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 .
Acknowledgement is made of the preliminary amendments filed on 4/10/2025 and 11/10/2025. Accordingly, claims 1-6 are pending for consideration on the merits in this Office Action.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/10/2025 was filed on or after the mailing date of the application. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding Claim 1, in line 12 the claim recites “…direction and a lateral hole one end of which is opened. Please amend the claim to recite - - direction and a lateral hole at one end of which is opened - - for clarity.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Looser et a. (US2016/0090897) in view of Watanabe et al. (US2011/0214626) and Saur et al. (DE19735058B4).
Regarding Claim 1, Looser teaches a temperature adjusting device [fig 1], comprising:
a housing [2] having a cylindrical sleeve [4; 0033];
a temperature adjusting member [at least connector 3] having a heating portion [6] or temperature sensing unit that is inserted from the sleeve into the housing [0038; 0035; fig 1; where the limitation is recited in the alternative];
a clip member [12; 0037];
a first biasing member [8], wherein a flange portion protruding outwardly is formed on the periphery of the temperature adjusting member [fig 1; drawing I];
and the first biasing member [8] biases the temperature adjusting member [3] toward the ejecting direction from the sleeve [fig 1; Drawing I].
Looser not explicitly teach where the clip member prevents the temperature adjusting member from coming off from the sleeve; and
where the sleeve is provided with a groove formed on the outer periphery along the circumferential direction and a lateral hole at one end of which is opened in the groove that penetrates the thick portion of the sleeve,
where the clip member includes an outer fitting portion that is elastically deformable and fittable to the groove and inward protrusions that extend facing to each other from both ends of the outer fitting portion and press the flange portion from the tip end side of the sleeve by being inserted through the lateral hole.
However, Watanabe teaches a cooling apparatus for an internal combustion engine [0002] having where a sleeve [18] is provided with a groove [at 26] formed on the outer periphery along the circumferential direction and a lateral hole [at 26] at one end of which is opened in the groove that penetrates the thick portion of the sleeve and a clip member [26] fittable to the groove where the clip member prevents the temperature adjusting member [17] from coming off from the sleeve [0037; 0038; fig 4] where one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods and that in combination, each element would perform the same function as it did separately and one of ordinary skills would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable i.e. provide a structure by which the temperature adjustment unit is secured [0037].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly of Looser to have where the clip member prevents the temperature adjusting member from coming off from the sleeve; and where the sleeve is provided with a groove formed on the outer periphery along the circumferential direction and a lateral hole at one end of which is opened in the groove that penetrates the thick portion of the sleeve in view of the teachings of Watanabe where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results i.e. provide a structure by which the temperature adjustment unit is secured.
Lastly, Saur teaches a thermostatic element [fig 4] having where a clip member [85] includes an outer fitting portion that is elastically deformable and fittable to a groove [at 85] and inward protrusions that extend facing to each other from both ends of the outer fitting portion and press the flange portion from the tip end side of the sleeve by being inserted through the lateral hole [0015; see fig 3] where one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods and that in combination, each element would perform the same function as it did separately and one of ordinary skills would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable i.e. provide a structure by which the temperature adjustment unit is secured [0015].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly of Looser to have where the clip member includes an outer fitting portion that is elastically deformable and fittable to the groove and inward protrusions that extend facing to each other from both ends of the outer fitting portion and press the flange portion from the tip end side of the sleeve by being inserted through the lateral hole in view of the teachings of Saur where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results i.e. provide a structure by which the temperature adjustment unit is secured.
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Drawing I
Regarding Claim 3, Looser, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 1 above and Looser teaches wherein an annular sealing member for sealing the outer periphery of the temperature adjusting member is provided, and the sealing member is compressed from both sides in the radial direction between the temperature adjusting member and the housing [see Drawing I above].
Regarding Claim 5, Looser, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 1 above and Looser teaches wherein the first biasing member [8] is made of an elastomer [0035; where at least HNBR is an elastomer].
Regarding Claim 6, Looser, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 1 above and Looser teaches a flow passage of the coolant formed inside the housing [See Drawing I];
a valve that opens and closes the flow passage [0035; see fig 3];
a thermo-element [5] that extends and contracts in accordance with the temperature of the coolant to drive the valve to open and close [0035]; and
a second biasing member [11] that biases the valve toward the closing direction [0035],
wherein the thermo-element comprises a temperature-sensitive case [implicit] containing a temperature- sensitive member whose volume changes in accordance with the temperature [0035], and a piston [at least the top portion of expansion element 5], one end of which is supported by the housing [0040; where the device has axial movement which opens and closes the valve], which advances from and retracts into the temperature-sensitive case in accordance with the volume change of the temperature-sensitive member [0035; 0040], and wherein the temperature adjusting member includes the heating portion [6], and the heating portion is inserted into the piston [0035; fig 3].
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Looser et a. (US2016/0090897), Watanabe et al. (US2011/0214626) and Saur et al. (DE19735058B4) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Saur et al. (US5607324).
Regarding Claim 2, Looser, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 1 above but does not teach wherein an annular step is provided on an inner circumference of the sleeve, and the first biasing member is interposed between the flange portion and the step.
However, Saur teaches a thermostatic working element of a thermostatic valve [col 1, lines 8-29] having wherein an annular step is provided on an inner circumference of the sleeve, and a biasing member [22] is interposed between the flange portion and the step [col 2, lines 20-50; figs 1-3; Drawing II] where one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods and that in combination, each element would perform the same function as it did separately and one of ordinary skills would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable i.e. provide a structure by which the connector plug is secured [col 2, lines 34-37].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly of Looser to have wherein an annular step is provided on an inner circumference of the sleeve, and the first biasing member is interposed between the flange portion and the step in view of the teachings of Saur where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results i.e. provide a structure by which the connector plug is secured.
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Drawing II
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Looser et a. (US2016/0090897), Watanabe et al. (US2011/0214626) and Saur et al. (DE19735058B4) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Ems (US5979777).
Regarding Claim 4, Looser, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 1 above but does not teach wherein the first biasing member is a disc spring.
However, Ems teaches a thermostat [0001] having wherein a biasing member is a disc spring [30; 0008; fig 2] where one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods i.e. substitution and that in combination, each element would perform the same function as it did separately and one of ordinary skills would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable i.e. provide a structure which provides an enhanced sealing function [0008].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly of Looser to have wherein the first biasing member is a disc spring in view of the teachings of Ems where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results i.e. provide a structure which provides an enhanced sealing function.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LARRY L FURDGE whose telephone number is (313)446-4895. The examiner can normally be reached M-R 6a-3p; F 6a-10a.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jerry Fletcher can be reached at 571-270-5054. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LARRY L FURDGE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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