable between a closed position in which airflow is prevented from entering the dirt separator via the opening, and an open position in which airflow is permitted to enter the dirt separator via the opening; and
movement of the compaction member from the first position to the second position causes the valve to move to the open position to permit entry of the compaction member into the dirt separator.” when viewed with the limitations of claim 1 are not anticipated or made obvious by the prior art or record in the examiner’s opinion.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 8152913 describes a compacting vacuum including a spring.
US 20040025285 describes a vacuum filter sweeper.
US 20080263815 describes a dust collector for a vacuum with manual dust compacting means.
US 11191406 describes a stick vacuum with a valve, dust collection, and filter cleaning.
KR 20060118048 has a flow control for the exit of the dirt separator and includes dust compaction.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FREDERICK A HINDMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5928. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 730-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Keller can be reached at (571) 272-8548. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FREDERICK A. HINDMAN JR/ Examiner, Art Unit 3723 /BRIAN D KELLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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