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 .
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 4, 6, 7, 14 and 16 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.
Claims 4 and 14, lines 1-2 recites “a pistol grip handle” but claim 1, part d recites “a handle”. It is unclear if they are the same element.
Claims 6 and 16, line 3 recites “the end wall” and there is no antecedent basis for it.
Claim 7 is rejected for depending on claim 4.
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.
Claims 1, 8, 10, 11, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Conrad ’28 (US 2010/0229328).
As to claim 1, Conrad (Embodiment of Fig. 8) includes a hand vacuum cleaner (800) having a front end, a rear end, an upper end, and a lower end, the hand vacuum cleaner comprising:
(a) an air flow path extending from a dirty air inlet (The opening at 812) to a clean air outlet (at 810) [Fig. 8], the dirty air inlet provided at the front end, wherein the air flow path comprises an inlet conduit (812) extending from the dirty air inlet provided at a front end of the air inlet conduit to an air outlet at a rear end of the air inlet conduit (Fig. 8), the air inlet conduit has a conduit axis (A line through 812) extending centrally through the inlet conduit from the dirty air inlet to the rear end of the air inlet conduit;
(b) an air treatment assembly (850, 851) comprising an air treatment cyclone chamber (850; para 82) positioned in the air flow path, the air treatment cyclone assembly having an air treatment cyclone assembly front end comprising a front wall (808), an air treatment cyclone assembly rear end, an air treatment assembly cyclone axis of rotation (823) extending through the air treatment cyclone chamber and intersecting the air treatment assembly cyclone front end and the air treatment cyclone assembly rear end, an air treatment cyclone assembly air inlet (838) and an air treatment cyclone assembly air outlet (845); and,
(c) a suction motor (864) in the air flow path downstream of the air treatment cyclone assembly and upstream of the clean air outlet, the suction motor having a motor axis of rotation (865) which extends in a common direction with the inlet conduit axis (Both axes extend in the horizontal direction);
(d) a handle (802); and,
wherein the air treatment assembly cyclone axis of rotation extends in a common direction with the inlet conduit axis (Both axes extend in the horizontal direction), and wherein, in operation, the hand vacuum cleaner further comprises a pre-motor filter (862) positioned in a pre-motor filter housing (806), the pre-motor filter is annular (round) with a radially inner interior volume (inner section) and the motor axis of rotation extends through the radially inner interior volume (Fig. 8).
As to claim 8, wherein the air treatment assembly axis extends through a portion (A lower part of 808) of the front wall that is transverse to the air treatment assembly axis and the front wall comprises an openable door (808 opens).
As to claim 10, further comprising a plurality of cyclones (851 has multiple cyclones) fluidically connected in parallel downstream from the air treatment cyclone chamber and upstream from the pre-motor filter (para 82 and Fig. 8).
Claim 11 is rejected for the reasons provided in claim 1 (missing the features of claim 12).
Claim 18 is rejected for the reasons provided in claim 8.
Claim 20 is rejected for the reasons provided in claim 10.
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.
Claims 1, 3-7, and 11-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Conrad (US 2016/0174787) in view of Conrad ’28 (US 2010/0229328).
As to claim 1, Conrad includes a hand vacuum cleaner (112) having a front end (The end at 412), a rear end (The end at 204), an upper end (One of the top and bottom of the vacuum) and a lower end (The other of the top and bottom of the vacuum), the hand vacuum cleaner comprising:
(a) an air flow path extending from a dirty air inlet (at 416) to a clean air outlet (132) [Fig. 12], the dirty air inlet provided at the front end, wherein the air flow path comprises an inlet conduit (412) extending from the dirty air inlet provided at a front end of the air inlet conduit to an air outlet at a rear end of the air inlet conduit (para 189), the air inlet conduit has a conduit axis (884) extending centrally through the inlet conduit from the dirty air inlet to the rear end of the air inlet conduit (Fig. 96);
(b) an air treatment assembly (184, 188) comprising an air treatment cyclone chamber (184) positioned in the air flow path, the air treatment cyclone assembly having an air treatment cyclone assembly front end comprising a front wall (228), an air treatment cyclone assembly rear end, an air treatment assembly cyclone axis of rotation (248) extending through the air treatment cyclone chamber and intersecting the air treatment assembly cyclone front end and the air treatment cyclone assembly rear end, an air treatment cyclone assembly air inlet (192) and an air treatment cyclone assembly air outlet (196) [para 198]; and,
(c) a suction motor (204) in the air flow path downstream of the air treatment cyclone assembly and upstream of the clean air outlet, the suction motor having a motor axis of rotation (1196) which extends in a common direction with the inlet conduit axis (The common direction of 1196 and 884 is the horizontal direction);
(d) a handle (484; para 188); and,
wherein the air treatment assembly cyclone axis of rotation extends in a common direction with the inlet conduit axis (The common direction of 248 and 884 is the horizontal direction), and wherein, in operation, the hand vacuum cleaner further comprises a pre-motor filter (1176) positioned in a pre-motor filter housing (556).
