DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-5 were filed with the Preliminary Amendment on 03/21/2025.
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 statements (IDS) submitted on 03/21/2025 and 09/23/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 9, the phrase “being to be” should be changed to “being”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With regard to claim 1, the phrase “the center line agreeing with a reference center line” (line 18) renders the claim indefinite. First, it is not clear if “the center line” refers to the center line of the base-side end or the valve body side end. Second, it is not clear what “agreeing with” means in the claim. As best understood, claim 1, will be construed as if the center line of each of the base-side end and the valve body-side end coincide with a reference center line.
With regard to claim 1, the phrase “viewed in plate perpendicularly intersecting directions that perpendicularly intersect a surface of the second metal plate” (lines 19-20) is confusing and renders the claim indefinite. The scope and meaning of the phrase is not understood.
With regard to claim 1, the phrase “the intermediate part” in lines 22, 25, and 26 renders the claim indefinite. It is not clear which intermediate part is being referred to in each line (i.e., which valve support is being referred to). As best understood, the claim refers to the intermediate part of each valve support.
With regard to claim 2, the phrase “the intermediate part” in line 1 renders the claim indefinite. It is not clear which intermediate part is being referred to in each line (i.e., which valve support is being referred to). As best understood, the claim refers to the intermediate part of each valve support.
With regard to claim 4, the phrase “the intermediate part” in line 2 and line 3 renders the claim indefinite. It is not clear which intermediate part is being referred to in each line (i.e., which valve support is being referred to). As best understood, the claim refers to one of the intermediate parts.
With regard to claim 5, the phrase “the center line agreeing with another reference center line” (line 10) renders the claim indefinite. First, it is not clear if “the center line” refers to the center line of the another base-side end or the another valve body side end. Second, it is not clear what “agreeing with” means in the claim. As best understood, claim 5, will be construed as if the another center line of each of the another base-side end and the another valve body-side end coincide with another reference center line.
With regard to claim 5, the phrase “the another intermediate part” in line 13 and 19 renders the claim indefinite. It is not clear which intermediate part is being referred to in each line (i.e., which another valve support is being referred to). As best understood, the claim refers to the another intermediate part of each another valve support.
Claims 2-5 are also rejected for being dependent upon rejected claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 1-3 (as far as they are definite and understood) are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE 20 2014009180 (hereinafter “Ilmenau Tech”) (as evidenced by Translation) in view of U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2018/0045191 (“Uruma”).
With regard to claim 1, Ilmenau Tech discloses valve component for a valve structure (Figs 3 and 5-7), comprising: a first plate (2) having a through hole (4); and a second metal plate (7; “spring steel sheet” para [0018]) including: a base (body of 7/8a-8d) having a passing hole (15/hole/openings between 8a-8d) in a region overlapping the through hole (4); a valve body (10) configured to close the through hole (4) by coming into contact with an edge portion (seat 3) defining the through hole (4); and a pair of valve supports (9a, 9c) that support the valve body (10) to the base (body 7/8a-8d) in such a manner that the valve body (10) is located in the passing hole (15, see Figs 3, 5, 6, 7), the second metal plate (7) being to be joined to the first metal plate (2) in a positional relation preset in such a manner that the valve body (10) faces the edge portion (seat 3) defining the through hole (4) (see Figs 5-7), wherein each of the valve supports (9a, 9c) has a base-side end (end near 8a, 8c, see annotated figs) extending from an edge portion defining the passing hole (15/hole/openings between 8a-8d) in the base (8a-8d) toward the valve body (10), an intermediate part (middle part of each 9a, 9c, see annotated Figs) at a leading portion of the base-side end, and a valve body-side end (end near 10) extending from the intermediate part to the valve body (see annotated Figs), each of the base-side end and the valve body-side end has a center line (12) with respect to width directions and a width which is smaller than a width of each of the valve body (10) and the base (8a, 8c) (see Fig 3), the center line (12) agreeing (as best understood, coinciding with) with a reference center line (12) passing through the center of the valve body (10) from a perpendicular viewpoint of the second metal plate viewed in plate perpendicularly intersecting directions that perpendicularly intersect a surface of the second metal plate (7), the reference center line (12) extending along the surface of the second metal plate (7), (each) intermediate part extends farther away from the reference center line (12) in extension directions perpendicularly intersecting the reference center line (12) than the base-side end and the valve body-side end from the perpendicular viewpoint (see annotated Figs), and the intermediate part is provided with a through section intersecting the reference center line from the perpendicular viewpoint and penetrating through the intermediate part in plate thickness directions (see annotated Figs).
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Ilmeanu Tech discloses all the claimed features with the exception of disclosing that the first plate (2) is metal.
