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 § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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(s) 1 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 114482213 A, hereafter “Li”).
Regarding claim 1, Li discloses a flushing water supply control valve (Fig. 1) used in a power-off state comprising a housing (the housing of 1), a water control component (61), a blocking component (4) and a switch component (2), wherein the housing is provided with a water inlet part (12), a water outlet part (11), a pressure chamber (the chamber formed within 2), an auxiliary chamber (the chamber formed within 4) and a drainage channel (8), the auxiliary chamber is provided for accommodating the switch component and connecting and disconnecting the pressure chamber and the water inlet part (as shown in Figs. 7-9), the pressure chamber is provided for accommodating the water control component, the blocking component is installed at a position between a water inlet position of the water outlet part and the pressure chamber, and pressure relief and water drainage in the pressure chamber and the auxiliary chamber are respectively realized by the drainage channel (Figs. 7-9); the water control component comprises an adjusting seat (62), a movable valve sleeve (61), a first elastic member (3) and an elastic switching structure (621), the adjusting seat is installed in the pressure chamber and is provided with a channel (51) connecting the blocking component and the pressure chamber, the movable valve sleeve moves in the pressure chamber under the action of water pressure and the first elastic member (Figs. 7-9), and an acting surface (the surface of 61 that 3 abuts) cooperating with the elastic switching structure is formed on the movable valve sleeve, two ends of the first elastic member act on the adjusting seat and the movable valve sleeve respectively (Figs. 7-9), the elastic switching structure is installed on the adjusting seat and abuts and cooperates with the acting surface of the movable valve sleeve (Fig. 3), and as a position of the movable valve sleeve in the pressure chamber changes, the channel is opened and closed at least twice (Figs. 7-9); the blocking component opens and closes the water inlet of the water outlet part according to the pressure change of the pressure chamber (Figs. 7-9); the switch component is installed on the housing and is used for fulfilling and cutting-off the connection between the water inlet part and the pressure chamber (Figs. 7-9), but fails to disclose multiple drainage channels.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to modify the drainage channel of Li to include multiple drainage channels since a mere duplication of essential working part of device involves only routine skill in the art. The motivation for doing so would be to provide additional drainage channels in case one of the channels gets clogged or is closed up.
Regarding claim 2, Li further discloses the flushing water supply control valve used in a power-off state as claimed in claim 1, wherein, when the pressure chamber is filled with water and the switch component is in a closed state, the blocking component sequentially opens the water outlet part. (Figs. 7-9)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-12 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL J GRAY whose telephone number is (571)270-0544. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kenneth 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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/PAUL J GRAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
Prosecution Insights