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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Fig 1, Claims 1 - 20 in the reply filed on 03/23/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim 3 is withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. Fig 1 does not include a radial projection as claimed in Claim 3.
Claims 12, 13 and 15 – 17 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. Fig 1 does not include a flange and a skirt for the base of the seal element as claimed in Claim 12.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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, 2, 4 – 11, 14 and 18 - 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Grant (U.S. Patent # 4874014).
Regarding Claim 1, Grant discloses a seal assembly (fig 1) comprising: a housing having an interior cavity (24), an outlet opening (26), an assembly opening (36), and an inlet opening (58), all spaced from one another (fig 1); a working component (22, 44) is located in the interior cavity of the housing (24), the working component comprising a seal element having a body with a hollow interior (interior of 22) and a shaft (44); and wherein the shaft is slidable relative to the housing to move the seal element between a compressed state and a less compressed state (44 slides and 22 moves between two states of fig 1 and fig 2).
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Regarding Claim 2, Grant discloses the seal assembly, wherein the body has a plurality of folds or bellows (22 is a bellows element).
Regarding Claim 4, Grant discloses the seal assembly, further comprising a locking cap (as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below) pressed against the seal element (22) and against the outlet opening (26).
Regarding Claim 5, Grant discloses the seal assembly, wherein the locking cap has a tapered seat (as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below) and the tapered seat of the locking cap is pressed against a seat on the housing (as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below).
Regarding Claim 6, Grant discloses the seal assembly, wherein the seal element has a tip (as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below) and the shaft is abutted against the tip (as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below).
Regarding Claim 7, Grant discloses the seal assembly, wherein a flange is formed with the shaft (as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below) and the flange is pushed against a tip of the seal element (flange can be pushed against the tip of the seal element as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below).
Regarding Claim 8, Grant discloses the seal assembly, further comprising a locking cap having a seat that is pushed against a complementary seat at the outlet opening of the housing (as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below).
Regarding Claim 9, Grant discloses the seal assembly, wherein the locking cap has a bore extending at least partially through a body of the locking cap (bore of locking cap through the body of the locking cap as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below).
Regarding Claim 10, Grant discloses the seal assembly, wherein the shaft projects into the bore of the locking cap (shaft into the bore of the locking cap as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below).
Regarding Claim 11, Grant discloses the seal assembly, wherein the seat on the locking cap is tapered, arcuate, rounded, conical or flat (tapered seat as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below).
Regarding Claim 14, Grant discloses the seal assembly, wherein the seal element is made from a first material ( Col 2 Lines 65 – 67: 22 made of PTFE or PFA) and the locking ring is made from a second material, different from the first material (material of 32 different from that of 22).
Regarding Claim 18, Grant discloses a seal assembly (fig 1) comprising: a housing having (12) an interior cavity (24), an outlet opening (26), an assembly opening (36), and an inlet opening (58), all spaced from one another (fig 1); a working component (22, 44) is located in the interior cavity of the housing (24), the working component comprising a seal element having a plurality of folds (folds of 22), a shaft (4), and a locking cap that presses a tip of the seal element against the shaft (as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below); and wherein the shaft is slidable relative to the housing to move the locking cap to a blocking configuration to block the outlet opening and to move the locking cap to an unblocking configuration to not block the outlet opening (locking cap blocking 26 in fig 1 and unblocking 26 in fig 2).
Regarding Claim 19, Grant discloses the seal assembly, wherein the locking cap has a tapered seat (as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below)and the outlet opening has a corresponding tapered seat (as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below).
Regarding Claim 20, Grant discloses a method of forming a seal assembly (fig 1) comprising: placing a working component (22, 44) into an interior cavity (24) of a housing (12), the housing comprising an outlet opening (26), an assembly opening (36), and an inlet opening (58), all spaced from one another (fig 1); wherein the working component comprising a seal element having a body with a hollow interior (interior of 22), a shaft (44), and a locking cap that presses a tip of the seal element against the shaft (as seen in examiner annotated fig 1 below); and arranging the shaft to be slidable relative to the housing (44 slides in fig 1and fig 2); and wherein the shaft is configured to move a tapered seat at a tip of the shaft to a blocking configuration to block the outlet opening and to move the tip of the shaft to an unblocking configuration to not block the outlet opening (44 blocks 26 in fig 1 and unblocks 26 in fig 2).
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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 L. Susmitha Koneru whose telephone number is 571.270.5333. The examiner can normally be reached from Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM-4:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christine Mills can be reached on 571.272.8322. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571.273.8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free)./L. SUSMITHA KONERU/ /L. SUSMITHA KONERU/Examiner, Art Unit 3675
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