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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 4 and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 4, “extends along” should read “extending along”
In claim 11, “second span” should read “second fan”
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 1-17 and 19 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the hopper". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
The term “substantially laminar” in claim 19 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
The term “pseudo-laminar” in claim 19 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “pseudo-laminar” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claims 2-17 are rejected as they are dependent upon a previously rejected claim.
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.
Claims 1-6, 11-12 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) in view of Wu et al. (CN 110665807). English translations of Wu et al. (CN 110665807) have been provided herein.
Regarding claim 1, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Paragraph 0002 lines 1-2), comprising
a chamber (Fig. 1 #10) defining a first zone (Fig. 1 left side of #10) and a second zone adjacent to the first zone (Fig. 1 right side of #10 adjacent light side of #10);
a first fan (Fig. 1 #22) operably connected to a first lateral side of the chamber (Fig. 1 #22 operably connected to left lateral side of #10) and adjacent to the first zone (Fig. 2 #22 connected adjacent to left side of #10) to provide a flow of air into the filtration chamber (Fig. 1 #20);
a second fan (Fig. 1 #40, Paragraph 0037 lines 1-8) operably connected to a second lateral side of the chamber opposite the first lateral side (Fig. 1 #40 operably connected to right lateral side of #10, opposite left lateral side of #10) and adjacent to the second zone (Fig. 1 #40 connected adjacent to right side of #10) to exhaust air from the chamber (Paragraph 0037 lines 1-8);
a first collector (Paragraph 0048 lines 1-4, Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” below #28) operably connected to bottom surface of the chamber (Paragraph 0048 lines 1-4, Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” connected to bottom surface of #10), the first collector mounted under the first zone of the chamber (Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” below #28 mounted under left side of #10) to collect particles introduced into the chamber from the hopper (Paragraph 0042 lines 1-2, Paragraph 0048 lines 1-4); and
a controller configured to drive the first fan to expel non-conforming particles introduced into the chamber from the hopper from the first zone before arriving in the first collector (Paragraph 0025 lines 1-14), wherein the non-conforming particles have less than a threshold weight (Paragraph 0022 lines 5-26).
Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) lacks teaching a controller configured to drive the second fan to expel non-conforming particles.
Wu et al. (CN 110665807) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Paragraph 0002 lines 1-2) comprising a controller configured to drive the second fan (Fig. 3 #63) to expel non-conforming particles (Paragraph 0114 lines 4-11).
Wu et al. (CN 110665807) explains that the device can easily adjust relevant parameters to specifically remove powder of a corresponding size (Paragraph 0142 lines 1-6), wherein the parameters include the speed of the induced draft fan (Paragraph 0114 lines 4-11).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) to include a controller configured to drive the second fan to expel non-conforming particles as taught by Wu et al. (CN 110665807) in order to specifically remove non-conforming particles of a corresponding size.
Regarding claim 2, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) teaches the particle filter apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a second collector (Paragraph 0048 lines 1-4, Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” below #26) operably connected to the bottom surface chamber (Paragraph 0048 lines 1-4, Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” connected to bottom surface of #10) and adjacent to the first collector (Paragraph 0048 lines 1-4, Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” below #26 adjacent to “tip bin hopper” below #28), the second collector mounted under the second zone of the chamber (Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” below #26 mounted under right side of #10), and wherein non-conforming particles evacuated from the first zone enter the second zone (Fig. 1 particles evacuated from left side of #10 enter right side of #10) and collect in the second collector (Fig. 1 particles in right side of #10 are collected in “tip bin hopper” below #26).
Regarding claim 3, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) teaches the particle filter apparatus of claim 1 wherein the chamber (Fig. 1 #10) comprises one or more air inlets (Fig. 1 see air entering at #20) providing air flow to the second fan (Fig. 1 air exiting at #40 is provided by air entering at #20).
Regarding claim 4, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) teaches the particle filter apparatus of claim 3 wherein at least one of the air inlets (Fig. 1 see air entering at #20) comprises a gap extends along at least one side of the chamber (Fig. 1 see gap in side of #10 where air enters at #20).
Regarding claim 5, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) teaches the particle filter apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a hopper connected to a top surface of the chamber (Paragraph 0042 line 1-Paragraph 0044 line 2, Fig. 1 see ‘M’ entering through #12 at top surface of #10).
Regarding claim 6, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) teaches the particle filter apparatus of claim 5 further comprising a vibration motor operably associated with and providing a vibration force to the hopper (Paragraph 0042 lines 1-Paragraph 0043 line 3).
Regarding claim 11, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) teaches the particle filter apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller is operative to vary the operating speed of the first fan (Paragraph 0025 lines 1-14).
Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) lacks teaching wherein the controller is operative to vary the operating speed of the second span.
Wu et al. (CN 110665807) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Paragraph 0002 lines 1-2) wherein the controller is operative to vary the operating speed of the second span (Fig. 3 #63, Paragraph 0114 lines 4-11).
Wu et al. (CN 110665807) explains that the device can easily adjust relevant parameters to specifically remove powder of a corresponding size (Paragraph 0142 lines 1-6), wherein the parameters include the speed of the induced draft fan (Paragraph 0114 lines 4-11).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) to include wherein the controller is operative to vary the operating speed of the second span as taught by Wu et al. (CN 110665807) in order to specifically remove non-conforming particles of a corresponding size.
Regarding claim 12, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) teaches the particle filter apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first collector is removable (Paragraph 0048 lines 1-4, Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” below #28 would be removable).
Regarding claim 18, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Paragraph 0002 lines 1-2), comprising
a chamber (Fig. 1 #10) defining a first zone (Fig. 1 left side of #10) and a second zone adjacent to the first zone (Fig. 1 right side of #10 adjacent left side of #10);
a hopper connected to a top surface of the chamber (Paragraph 0042 line 1-Paragraph 0044 line 2, Fig. 1 see ‘M’ entering through #12 at top surface of #10);
a first fan (Fig. 1 #40, Paragraph 0037 lines 1-8) operably connected to a first lateral side of the chamber (Fig. 1 #40 operably connected to right lateral side of #10) and adjacent to the second zone to exhaust air from the chamber (Fig. 1 #40 adjacent right side of #10);
a first collector (Paragraph 0048 lines 1-4, Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” below #28) operably connected to bottom surface of the chamber (Paragraph 0048 lines 1-4, Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” connected to bottom surface of #10), the first collector mounted under the first zone of the chamber (Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” below #28 mounted under left side of #10) to collect particles introduced into the chamber from the hopper (Paragraph 0042 lines 1-2, Paragraph 0048 lines 1-4); and
wherein the non-conforming particles have less than a threshold weight (Paragraph 0022 lines 5-26).
Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) lacks teaching a controller configured to drive the first fan to expel non-conforming particles introduced into the chamber from the hopper from the first zone before arriving in the first collector.
Wu et al. (CN 110665807) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Paragraph 0002 lines 1-2) comprising a controller configured to drive the first fan (Fig. 3 #63) to expel non-conforming particles introduced into the chamber (Paragraph 0114 lines 4-11) from the hopper (Fig. 3 #20) from the first zone before arriving in the first collector (Fig. 3 particles expelled from first zone above #34 before arriving in #50).
Wu et al. (CN 110665807) explains that the device can easily adjust relevant parameters to specifically remove powder of a corresponding size (Paragraph 0142 lines 1-6), wherein the parameters include the speed of the induced draft fan (Paragraph 0114 lines 4-11).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) to include a controller configured to drive the first fan to expel non-conforming particles introduced into the chamber from the hopper from the first zone before arriving in the first collector as taught by Wu et al. (CN 110665807) in order to specifically remove non-conforming particles of a corresponding size.
Claims 7-10 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) in view of Wu et al. (CN 110665807) and further in view of McIntyre et al. (US 4759840).
Regarding claim 7, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) lacks teaching the particle filter apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a first air filter element disposed between the first fan and the first zone of the chamber.
McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Col. 1 lines 6-9) further comprising a first air filter element (Fig. 1 #48) disposed between the first fan and the first zone of the chamber (Fig. 1 #48 disposed between #56 and first zone of #10).
McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) explains that the air stream proceeds through the diffusing screen wherein random disturbances in the air stream caused by the protective guard and the fan are dispersed to yield a substantially laminar air stream (Col. 4 lines 31-36). McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) explains that particles with “good flowing characteristics” such as dryness and smooth particle surfaces are suitable for separation in classifying devices employing diffuse laminar flow (Col. 1 lines 12-40).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) to include a first air filter element disposed between the first fan and the first zone of the chamber as taught by McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) in order to disperse random disturbances in the air stream and provide a substantially laminar air stream to separate particles with good flowing characteristics.
Regarding claim 8, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) teaches the particle filter apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a second air filter (Fig. 4 #36) element disposed between the second fan and the second zone of the chamber (Fig. 4 #36 disposed between #40 and left side of #10).
Regarding claim 9, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) lacks teaching the particle filter apparatus of claim 8 further comprising a mesh element disposed between the second zone of the chamber and the second air filter element.
McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Col. 1 lines 6-9) further comprising a mesh element (Fig. 1 first #102a) disposed between the second zone of the chamber and the second air filter element (Fig. 1 first #102a disposed between second zone of #10 and second #102a).
McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) explains that a filter unit collects particles while minimizing the pressure drop across the filter, and may have a plurality of filters (Col. 4 lines 15-23).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) to include a mesh element disposed between the second zone of the chamber and the second air filter element as taught by McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) in order to collect particles while minimizing the pressure drop across the mesh element and second air filter element.
Regarding claim 10, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) teaches the particle filter apparatus of claim 8 wherein the first or second air filter element (Fig. 4 #36) is removable (Paragraph 0008 lines 1-5, Paragraph 0037 lines 4-8, “maintenance” would require removal of “dust filter #36”).
Regarding claim 15, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) lacks teaching the particle filter apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an air collimator element disposed between the first fan and the first zone.
McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Col. 1 lines 6-9) further comprising an air collimator element (Fig. 1 #54) disposed between the first fan and the first zone (Fig. 1 #54 disposed between #56 and first zone of #10).
McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) explains that the air stream proceeds through the diffusing screens wherein random disturbances in the air stream caused by the protective guard and the fan are dispersed to yield a substantially laminar air stream (Col. 4 lines 31-36). McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) explains that particles with “good flowing characteristics” such as dryness and smooth particle surfaces are suitable for separation in classifying devices employing diffuse laminar flow (Col. 1 lines 12-40).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) to include an air collimator element disposed between the first fan and the first zone as taught by McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) in order to disperse random disturbances in the air stream and provide a substantially laminar air stream to separate particles with good flowing characteristics.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) in view of Wu et al. (CN 110665807) and further in view of Feng et al. (CN 113333287). English translations of Feng et al. (CN 113333287) have been provided herein.
Regarding claim 13, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) lacks teaching the particle filter apparatus of claim 1 further comprising one or more pressure sensors operably interfaced to the first zone; and wherein the controller is operative to control operation of the first fan in response to pressure signals provided by the one or more pressure sensors.
Feng et al. (CN 113333287) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Paragraph 0001 lines 1-2) further comprising one or more pressure sensors (Fig. 2 #810, Paragraph 0023 lines 1-2) operably interfaced to the first zone (Fig. 1 left side of #500, Paragraph 0055 lines 1-4); and wherein the controller (Fig. 2 #820) is operative to control operation of the first fan (Fig. 1 #210) in response to pressure signals provided by the one or more pressure sensors (Paragraph 0083 lines 1-21).
Feng et al. (CN 113333287) explains that the chamber air pressure can affect the separation, if the negative pressure is too large, light materials will not easily settle, but if the settling chamber is under positive pressure, dust will easily leak out (Paragraph 0083 lines 10-15), and explains that by adjusting the fan frequency, the target feeding air velocity and the target settling chamber air pressure can be achieved (Paragraph 0083 lines 16-21).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) to include one or more pressure sensors operably interfaced to the first zone; and wherein the controller is operative to control operation of the first fan in response to pressure signals provided by the one or more pressure sensors as taught by Feng et al. (CN 113333287) in order to achieve the target chamber air pressure for the separation, wherein the target air pressure is not too low or too high to negatively affect the separation.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) in view of Wu et al. (CN 110665807) and further in view of AL-Shaibani et al. (US 2018/0055289).
Regarding claim 14, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) lacks teaching the particle filter apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a weight sensor disposed under the first collector to sense the weight of filtered particles disposed therein.
AL-Shaibani et al. (US 2018/0055289) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Paragraph 0013 lines 1-4) further comprising a weight sensor (Fig. 7 “load cell”) disposed under the first collector to sense the weight of filtered particles disposed therein (Paragraph 0058 lines 1-15, Paragraph 0074 lines 1-5).
AL-Shaibani et al. (US 2018/0055289) explains that the scale and control system are configured to control processing of the grinds so as to target producing a bean quantity as indicated by the scale, such as to stop grinding and/or refining when a desired amount or ratio of refined and/or filtered grinds is achieved (Paragraph 0058 lines 1-15).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) to include a weight sensor disposed under the first collector to sense the weight of filtered particles disposed therein as taught by AL-Shaibani et al. (US 2018/0055289) in order to control processing of the particles, such as to stop filtering when a desired amount or ratio of filtered particles is achieved.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) in view of Wu et al. (CN 110665807) and further in view of Kazamoto et al. (US 5494171).
Regarding claim 16, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) lacks teaching the particle filter apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an ionizer disposed in the second zone and configured to impart an electrical charge to particles entering the second zone.
