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
Acknowledgement is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1149 filed 01/17/2025. This IDS has been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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 1-3 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Copertaro (US 2024/0100651) in view of Degraff et al. (US 2021/0239548; “Degraff”).
Regarding claim 1, Copertaro discloses a spray nozzle (2) (¶ [0008]) comprising an orifice piece (nozzle body 6 in combination with outlet 18), wherein a resistive material (20) is provided with the orifice piece (6, 18) (¶¶ [0092]-[0094]), and wherein the resistive material (20) is physically formed to provide a measurable wear characteristic parameter (¶¶[0097]-[0098]), measurable by electrically energizing the resistive material (20) (¶¶ [0129]-[0130]), indicative of an operational performance status of the spray nozzle (2) (¶¶ [0161]-[0172]).
Copertaro’s resistive material is a traditional strain gauge and not a nanoparticle-laden resistive material per se.
However, using a nanoparticle-laden resistive material in a strain gauge is well known in the art. Degraff teaches in at least figures 1-3 the use of strain gauges where any or all of the components are nanoparticle-laden resistive materials (¶¶ [0027]-[0029], [0040]-[0041], [0092]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to use nanoparticle-laden materials as taught by Degraff in Copertaro’s strain gauges for the purpose of providing sensors with quick but consistent responses with high sensitivity while requiring minimal power (¶¶ [0008]-[0009]).
Regarding claim 2, Copertaro discloses wherein the measurable wear characteristic parameter is a resistance (¶¶ [0097], [0128]-[0130]).
Regarding claim 3, Copertaro discloses the resistance is measurable using a Wheatstone Bridge (¶ [0130]).
Regarding claim 6, Copertaro the resistive material (20) is provided as a layer (20, 60) (¶¶ [0094], [0099], [0108]).
When Copertaro is combined with Degraff in the manner of the rejection of claim 1 above the resistive material is nanoparticle-laden without further modification required.
Regarding claim 7, Copertaro discloses the layer (20, 60) is provided on an exposed surface (6) of the orifice piece (6, 18) (¶ [0099]).
Regarding claim 8, Copertaro discloses the layer (20, 60) is embedded within the orifice piece(6, 18) (see figure 2, ¶¶ [0105], [0106]).
Regarding claim 9, Copertaro discloses the layer (20, 60) is a solid layer (¶ [0108]).
Regarding claim 10, Copertaro discloses the layer (20, 60) is a patterned layer (¶ [0116]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 5 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.
Regarding claim 4, none of the prior art either alone or in combination discloses or renders obvious a spray nozzle as claimed wherein the measurable wear characteristic parameter is a thermal image in combination with the remaining claim limitations.
Claim 5 would be allowable based on its dependence on claim 4.
The primary references, Copertaro, which also constitutes the closest prior art, already discloses using strain gauge sensors on a nozzle orifice to monitor wear using a Wheatstone bridge measurement configuration for vibration detection. There would be no reason to add or modify Copertaro to also include a thermal imaging component which would be a redundant wear monitoring configuration. Examiner notes the international report on patentability for the corresponding WIPO application states that these claims represent well-known techniques in the art but provides neither a reference nor a motivation to modify Copertaro’s wear monitoring configuration.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2023/0023035 to Maurer et al, US 2021/0190563 to Day et al., US 2019/0257678 to Posselius et al., and JP S6239750 to Hiroki all disclose methods of detecting wear on a spray nozzle but fail to teach using a nano-particle laden resistive material.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATALIE HULS whose telephone number is (571)270-5914. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Breene can be reached at (571) 272-4107. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATALIE HULS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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