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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 2, ln. 8-9 should read ---and the first rear side nozzle [[are]] is arranged at the rear seat part;---
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 3 and 43 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 3 recites “a locking mechanism” in ln. 10-11. It is unclear whether the locking mechanism of claim 3 is the same as the locking mechanism recited in claim 1.
Claim 43 recites the limitation "the excrement collector" in ln. 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, 8, 27, 30-32, 43 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (Pub. No.: US 2022/0370231 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Wang discloses (fig. 1-7) an excrement collector (wearable waste removal and cleansing apparatus 100), comprising a pants assembly (wearable pants 112) for wearing on a human body (¶ 0028), and a working head (receptacle part 120) that is able to be for being detachably butted together with the pants assembly (¶ 0028), wherein the working head comprises an excretion recess (receptacle body 1211) for accommodating human excreta (¶ 0032); the pants assembly comprising an excretion assembly opening (excretion opening 1121) for human excretion (¶ 0028), and a connecting frame (sliding sleeve 111) for being detachably butted together with the working head (¶ 0027);
The excrement collector further comprises a locking mechanism for locking the working head and the pants assembly (¶ 0031), wherein the locking member comprises a left buckle member (see left second connecting portion 121a), a left mating part (see left first connecting portion 111a) for snapping with the left buckle member (¶ 0031), a right buckle member (see right second connecting portion 121a), a right mating part (see right first connecting portion 111a) for snapping with the right buckle member (¶ 0031); the left buckle member and the right buckle member belong to the working head and are arranged on left and right sides of the working head (fig. 5, ¶ 0031), and the left mating part and the right mating part belong to the connecting frame and are arranged on left and right sides of the connecting frame (fig. 5, ¶ 0031); and in a state where the connecting frame is butted together with the working head, the left buckle member snapes with the left mating part, and the right buckle member snaps with the right mating part, thereby locking the working head and the connecting frame together (¶ 0031, fig. 5).
Regarding claim 3, Wang discloses wherein a first frame opening is provided and surrounded by the connecting frame, and the first frame opening forms at least a part of the excretion opening (¶ 0028, fig. 5); in a state where the connecting frame is butted together with the working head, the first frame opening is butted together with the excretion recess (fig. 5); and after the excrement collector is worn on the human body, the human body is able to excrete feces into the excretion recess (¶ 0031-¶ 0032);
In a state where the connecting frame of the pants assembly is butted together with the working head, the connecting frame is attached to the working head (fig. 2); and the working head is able to be forward butted to the connecting frame of the pants assembly so as to be connected together with the pants assembly (fig. 2, ¶ 0026), the excrement collector further comprises a locking mechanism for locking the working head and the pants assembly, wherein the working head is pluggable forward and rearward relative to the pants assembly; and along with the working head is forward plugged to the pants assembly, the locking mechanism locks the working head and the connecting frame of the pants assembly together (¶ 0031).
Regarding claim 4, Wang discloses wherein the pants assembly further comprises a pants main part, the connecting frame is fixed to the pants main part (fig. 6, ¶ 0028), the pants main part comprises a crotch opening, a first frame opening is provided and surrounded by the connecting frame (fig. 5), the first frame opening forms a part of the excretion opening, and the first frame opening and the crotch opening are superposed together to form the excretion opening (¶ 0028);
The pants main part further comprises a first flexible gasket for attaching to the human body (¶ 0028), and the pants main part comprises an upper wrapping sheet, a lower wrapping sheet (connect5ing parts 1125), and a connecting part (middle structure 1121-1124); the connecting part is connected with the upper wrapping sheet and the lower wrapping sheet (fig. 6, ¶ 0028), the crotch opening is provided by the connecting part, and the connecting frame and the first flexible gasket are located at two opposite sides of the connecting part (¶ 0028, fig. 6); and in a state where the connecting frame is butted together with the working head, the first flexible gasket, the connecting part, the connecting frame, and the working head are sequentially distributed from front to rear (¶ 0028, fig. 5-6).
Regarding claim 8, Wang discloses wherein the connecting frame comprises a left concave region and a right concave region; the left mating part is located at the left concave region, and the right mating part is located at the right concave region; and in a state where the connecting frame is butted together with the working head, the left buckle member snaps with the left mating part is partially accommodated in the left concave region, and the right buckle member snaps with the right mating part is partially accommodated in the right concave region (fig. 5, ¶ 0031);
In a state where the connecting frame is butted together with the working head, a front end of the left buckle member is embedded in the left concave region, and a front end of the right buckle member is embedded in the right concave region (fig. 5, ¶ 0031).
Regarding claim 27, Wang discloses wherein the connecting frame comprises a slot (111b, ¶ 0027), the slot is located at a bottom side of a front part of the connecting frame, a front end of the working head is able to be forward inserted into the slot (fig. 4-5), and the left mating part and the right mating part are located at a rear upper side of the slot (fig. 5);
The slot is located at the bottom of the pants assembly (fig. 4); and along with the front end of the working head is forward inserted into the slot, the left buckle member snaps with the left mating part, and the right buckle member snaps with the right mating part, thereby locking the working head and the connecting frame together (fig. 4-5, ¶ 0027, ¶ 0031);
The connecting frame comprises a first U-shaped part and an arc-shaped retaining wall for forming the slot, the arc-shaped retaining wall and the slot are located at a bottom side of the first U-shaped part, the slot is formed between the first U-shaped part and the arc-shaped retaining wall, and the front end of the working head is attached to the arc-shaped retaining wall after being inserted into the slot (fig. 4-5).
