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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 18 July 2025 and 23 September 2025 is being considered by the examiner. The Office notes that there are two IDS filed on 18 July 2025, one with two pages and the other with one page. The one with one page is not being considered since it appears to be a duplicate of the one with two pages listing the same 3 references.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities:
---Claim 4 recites the following:
4. The valve according to claim 3, wherein the pressure sensitive body has an adapter, the valve body has a contact portion at an end, and at least one of the adapter and the contact portion has a tapered surface, and the tapered surface and remaining one of the adapter and contact portion are brought into contact with and separated from each other.
Notice the missing article “a” in “remaining one of the adapter and contact portion”.
The Office suggests that claim 4 is amended as follows:
4. The valve according to claim 3, wherein the pressure sensitive body has an adapter, the valve body has a contact portion at an end, and at least one of the adapter and the contact portion has a tapered surface, and the tapered surface and a remaining one of the adapter and contact portion are brought into contact with and separated from each other.
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.
(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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1/a2 as being anticipated by Umemura US-8021124.
Regarding claims 1-5, Umemura US-8021124 teaches in Figs. 1-9 (see at least Figs. 2-6) the limitations of:
---Claim 1. A valve (V), comprising: a valve body (40) provided between a first pressure chamber (the chamber or chambers on the right side of valve seat 35a) and a second pressure chamber (the chamber or chambers on the left side of the valve seat 35a where the pressure sensitive body 50 resides) and configured to control a flow rate of fluid passing through the first pressure chamber and the second pressure chamber by opening and closing of the valve (see at least Figs. 2-6); a valve seat (35a); and a pressure sensitive body (50) into which pressure in the first pressure chamber is introduced and which is disposed in a portion of the second pressure chamber and configured for coming into contact with and separating from the valve body (see at least Figs. 2-6).
---Claim 2. The valve according to claim 1, wherein the valve is switchable between a first mode in which the valve is in an open state and a second mode in which throttle control of the valve is performed at a position of the valve body closer to the valve seat than in the open state (see at least Figs. 2-6).
---Claim 3. The valve according to claim 2, wherein the valve body is separated from the pressure sensitive body in the first mode and brought into contact with the pressure sensitive body in the second mode (see at least Figs. 2-6).
---Claim 4. The valve according to claim 3, wherein the pressure sensitive body has an adapter (53), the valve body has a contact portion (43) at an end, and at least one of the adapter and the contact portion has a tapered surface (43a/53a), and the tapered surface and remaining one of the adapter and contact portion are brought into contact with and separated from each other (see at least Figs. 2-6).
---Claim 5. The valve according to claim 4, wherein the valve body has a communication passage (44) configured to communicate with a space defined by the contact portion of the valve body and the adapter and with the first pressure chamber in the second mode (see at least Figs. 2-6).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-10 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 closest prior art are:
---References A (Pressure-Sensitive Solenoid Valves):
Hayama US-11156301, Fukudome US-11085431, Warren US-11053933, Tonegawa US-10837431, Hayama US-10690125, Sugamura US-10557463, Taguchi US-10519944, Iwa US-10077849, Higashidozono US-9777863, Shirafuji US-9714646, Ota US-9581149, Fukudome US-9523987, Futakushi US-9132714, Okamoto US-8931517, Okamoto US-8434518, Iwa US-8079827, Umemura US-8021124,
Fukudome US-20210381610, Kurihara US-20210372396, Hayama US-20200370545, Hayama US-20200362974, Hayama US-20200332786, Hayama US-20200318624, Hayama US-20200309105, Higashidozono US-20200132060, Higashidozono US-20200032781, Iwa US-20090114871,
Kurihara WO-2021215345, Hayama WO-2020204134, Hayama WO-2020204136, Hayama WO-2020204131, Ejima WO-2020179597, Hayama WO-2020110925, Hayama WO-2020032088, Hayama WO-2020032087, Hayama WO-2020013154, Hayama WO-2020013156, Hayama WO-2020013155, Kurihara WO-2019167912, Hayama WO-2019159999, Hayama WO-2019159998, Hayama WO-2019131482, Hayama WO-2019131703, Kurihara WO-2019112025, Fukudome WO-2019044759 and Kurihara WO-2019009264.
References A teaches the general state of the art of Pressure-Sensitive Solenoid Valves with many of which being used as capacity control valves for controlling the flow to or out of a compressor in an air conditioning system of a vehicle similar to applicant’s general invention. As it was noted in the rejections above, Umemura US-8021124 teaches many of the features of the claimed invention except for the limitations of “wherein an effective opening area of the valve and an effective area of the pressure sensitive body are equal to each other”. Notice that Umemura is specifically constructed to have different effective areas and modification of the reference to arrive at the claimed invention would be hindsight and in direct contradiction to Umemura’s disclosure. As such, the closest prior art fails to disclose or render obvious the valve as claimed in combination with all the limitations as claimed in claims 6-10 and as shown in at least Figs. 2 and 5-7 of the application.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID COLON-MORALES, whose telephone number is 571-270-1741 and fax number is 571-270-2741. If the applicant has authorized internet communications via the filling of form PTO/SB/439, the examiner can be reached via email at david.colon-morales@uspto.gov , email communication is not permitted if the applicant has not filed an authorization for internet communication (see MPEP 502.03 for more details on internet communications). The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (7:30AM-3:30PM EST).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. KENNETH RINEHART can be reached at 571-272-4881 or CRAIG SCHNEIDER can be reached at 571-272-3607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DAVID COLON-MORALES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
