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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is responsive to the claims filed 12/2/2024. Claims 1 – 18 are pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 1/16/2025 is acknowledged by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because figures 1 – 2, 4 – 7 are sectional drawings and have no hatching. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Sectional views: The plane upon which a sectional view is taken should be indicated on the view from which the section is cut by a broken line. The ends of the broken line should be designated by Arabic or Roman numerals corresponding to the view number of the sectional view, and should have arrows to indicate the direction of sight. Hatching must be used to indicate section portions of an object, and must be made by regularly spaced oblique parallel lines spaced sufficiently apart to enable the lines to be distinguished without difficulty. Hatching should not impede the clear reading of the reference characters and lead lines. If it is not possible to place reference characters outside the hatched area, the hatching may be broken off wherever reference characters are inserted. Hatching must be at a substantial angle to the surrounding axes or principal lines, preferably 45°. A cross section must be set out and drawn to show all of the materials as they are shown in the view from which the cross section was taken. The parts in cross section must show proper material(s) by hatching with regularly spaced parallel oblique strokes, the space between strokes being chosen on the basis of the total area to be hatched. The various parts of a cross section of the same item should be hatched in the same manner and should accurately and graphically indicate the nature of the material(s) that is illustrated in cross section. The hatching of juxtaposed different elements must be angled in a different way. In the case of large areas, hatching may be confined to an edging drawn around the entire inside of the outline of the area to be hatched. Different types of hatching should have different conventional meanings as regards the nature of a material seen in cross section. See 37 CFR (h)(3).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 4, 7 – 8, 13 – 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Examiner is interpreting the term “end”, as per the ordinary and customary meaning of the term, to mean a terminal location.
Regarding claim 4 and 13, the claim requires cam follower to be rod shaped having both ends moving and rotatably pressed against the cam surface. The embodiments shown in figures 10, 11, 16, 17 and 19 meet this limitation of the claim. The claim further requires “one end of the cam follower rod” to be connected to the valve stem support. The embodiment described in figure 18 meet only this limitation of the claim. Applicant does not describe an embodiment that will meet both “both ends moving and rotatably pressed against the cam surface” and “one end of the cam follower rod to be connected to the valve stem support” limitations of the claimed invention. The claim requires a cam follower rod with three ends, applicant has not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
The state of the art is well developed and the level of skill in the art is high, but the inventor has not provided any direction as how the cam follower rod can rotate and be attached to the valve stem support can be made. The level of experimentation required to practice the claimed subject matter is very high and as such claims 4 , 7 – 8, and 13 – 15 are rejected for lack of enablement.
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 – 2, 9, 12, 16 - 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WIPO Document to SUK (WO 97/30616).
Regarding claim 1, SUK discloses a flow rate regulating valve comprising: a cam plate (18, Fig. 1); a cam follower (13, Fig. 1) that is pressed against a surface of the cam plate and moves in a direction of a rotation axis of the cam plate as the cam plate rotates; and a valve stem (6, Fig. 1) that moves in the direction of the rotation axis of the cam plate in association with movement of the cam follower (13, Fig. 1), and varies a flow rate depending on a relative position with respect to a flow path.
Regarding claim 2, SUK discloses the valve stem (6, Fig. 1) is connected to one end of a valve stem support portion (4, Fig. 1) – by means of spring 9 and element 15, the other end of which is connected to the cam follower (13, Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 9, SUK discloses the cam follower is constituted by a rotatable disk-shaped member (12, Fig. 1), and a rotation axis of the disk-shaped member is supported by one end of a valve stem support portion (4, Fig. 1) extending in the direction of the rotation axis of the cam plate from a position eccentric radially outward with respect to the center of the cam plate (18, Fig. 1).
Regarding claims 12, 16 – 18, SUK discloses a reduction mechanism – worm gear – and control system to a control device that determines the operating state of the valve (page 7, Lines 8 – 15).
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 3, 5 – 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WIPO Document to SUK (WO 97/30616) in view of US Patent Application Publication to Telep et al. (2006/0237675).
Regarding claims 3 – 9, SUK does not disclose a moving portion at the cam follower.
However, having a cam follower with a moving portion is well known in the art as taught by Telep et al. Telep et al. teach a moving cam follower (48, Fig. 3) that actuates a valve stem moving in the vertical direction.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to the person having ordinary skill in the art at a time prior to the effective filing date of the application to have modified valve disclosed by SUK with the moving cam flower taught by Telep et al. as a combination of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
In the combination of the prior art elements, one of ordinary skill in the art would have reasonably expected the elements to maintain their respective properties or functions.
Regarding claims 5 and 6, in the combination Telep et al. teach the cam follower (48, Fig. 3) is roller bearing or plain bearing [para. 26].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 - 11 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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 10, the combination of over WIPO Document to SUK (WO 97/30616 and US Patent Application Publication to Telep et al. (2006/0237675) do not render obvious in combination with other, the claim limitation “a thickness of the cam plate is small on a radially outward side and large on a radially inward side, an inclination on the surface of the cam plate on which the cam follower rolls is formed, the moving part of the cam follower is a truncated cone shape, and the inclined surface of the cam plate is complementary to the moving part”.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.US Patent to Albert et al. (8,752,808) and US Patent to Morimoto et al. (6,062,826).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to UMASHANKAR VENKATESAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5602. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner' s supervisors Craig Schneider can be reached at (571) 272-3607 or Ken Rinehart can be reached at (571) 272-4881. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/UMASHANKAR VENKATESAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753