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 1/7/2025. Claims 1 - 24 are pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 1/7/2025 is acknowledged by the examiner.
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.
Claim 1 – 2, 4 – 5, 10 – 14, 17 – 22, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent to Townhill (2,397,576).
Examiner is interpreting the limitation “aseptic” to be an intended use limitation, it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (1987).
Regarding claim 1, Townhill discloses connector (10, Fig. 1) for connection to an identical opposing connector (11, Fig. 1), the connector comprising: a housing having an inner surface (19, Fig. 1) which defines a cavity, the housing (10, Fig. 1) having a fluid passageway (15, Fig. 2) which passes through the inner surface and forms an opening into the cavity; a rotatable member (13, Fig. 3) rotatably mounted within the cavity of the housing and having a fluid passageway (38, Fig. 3) extending therethrough; wherein the rotatable member has a first, closed configuration in which the fluid passageway of the rotatable member is sealed by the inner surface of the housing and a second, open configuration in which the fluid passageway of the rotatable member is aligned with the fluid passageway of the housing and extends to the fluid passageway of the housing of the opposing connector (11, Fig. 1) so as to form a continuous fluid pathway across the connectors.
Regarding claim 2, examiner is interpreting the pin (21, Fig. 5) disclosed by Townhill as the rib and the bore (22, Fig. 5) as the groove.
Regarding claim 4, Townhill discloses the rotatable member (13, Fig. 2) comprises an actuator portion (35, Fig. 2) which extends externally to the housing so as to allow the rotatable member to be rotated between the first and second configurations.
Regarding claim 5, examiner is interpreting the elements 21 and 22 disclosed by Townhill to meet this limitation.
Regarding claims 10 – 11, examiner is interpreting the element 43 disclosed by Townhill to meet the limitation “diving bar” and necessarily have a leading edge that divides the incoming fluid flow.
Regarding claim 12 – 13, the valve member disclosed by Townhill is spherical and seals against the inner surface of the housing.
Regarding claim 14, Townhill discloses a seal member (41, Fig. 2) disposed between the housing (10, Fig. 2) and the rotatable member (13, Fig. 2); wherein the seal member (14, Fig. 3) has an opening – bounded by 43 - which connects the fluid passageway (15, Fig. 2) of the housing with the fluid passageway (38, Fig. 2) of the rotatable member.
Regarding claims 17 – 18, Townhill discloses a liner seal (41, Fig. 2) which is disposed between the housing (10, Fig. 2) and the rotatable member (13, Fig. 2) and extends around a perimeter of the inner surface of the housing (10, Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 19 – 22, examiner is interpreting the seal (41, Fig. 2) disclosed by Townhill located in a bore (42, Fig. 2) formed in the housing and which has a through bore that forms part of the fluid passageway, two portions – each one with fluid passageway – integrally formed, and joined by a web (43, Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 24, Townhill discloses a pair of connectors (10, 11 Fig. 2).
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 2 – 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent to Townhill (2,397,576) in view of US Patent to Johnson (2,421,332).
Regarding claims 2 – 3, Townhill does not disclose rotatable member having a one of the rotatable member and the housing comprises a semi-circular groove and the other of the rotatable member and the housing comprises a rib which engages with the semi-circular groove to rotatably mount the rotatable member within the housing.
However, Johnson also teaching a rotary valve teach grooves and ribs (16 and 17, Fig. 3) used to couple the valve elements.
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 the valve disclosed by Townhill with the grooves and ribs taught by Johnson as a means of coupling the valve elements.
Claims 6 – 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent to Townhill (2,397,576) in view of US Patent to Leuthardt et al. (10,625,068).
Regarding claims 6 – 7, Townhill does not disclose male/female snap fit connection for assembling the housing elements.
However, having snap fit connections comprising male and female parts are well known in the art as taught by Leuthardt et al. Leuthardt et al. teach male/female snap fit connection (Fig. 1) as means of assembling valve housing.
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 Townhill with the male/female snap fit connection taught by Leuthardt et al. as a means of quickly assembling and disassembling the valve without the use of significant force.
Claims 8 – 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent to Townhill (2,397,576) in view of US Patent to Stommes et al. (5,223,822).
Townhill does not disclose a visual indicator. However, visual indicators are well known in the art as means of quickly determining the operational position of the valve as taught by Stommes et al. Stommes et al. teach a visual indicator on rotational member (41, Fig. 3) and a window (110, Fig. 3) on a stationary part to ascertain the operational position of the valve.
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 the valve disclosed by Townhill with the visual indicator taught by Stommes et al. as a means of determining the operational position of the valve.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15 – 16 and 23 are 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Patent to Townhill (2,373,925) and US patent to Doubrava (2,458,899) both teaching valve with split housings.
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