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 .
Election/Restriction
Applicant's election with traverse of Invention Group 1 (claims 1, 2, 3-5, 16-18, 20) in the reply filed on 12/08/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that:
independent claim 1 has been amended in the reply filed on 12/08/2025 to recite elements not disclosed by the reference(s) cited in the restriction requirement mailed on 10/08/2025, Applicant believes that these elements constitute special technical features and that the lack of unity of invention requirement should be withdrawn. Examiner notes that Applicant has amended the scope of claim 1, however, the invention groups identified in the restriction requirement mailed on 10/08/2025 still lack unity of invention because amended claim 1 has been rejected by prior art below, thus the amended technical feature of those groups is not a special technical feature as it does not make a contribution over the prior art as discussed below.
The restriction requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim(s) 6-15, 19 is/are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Drawings
drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because:
In at least Fig 9, the reference character “1311” is used to identify three individual structures/cavities each as “the first accommodating cavity 1311” (e.g. para 0037). This causes confusion because three individual structures would not normally each be referred to as “a first cavity”, as one having ordinary skill in the art would understand; normally only one structure would be referred as “a first cavity”, and the other structures would be referred to as “a second cavity” and “a third cavity”. Applicant’s method thus causes confusion.
For each of the drawing objections above, corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as "amended." If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either "Replacement Sheet" or "New Sheet" pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Interpretation
Examiner’s note: For the purposes of examining this application, the term “height direction” within the claims is interpreted to mean a “direction parallel to or coincident with the axial direction of the first valve core 211” as identified in paragraph 0031.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 16-18, 20 is/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.
Claim 1 (two locations in line 17) recites the term “close”, which is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “close” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Thus, one having ordinary skill in the art would be unable to identify whether any two elements are close to each other or not close to each other.
Claim 16 (line 3) recites the limitation “the same first pump cover portion” which lacks proper antecedent basis and thus renders the claim indefinite. It is suggested that the limitation be rewritten as -- the first pump cover portion --.
Claim(s) 17 and 18 each recite the same limitation, suffering from the same deficiency, thus are each similarly rejected.
Claim 20 (line 2) recites the limitation “the first side wall portion has a port” which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear if the underlined term references the same port previously identified in claim 1 or a different port.
Claim 20 (line 2) recites the limitation “a port, which is in communication with the first valve cavity and comprises a first port and a second port” which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear how a single port can possibly comprise a first port and a second port.
Claim 20 (3 locations) recites the limitation “the pump assemblies” which lacks proper antecedent basis and thus renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 20 (line 4) recites the limitation “the pump cover portions” which lacks proper antecedent basis and thus renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 20 (line 5) recites the limitation “the first pore passage” which lacks proper antecedent basis and thus renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 20 (line 6) recites the limitation “the first port” which lacks proper antecedent basis and thus renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 20 (line 7) recites the limitation “the fluid channels” which lacks proper antecedent basis and thus renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 20 (line 7) recites the limitation “the second pore passage” which lacks proper antecedent basis and thus renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 20 (line 7) recites the limitation “at least another pump assembly” which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear if this references at least another pump assembly with regard to “the pump assemblies” previously identified in claim 20, or with regard to the “at least one of the pump assemblies” previously identified in claim 20, or with regard to “the pump assembly” previously identified in claim 1, or something else.
Claim 20 (line 8) recites the limitation “another fluid channel” which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear if this references another fluid channel with regard to “the fluid channel” previously identified in claim 1, or with regard to the “one of the fluid channels” previously identified in claim 20, or something else.
Claim(s) 2-5, 16-18, 20 is/are also rejected by virtue of dependency.
In view of the 112(b) rejections set forth above, the claims are rejected below as best understood.
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) 1-5, 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20160061092 A1 (Sprygada).
