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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “top layer of material” “bottom layer of material” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 11, & 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CHRISTIAN US 20240034517.
With respect to claim 1, Christian teaches a system for containing a type of gas to allow optical detection of the gas in a spectral region of detection defined by the type of gas, comprising:
a top layer (fig 3, 5) “top portion” (0020, lines 7-8) of material;
a bottom layer (fig 3, 7) “bottom portion” (0020, lines 1-3) of material, wherein the top layer is sealed “inflated” (abstract, line 3) to the bottom layer forming a bladder with a perimeter seam and forming a cavity;
ribbing (fig 3, 6) “ribbed” (abstract, line 3) between the top layer of material and the bottom layer of material defining segments of the cavity; and
a frame (fig 2, 200), wherein the frame supports the bladder.
With respect to claim 4 according to claim 1, Christian teaches the system wherein the segments of the cavity are of substantially similar height (fig 2, 6).
With respect to claim 11, Christian teaches a method of containing a type of gas to allow optical detection of the gas in a spectral region of detection defined by the type of gas, the method comprising:
filling a bladder with the gas “inflated” (abstract, line 3), wherein the bladder comprises:
a top layer (fig 3, 5) “top portion” (0020, lines 7-8) of material;
a bottom layer (fig 3, 7) “bottom portion” (0020, lines 1-3) of material, wherein the top layer is sealed “inflated” (abstract, line 3) to the bottom layer forming a bladder with a perimeter seam and forming a cavity;
ribbing “ribbed” (abstract, line 3) between the top layer of material and the bottom layer of material
defining segments of the cavity; and
supporting the bladder on a frame (fig 2, 200).
With respect to claim 14 according to claim 11, Christian teaches the method wherein the segments of the cavity are of substantially similar height (fig 2, 6).
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) 10 & 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHRISTIAN US 20240034517 in view of Corry Rubber “Corry Rubber – Bladders”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI0ej9D0QC4 Feb 13, 2017 hereafter Corry Rubber in further view of Alex Wang, “How to make ball bladder”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxTAALvJfk4&t=203s May 27, 2018 hereafter Wang.
With respect to claim 10 according to claim 1, Christian does not teach the bladder is formed on a roll, and wherein the bladder is cut to a user-defined length at a cut line, and wherein the cut line is sealed to close the cavity.
Corry Rubber, in the same field of endeavor as Christian of bladders, implicitly teaches cutting a bladder to a user-defined length at a cut line and sealing the bladder at the cut line to form a cavity.
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Corry Rubber does not teach forming the bladder on a roll.
Wang, in the same field of endeavor as Christian of bladders, implicitly teaches forming a bladder on a roll (fig 1). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form, cut, and seal a bladder as a known method to yield a predictable result of manufacturing a bladder.
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With respect to claim 20 according to claim 11, Christian does not teach the method further comprising:
forming the bladder on a roll; cutting the bladder to a user-defined length at a cut line; and sealing the bladder at the cut line to form the cavity.
Corry Rubber, in the same field of endeavor as Christian of bladders, implicitly teaches cutting a bladder to a user-defined length at a cut line teaches sealing the bladder at the cut line to form a cavity.
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Corry Rubber does not teach forming the bladder on a roll.
Wang, in the same field of endeavor as Christian of bladders, implicitly teaches forming a bladder on a roll (fig 1). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form, cut, and seal a bladder as a known method to yield a predictable result of manufacturing a bladder.
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Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. WO 2017062895, US 20120283055, & GB 2487400.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 5-9, 12, 13, & 15-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims or to include the limitation(s) and any intervening claims into the base claim. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As to claim 2, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “a reinforcing strip substantially covering the perimeter seam”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 2.
As to claim 5, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “comprises a rectangular shape”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 5.
As to claim 6, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “comprises a rectangular shape”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 6.
As to claim 7, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “the top layer of material and the bottom layer of material are substantially optically transparent material of at least 80% transparent in a spectral region of detection for the system”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 7.
As to claim 8, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “the top layer of material and the bottom layer of material is sufficiently pure to decrease absorptions in a spectral region of detection for the system to less than between 5% and 20%”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 8.
As to claim 15, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “bladder comprises a rectangular shape”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 15.
As to claim 16, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “the bladder comprises a hexagonal shape”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 16.
As to claim 17, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “one of the top layer of material and the bottom layer of material are substantially optically transparent material of at least 80% transparent in the spectral region of detection”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 17.
As to claim 18, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “the top layer of material and the bottom layer of material is sufficiently pure to decrease absorptions in the spectral region of detection to less than between 5% and 20%”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 18.
The closest prior art of record Berggren teaches hexagonal bladders (fig 4b, 41) sealed by perimeter seams (fig 4b, 42), wherein air is filled at the bottom of the bladder (fig 6, 41). Berggren fails to teach a top layer is sealed to the bottom layer forming a bladder with a perimeter seam and forming a cavity wherein the bladder is shaped like a hexagon.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAURICE C SMITH whose telephone number is (571)272-2526. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm EST.
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/MAURICE C SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 2877
