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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I (Claims 1-9) in the reply filed on 06/02/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claim 10 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (CN114685922 with English Machine Translation Attached) in view of Mukherjee (US 2003/0175500) and Yu (CN 117264243 with English Machine translation Attached).
Regarding claim 1, Wang teaches a method for surface treatment of rubber-dipped gloves (Abstract), wherein a glove core (glove model) is taken out after being dipped in an itaconate rubber solution (see [0001-0002] and [0014-0016] of English Machine Translation Attached); and the glove is rinsed after being left to stand, and then dried after the rinsing is completed (see [0024], [0063], [0074], [0086], [0091], and [0096] of English Machine Translation Attached).
However, Wang does not explicitly teach the glove core is directly immersed into a water grinding surface treatment solution for surface treatment of the rubber surface, and the surface treated glove is rinsed after being left to stand, and then dried after the rinsing is completed.
In the same field of endeavor, methods of making a glove from natural or synthetic rubber , Mukherjee teaches a method of making a glove (see claim 1; [0014]), comprises dipping a former into a liquid comprising a coagulant; after dipping into the coagulant, leaching the gloves in water (which functionally equivalent to water treatment grinding surface) to remove rubber impurities (see [0025]) and the surface treated glove is rinsed after being left to stand, and then dried after the rinsing is completed see [0031-0032]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have glove core is directly after being dipped in the solution, immersed into a water grinding surface treatment solution for surface treatment of the rubber surface, and the surface treated glove is rinsed after being left to stand, and then dried after the rinsing is completed as such is known in the art of gloves manufacturing process given the discussion of Mukherjee above presenting a reasonable expectation of success; and doing so is applying a known technique to a known device ready for improvement to yield predictable results, with the added benefit of doing so allows for removing rubber impurities and to provide slip for easy donning, without the need for additional lubricant, (as recognized by Mukherjee at [0025] and [0029]).
Wang in view of Mukherjee further teaches wherein the water grinding surface treatment solution (coagulant solution) is formed by a metal inorganic salt and water (see [0020] and [0064] of English Machine Translation Attached of Wang). However, Wang does not explicitly teach that the water grinding surface treatment solution is formed by foaming a foaming agent and water through high-speed stirring.
In the same field of endeavor, gloves manufacturing process, Yu teaches a method for processing glove core by using aqueous PU foaming composite latex (Abstract), comprising a surface treatment step, wherein the surface treatment solution includes a foaming agent and water through high-speed stirring (see [0002], [0005], [0016] and [0020] of English Machine Translation Attached).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the method as taught by Wang in view of Yu with the water grinding surface treatment solution is formed by foaming a foaming agent and water through high-speed stirring as such is known in the art of gloves manufacturing process given the discussion of Yu above; and doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, with the added benefits of doing so would improves the durability and comfort of gloves by modifying existing water-based PU formulations, and enhances the grip of gloves by spraying salt to abrade the surface of the rubber compound (see [0004] of Yu).
Regarding claim 2, Wang in view of Mukherjee and Yu further teaches the method for surface treatment of rubber-dipped gloves, wherein the glove core is surface treated within 10 to 180 seconds after being dipped in the itaconate rubber solution, and the surface treatment time is 2 to 4 seconds (see [0022] ,[0065], [0076] and [0093] of English Machine Translation Attached of Wang; and [0032] of Mukherjee).
Regarding claim 3, Wang in view of Mukherjee and Yu further teaches the method for surface treatment of rubber-dipped gloves, wherein the surface treated glove is left to stand for 3 to 10 minutes before being rinsed (see [0065], [0076], [0093] and [0098] of English Machine Translation Attached of Wang).
Regarding claim 4, Wang in view of Mukherjee and Yu further teaches the method for surface treatment of rubber-dipped gloves, wherein the rinsing treatment is performed by directly flushing the rubber surface of the surface treated glove with water at 0 to 40C, and the rinsing treatment time is 10-120 seconds (see [0024], [0063], [0074] and [0091] of English Machine Translation Attached of Wang; and [0031- 0032] of Mukherjee).
Regarding claim 5, Wang in view of Mukherjee and Yu further teaches the method for surface treatment of rubber-dipped gloves, wherein a composition of the water grinding surface treatment solution is as follows, by weight percentage: 1 to 60% of the foaming agent, 0.1 to 10% of the metal inorganic salt, and the balance of the water (see [0020], [0029], [0050],[0080] and [0092] of English Machine Translation Attached of Yu) .
Regarding claim 7, Wang in view of Mukherjee and Yu further teaches the method for surface treatment of rubber-dipped gloves, wherein the metal inorganic salt is sodium sulfate or sodium chloride (see [0013] of English Machine Translation Attached of Yu).
Regarding claim 8, Wang in view of Mukherjee and Yu further teaches the method for surface treatment of rubber-dipped gloves, wherein a temperature of the drying treatment is 50 to 90C, and a time of the drying treatment is 10 to 40 minutes (see [0024], [0063], [0074] and [0091] of English Machine Translation Attached of Wang).
Regarding claim 9, Wang in view of Mukherjee and Yu further teaches the method for surface treatment of rubber-dipped gloves discloses except for wherein a rotation speed of the high-speed stirring is 550 to 1350 rpm/min. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have a rotation speed of the high-speed stirring is 550 to 1350 rpm/min , since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. One would have been motivated to wherein a rotation speed of the high-speed stirring is 550 to 1350 rpm/min for the purpose of mixing the solution uniformly.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (CN 114685922 with English Machine Translation Attached) in view of Mukherjee (US 2003/0175500) and Yu (CN 117264243 with English Machine translation Attached) as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of WANG (CN 120289867 with English Machine translation Attached).
Regarding claim 6, Wang in view of Mukherjee and Yu further teaches the method for surface treatment of rubber-dipped gloves as discussed in claim 5 above.
Wang in view of Mukherjee and Yu does not teach wherein the foaming agent is one of azo compounds, nitroso compounds, fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether sodium sulfate, and rosin soap foaming agents.
In the same field of endeavor, gloves manufacturing process, Wang’867 teaches a preparation method of high-wearing high-finger sliding soft coating glove (Abstract), includes spraying a bio-based organic polymer material onto the surface of a glove core coated with impregnated latex, wherein the impregnated latex comprises a foaming agent selected from one of azo compounds, sulfonyl hydrazide, or nitroso compounds (see [0005] and [0009-0010] of English Machine Translation Attached).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the method as taught by Wang, Mukherjee and Yu in view of Wang’867 with wherein the foaming agent is one of azo compounds and nitroso compounds, foaming agents as such is known in the art of gloves manufacturing process given the discussion of Wang’867 above; and doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, with the added benefits of doing so would allow to obtain a highly abrasion-resistant, highly slip-resistant, and soft-coated glove (see [0005] of English Machine Translation Attached of Wang’867).
Conclusion
The following prior arts made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Kim (US 2011/0229646) teaches a method for surface treatment of rubber-dipped gloves (Abstract), wherein a glove core (a mold) is taken out after being dipped in a latex resin composition, wherein after steps of rubber dripping and uniformizing (i.e. a dip forming layer by dipping the dip forming mold into a coagulant solution (see [0021]).
LIN (WO 2019192312 A1) teaches surface treatment method for coated gloves, comprising soaking gloves into surface treatment liquid for surface treatment after glove coating; then performing liquid dropping, and then conveying the gloves to a next step after drying treatment (Abstract).
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/MOHAMED K AHMED ALI/Examiner, Art Unit 1743
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