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 § 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.
Claims 1-6, 8, 11-13, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gu et al. (CN 115461585A).
Regarding claim 1, Gu et al. disclose an accessory for attaching to a drying apparatus, the accessory comprising: a mounting portion configured to be attached to the drying apparatus; and an airflow portion comprising an air inlet, a guide chamber and an air outlet, wherein the airflow portion is an integral structure, and comprises: a single-layer sidewall at the air outlet along a radial direction; a multi-layer sidewall in at least other parts along a radial direction, and a thermal insulation chamber between layers of a multi-layer sidewall and the airflow portion is a unitary structure consisting of a continuous material and the single-layer sidewall and the multi-layer sidewall form a monolithic joint at the air outlet (Refer to annotated Figures below and Figures 1-10).
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The claimed phrase “integral molding structure” is being treated as a product by process limitation; that is the integral structure of the airflow portion is made via a molding process. As set forth in MPEP 2113, product by process claims are not limited to the manipulation of the recited steps, only the structure implied by the steps. The airflow portion provides an integral structure.
Regarding claim 2, Gu et al. disclose the thermal insulation chamber shrinks along a direction of an airflow (the thermal insulation chamber gets progressively smaller in the airflow direction and “vanishes” or ceases to exist after a certain point), and the multi- layer sidewall merge into a single-layer sidewall at the air outlet (the outer sidewall layer of the multi-layer sidewall merges into the single layer sidewall proximate the air outlet).
Regarding claim 3, Gu et al. disclose along a direction of an airflow (direction from left to right in annotated Figure 6 above), the size of the guide chamber increases along a first direction (guide chamber increases in a first direction as shown in Figure 4) and decreases along a second direction (see double arrows in annotated Figure 6 above showing how the chamber decreases in size along the second direction which is a vertical (up and down) direction in Figure 6); the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction; the multi-layer sidewall are configured in at least part of the airflow portion along the first direction and the single-layer sidewall is configured along the second direction (Refer to Figures 1-6).
Regarding claim 4, Gu et al. disclose the air inlet is circular (Refer to Figures 2 and 6) and its dimensions are the same along the first direction and the second direction, the air outlet is flat (Refer to Figures 4 and 5), and its size is larger than the air inlet along the first direction, and smaller than the air inlet along the second direction (Refer to Figures 1-6).
Regarding claim 5, Gu et al. disclose along the direction of the airflow, the thermal insulation chamber gradually shrinks in size along the second direction. As best shown in annotated Figure 6 above, the thermal insulation chamber is larger toward the mounting portion and gradually decreases in size in the second direction. The thermal insulation chamber then terminates/ceases to exist or vanishes.
Regarding claim 6, Gu et al. disclose an outer sidewall of the airflow portion a concave-convex structure along the second direction (Refer to Figures 2, 5 and 6).
Regarding claim 8, Gu et al. disclose along the direction of the airflow, an outer sidewall of the airflow portion shrinks or remains unchanged along the first direction and shrinks along the second direction (Refer to Figures 2, 5 and 6).
Regarding claim 11, Gu et al. disclose the mounting portion is annular (Refer to Figures 2 and 6), the airflow portion is configured inside the annular mounting portion (a portion of the airflow portion is inside the annular mounting portion, Refer to Figures 5 and 6), and a part of the airflow portion extends radially and is coupled to the mounting portion (Refer to Figures 2, 5 and 6).
Regarding claim 12, Gu et al. disclose the multi-layer side wall of the airflow portion comprises an outer sidewall and an inner sidewall at a part adjacent to the air inlet; wherein the air inlet is disposed inside the inner sidewall, and the outer sidewall extends radially and is coupled to the mounting portion (Refer to annotated Figure 6 above).
Regarding claim 13, Gu et al. disclose a cover is disposed in the airflow portion and seal the thermal insulation chamber; wherein an outer end face of the cover forms partially an outer end face of the accessory (Refer to annotated Figure 6 above).
Regarding claim 15, Gu et al. disclose the mounting portion and the airflow portion are integrally formed (Refer to Figures 2, 5 and 6).
Regarding claim 16, Gu et al. disclose a drying assembly, comprising: a drying apparatus (Refer to Abstract and Figure 1); and the accessory of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 17, Gu et al. discloses an end of the drying apparatus has an air outlet element (element forming air outlet 2203, Refer to Figure 1) for emitting an airflow and a radiation element (240) for emitting infrared radiation; wherein the accessory attaches to the drying apparatus, the air inlet corresponds to the air outlet element, and the accessory comprises a hollow portion (42) corresponding for the infrared radiation emitted by the radiation element to pass through.
