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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claim 6-8 is 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 6 recites the limitation "the closing member" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected for their incorporation of the above through their dependency of claim 6.
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(s) 1-4, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rupp (US Patent No. 3,814,548).
Re: Claim 1, Rupp discloses the claimed invention including a discharge valve comprising a casing (80) with which a fluid inflow hole and a fluid discharge hole each communicate, the casing having a housing space part communicating with the fluid discharge hole (Depicted in Annotated Fig. 2 below); a valve seat disposed in the housing space part and having an inflow port communicating with the fluid inflow hole and a discharge port communicating with the fluid discharge hole (Depicted in Annotated Fig. 2 below); a valve body movably supported at a closing position to close the inflow port and an opening position to open the inflow port in the housing space part (Depicted in Annotated Fig. 2 below); and a first communicating part causing a disposing space part on an opposite side of the valve body in the housing space part from the inflow port and the fluid discharge hole to communicate with each other (Depicted in Annotated Fig. 2 below).
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Re: Claim 2, Rupp discloses the claimed invention including a biasing member disposed in the disposing space part and configured to bias the valve body to the closing position (Depicted in Annotated Fig. 2 above).
Re: Claim 3, Rupp discloses the claimed invention including the valve seat is positioned at the casing by a valve seat pressing member sectioning the disposing space part and fixed to the housing space part, and the biasing member is a compression spring disposed between the valve body and the valve seat pressing member (Depicted in Annotated Fig. 2 above)..
Re: Claim 4, Rupp discloses the claimed invention including the first communicating part is a first communicating hole formed in the valve seat pressing member to cause the disposing space part and the fluid discharge hole to communicate with each other (Depicted in Annotated Fig. 2 above).
Re: Claim 9, Rupp discloses the claimed invention including a suction valve (82) configured to cause a low-temperature fluid to be sucked into a compression chamber (Fig. 2); a piston (85) configured to compress the low-temperature fluid sucked from the suction valve into the compression chamber (78); and the discharge valve according to claim 1 configured to cause the low-temperature fluid compressed by the piston to be discharged (Depicted in Annotated Fig. 2 above).
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kounosu et al. (US 2015/0369228 A1).
Re: Claim 1, Kounosu discloses the claimed invention including a discharge valve comprising a casing (340) with which a fluid inflow hole (227) and a fluid discharge hole (233) each communicate, the casing having a housing space part communicating with the fluid discharge hole (Depicted in Fig. 7); a valve seat (256) disposed in the housing space part and having an inflow port (252) communicating with the fluid inflow hole and a discharge port communicating with the fluid discharge hole (Depicted in Fig. 5); a valve body (228) movably supported at a closing position to close the inflow port and an opening position to open the inflow port in the housing space part (Depicted in Fig. 5); and a first communicating part (229) causing a disposing space part on an opposite side of the valve body in the housing space part from the inflow port and the fluid discharge hole to communicate with each other (Depicted in Fig. 5).
Re: Claim 2, Kounosu discloses the claimed invention including a biasing member disposed in the disposing space part and configured to bias the valve body to the closing position (Depicted in Fig. 7).
Re: Claim 3, Kounosu discloses the claimed invention including the valve seat is positioned at the casing by a valve seat pressing member (232) sectioning the disposing space part and fixed to the housing space part, and the biasing member is a compression spring (230) disposed between the valve body and the valve seat pressing member (Depicted in Fig. 7).
Re: Claim 5, Kounosu discloses the claimed invention including the first communicating part is a first communicating hole (229) formed in the valve body to cause the disposing space part and the discharge port to communicate with each other (Depicted in Fig. 5).
Re: Claim 6, Kounosu discloses the claimed invention including the casing is provided with an opening part opening the housing space part to outside a sealed space part is formed between the valve seat pressing member and the closing member when the opening part is closed by a closing member (234) via a sealing member from outside, and a second communicating part (238) causing the sealed space part and the disposing space part to communicate with each other is provided (Fig. 7).
Re: Claim 7, Kounosu discloses the claimed invention including the second communicating part is a second communicating hole (238) formed in the valve seat pressing member to cause the sealed space part and the disposing space part to communicate with each other (Fig. 7).
Re: Claim 9, Kounosu discloses the claimed invention including a suction valve (222) configured to cause a low-temperature fluid to be sucked into a compression chamber (Fig. 5); a piston (206) configured to compress the low-temperature fluid sucked from the suction valve into the compression chamber (227); and the discharge valve according to claim 1 configured to cause the low-temperature fluid compressed by the piston to be discharged (Depicted in Fig. 5).
Re: Claim 10, Kounosu discloses the claimed invention including a hydrogen supply system (10) including a compression device (20) having the pressure boosting pump configured to compress liquid hydrogen as a low-temperature fluid an evaporation device (22) configured to vaporize the liquid hydrogen compressed by the compression device; and a dispenser (26) configured to supply hydrogen gas vaporized by the evaporation device (Fig 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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. References cited on the PTO-892 are provided showing additional examples of valves around compression pumps.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES P. CHEYNEY whose telephone number is (571)272-9971. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Paul Durand can be reached at 571-272-4459. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHARLES P. CHEYNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754
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