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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1, the limitation “and a second drain position where at least one of the pair of opposing plug seals of the isolation valve and maintaining fluid coupling of the first fluid port and the at least one drain port and isolates the second fluid port” is indefinite because it seems incomplete or is not clear in meaning. It is not clear if the limitation should read --… where at least one of the pair of opposing plug seals of the isolation valve
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the fluid passage" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is also unclear if “a pair of opposing outer plug seal portions” in line 3 is referring to the same “pair of opposing plug seals” previously introduced in claim 1, line 5. The description only seems to describe a single pair of opposing plug seals 204a and 204b.
Claim 4, the limitation “the handle is mounted for rotational relative to the valve body” is unclear as it seems to be missing a word.
Claim 1o, it is unclear if the intent was for the preamble, “The isolation valve of claim 1”, to only refer to the isolation valve of claim 1 or to the overall isolation valve assembly.
Claims 2, 5-9, and 11-14 are rejected due to being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
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 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 –
(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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-8 and 10-14 are rejected, as far as they are definite, under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Reck (US 20080142103).
Reck discloses:
1. (Original) An isolation valve assembly (600), which comprises: a valve body (610) defining a first fluid port (602) and a second fluid port (604) opposing the first fluid port and at least one drain port (608; [0025] states “a hot water drain port 608”) disposed between the first fluid port and the second fluid port; an isolation valve (609) having a pair of opposing plug seals (622, 623 or 627, 628) disposed within the valve body (as seen in fig. 6a); and a handle (612) operatively coupled to the isolation valve, the handle movable in either clockwise or counterclockwise direction to cause corresponding movement of the isolation valve between a first normal position where the isolation valve fluidly couples the first fluid port and the second fluid port (as seen in figs. 6a and 6b, handle 612 is shown connected via 624 to ball 620 in order to rotate the ball so that the central opening in the ball aligns with flow channel 603; [0025] states “In a first configuration the hot water flow is between first hot water port 602 and second hot water port 604”), and a second drain position (aligns with channel 605) where at least one of the pair of opposing plug seals of the isolation valve and maintaining fluid coupling of the first fluid port and the at least one drain port and isolates the second fluid port (the second position closes off channel 603 and directs flow to 608; [0025] states “In a second configuration the hot water flow is between first hot water port 602 and hot water drain port 608”).
2. (Original) The isolation valve assembly according to claim 1 wherein the first fluid port comprises a fluid inlet port (602 being equivalent to 102 in fig. 7) and the second fluid port comprises a fluid outlet port (604 being equivalent of 104 in fig. 7).
3. (Original) The isolation valve assembly according to claim 2 wherein the isolation valve includes a pair of opposing outer plug seal portions (any portions of 622, 623 or 627, 628) at least partially circumscribing the fluid passage (as seen in fig. 6a), each of the pair of opposing outer plug seal portions configured to seal the fluid outlet port in the second drain position of the isolation valve ([0025] states “In a second configuration the hot water flow is between first hot water port 602 and hot water drain port 608”; seal 623 seals against the ball in the direction of 604).
4. (Original) The isolation valve assembly according to claim 3 wherein the handle is mounted for rotational relative to the valve body, the handle being rotatable in either direction to cause corresponding rotation of the isolation valve between the first normal position and the second drain position ([0025] states “the ball valve 609 is configurable between a first configuration and a second configuration via a butterfly handle 612. In a first configuration the hot water flow is between first hot water port 602 and second hot water port 604. In a second configuration the hot water flow is between first hot water port 602 and hot water drain port 608.” Such movement would require rotary movement of the ball in one of the directions by 90 degrees).
5. (Original) The isolation valve assembly according to claim 4 including a drain valve assembly (601) mountable adjacent the at least one drain port of the valve body (as seen in fig. 6a).
6. (Original) The isolation valve assembly according to claim 5 wherein the at least one drain port includes a first drain port (608) and a second drain port (port in which 630 is covering is another port in general which is capable of being used as a drain port) opposing the first drain port.
7. (Original) The isolation valve assembly according to claim 6 including a removable plug seal (630) disposed within one of the first drain port and the second drain port (as seen in fig. 6a).
8. (Original) The isolation valve assembly according to claim 7 wherein the drain valve assembly (601) is mounted adjacent the other of the first drain port and the second drain port (in fig. 6a, valve 601 is adjacent 608).
10. (Original) The isolation valve of claim 1, wherein the isolation valve comprises a hot water isolation valve ([0025] states “a hot water isolation valve 600”).
11. (Original) The isolation valve assembly according to claim 10 wherein the valve body includes a pressure relief port (606, fig. 6b; [0025] states “a hot water relief port 606”).
12. (Original) The isolation valve assembly according to claim 11 wherein: the pressure relief port defines a fluid relief path (path through 606); and the first and second drain ports define respective first and second fluid drain paths (608 and the opposite port covered by 630 are both fluid ports capable of being used as drain paths).
13. (Original) The isolation valve assembly according to claim 11 wherein the first and second drain ports are positioned relative to the valve body whereby the first and second drain paths intersect the relief path (as seen in figs. 6a and 6b, the ports 608 to 630 perpendicularly intersect with passage 606).
14. (Original) The isolation valve assembly according to claim 2 wherein the fluid inlet port is coupled to a tankless water heater (602 is equivalent to 102; as seen in fig. 7, 102 is coupled with tankless water heater 300).
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 of this title, 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 9 is rejected, as far as it is definite, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reck (US 20080142103).
Reck discloses the invention as essentially claimed, including wherein the handle is used to rotate the ball between positions, however, does not explicitly disclose wherein the handle is rotatable in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions relative to the valve body to enable either clockwise or counterclockwise movement of the handle to effect corresponding rotation of the isolation valve between the first normal position and the second drain position.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Reck such that the handle is rotatable in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions relative to the valve body to enable either clockwise or counterclockwise movement of the handle to effect corresponding rotation of the isolation valve between the first normal position and the second drain position, since the Examiner takes Official Notice of facts by asserting that having the handle rotatable in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions relative to the valve body to enable either clockwise or counterclockwise movement of the handle to effect corresponding rotation of the isolation valve between the first normal position and the second drain position is old and well known in the art and of notorious character and serves only to "fill in the gaps" which might exist in the evidentiary showing made by the examiner to support a particular ground of rejection MPEP 2144.03. Such an arrangement would add more versatility in turning of the handle and provide benefits such as facilitating rotation in tight spots where one direction may have more range, without limiting installation locations, in a manner yielding predictable results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20070107789, US 20070169827, US 20180259076, US 4318424, US 20080142086, WO 2018161932, FR 2482238, WO 2009058632, GB 2546322, DE 202016103160, DE 202013005960, EP 0566920, US 20080142104, and WO 2005031200 each disclose related rotary valves including a drain port.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARINA TIETJEN, whose telephone number is 571-270-5422. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (10:30AM-7:00PM CST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Tom Barrett can be reached at 571-272-4746, Ken Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881, and Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MARINA A TIETJEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753