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
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/22/2024 was filed after the mailing date of the Application on 10/22/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, and 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shakudo et al. (US 11,982,371) and in view of Glime, III et al. (US 2024/0240726).
With regards to claim 1:
Shakudo et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 1 below) a fluid control valve (3) comprising:
a valve body (32) that can come into contact and separate from a valve seat (31);
an actuator (33) that causes the valve body (32) to move;
a diaphragm member (332a) provided between the valve body (32) and the actuator (33) and having a protruding part (P) protruding toward the valve body (32); and
a sphere (S) housed inside the protruding part,
wherein
the actuator (33) moves the valve body (32) by pressing a distal end of the protruding part (P) through the sphere (S).
Shakudo et al. does not disclose the sphere is formed of a ceramic material.
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Fig. 1
Glime, III et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 2 below) a fluid control valve (200) comprising:
a valve body (230, 280) that can come into contact and separate from a valve seat (220);
an actuator (270, 275) that causes the valve body to move;
a sphere (290) acts as bearing between the actuator and the valve body to move the valve body, wherein the sphere is formed of a ceramic material which has a greater hardness the a material of the actuator and that of the valve body (see [0025]-[0027]) for reduce wear between the contact surfaces therebetween (see [0018]).
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Fig. 2
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fluid control valve of Shakudo et al. to have the sphere (S) made of ceramic material as taught by Glime, III et al. to provide the better bearing between the actuator and the diaphragm.
Shakudo et al., as modified, discloses the fluid control valve of claim 1.
With regards to claim 6:
Shakudo et al., as modified, discloses the fluid control valve of claim 1, wherein the sphere is not subjected to surface coating.
With regards to claim 7:
Shakudo et al., as modified, discloses (refer to Fig. 3 below) a fluid control device (100) comprising:
the fluid control valve (3) according to claim 1;
a fluid sensor (4) that measures fluid flowing through a flow path; and
a valve control unit (5) that controls the fluid control valve on a basis of a measurement value of the fluid sensor (4).
With regards to claim 3:
Shakudo et al., as modified, discloses the fluid control valve of claim 1, except in the diaphragm member, the protruding part has a wall thickness of 100 to 130 μm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the diaphragm member to have the wall thickness of 100 to 130 μm for a particular application/system wherein this range of thickness work best, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
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Fig. 3
With regards to claim 4:
Shakudo et al., as further modified, discloses the fluid control valve according to claim 3, wherein
the diaphragm member has a flange part expanding outward with respect to the protruding part from a base end of the protruding part, and
the flange part has a wall thickness of 100 to 130 μm.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shakudo et al. and Glime, III et al., and further in view of Okada et al. (US 2006/0208214).
With regards to claim 2:
Shakudo et al., as modified, discloses the fluid control valve of claim 1, wherein the sphere is formed of ceramic material.
Shakudo et al., as modified, does not disclose the sphere is formed of alumina.
Okada et al., discloses (see [0009]) the ceramic material includes alumina.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the modified fluid control valve of Shakuda et al. to have the sphere being formed of alumina which is a ceramic material as disclosed by Okada et al. to provide the same expected result of reducing wear between the contact surfaces.
Shakudo et al., as further modified, discloses the fluid control valve of claim 2.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shakudo et al. and Glime, III et al., and further in view of Muramoto (US 2016/0296990).
With regards to claim 5:
Shakudo et al., as modified, discloses the fluid control valve of claim 1.
Shakudo et al., as modified, does not disclose the diaphragm member is constituted of a metal sheet, and the protruding part is formed by plastically deforming the metal sheet by drawing.
Muramoto discloses (see [0043]-[0052]) a metal diaphragm having the protruding part is formed plastically deforming the metal sheet by drawing.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fluid control valve of Shakuda et al. to be made of metal sheet for the particular application wherein this material works best, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for its intended use supported a prima facie obviousness determination in Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945), and have the protruding part is formed plastically deforming the metal sheet by drawing as taught by Muramoto.
Shakudo et al., as further modified, discloses the fluid control valve of claim 5.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Minh Le, whose telephone number is 571-270-3805. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (8:30AM-5:00PM EST).
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/MINH Q LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753