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 .
Preliminary Amendment
Acknowledgement is hereby made to the Preliminary Amendment filed 5 February 2025. Claims 1-5 are pending in the application.
The substitute version of the Abstract has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claims 3 and 5 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 3, lines 3-4, “a winding direction of the wrap” should read --the winding direction of the wrap of the orbiting scroll—
In claim 5, line 4, “the wrap” should read --the wrap of the orbiting scroll--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Katou et al. (U. S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0004040).
Regarding claim 1, Katou et al. discloses a scroll-type fluid machine (FIG.’s 1-4D, Abstract) comprising:
a fixed scroll 50 that has an end plate 51 (FIG.’s 1-2, para. 0045), a spiral-shaped wrap 52 Id., erected on one surface of the end plate 51, and a suction hole 55 (FIG.’s 4A-D, para. 0052, injection port 55 forms recited suction hole) bored into the end plate 51;
an orbiting scroll 40 that has an end plate 41 (para. 0045) and a spiral- shaped wrap 42 Id., erected on one surface of the end plate 41 so as to face the fixed scroll 50 (as shown and described); and
a driving shaft 25 (para. 0044) that causes the orbiting scroll 40 to orbit relative to the fixed scroll 50 (para. 0045, normal operation, via Oldham coupling 31), wherein the suction hole 55 of the fixed scroll 50 is arranged in a winding direction range of the wrap in which range the wrap of the orbiting scroll is located on an outermost peripheral side relative to the wrap of the fixed scroll 50 between a first confinement start position A (refer to an annotated copy of Katou FIG.’s 4A, attached below, as shown) where a winding end of the wrap of the orbiting scroll 40 is brought into contact with the wrap of the fixed scroll 50 and a second confinement start position B (Annotated Katou FIG. 4A, as shown) where a winding end of the wrap of the fixed scroll 50 is brought into contact with the wrap of the orbiting scroll 40 (Id., as shown, injection port 55 is located between position A and B if one proceeds clock-wise from position A to position B along wraps 42/52, interpreted as the suction hole being arranged in the recited winding direction range in the manner claimed),
the suction hole 55 being intermittently in direct communication with a working chamber 35A/B (FIG. 4D, para. 0053) formed between an inner peripheral side of the wrap of the orbiting scroll 40 and an outer peripheral side of the wrap of the fixed scroll 50 (Annotated Katou FIG. 4D, as shown and indicated, injection port 55 in communication with working chamber 35A/B in the manner claimed).
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Annotated Katou FIG.'s 4A-D
Re. claim 2, Katou further discloses the suction hole 55 of the fixed scroll 50 has an opening (shown) that opens on the one surface of the end plate 51 of the fixed scroll 50, the suction hole 55 being in communication with the working chamber 35A/B through a suction flow path from the entire opening when a crank angle of the driving shaft 25 is in a first range (FIG. 2, showing injection port 55 opening entirely), and being in direct communication with the working chamber 35A/B from a part of the opening and in communication with the working chamber 35A/B through the suction flow path from another part of the opening when the crank angle of the driving shaft 25 is in a second range (FIG.’s 4B/D, showing injection port 55 opening partially into chamber 35A/B).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record either alone or in combination does not teach or fairly suggest the scroll machine of claim 1 further including the respective opening features or orbiting scroll material inserted into a groove of the wrap configuration recited in claims 3, 4 or 5.
In the Examiner’s opinion, modifying the available prior art in the manner claimed would not have been reasonably foreseeable without benefit of the disclosure of the instant invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Watanabe (U. S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0202441) discloses a noteworthy scroll compressor having a suction hole 6 arranged on its fixed scroll 2 (FIG. 2, para. 0024, inter alia).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENNETH J HANSEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6780. The examiner can normally be reached Monday Friday 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM (MT).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Laurenzi can be reached at (571) 270-7878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KENNETH J HANSEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