Regarding claim 30, Wang discloses wherein the connecting frame comprises a first U-shaped part, a second U-shaped part, a left connecting part, and a right connecting part; the first U-shaped part, the left connecting part, the second U-shaped part, and the right connecting part are sequentially connected to form a closed loop; the first U-shaped part is located at a front lower side of the connecting frame, and the second U-shaped part is located at a rear upper side of the connecting frame; the left connecting part and the right connecting part are located at left and right sides of the excretion opening, and the left connecting part and the right connecting part respectively extend upward from the first U-shaped part to the second U- shaped part; and the left mating part is arranged at the left connecting part, and the right mating part is arranged at the right connecting part (fig. 5).
Regarding claim 31, Wang discloses wherein the first U- shaped part is located at a bottom side of the pants assembly, and the left connecting part and the right connecting part and the second U-shaped part are located at a rear side of the pants assembly; the working head comprises a base part and a rear seat part; the base part extends forward from the rear seat part, the rear seat part extends upward and is higher than the base part, and the excretion recess is concavely arranged at the base part; in a state where the connecting frame is butted together with the working head, the first U-shaped part is located at an upper side of the base part and is attached to the base part, and the left connecting part and the right connecting part are located at a front side of the rear seat part and are attached to the rear seat part; and the left buckle member and the right buckle member are located at left and right sides of the rear seat part; the left buckle member comprises at least one left snap protrusion for snapping with the left mating part, and the left mating part comprises a snap groove and/or a convex rib; and the right buckle member comprises at least one right snap protrusion for snapping with the right mating part, and the right mating part comprises a snap groove and/or a convex rib (fig. 5, ¶ 0031).
Regarding claim 32, Wang discloses wherein the connecting frame comprises a supplementary air inlet, a supplementary air outlet, and an airflow cavity channel (see opening, fig. 5, in communication with air supply passage 132a, suction passage 132b); the supplementary air inlet and the supplementary air outlet are in communication through the airflow cavity channel (fig. 5); the supplementary air outlet is used for supplementing air to the excretion recess (¶ 0032); and the supplementary air outlet is arranged at the first U-shaped part, and the supplementary air inlet is arranged at the second U-shaped part (see oping, fig. 5);
The connecting frame is hollow, the airflow cavity channel is formed inside the connecting frame, and when the air pressure in the excretion recess is negative pressure relative to the outside of the excrement collector, an air outside the excrement collector sequentially passes through the supplementary air inlet, the airflow cavity channel and the supplementary air outlet to be supplemented into the excretion recess (¶ 0032);
The working head comprises a front side nozzle (second flushing conduit 134b, ¶ 0032), the front side nozzle is located at a front side of the excretion recess, the front side nozzle is used for rearward spraying water into the excretion recess (¶ 0032), the front side nozzle is adjacent to the supplementary air outlet, the front side nozzle is located at a lower side of the supplementary air outlet, and the supplementary air inlet is formed on a top side of a rear upper end of the connecting frame (fig. 5, ¶ 0032).
Regarding claim 43, Wang discloses a nursing machine (fig. 1-7), comprising an excrement collector (wearable waste removal and cleansing apparatus 100) and the excrement collector comprises a pants assembly (wearable pants 112) for wearing on a human body (¶ 0028), and a working head (receptacle part 120) that is able to be for being detachably butted together with the pants assembly (¶ 0028), wherein the working head comprises an excretion recess (receptacle body 1211) for accommodating human excreta (¶ 0032); the pants assembly comprising an excretion assembly opening (excretion opening 1121) for human excretion (¶ 0028), and a connecting frame (sliding sleeve 111) for being detachably butted together with the working head (¶ 0027);
The excrement collector further comprises a locking mechanism for locking the working head and the pants assembly (¶ 0031), wherein the locking member comprises a left buckle member (see left second connecting portion 121a), a left mating part (see left first connecting portion 111a) for snapping with the left buckle member (¶ 0031), a right buckle member (see right second connecting portion 121a), a right mating part (see right first connecting portion 111a) for snapping with the right buckle member (¶ 0031); the left buckle member and the right buckle member belong to the working head and are arranged on left and right sides of the working head (fig. 5, ¶ 0031), and the left mating part and the right mating part belong to the connecting frame and are arranged on left and right sides of the connecting frame (fig. 5, ¶ 0031); and in a state where the connecting frame is butted together with the working head, the left buckle member snapes with the left mating part, and the right buckle member snaps with the right mating part, thereby locking the working head and the connecting frame together (¶ 0031, fig. 5).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 11-12, 14, 16-18, 20, 22, and 24-25 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 2 recites “the left buckle member is rotatably connected to the first housing or the second housing, the right buckle member is rotatably connected to the first housing or the second housing”. The closest prior art is Wang which discloses an excrement collector comprising a left and right buckle member. Wang fails to disclose, teach or suggest the buckle member being rotatably connected. Rather, Wang discloses the buckle member a buckle.
Similarly, claim 11 recites “wherein the left buckle member and the right buckle member are rotatable”.
Claims 12 and 14 depend from claim 11.
Claim 16 similarly recites “the left buckle member is rotatably connected to the first housing or the second housing, the right buckle member is rotatably connected to the first housing or the second housing”.
Claim 17 similarly recites “the left buckle member is rotatably connected to the first housing or the second housing, the right buckle member is rotatably connected to the first housing or the second housing”.
Claims 18, 20, 22, 24-25 depend from claim 17.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lee (Pub. No.: US 2018/0021196 A1) discloses an excrement collector. Son (Pat. No.: 5,342,583) discloses an excrement collector.
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/MEAGAN NGO/Examiner, Art Unit 3781
/PHILIP R WIEST/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3781
