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 § 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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN113956711 to Chen in view of KR102016288 to No.
In Reference to Claim 1
Chen discloses an ink curing conveyor comprising: a conveyor (Fig. 1, 13) in which a subject to be radiated is held in a way to be movable; a curing machine (Fig. 1, annotated by the examiner) installed over the conveyor so that the curing machine radiates ultraviolet rays (UVs) toward the subject to be radiated; a plurality of UV modules (Fig. 1, 3) in a first direction that intersects a radiation direction of the UVs and installed at a bottom of the curing machine in a way to be detachable; an LED module (Chen discloses the curing lamp is selected from the group consisting of electromagnetic excitation UV electrodeless ultraviolet lamp module, microwave excitation UV electrodeless ultraviolet lamp module, LED ultraviolet lamp module ) aligned in parallel (Fig. 1, annotated by the examiner) embedded in each of the plurality of UV modules; and a control device (Fig. 1, 22) connected to the curing machine and configured to control an operation of the LED module.
Chen discloses the system having a power supply (Fig. 1, 16). Chen does not teach the power supply for each EV module.
No teaches a power connection structure (Fig. 2, CN) provided in each of the UV module and the curing machine; a fastening structure (as showed in Fig. 2, there are plurality fasteners) provided in each of the UV module and the curing machine independently of the power connection structure;
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teachings from No into the design of Chen. Doing so, would result in the modular design of EV being used in the curing system of Chen. Both design of Chen and No are for UV curing system, No teaches a modular design in order to save cost.
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Claims 2, 3, and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Chen and No as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of CN114590026 to Wang.
In Reference to Claim 2
Chen discloses a UV module.
The combination of Chen and No as applied to Claim 1 does not teach an elevation device.
Wang teaches the UV module having an elevation device (Fig. 1, 11-13)
the elevation device comprises: a fixing part (Fig. 1, 3) fixed to a frame of the conveyor; an elevation part (Fig. 1, 11), installed in the fixing part so that the elevation part is raised or lowered; and an adjustment part (Fig. 1, 13) installed in the fixing part and configured to adjust a height of the elevation part.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teachings from Wang into the combination of Chan and No as applied to Claim 1. Doing so, would result in the height adjustment mechanism of Wang being integrated into the design of Chen. Both inventions of Chen and Wang are in the same field of endeavor, Wang teaches a design of active control the intensity of the UV in order to protect the environment and reduce cost.
In Reference to Claim 7
Chen discloses the control device comprises a controller (Fig. 1, 21) that is accommodated in an accommodation part of the conveyor in a way to be dockable.
In Reference to Claim 8
Chen discloses the control device comprises a control panel (Fig. 1, 21) having a display touch panel.
In Reference to Claims 9 and 10
Chen discloses a plurality of LET module.
The Office considers emitting UVs with different wavelength as functional language. The use of the function language only requires that apparatus is capable of performing the function, and does not add any specific structural limitations to the apparatus. Since the combination of Chen and No as applied to Claim 1 teaches the apparatus as recited, it would be obvious to provide the function which meets the functional limitation. Furthermore, “apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does.” Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Bausch & Lomb Inc., 909 F.2d 1464, 1469, 15 USPQ2d 1525, 1528 (Fed. Cir. 1990). (See MPEP 2114))
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Chen and No as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of CN215432018 to Ding.
In Reference to Claim 11
The combination of Chen and No as applied to Claim 1 teaches a power supply connector.
The combination of Chen and No as applied to Claim 1 does not teach the detail of the power supply connector.
Ding teaches the banana plug and sockets can be used as the power supply pair. (The power plate 11 having banana plug)
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teachings from Ding into the combination of Chen and No. Doing so, would result in banana type power connector would be used as power connector in the design of Chen. Ding teaches that a banana type power plug allowing the point-to-point fast plug-pull installation. It facilitates the assembly process.
The combination of Chen, No, and Ding as applied to Claim 11 does not teach plugs are arranged downward. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to orient the power connector as recited, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art.
Claims 15 and 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Chen and No as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US Patent Publication 2004/0238111 to Siegel.
In Reference to Claims 15
The combination of Chen and No as applied to Claim 1 does not teach optical sensor.
Siegel teaches the UV module comprises a first optical sensor (Fig. 1, 18) that detects an intensity of the UVs.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teachings from Siegel into the combination of Chen and No as applied to Claim 1. Doing so, would result in optical sensor being used in the system of Chen. Both inventions of Siegel and Chen are in the same field of endeavor, Siegel teaches a method of detect and sensing emitted light beam therefore, the operation reliability would be improved.
In Reference to Claim 16
The combination of Chen and No as applied to Claim 1 does not teach optical sensor.
Siegel teaches the UV module comprises a first optical sensor (Fig. 1, 18) that detects an intensity of the UVs.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teachings from Siegel into the combination of Chen and No as applied to Claim 1. Doing so, would result in optical sensor being used in the system of Chen. Both inventions of Siegel and Chen are in the same field of endeavor, Siegel teaches a method of detect and sensing emitted light beam therefore, the operation reliability would be improved.
The combination of Chen, No, and Siegel as applied to Claim 16 does not teach a plurality of sensors. According to MPEP: the court held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced.
Conclusion
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DEMING . WAN
Examiner
Art Unit 3762
/DEMING WAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762 9/28/26
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