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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 9-11 is/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.
Concerning claim 9, the search did not find or make obvious the electron tube according to claim 1, wherein an opening exposing the light incident surface (of 3) toward an outside is formed in the light passing portion.
Concerning claim 11, the search did not find or make obvious the electron tube according to claim 4, wherein: the positioning member has an optical element provided on the light passing portion and configured to receive (directly, and/or indirectly) incidence of the light from the external device and to emit the light toward the light incident surface, and the optical element includes a plurality of optical structures aligned with the plurality of channels, respectively.
Claim 10 are dependent upon claim 9.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(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) 1-8 and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KONNOO et al. (WO 2022014111 A1).
Regarding claim 1, KONNOO discloses an electron tube (1a) used by being attached to (fig. 9-10; attachment not illustrated) an external device (figs. 9-10; 52a) (figs. 9-10; device of 50a-50b, attachment between 1a/30 and 52a not illustrated), the electron tube comprising:
a housing (1a) having a light incident window (3) including a light incident surface (of 3) and allowing light from the external device (52a) to be incident thereon through the light incident surface (of 3);
a photoelectric conversion portion (8) disposed inside the housing (1a) to face the light incident window (3), and configured to emit electrons (8) in response to the light incident from the light incident window (3);
an electron multiplier portion (9) disposed inside the housing (1a) and configured to multiply electrons emitted from the photoelectric conversion portion (8) ; and
a positioning member (16) formed separately from the light incident window (3) and fixed to the light incident surface (of 3), the positioning member (16) having a light passing portion (16) passing the light from the external device (52a) toward the light incident surface (3),
wherein the positioning member (16) has a reference portion (fig. 9, surface of 16b) serving as a reference for mechanical positioning (of 16 in 30 at 32) with respect to the external device (52a)
(figs. 1 and 9-10).
Regarding claim 2, KONNOO discloses that the positioning member (16) is fixed to the light incident surface (of 3) so that the light passing portion (16) faces the photoelectric conversion portion (8) and the light passing through the light passing portion is incident on a desired region of the photoelectric conversion portion (8).
Regarding claim 3, KONNOO discloses that a marker (fig. 9, surface of 16b) is formed on at least one of the positioning member (16),
Per applicant’s specification para. [0067 Note plurality of first reference lines (markers) 113 formed on the surface 112a. The plurality of first reference lines 113 is so-called alignment lines, and may be visually identifiable physical structures].
Regarding claim 4, KONNOO discloses that the electron multiplier portion (9) has a plurality of channels (11) (pg. 4) arranged in at least one direction and used to multiply each of electrons emitted from the photoelectric conversion portion (8) in response to each of a plurality of beams of the light (from 52a) incident from the light incident window (3).
Regarding claim 5, KONNOO discloses that the positioning member (16) has an optical element (16, 16b) provided on the light passing portion (16) and configured to receive incidence of the light from the external device (52a) and to emit the light toward the light incident surface (of 3).
Regarding claim 6, KONNOO discloses that the reference portion (fig. 9, surface of 16b) has a position reference (surface of 16b) serving as a reference for a position (16b against 32) with respect to the external device (52a), and an angle reference (angled surface of 16b relative to and against 32) serving as a reference for an angle (of 16) with respect to the external device (52a) .
Regarding claim 7, KONNOO discloses that the reference portion (fig. 9, surface of 16b) includes at least one of a protrusion, a hole, a notch, and an end surface (flat surface of 16b) formed on the positioning member (16) .
Regarding claim 8, KONNOO discloses that: the positioning member (16) has a first surface (16a) on a side of the light incident surface (of 3) and a second surface (16b, 16c) on an opposite side from the first surface, and an anti-reflection film (17) is formed on at least one of
Regarding claim 12, KONNOO discloses a spectroscopic unit as the external device (figs. 9-10; 52a, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 56, 100) for dispersing (53, 54, 58) detection light (Le, Lf1, Lf2) into light of a plurality of wavelengths (of Le, Lf1, and/or Lf2) and emitting the light (Le, 52a to sample 100) ; and the electron tube (1a in 30) according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 13, KONNOO discloses that the spectroscopic unit (fig. 9; 52a, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 56, 100) comprises: a dispersion element (53, 54, 58) disposed on an optical path of the detection light (Le, Lf1, Lf2) and used to disperse the detection light into the light of the plurality of detection light (of Lf1, Lf2) , and a wavelength selection element (dichroic mirror 55 and/or 59) disposed at a previous stage of the dispersion element (58) on the optical path of the detection light (Le, Lf1, Lf2) and configured to reflect (55 reflects Le) or absorb (Lf2 at 59) light of a specific wavelength band of the detection light (Le, Lf1, Lf2) .
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Andrew Smyth whose telephone number is 571-270-1746. The examiner can normally be reached between 9:00AM - 6:00PM; Monday thru Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Georgia Epps can be reached on (571) 272-2328. 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.
/ANDREW SMYTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878
Prosecution Insights