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Annotated Fig 3a
Regarding claim 1, Sprygada discloses:
A fluid assembly,
comprising a housing assembly (30; Fig 2), a valve assembly (50 combined with 52, 48, 46, 40; Fig 2) and a pump assembly (20 and directly associated components; Fig 2),
wherein the housing assembly comprises a first side wall portion, a fluid channel portion and a pump cover portion (Annotated Fig 3a shows all this),
the fluid assembly has a first valve cavity, an accommodating cavity and a fluid channel (Annotated Fig 3a shows all this),
wherein the first side wall portion forms at least part of a wall portion of the first valve cavity (Fig 3 shows this),
the fluid channel portion forms at least part of a wall portion of the fluid channel (Fig 3 shows this),
the pump cover portion forms at least part of a wall portion of the accommodating cavity (Fig 3 shows this),
and the accommodating cavity is in communication with the fluid channel (Fig 3 shows this),
the first side wall portion has a port (Annotated Fig 3a),
and the port is in communication with the fluid channel (Fig 3 shows this),
the valve assembly comprises a first valve assembly (48, 46, 40; Fig 3),
wherein the first valve assembly comprises a first valve core (40; Fig 3), at least part of which is located in the first valve cavity (Fig 3 shows this),
and the pump assembly comprises an impeller assembly (28 combined with 26; Fig 3), at least part of which is located in the accommodating cavity (Fig 3 shows this),
there is a spacing between at least part of an axis of the first valve core and an axis of the impeller assembly (para 0034 identifies that the shaft of the impeller 28 and the shaft 48 of the valve 40 “and thus the orientation of the impeller motor assembly 30 and valve activation device, and their activations, can be at any angle or position relative to each other. For example, the shafts can be positioned side-by-side, parallel to each other, extending in the same direction, at 90° to each other, etc., so long as the resultant embodiments perform substantially the same functions in similar manners and achieve similar results.”),
and in a height direction (direction of axis of rotation of shaft 26; Fig 3) of the fluid assembly, an end of at least one impeller assembly (Annotated Fig 3a) close to the first valve core and an end of the first valve core (Annotated Fig 3a) close to the impeller assembly are located at different heights (Fig 3 shows this).
and the first valve assembly further comprises a first transmission shaft (48; Fig 2, Fig 3) for driving the first valve core,
and in the height direction of the fluid assembly, the first transmission shaft and the impeller assembly are located on the same side relative to the first valve core (para 0034 identifies that the shaft of the impeller 28 and the shaft 48 of the valve 40 “can be at any angle or position relative to each other”. This is clear that the shafts, and their associated structures, may be located for example in a side-by-side manner such that the claimed/required configuration of the limitation above is satisfied).
Regarding claim 2, Sprygada discloses:
the impeller assembly located at the different height from the first valve core in the height direction of the fluid assembly is defined as a first impeller assembly (it may be defined as a first impeller assembly);
the pump cover portion comprises a first pump cover portion (inherent),
and the accommodating cavity comprises a first accommodating cavity (inherent),
wherein the first pump cover portion forms at least part of the wall portion of the first accommodating cavity (Fig 3 shows this),
and at least part of the first impeller assembly is located in the first accommodating cavity (Fig 3 shows this);
and in the height direction of the fluid assembly, at least part of the first pump cover portion and at least part of the first side wall portion are arranged at different heights (Fig 3 shows this; and this is commensurate with the “can be at any angle or position relative to each other” configuration addressed in the claim 1 rejection),
and an orthographic projection of the first pump cover portion at least partially overlaps with an orthographic projection of the first side wall portion (Fig 3 shows this, where the various portions may be defined as such; and this is commensurate with the “can be at any angle or position relative to each other” configuration addressed in the claim 1 rejection).
Regarding claim 3, Sprygada discloses:
in the height direction of the fluid assembly, the orthographic projection of the first impeller assembly is spaced from the orthographic projection of the first side wall portion by a preset distance (Fig 3 shows this; and this is commensurate with the “can be at any angle or position relative to each other” configuration addressed in the claim 1 rejection).
Regarding claim 4, Sprygada discloses:
in the height direction of the fluid assembly, the orthographic projection of the first impeller assembly at least partially overlaps with the orthographic projection of the first side wall portion (Fig 3 shows this; and this is commensurate with the “can be at any angle or position relative to each other” configuration addressed in the claim 1 rejection), and the orthographic projection of the first impeller assembly is spaced from the orthographic projection of the first valve core (Fig 3 shows this; and this is commensurate with the “can be at any angle or position relative to each other” configuration addressed in the claim 1 rejection).
Regarding claim 5, Sprygada discloses:
the orthographic projection of the first impeller assembly at least partially overlaps with the orthographic projection of the first valve core in the height direction of the fluid assembly (Fig 3 shows this; and this is commensurate with the “can be at any angle or position relative to each other” configuration addressed in the claim 1 rejection).
