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 Status
Pending claims 1-10 are addressed below.
Claim Objection
Claim 6 recites “a corresponding adjacent oscillating nozzle” in line 7, which should be amended to recite “a corresponding adjacent oscillating nozzle of the plurality of oscillator nozzles” for clarity of the claim scope.
Claim 6 recites “each pair of port holes” in line 7. Similarly, claim 10 recites the same in lines 2-3. These limitation should be amended to recite “each said pair of port holes” for clarity of the claim scope.
Claim 9 recites “each said port holes of each nozzle” in line 1 should be amended to recite “each said port holes of each said corresponding oscillating nozzle” to clearly associate each port holes with each corresponding nozzle defined in claim 6.
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 2, 6-10 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 2 recites “said central cavity”, which lacks proper antecedent basis in the claim. It is unclear if this limitation refers to “a cavity connected to said intake …” of claim 1. If so, claim 1 should be amended to recite “a central cavity..”
Claim 6 recites “a plurality of oscillator nozzles” in line 2 and “a plurality of pairs of port holes” in line 4. It is unclear of this limitation of claim 6 includes “a first oscillator nozzle” previously defined in claim 1. Similarly, it is unclear of this limitation of claim 6 includes “a first pair of port holes” previously defined in claim 1. If so, these limitations appear to be a double inclusion of the first oscillator nozzle and first pair of port holes, and therefore indefinite. To overcome this issue, claim 6 may clarify:
“a plurality of oscillator nozzles, including the first oscillator nozzle, the plurality of oscillator nozzles extend through said faceplate from cavity to said front face;
said obstructor plate having a plurality of pairs of port holes, including the first pair of port holes, with each said pair of port holes being adjacent to one of said plurality of oscillating nozzles”.
Other claim(s) listed in the rejection title is/are indefinite due to its/their dependency upon the rejected base claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3-5 are allowed.
Claims 7-10 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The most relevant prior arts include Kinle (US 20160107175), Leber (US 20100127096), Kajuch (US 20190321836), Hofman (US 20220331821), Lin (US 20250153200). Each of the prior arts teaches various features of the claimed invention, including an intake, faceplate, cavity, nozzle and slidable obstructor plate but fail to teach or suggest, in combination with other limitations of claim 1: “said obstructor plate including a first pair of port holes adjacent to said first oscillator nozzle; and a gear mechanism within said cavity which slides said obstructor plate against said faceplate's backside in an oscillating manner to alternatively align one of said port holes with said nozzle while simultaneously blocking the alternative of one said port holes so as to sequentially open and close each of said port holes”.
Claims 2-10, depending from claim 1, are therefore also allowed.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TUONGMINH NGUYEN PHAM whose telephone number is (571)270-0158. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM - 5PM M-F.
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/TUONGMINH N PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752
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