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 filed on 12/24/2024 has been acknowledged and considered by examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 –
Claims 1, 2, 4, 6-8, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN105425047A (An).
With regards to claim 1, An teaches A device for measuring a high-temperature resistivity of a tin oxide electrode in a substrate glass furnace, comprising (“The present invention relates to resistivity measurement of a tin dioxide electrode… glass electric melting furnace… mainly used for the melting of high-end glass…” [0008]):
a direct-current dual-arm bridge, wherein one end of the direct-current dual-arm bridge is connected to one end of a first platinum wire, and the other end of the direct-current dual-arm bridge is connected to one end of a second platinum wire (“connect the platinum terminal to the DC double-arm bridge through the platinum wire… the platinum wire comprises a first platinum wire 41 and a second platinum wire 42” [00026]);
the other end of the first platinum wire is connected to a first platinum terminal, and a first insulating spacer is provided on an upper side of the first platinum terminal; and the other end of the second platinum wire is connected to a second platinum terminal, and a second insulating spacer is provided on a lower side of the second platinum terminal (“placing the platinum terminals on both ends of the tin oxide electrode 1, respectively, and placing the alumina sheet on the platinum terminal to seal… ” [00025]).
With regards to claim 2, An teaches wherein the first insulating spacer and the second insulating spacer are made of an aluminum oxide material (“placing the alumina sheet on the platinum terminal to seal” [00025]).
With regards to claim 4, An teaches wherein the first platinum terminal and the second platinum terminal are symmetrically provided (“placing the platinum terminals on both ends of the tin oxide electrode 1, respectively,” Fig. 1 and [00025]).
With regards to claim 6, An teaches a method for measuring a high-temperature resistivity of a tin oxide electrode in a substrate glass furnace (“The present invention relates to resistivity measurement of a tin dioxide electrode… glass electric melting furnace… mainly used for the melting of high-end glass…” [0008]), the method being implemented based on a device for measuring a high-temperature resistivity of a tin oxide electrode in a substrate glass furnace, comprising: a direct-current dual-arm bridge, wherein one end of the direct-current dual-arm bridge is connected to one end of a first platinum wire, and the other end of the direct-current dual-arm bridge is connected to one end of a second platinum wire (“connect the platinum terminal to the DC double-arm bridge through the platinum wire… the platinum wire comprises a first platinum wire 41 and a second platinum wire 42” [00026]); the other end of the first platinum wire is connected to a first platinum terminal, and a first insulating spacer is provided on an upper side of the first platinum terminal; and the other end of the second platinum wire is connected to a second platinum terminal, and a second insulating spacer is provided on a lower side of the second platinum terminal (“placing the platinum terminals on both ends of the tin oxide electrode 1, respectively, and placing the alumina sheet on the platinum terminal to seal… ” [00025]),
wherein the method comprises: after measuring a height and a cross-sectional diameter of a columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured (“The electrode of the tin dioxide is processed into a cylindrical electrode… the geometry of the tin dioxide electrode includes a diameter represented by D, the height is represented by L” [00035] and Fig. 1),
connecting two ends of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured to the first platinum terminal and the second platinum terminal, respectively (“placing the platinum terminals on both ends of the tin oxide electrode 1, respectively,” Fig. 1 and [00025]),
and connecting the two ends of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured to the direct-current dual-arm bridge through the first platinum wire and the second platinum wire (“The platinum terminals at both ends of the electrode to be tested are respectively connected to the voltage end of the DC double-arm bridge through the first platinum wire, and connected to the current end of the double-armed bridge through the second platinum wire,” [00046]);
after fixing the two ends of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured by employing a first insulating spacer and a second insulating spacer, placing the device in a high-temperature pit furnace (“Platinum terminals, alumina sheets, and high zirconium bricks are sequentially placed on both ends of the electrode to be tested for sealing... and the electrode to be tested is sealed and placed in a high temperature furnace” [00045]);
obtaining a resistance value of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured using the direct-current dual-arm bridge at a predetermined temperature (“the high temperature furnace is heated according to the temperature in Table 1. The temperature is raised to the test temperature T, and the DC dual-arm bridge value RT is read” [00046]);
and obtaining a resistivity of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured by a resistivity calculating principle based on the height, the cross-sectional diameter, and the resistance value of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured (“Calculate the resistivity ρ T of the electrode to be tested at temperature T”; Formula in [00036] and [00047]).
With regards to claim 7, An teaches wherein the predetermined temperature is within a range of 400°C-1600°C (“the test temperature is from room temperature to 1700 °C” [00034]).
With regards to claim 8, An teaches wherein a heating rate of the predetermined temperature is within a range of 4°C/min-6°C/min (“the temperature measurement program is from 2 ° C / min to 4 ° C / min” [00033]).
With regards to claim 10, An teaches wherein the resistivity calculating principle includes: ρT=RS/L S=π×D2/4 wherein ρT denotes the resistivity of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured, R denotes the resistance value of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured, S denotes a cross-sectional area of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured, D denotes the cross-sectional diameter of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured, and L denotes the height of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured (“Where π is the pi, taking 3.14; the unit of D is cm, the unit of L is cm, and RT is the value measured by the DC dual-arm bridge at the test temperature T”; Formula in [00036] and [00037]).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN105425047A (An) in view of CN104072113A (Yang).
With regards to claim 3, An teaches wherein the alumina oxide material has a resistivity of greater than 1×103 Ω.cm above 1200°C (“the alumina tube has a resistivity at 1700 ° C of 1 × 10 3 Ω·cm or more, preferably 1 × 10 3 Ω·cm to 2.8 × 10 3 Ω·cm” [00027]).
An does not teach an alumina oxide purity of the alumina oxide material is no less than 99.99%.
However, Yang teaches an alumina oxide purity of the alumina oxide material is no less than 99.99% (“industrial alumina having a purity of 99.99%” [00021])
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have substituted the 99.5% alumina used in An with the 99.99% alumina taught by Yang wherein an alumina oxide purity of the alumina oxide material is no less than 99.99% to improve mechanical strength and electromechanical stability ([0009] Yang).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN105425047A (An) in view of US20130208759A1 (Danley).
With regards to claim 5, An does not teach wherein a predetermined distance is maintained between the first platinum terminal and the second platinum terminal, the predetermined distance being greater than a height of a columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured.
However, Yang teaches wherein a predetermined distance is maintained between the first platinum terminal and the second platinum terminal, the predetermined distance being greater than a height of a columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured (“an inner diameter 4 of the sample cup 1 is just slightly larger (e.g., 0.004 inches to 0.016 inches larger) than the base diameter of the sample container” [0021]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the testing apparatus of An to incorporate the teachings of Danley wherein a predetermined distance is maintained between the first platinum terminal and the second platinum terminal, the predetermined distance being greater than a height of a columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured to prevent mechanical constraint and permanent deformation during thermal expansion ([0009] – [0010] Danley).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN105425047A (An).
With regards to claim 9, An teaches wherein the obtaining a resistance value of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured using the direct-current dual-arm bridge at a predetermined temperature comprises: measuring and recording the resistance value of the columnar tin oxide electrode to be measured using the direct-current dual-arm bridge at the predetermined temperature (“the high temperature furnace is heated to the test temperature T by measuring the temperature increase program. At the same time, the value of the DC double arm bridge at the test temperature T is measured” [00023]).
An does not explicitly teach at intervals of 100°C.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have measured and recorded the resistance value’s of An’s electrode at intervals of 100°C. Since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233; MPEP § 2144.05.
Conclusion
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/OSAMAH MURSHED/ Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/JUDY NGUYEN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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