Conrad does not include the pre-motor filter is annular with a radially inner interior volume and the motor axis of rotation extends through the radially inner interior volume.
Conrad includes a hand vacuum cleaner (100) including pre-motor filter (162) which is annular (round) with a radially inner interior volume (inner section) and a motor axis of rotation (165) extends through the radially inner interior volume (para 75). Also, there is a filter housing (168) that is attached to the rest of the vacuum using plates (174) inserted into mounting members (173) and by rotation of the housing (para 80).
It would have been obvious to modify the pre-motor filter and its housing to be annular with a radially inner interior volume, as taught by Conrad ’28, in order to provide an alternative shape for the filter and filter housing that is more aesthetically pleasing, and to modify the filter housing to be attached to the rest of the vacuum using plates (174) inserted into mounting members (173) and by rotation of the housing, in order to more easily replace the filter.
As to claim 3, wherein the radially inner interior volume has an inner volume axis (A horizontal line extending through the filter) that extends centrally through the radially inner interior volume, and the motor axis of rotation and the inner volume axis extends in a common direction (The horizontal direction).
As to claim 4, further comprising a pistol grip handle (484) having a handle upper end, a handle lower end and a handle axis (A line parallel to 484) extending centrally through the pistol grip handle from the lower end of the handle to the upper end of the handle, wherein, a first axis (A horizontal line going through 184 and 484) extending in a common direction (The horizontal direction) with the air treatment assembly cyclone axis of rotation extends through the air treatment cyclone assembly air outlet and intersects the handle axis within the hand vacuum cleaner, and wherein the handle axis intersects the suction motor (Fig. 96). For this claim, the handle is interpreted as 1138, which is able to be gripped.
As to claim 5, wherein a second axis (A line going through 204 and the top part of the handle) that extends between the front end of the hand vacuum cleaner and the rear end of the hand vacuum cleaner extends through the suction motor and the information display device, the pre-motor filter housing has an air outlet (at 1108) that is aligned with (parallel to) an inlet (at 1108) of the suction motor and the second axis also extends through the air outlet of the pre-motor filter housing (Fig. 96).
As to claim 6, further comprising an assembly door lock (The “torsion spring”) operable to secure the front wall in a closed position, the assembly door lock comprising a release actuator (The “torsion spring”) which is axially spaced from the end wall (An outer wall of the vacuum) [para 211].
As to claim 7, further comprising an assembly door lock (The “torsion spring”) operable to secure the front wall in a closed position, the assembly door lock comprising a release actuator (The “torsion spring”) which is axially spaced towards a rear end of the air treatment chamber (The actuator and 184 are spaced along an axial line; Fig. 96).
Claim 11 is rejected for the reasons provided in claim 1 (missing the features of claim 12).
Claim 12 is rejected for the reasons provided in claim 1 (See part c).
Claim 13 is rejected for the reasons provided in claim 3.
Claim 14 is rejected for the reasons provided in claim 4.
Claim 15 is rejected for the reasons provided in claim 5.
Claim 16 is rejected for the reasons provided in claim 6.
Claim 17 is rejected for the reasons provided in claim 7.
Claims 21-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Conrad (US 2016/0174787) in view of Conrad ’28 (US 2010/0229328), and further in view of Brown (US 2017/0196429).
As to claim 21, Conrad does not include an information display device provided on a rear wall of the rear end of the hand vacuum cleaner wherein, when the air treatment assembly axis extends horizontally and the handle is at a lower elevation than the suction motor, the rear wall is located above the handle.
Brown includes an information display device (364) a rear wall of the rear end of the hand vacuum cleaner (para 524 and Fig. 15).
It would have been obvious to modify Conrad to have an information display device provided on a rear wall of the rear end of the hand vacuum cleaner wherein, when the air treatment assembly axis extends horizontally and the handle is at a lower elevation than the suction motor, the rear wall is located above the handle, as taught by Brown, in order to give the benefits listed in paragraph 524 of Brown.
As to claim 22, Conrad does not include an information display device provided at the rear end of the hand vacuum cleaner wherein, when the air treatment assembly axis extends horizontally and the handle is at a lower elevation than the suction motor, the information display device is located above the handle.
Brown includes an information display device (364) provided at the rear end of the hand vacuum cleaner (para 524 and Fig. 15).
It would have been obvious to modify Conrad to have an information display device provided at the rear end of the hand vacuum cleaner wherein, when the air treatment assembly axis extends horizontally and the handle is at a lower elevation than the suction motor, the information display device is located above the handle as taught by Brown, in order to give the benefits listed in paragraph 524 of Brown.
Claim 23 is rejected for the reasons provided in claim 21.
Claim 24 is rejected for the reasons provided in claim 22.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW A. HORTON whose telephone number is (571)270-5039. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/ANDREW A HORTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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