Uruma discloses a valve component for a valve structure, similar to that of Ilmenau Tech, and teaches that it is known in the art to make the plurality of plates out of metal (“metal layer pieces 22 to 37” para [0054]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to make the first plate of Ilmenau Tech made of any suitable material, such as metal, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice (See MPEP 2144.07) (and see Uruma at para [0054]).
With regard to claim 2, Ilmenau Tech (as modified above) discloses the intermediate part (middle parts of 9a, 9c, see annotated Figs) extends in one direction of the extension directions relative to the reference center line (12) (both extend below 12 in Fig 3), and the through section opens in other direction of the extension directions (through sections extends toward and above 12, see annotated Fig 3).
With regard to claim 3, Ilmenau Tech (as modified above) discloses the intermediate part of each valve support (middle parts of 9a, 9c) constituting the pair of valve supports (9a, 9c) extends in the same direction of the extension directions relative to the reference center line (both extend below 12 in Fig 3).
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE 20 2014009180 (hereinafter “Ilmenau Tech”) in view of U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2018/0045191 (“Uruma”) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2002/0139947 (“Wang”).
With regard to claim 4, Ilmenau Tech (as modified by Uruma above) discloses all the claimed features with the exception of disclosing the first metal plate has a regulator that faces the intermediate part in the plate perpendicularly intersecting directions and regulates shift of the intermediate part toward the first metal plate in a state where the first metal plate is in the positional relation with the second metal plate.
Wang discloses a valve component for a valve structure, similar to that of Ilmenau Tech, and teaches that it is known in the art to modify the valve component to include the first metal plate (105) has a regulator (104) that faces the intermediate part (part of 150) in the plate perpendicularly intersecting directions and regulates shift of the intermediate part (part of 150) toward the first metal plate (105) in a state where the first metal plate (105) is in the positional relation with the second metal plate (150) (see Figs 2 and 5; and para [0052]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to add a regulator, such as taught by Wang, in the first plate of Ilmenau Tech for the purpose of providing support for the second metal plate (see Wang at para [0052]: “The ridge 104 supports the diaphragm “).
With regard to claim 5, Ilmenau Tech discloses the second metal plate (7) includes at least one pair of another valve supports (9b, 9d) that is different from the pair of valve supports (9a, 9c), each valve support (9b, 9d) in the at least one pair of another valve supports has another base-side end (end near 8b, 8d) extending from the edge portion defining the passing hole in the base toward the valve body (10), another intermediate part (middle parts of 9b, 9d) at a leading portion of the another base-side end, and another valve body-side end (end near 10) extending from the another intermediate part to the valve body (see annotated Figs), each of the another base-side end and the another valve body-side end has a center line (12, see annotated Fig 3) with respect to width directions and a width which is smaller than the width of each of the valve body (10) and the base (8a-8d) (See annotated Figs), the center line (vertical 12) agreeing with another reference center line (vertical 12) that is different from the reference center line (horizontal 12), passes through the center of the valve body (10) from the perpendicular viewpoint, and extends along the surface of the second metal plate (7), the another intermediate part extends farther away from the another reference center line in another extension directions perpendicularly intersecting the another reference center line than the another base-side end and the another valve body-side end from the perpendicular viewpoint (see annotated Fig 3), the reference center line (horizontal 12) and the another reference center line (vertical 12) associated with the at least one pair of the another valve supports (9b, 9d) make a plurality of equal intersection angles (see annotated Fig 3) each defined between two adjacent line segments of the reference center lines (12, 12).
Ilmenau Tech (as modified by Uruma above) discloses all the claimed features with the exception of disclosing the first metal plate has another regulator that faces the another intermediate part in the plate perpendicularly intersecting directions and regulates shift of the another intermediate part toward the first metal plate in a state where the first metal plate is in the positional relation with the second metal plate.
Wang discloses a valve component for a valve structure, similar to that of Ilmenau Tech, and teaches that it is known in the art to modify the valve component to include the first metal plate (105) has another regulator (plural 104 shown) that faces the another intermediate part (part of 150) in the plate perpendicularly intersecting directions and regulates shift of the another intermediate part (part of 150) toward the first metal plate (105) in a state where the first metal plate (105) is in the positional relation with the second metal plate (150) (see Figs 2 and 5; and para [0052]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to add a another regulator, such as taught by Wang, in the first plate of Ilmenau Tech for the purpose of providing support for the second metal plate (see Wang at para [0052]: “The ridge 104 supports the diaphragm “).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2005/0116798 discloses a valve component (see Fig 43) with first and second plates and valve supports.
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/JESSICA CAHILL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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