DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 status of the claims for this application is as follows.
Claims 1-7 are currently pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 02/19/2025 and 09/17/2025 were considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 02/19/2025.
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 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wilhelm (WO 2007/014281).
At the outset the applicant is reminded that:
1. While features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally, claims directed to an apparatus must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function. In re Schreiber, 128 F.3d 1473, 1477-78, 44 USPQ2d 1429, 1431-32 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
2. A claim containing 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 if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1987).
Re Clm 1: Wilhelm discloses a flow path connection mechanism (100 and see Figs. 1-28), comprising:
a first coupling member (200) that is a tubular body whose center axis is an axis extending in a prescribed direction and includes inside a circulation path for a liquid (see Fig. 6); and
a second coupling member (500) that is a tubular body centered about the center axis, is connected to the first coupling member in an axis direction, and includes inside a circulation path for the liquid so that the liquid is allowed to circulate through the first and second coupling members in the axis direction (see Fig. 6),
wherein the first coupling member (200) includes a first valve mechanism (see Fig. 1) provided on a radial inner side thereof,
the second coupling member includes a second valve mechanism (see Fig. 1) provided on a radial inner side thereof,
the first valve mechanism includes: a first valve housing (see the housing of 200) having a tubular shape centered about the center axis (see Fig. 6);
a hollow movable valve (at 320c) that is arranged on a radial inner side of the first valve housing (see Fig. 1) and has a tubular shape centered about the center axis (see Fig. 1);
a first biasing member (390) that is arranged on the radial inner side of the first valve housing (see Fig. 1) and biases the hollow movable valve toward a connection side with the second coupling member (see Fig. 1); and
a support (420) that is arranged on the radial inner side of the first valve housing (see Fig. 1) so as to penetrate through the hollow movable valve in the axis direction (see Fig. 1),
the second valve mechanism includes: a second valve housing (see the housing of 500) having a tubular shape centered about the center axis (see Fig. 1);
a movable valve (the valve moved by 420) that is arranged on a radial inner side of the second valve housing and has a columnar shape centered about the center axis (see Fig. 1); and
a second biasing member (see the spring internal of 500) that is arranged on the radial inner side of the second valve housing and biases the movable valve toward a connection side with the first coupling member columnar,
in a connected state where the first coupling member (200) is connected to the second coupling member (500), with the second valve housing being inserted into the first valve housing (see Fig. 1), the second valve housing presses the hollow movable valve so that the hollow movable valve is displaced in a direction against a biasing force of the first biasing member (see Fig. 1), while the support presses the movable valve so that the movable valve is displaced in a direction against a biasing force of the second biasing member (see Fig. 1), and thus circulation of the liquid is enabled between the first coupling member and the second coupling member (see Fig. 1), one of the support and the movable valve includes a valve convexity protruding in the axis direction (see Fig. 1), and another of the support and the movable valve includes a valve concavity into which the valve convexity is fittable (see Fig. 1), and in the connected state, the valve convexity is fitted into the valve concavity (see Fig. 1).
Re Clm 2: Wilhelm discloses wherein the hollow movable valve includes a first protrusion (that 320c is on) that is provided on an inner circumferential surface thereof (see Fig. 1) to protrude to a radial inner side thereof (see Fig. 1) and extend in a loop in a circumferential direction (see Fig. 1), the support includes a first sealing portion (the portion that abuts 320c) provided on an outer circumferential surface thereof (see Fig. 1), the first sealing portion is a part of the support to which a loop-shaped sealing member is attached (see Fig. 1), when the second valve housing is inserted into the first valve housing, the second valve housing presses the hollow movable valve in the axis direction, and thus the first protrusion is displaced to such a position as not to intimately contact the first sealing portion, so that circulation of the liquid inside the first coupling member is enabled, and in a disconnected state where the second valve housing has been removed from inside the first valve housing, under the biasing force of the first biasing member, the first protrusion is held at such a position as to intimately contact the first sealing portion, so that the circulation of the liquid inside the first coupling member is restricted (the device of Wilhelm functions in such a manner).
