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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims.
Claims 10-18 recite a motor comprising the centrifugal fan wherein the centrifugal fan is connected to the rotating shaft of the motor via bolts. However, the drawings do not show a motor, rotating shaft and bolts connected to the rotating shaft and the centrifugal fan. Therefore, the abovementioned features must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 10-18 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.
Claims 10-18 recite “the rotating shaft” without proper antecedent bases.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang (Chinese patent document CN 101846087B).
As per claim 1, Huang discloses a centrifugal fan, comprising: a centrifugal fan body (10; figure 1) comprising a plurality of main air ducts (defined by discs 11 and blades 15; figure 1) circumferentially arranged around the rotation axis of the centrifugal fan; an air duct ring (20) comprising a plurality of extended air ducts circumferentially arranged around the rotation axis of the centrifugal fan (as shown; figure 1); the air duct ring is configured to sleeve onto the centrifugal fan body so that the extended air ducts and the main air ducts are connected one-to-one (as shown; figures 1, 2, 5).
As per claim 4, Huang discloses the centrifugal fan according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein the air duct ring (20; figure 1) comprises an upper panel (31), a lower panel (41), and a plurality of partition plates (23) between the upper panel and the lower panel (as shown; figure 1), wherein any two adjacent partition plates, together with the upper panel and the lower panel, form the extended air ducts (as shown; figure 1).
As per claim 8, Huang discloses the centrifugal fan according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein the main air duct and the extended air duct are connected to form a curved duct (as shown; figure 2).
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.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang.
As per claim 9, Huang discloses the centrifugal fan according to claim 1. Huang does not explicitly teach wherein the centrifugal fan body comprises a plurality of fan blades, with a diameter of 250-288 mm and an outlet angle of 120-130 degrees. Huang recognizes the diameter and the outlet angle to be result effective variable in terms of determining the required pressure and the efficiency (see machine translation paragraphs [0038], [0043]). Where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation (see MPEP 2144.05). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify the diameter of the fan to be within 250-288 mm and the outlet angle of the fan to be 120-130 degrees for required pressure and efficiency because it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation.
Claim(s) 10, 13, 17 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Kegg (U.S. Patent No. 6,666,660).
As per claims 10, 13, 17 and 18, Huang discloses the motor comprising the centrifugal fan according to claims 1, 4, 8 and 9. Huang does not explicitly teach wherein the centrifugal fan is connected to the rotating shaft of the motor via bolts.
Kegg (U.S. Patent No. 6,666,660) is related prior art in that it deals with a centrifugal fan. Kegg teaches wherein the centrifugal fan is bolted to motor-shaft via bolt (column 5, lines 7-9). Therefore, in order to mount the centrifugal fan to the motor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify Huang to incorporate Kegg’s bolted connection to the shaft as it would allow the fan to be mounted to the motor.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 5-7, 11, 12, and 14-16 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:
Claim 2 contains allowable subject matter wherein the centrifugal fan body and the air duct ring have a plurality of positioning slots and fixing brackets, respectively, arranged at opposite edges, wherein the fixing brackets correspond one-to-one with the positioning slots for connection.
No relevant prior art of record sufficiently teaches the allowable subject matter of claim 2 in such a way that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the prior arts to create the claimed invention.
Claims 3, 5-7 and 11, 12, 14-16 also contain allowable subject matter by virtue of their dependency on claim 2.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bentley (U.S. Patent No. 1,462,592) teaches a centrifugal blower having ducted blades with sleeved ducted passages.
Kim (U.S. Patent No. 10,465,696) teaches a centrifugal fan having an inner fan portion and an outer fan portion surrounding the inner fan portion.
Lin (U.S. Patent No. 12,055,157) also teaches a centrifugal fan having an inner fan portion and an outer fan portion surrounding the inner fan portion.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANG K KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-1324. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Courtney Heinle can be reached at (571)270-3508. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SANG K KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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