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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/22/2025 was filed after the mailing date of the Application on 01/22/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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(s) 1-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Semeniuk (EP 3878704) and in view of Larsson (EP 1355813 B1).
With regards to claim 1:
Semeniuk discloses (refer to Fig. 1 below) a multi-circuit protection valve unit for an air processing unit of a commercial vehicle, said multi-circuit protection valve unit comprising a multi-circuit protection valve (37) and an ECU (1) assembled to said multi-circuit protection valve, wherein said multi-circuit protection valve (37) comprises:
-an MCPV housing (38, 32) comprising an interface body part (32) made of comprising metal and a cover part (38) comprising metal, said interface body part (32) and said cover part (38) defining an interior space between them,
-housing screws (39) connecting said interface body part (32) and said cover part (38) together,
-functional parts (121, 122, 14, 15), including pneumatic valves, provided in said interior space,
-sealing means (35) provided between said interface body part (32) and said cover part (38),
separator means (36) provided between said interface body part (32) and said cover part (38), thereby defining pneumatic passageways in said interior space,
wherein said interface body part (32) comprises pneumatic ports (21, 22, 23) for connecting said multi-circuit protection valve unit to consumer circuits (not shown),
wherein said interface body part (32), said cover part (38), said sealing means, said separator means, and at least some of said functional parts are assembled as a stack in a common assembling direction (V),
wherein said housing screws (39) are inserted in said assembling direction, and
wherein said ECU (1) is attached to said MCPV housing in an ECU mounting direction (horizontal) that is perpendicular to said assembling direction.
Semeniuk does not disclose the housing (1) is an ECU.
Larsson discloses (refer to Fig. 2 below) a multi-circuit protection valve unit having an ECU (3) assembled to said multi-circuit protection valve (1).
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Fig. 1
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Therefore, the unit (1) of Semeniuk is read as an ECU according to Larsson.
With regards to claim 2:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses the multi-circuit protection valve unit according to claim 1, wherein said interface body part and said cover part each comprise ECU screw threads extending in said ECU mounting direction, respectively, said ECU (1) being assembled to said interface body part and said cover part via ECU screws (3) inserted in said ECU mounting direction into said ECU screw threads.
With regards to claim 3:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses (see claim 12 of Semeniuk) the multi-circuit protection valve unit according to claim 1, wherein said separator means (34, 36) comprise at least one plastic separator (34, 36) and said sealing means (35) comprise at least one gasket (35) for sealing said interior space, said interface body part (32), said cover part (38), said at least one plastic separator, and said at least one gasket defining said interior space in which said functional parts are received.
With regards to claim 4:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses (see claims 13-14 of Semeniuk) the multi-circuit protection valve unit according to claim 1, wherein said functional parts comprise one or more of the following elements: pneumatic valves, in particular overflow valves, pressure limiters, check valves, double check valves, or solenoid valves.
With regards to claim 5:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses (see claims 12 of Semeniuk) the multi-circuit protection valve unit according to claim 1, wherein said interface body part (32) and said cover part (38) comprise Aluminum (metal), in particular as cast parts (die cast bodies).
With regards to claim 6:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses the multi-circuit protection valve unit according to claim 1, wherein all elements of said multi-circuit protection valve adhered together as a stack in said assembling direction (V).
With regards to claim 7:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses the multi-circuit protection valve unit according to claim 1, wherein said interface body part (32) comprises a rectangular or cuboid shape with four rectangular side faces, one side face serving as a mounting face, wherein a flange is formed on said mounting face, and wherein said ECU (1) is assembled to said flange.
With regards to claim 8:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses (see Larsson, [0027]) the multi-circuit protection valve unit according to claim 7, wherein said interface body part (32) comprises a pneumatic sensor bore (not labeled) extending to said flange, wherein a pressure sensor provided in said ECU (1) is facing said pneumatic sensor bore, for measuring a pressure in said pneumatic sensor bore.
With regards to claim 9:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses the multi-circuit protection valve unit according to claim 1, wherein an inlet port (in cover 38, not labeled) of said multi-circuit protection valve (37) and at least one outlet port (21) of said multi-circuit protection valve is facing one common connecting direction (V).
With regards to claim 10:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses the multi-circuit protection valve unit according to claim 1, wherein an inlet port of said multi-circuit protection valve (37) and/or at least one outlet port (21) of said multi-circuit protection valve (37) extend in a connecting direction which coincides with said assembling direction (V).
With regards to claim 11:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses the multi-circuit protection valve unit according to claim 1, wherein said cover part (38) is a radiator part for cooling said interior space (since it connected to the air supply unit (ASU), so it can provide cooling air to the interior space), in particular solenoid valves in said interior space.
With regards to claim 12:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses an air processing unit (6) for a pneumatic system of a commercial vehicle, said air processing unit comprising;
a multi-circuit protection valve unit (37) according to claim 1, and an air dryer unit (8) pneumatically connected to an inlet port of said cover part (38) of said multi-circuit protection valve unit ,
said air processing unit (6) comprising a dryer body (8).
With regards to claim 13:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses the air processing unit according to claim 12, wherein said dryer body (8) is mounted on said cover part (38) of said multi-circuit protection valve unit (6) via dryer connecting screws (not shown) extending in said assembling direction (V).
With regards to claim 14:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses the air processing unit according to claim 12, wherein said air dryer unit is separate from said multi-circuit protection valve unit (6), and wherein pneumatic passageways, e. g. pneumatic pipes or pneumatic hoses (conduits in dryer body (8)), are provided between said dryer body (8) and said cover part (38).
With regards to claim 15:
Semeniuk, as modified, discloses a pneumatic system of a commercial vehicle, said pneumatic system comprising an air processing unit according to one of claims 12.
With regards to claim 16:
In making and/or using the modified system of Semeniuk, one would necessarily perform a method for assembling a multi-circuit protection valve unit (6), comprising the steps of:
providing a stack in an assembling direction (V), said stack comprising:
an interface body part (32) comprising metal and a cover part (38) comprising metal as outer parts of said stack,
sealing means, separator means, and functional pneumatic parts disposed between said interface body part (32) and said cover part (38),
said functional pneumatic parts comprising pneumatic valves and being separated by said separator means (34, 36),
inserting and tightening housing screws (39,) through said interface body part (32) and said cover part (38) in said assembling direction (V), thereby fixing said interface body part (32) and said cover part (38) together and forming an MCPV housing, thereby closing and sealing an interior space in said MCPV housing with pneumatic passageways, and
assembling an ECU (1) to said MCPV housing in an ECU assembling direction, which is perpendicular to said assembling direction (V).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Minh Le, whose telephone number is 571-270-3805. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (8:30AM-5:00PM EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881 or Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MINH Q LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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