Regarding claim 16, Sprygada discloses:
the first pump cover portion further has a first pore passage (at the impeller inlet) and a second pore passage (at the impeller outlet), in the same first pump cover portion, the first pore passage and the second pore passage are both in communication with the first accommodating cavity (Fig 3 shows this), at least part of the first pore passage is coaxially arranged with the first impeller assembly (Fig 3 shows this), and an opening at one side of the second pore passage is located at an outer peripheral edge of the first impeller assembly (Fig 3 shows this);
and one of the first pore passage and the second pore passage of the first pump cover portion is in communication with the fluid channel (Fig 3 shows this; and this is commensurate with the “can be at any angle or position relative to each other” configuration addressed in the claim 1 rejection).
Regarding claim 17, Sprygada discloses:
the first pump cover portion further has a first pore passage (at the impeller inlet) and a second pore passage (at the impeller outlet), in the same first pump cover portion, the first pore passage and the second pore passage are both in communication with the first accommodating cavity (Fig 3 shows this), at least part of the first pore passage is coaxially arranged with the first impeller assembly (Fig 3 shows this), and an opening at one side of the second pore passage is located at an outer peripheral edge of the first impeller assembly (Fig 3 shows this);
and one of the first pore passage and the second pore passage of the first pump cover portion is in communication with the fluid channel (Fig 3 shows this; and this is commensurate with the “can be at any angle or position relative to each other” configuration addressed in the claim 1 rejection).
Regarding claim 18, Sprygada discloses:
the first pump cover portion further has a first pore passage (at the impeller inlet) and a second pore passage (at the impeller outlet), in the same first pump cover portion, the first pore passage and the second pore passage are both in communication with the first accommodating cavity (Fig 3 shows this), at least part of the first pore passage is coaxially arranged with the first impeller assembly (Fig 3 shows this), and an opening at one side of the second pore passage is located at an outer peripheral edge of the first impeller assembly (Fig 3 shows this);
and one of the first pore passage and the second pore passage of the first pump cover portion is in communication with the fluid channel (Fig 3 shows this; and this is commensurate with the “can be at any angle or position relative to each other” configuration addressed in the claim 1 rejection).
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) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sprygada in view of US 4738584 A (Price).
Regarding claim 20, Sprygada discloses:
the first side wall portion has a port (this limitation is already recited and addressed in claim 1), which is in communication with the first valve cavity (Fig 3 shows this) and comprises a first port (32; Fig 3) and a second port (34; Fig 3) which are spaced from each other;
Sprygada may not explicitly disclose:
and the number of the pump assemblies is at least two, and the number of the pump cover portions is the same as that of the pump assemblies, wherein the first pore passage corresponding to at least one of the pump assemblies is in communication with the first port through one of the fluid channels, and the second pore passage corresponding to at least another pump assembly is in communication with the second port through another fluid channel (see various related 112b rejections above).
However, Price, in the same field of endeavor, pumps, teaches:
A pump having dual motors driving dual counterrotating impellers, rather than having a single impeller, in order to increase the efficiency and flow rate of the fluid flow of the pump (col 1 lines 5-10; col 1 lines 25-28; col 1 lines 50-52).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Sprygada to include Price’s teachings as described above, having Sprygada’s design incorporate dual counterrotating impellers and associated structure, in order to increase the efficiency and flow rate of the fluid flow of the pump (col 1 lines 5-10; col 1 lines 25-28; col 1 lines 50-52). This modification results in teaching the limitations above.
Conclusion
The following prior art, made of record and not relied upon, is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 4832580 A - cited for teaching using a pair of pump assemblies instead of one pump assembly.
US 12276281 B2 - cited for teaching a pump comprising a plurality of motors, pump assemblies, ports.
WO 2019183725 A1 (Vandenberg) - cited for teaching a pump having an impeller in a pump assembly, valves, ports.
US 20230021282 A1 - cited for teaching a pump assembly comprising a plurality of impellers.
CN 114658885 A - cited for teaching a pump with a plurality of impellers and ports.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Art Golik whose telephone number is (571)272-6211. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:30-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathaniel Wiehe can be reached at 571-272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Art Golik/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
/NATHANIEL E WIEHE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3745