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 § 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) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Crabtree (US 2013/0048099) in view of Ha (KR 20180020186, English translation appended) as evidenced by Ito et al. (herein Ito) (US 2019/0229582).Regarding Claims 1-2:In Figures 1-6, Crabtree discloses an adding system (1, 2, see system in Figures 1-2) for fire-extinguishing units (used in firefight industry as mentioned in the abstract) for producing a mixture of extinguishing agent (water, see paragraph [0023]) and extinguishing agent additive (additive of choice, see paragraph [0023]) by adding an extinguishing agent additive to an extinguishing agent (see paragraph [0023], comprising a motor (1) able to be driven by a flow of extinguishing agent (as mentioned paragraph [0023]), with an input (fluid coupling 3) for supplying the extinguishing agent to the motor (as mentioned paragraph [0023]), an output (4) for discharging the extinguishing agent from the motor (as mentioned paragraph [0023]), and an output shaft (9) able to be driven by the motor (see paragraph [0025]), an adding pump (2) for conveying the extinguishing agent additive (see paragraph [0023]) which has an input shaft (interior portions of rotor 13) coupled to the output shaft of the motor (as seen in Figure 5, 13 is coupled to 9), an inlet (5) for providing the extinguishing agent additive, and an outlet (outlet connected conduit assembly 6, see Figure 3) for discharging the extinguishing agent additive (see paragraph [0023]), an adding line (portions of conduit assembly 6 downstream of check valve 8) having a first motor-side end (end of conduit assembly 6 connected to 4, see Figure 3, henceforth referred to as E1) and a second outlet-side end (end of conduit assembly 6 connected to check valve 8, see Figure 2, henceforth referred to as E2), wherein the motor-side end (E1) is fluidly connected to the output of the motor (connected to 4 as seen in Figure 2), an extinguishing agent additive line (line comprising check valve 8 and selector valve 7) having a first pump-side end (end connected to pump 2, henceforth referred to as P1) and a second adding line-side end (end connected to 7 and 8, henceforth referred to as P2), wherein the pump-side end (P1) is fluidly connected to the outlet of the adding pump (as seen in Figure 3, P1 is connected to the pump outlet) and the adding line-side end (P2) is fluidly connected to the adding line at an admixture point (admixture point formed by selector valve 7). Crabtree fails to disclose that the adding pump has an integrated relief valve. Crabtree also discloses that the adding pump (2) is a vane pump and so fails to disclose that the adding pump may be a piston pump (per claim 2). However, in Figure 3, Ha discloses a similar fire extinguishing system comprising an adding pump (482) which is a piston pump driven by a motor (480) (see page 26, paragraphs 3-4 of the translation). The adding pump (482) further comprises an integrated relief valve (484) that is operated to relieve unexpected excessive pressure at the outlet (488) of the adding pump (see page 27, paragraph 3 of the translation). Note that as seen in Figure 3, the relief valve (484) is integrated with the adding pump via attached conduits. Hence, based on Ha’s teachings, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have replaced Crabtree’s adding pump with a piston pump comprising an integrated relief valve (of the type taught by Ha) by modifying Crabtree’s motor output shaft (9) to be coupled to a crankshaft in the piston pump (as described in Ha’s translation, page 26, paragraph 4), since doing so would be obvious to try and would yield predictable results such as providing a piston pump that would deliver a continuous supply of extinguishing agent additive and a relief valve that would protect the system from unexpected excessive pressure. Crabtree as modified by Ha fails to disclose that the integrated relief valve is integrated into the pump cover. In contrast, Ha’s integrated relief valve (484) is in a pipe attached to the pump cover. However, it is extremely well know in the art that valves can be integrated into pump covers. For instance, in Figure 2, Ito discloses a pump cover (28) with an integrated relief valve (56, see paragraph [0029]).
Hence, based on common knowledge in the art and the evidence provided by Ito, it would have been obvious to none of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have moved Ha’s integrated relief valve (484) to be integrated into Ha’s pump cover (as known in the art and evidenced by Ito, since doing so would be obvious to try and would yield predictable results such as reducing the space and hardware (pipes etc.) for the relief valve.
Response to Arguments
Applicant' s arguments with respect to the pending claims have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the new grounds of rejection being used in the current office action.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DOMINICK L PLAKKOOTTAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7571. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 12 pm -8 pm ET.
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/DOMINICK L PLAKKOOTTAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746