Kazamoto et al. (US 5494171) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Col. 1 lines 9-13) further comprising an ionizer (Fig. 1 #5) disposed in the second zone (Fig. 1 #5 in second zone of #6) and configured to impart an electrical charge to particles entering the second zone (Col. 5 lines 14-25).
Kazamoto et al. (US 5494171) explains that the ionized gas eliminates the electrostatic adhesion between the pellets and the fine particles in order to separate the resulting fine particles in which adhesion has been eliminated (Col. 2 lines 20-29).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) to include an ionizer disposed in the second zone and configured to impart an electrical charge to particles entering the second zone as taught by Kazamoto et al. (US 5494171) in order to eliminate adhesion between particles.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) in view of Wu et al. (CN 110665807) and further in view of Wu et al. (CN 109998147). English translations of Wu et al. (CN 109998147) have been provided herein.
Regarding claim 17, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) lacks teaching the particle filter apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a camera mounted to capture images within the chamber; and wherein the controller is configured to adjust operation of the first fan or the second fan based on analysis of the images provided by the camera.
Wu et al. (CN 109998147) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Paragraph 0002 lines 1-2) comprising a camera (Fig. 2 #143) mounted to capture images within the chamber (Fig. 2 #143 mounted to capture images within #2); and wherein the controller is configured to adjust operation of the first fan or the second fan (Paragraph 0035 lines 5-8) based on analysis of the images provided by the camera (Paragraph 0035 lines 1-8).
Wu et al. (CN 109998147) explains that the image processing system analyzes and processes the image, generates an electrical signal from the debris image and transmits it to the blowing device to blow debris within the chamber to the lightweight foreign matter discharge device (Paragraph 0035 lines 1-8), and explains that this system can effectively improve the purity of the material, ensure the quality of the material, and effectively save energy (Paragraph 0038 lines 2-7).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) to include a camera mounted to capture images within the chamber; and wherein the controller is configured to adjust operation of the first fan or the second fan based on analysis of the images provided by the camera as taught by Wu et al. (CN 109998147) in order to analyze an image of the material within the chamber and adjust the first or second fan, therefore improving the purity of the filtered particles and ensuring the quality of the filtered particles.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) in view of McIntyre et al. (US 4759840).
Regarding claim 19, Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Paragraph 0002 lines 1-2), comprising
a filtration chamber (Fig. 1 #10);
a hopper connected to a top surface of the chamber (Paragraph 0042 line 1-Paragraph 0044 line 2, Fig. 1 see ‘M’ entering through #12 at top surface of #10);
one or more fans (Fig. 1 #22, 40) operably connected to the chamber (Fig. 1 #22, 40 operably connected to #10);
an air filter/collimator element (Fig. 4 #36) disposed between the one or more fans and the chamber (Fig. 4 #36 disposed between #40 and #10);
a collector (Paragraph 0048 lines 1-4, Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” below #28) in fluid communication with a bottom of the chamber (Paragraph 0048 lines 1-4, Fig. 1 “tip bin hopper” in fluid communication with bottom surface of #10); and
a control system to drive the one or more fans to expel non-conforming particles introduced into the chamber from the hopper before arriving in the collector (Paragraph 0025 lines 1-14), wherein the non-conforming particles have less than a threshold weight or density (Paragraph 0022 lines 5-26).
Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) lacks teaching an air filter/collimator element disposed between the one or more fans and the chamber to cause substantially laminar or pseudo-laminar flow of air across the filtration chamber.
McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) teaches a particle filter apparatus (Col. 1 lines 6-9) comprising an air filter/collimator element (Fig. 1 #54) disposed between the one or more fans and the chamber (Fig. 1 #54 disposed between #56 and #10).
McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) explains that the air stream proceeds through the diffusing screens wherein random disturbances in the air stream caused by the protective guard and the fan are dispersed to yield a substantially laminar air stream (Col. 4 lines 31-36). McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) explains that particles with “good flowing characteristics” such as dryness and smooth particle surfaces are suitable for separation in classifying devices employing diffuse laminar flow (Col. 1 lines 12-40).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bierma et al. (US 2020/0108413) to include an air filter/collimator element disposed between the one or more fans and the chamber as taught by McIntyre et al. (US 4759840), and to cause substantially laminar or pseudo-laminar flow of air across the filtration chamber as taught by McIntyre et al. (US 4759840) in order to disperse random disturbances in the air stream and provide a substantially laminar air stream to separate particles which have good flowing characteristics (dryness and smooth particle surfaces).
Conclusion
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/MOLLY K DEVINE/ Examiner, Art Unit 3653