Regarding claim 18, Gu et al. disclose on the accessory, the hollow portion is disposed between the airflow portion and the mounting portion (Refer to annotated Figure 6 above), and the outer sidewall of the airflow portion spans the hollow portion to be coupled to the mounting portion (Refer to annotated Figure 6 above).
Regarding claim 19, Gu et al. disclose the accessory further comprises a cover (31,70,60, Refer to Figure 9) made of a heat-resistant material and/or a reflective material (Refer to page 23 which explains that the 60 and 70 are in the heated airflow path, meaning the elements are made of a material which resists heat, if not the cover would not function as intended), and the cover covers an area on the airflow portion and the mounting portion facing the radiation element (Refer to page 23).
Regarding claim 20, Gu et al. disclose a count of layers of the multi-layer sidewall is equal to three and at least two thermal insulation chambers are provided along the radial direction between adjacent layers (Refer to annotated Figure 6 above, insulation chambers A and B are provided between 3 layers).
Regarding claim 21, Gu et al. disclose multiple layers of the multi-layer sidewall merge into the single layer sidewall adjacent to the air outlet to form an integral structure (Refer to annotated Figures above).
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.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gu et al. and Andrew et al. (US 6922909).
Regarding claim 7, Gu et al. disclose the accessory of claim 6 above; however, Gu et al. do not disclose the outer sidewall of the airflow portion and/or the concave-convex structure are configured with one or more vents in connection to the thermal insulation chamber. Andrew et al. disclose a similar hair dryer accessory having a mounting portion (portion at 23) and an airflow portion (22,21,32), where an outer sidewall of the airflow portion and a concave convex structure (Refer to Figures 2 and 5) are provided with vents (34) permitting ambient air to enter a thermal insulation chamber (40, Refer to Figure 5) and resulting in increased airflow (Refer to col. 5 lines 26-39). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the accessory to Gu et al. to include one or more vents on the outer sidewall of the airflow portion and/or the concave-convex structure in connection to the thermal insulation chamber as taught by Andrew et al. in order to draw air into the accessory and thereby increase the airflow exiting the accessory.
Claims 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gu et al. and Orsoff (US 3837581).
Regarding claims 9 and 10, Gu et al. disclose the accessory of claim 3; however, Gu et al. do not disclose one or more vents extend through the single layer sidewall adjacent the air outlet and the one or more vents extend along the first direction and/or through the single layer sidewall along the second direction. Orsoff discloses a similar hair dryer accessory having a mounting portion (15) and an airflow portion (16,19) with an air outlet (17). Orsoff teaches vents (22,28,21,27) are provided adjacent the air outlet (17) and extend in a direction transverse to the airflow direction (similar to first direction of Gu et al.), thereby providing auxiliary air streams adjacent the main airstream exiting the air outlet and preventing excessive back pressure buildup in the dryer (Refer to col. 2 lines 55-67 and col. 3 lines 1-2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the accessory of Gu et al. to include one or more vents at the air outlet through the single layer sidewall at the air outlet along the second direction as taught by Orsoff in order to provide auxiliary air streams adjacent the main airstream and prevent excessive pressure buildup and overheating in the dryer.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 14 is 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/15/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Argument: Gu does not provide the airflow portion as a unitary structure consisting of a continuous material where the single-layer sidewall and multi-layer sidewall from a monolithic joint at the air outlet.
Response: Applicant's argument fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references. Applicant alleges Gu does not meet the claim limitation but fails to explain how Gu fails to meet this requirement(s). It is believed Gu does provide the claimed limitations as explained in the rejection above.
Argument: With regard to claim 6, Gu does not provide an outer sidewall of the airflow portion having a concave-convex structure along the second direction. The wavy outlet cover is not the outer sidewall.
Response: The rejection of record does not point to the wavy outlet cover as the concave-convex structure. Instead, Figures 2, 5 and 6 are relied upon to show that the outer sidewall, as labeled in the annotated Figures above, provides a concave-convex structure, which is similar to the construction of Applicant’s invention (Refer to Figures 1a and 5 of Applicant’s Drawings).
Argument: Regarding claim 7, holes 34 in Andrews serve to increase airflow by drawing in ambient air, while Applicant’s one of more vents exhibit a distinct function as they are configured to discharge air from the guide chamber or to place the thermal insulation chamber in communication with the exterior for heat dissipation.
Response: The prior art does not need to provide the structure for the same reason as Applicant. The intended use or functionality of the vents is not relevant as the claims do not recite any such functional capabilities.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TATIANA L NOBREGA whose telephone number is (571)270-7228. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-4pm.
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/TATIANA L NOBREGA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