Re Clm 3: Wilhelm discloses wherein the second valve housing includes a second protrusion (see the necked down portion of 500 at its end) that is provided on an inner circumferential surface thereof to protrude to the radial inner side thereof (see Fig. 1) and extend in a loop in the circumferential direction (see Fig. 1), the movable valve includes a second sealing portion (620 and the end of 600) provided on an outer circumferential surface thereof (see Fig. 1), the second sealing portion is a part of the movable valve to which a loop-shaped sealing member is attached (see Fig. 1), when the second valve housing is inserted into the first valve housing, the support presses the movable valve in the axis direction, and thus the second sealing portion is displaced to such a position as not to intimately contact the second protrusion, so that circulation of the liquid inside the second coupling member is enabled, and in the disconnected state, under the biasing force of the second biasing member, the second sealing portion is held at such a position as to intimately contact the second protrusion, so that the circulation of the liquid inside the second coupling member is restricted (the device of Wilhelm functions in such a manner).
Re Clm 4: Wilhelm discloses wherein the second protrusion has an inclined surface (see Figs. 1) inclined in such a direction as to approach the center axis toward the connection side with the first coupling member (see Figs. 1), and in the disconnected state, under the biasing force of the second biasing member, the movable valve is biased to the connection side with the first coupling member, and thus the second sealing portion intimately contacts the inclined surface (the device of Wilhelm functions in such a manner).
As for claim 6: the device of Wilhelm is made to or is capable of wherein in removing the second valve housing from inside the first valve housing, after a state has been brought about where the first sealing portion intimately contacts the first protrusion and the second sealing portion intimately contacts the second protrusion, the second valve housing is separated from the hollow movable valve, and the support is separated from the movable valve.
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) 5 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wilhelm (WO 2007/014281) as applied to claims 1-4 and 6 above.
Re Clm 5: Wilhelm discloses wherein the support and the movable valve are molded out of material, the support includes the valve convexity, the movable valve includes the valve concavity, and the second sealing portion is provided in a part of the movable valve overlapping the valve concavity in a radial direction (see Fig. 1).
Wilhelm fails to disclose resin.
Resin materials or readily available, easy to work with, have a good strength to weight ratio, and can endure harsh environments. And such materials are used to enhance to quality and life to the structures(s) made from such a material.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to have modified the device of Wilhelm, to have employed resin, with a reasonable expectation of success because an unknown material is merely being replaced with a known material, for the purpose of enhancing to quality and life to the structures(s) made from such a material. Note that it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Re Clm 7: Wilhelm discloses an apparatus, comprising: the flow path connection mechanism claimed in claim 1, and the liquid.
Wilhelm fails to disclose an inkjet recording apparatus, comprising: a disclosed liquid that is ink, and the inkjet recording apparatus uses the ink to perform printing.
In this instant, an inkjet recording apparatus, comprising: a disclosed liquid to be ink, and the inkjet recording apparatus uses the ink to perform printing is/are old and well-known for the purpose of allowing documents to be printed. Accordingly, the examiner is taking Official notice that inkjet recording apparatus, comprising: a disclosed liquid to be ink, and the inkjet recording apparatus uses the ink to perform printing is/are old and well-known for the purpose of allowing documents to be printed.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to have modified the device of Wilhelm, to have included an inkjet recording apparatus, comprising: a disclosed liquid that is ink, and the inkjet recording apparatus uses the ink to perform printing, with a reasonable expectation of success because an old and well-known environment is being employed for use with the apparatus, comprising: the flow path connection mechanism claimed in claim 1, for the purpose of making a useful combination of elements that would yield the same predictable result(s) of allowing printing to occur.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following documents have structural features (tubular members having locking means to lock to other tubular members) which are similar to the applicant’s claimed invention; US-20050088497-A1, US-20090214287-A1, US-20140043392-A1, US-20150300547-A1, US-20170184242-A1, US-20170307122-A1, US-20190017642-A1, and US-20210060961-A1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES A LINFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-3066. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew Troutman can be reached at (571) 270-3654. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JAMES ALBERT LINFORD
Examiner
Art Unit 3679
09/03/2026
/Matthew Troutman/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3679
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