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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 07/11/2025 is acknowledged by the Examiner.
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 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.
Claims 1-2, 11-13, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Park et al. (US 20210108731).
Park et al. disclose:
1. (Currently amended) A coolant regulator ([0004]-[0005]; figs. 1-6), comprising: a housing (inner wall 33 of housing is shown in figs. 3-4), a rotary slide valve (35) disposed within the housing, and at least one seal (110, 151, 153) clamped between the housing and the rotary slide valve under elastic deformation [0062], and the at least one seal has a sleeve shape and is spring-loaded in sealing contact with an outer lateral surface (see 153) of the rotary slide valve (fig. 4), and a spring force acting on the at least one seal results solely from deformation of the at least one seal [0062], and the at least one seal has a perforation (155) with multiple holes penetrating a circumferential seal wall (seen in fig. 6) of the at least one seal so as to provide elastic deformability of the at least one seal.
2. (Currently amended) The coolant regulator according to claim 1, wherein the multiple holes comprise longitudinal slots (holes 155 extend axially and longitudinally as seen in fig. 6) extending longitudinally in a circumferential direction with respect to the sleeve shape of the at least one seal.
11. (New) A coolant regulator ([0004]-[0005]; figs. 1-6), comprising: a housing (inner wall 33 of housing is shown in figs. 3-4) having at least one fluid connection (32a, 32b), a rotary slide valve (35) disposed in the housing and configured to rotate within the housing so as to selectively fluidly connect at least one opening of the rotary slide valve with the at least one fluid connection so as to adjust a coolant flow of the coolant regulator, and a seal (110, 151, 153) clamped between the housing and the rotary slide valve via elastic deformation of the seal so that the seal forcibly and sealingly engages the rotary slide valve [0062], the seal having a cylindrical seal wall configured with a plurality of holes (155) that are capable of elastically deforming when the seal is clamped, and a spring force acting on the seal results solely from elastic deformation of the seal.
12. (New) The coolant regulator of claim 11, wherein the rotary slide valve is configured with a spherical outer surface (as seen in figs. 3, 4).
13. (New) The coolant regulator of claim 12, wherein the seal includes: a first sealing lip extending radially inwardly from a radial inner side of seal, the first sealing lip sealingly engaged with the housing, or a second sealing lip extending radially outwardly from a radial outer side of the seal, the second sealing lip sealingly engaged with the housing (second sealing lip at 151 seals outward to engage the housing wall 33).
17. (New) A coolant regulator ([0004]-[0005]; figs. 1-6), comprising: a housing (inner wall 33 of housing is shown in figs. 3-4) having at least one fluid connection (32a, 32b), a rotary slide valve (35) disposed in the housing and configured to rotate within the housing so as to selectively fluidly connect at least one opening of the rotary slide valve with the at least one fluid connection so as to adjust a coolant flow of the coolant regulator, and a seal (110, 151, 153) clamped between the housing and the rotary slide valve via elastic deformation of the seal so that a circular ring-shaped end face of the seal (end 153 which is part of the cylindrical seal would then have a circular ring-shaped end face) forcibly and sealingly engages a round outer surface of a rotary slide valve (figs. 3-4; [0062]), the seal configured with a plurality of circumferentially spaced holes (155) that elastically deform when the seal is clamped (due to being formed in the elastic material), and a spring force acting on the seal results solely from elastic deformation of the plurality of circumferentially spaced holes (as seen in figs. 3-4, no other spring).
18. (New) The coolant regulator of claim 17, wherein the circumferentially spaced holes are circumferentially spaced longitudinal slots (fig. 6).
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 of this title, 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 2, 5, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (US 20210108731) in view of Ma et al. (US 20210215258).
Park et al. disclose the invention as essentially claimed, except for wherein the longitudinal slots are arranged axially in adjacent rows; wherein the at least one seal comprises exactly two rows of longitudinal slots; and wherein the circumferentially spaced longitudinal slots comprise a first row and a second row axially adjacent to the first row.
Ma et al. teach a related coolant regulator ball valve having a seal clamped between the ball and the housing, wherein the holes in the seal comprises two rows, the second row adjacent to the first row, as an alternate arrangement for the openings in the seal.
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify the Park’s reference, to have “the longitudinal slots are arranged axially in adjacent rows; wherein the at least one seal comprises exactly two rows of longitudinal slots; and wherein the circumferentially spaced longitudinal slots comprise a first row and a second row axially adjacent to the first row”, since applicant has not disclosed that having “the longitudinal slots are arranged axially in adjacent rows; wherein the at least one seal comprises exactly two rows of longitudinal slots; and wherein the circumferentially spaced longitudinal slots comprise a first row and a second row axially adjacent to the first row” since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8. The openings 155 in Park are used in aiding cooling to the seal. Adding another row adjacent to the first would provide the expected result of further cooling.
Claims 1, 8, 9, 11-13, 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Baden et al. (EP 3290757) in view of Yagi (US 10794488).
Baden et al. disclose:
1. (Currently amended) A coolant regulator (figs. 1-3), comprising: a housing (10), a rotary slide valve (20, 60) disposed within the housing, and at least one seal (31) clamped between the housing and the rotary slide valve under elastic deformation, and the at least one seal has a sleeve shape and is spring-loaded in sealing contact with an outer lateral surface (see fig. 2b) of the rotary slide valve, and a spring force acting on the at least one seal results from deformation of the at least one seal (Eng translation [0008] states “The sealing element is preferably made of plastic and formed relatively soft. As a result, a particularly effective sealing can be achieved.”), and the at least one seal has a perforation (between 316) with multiple holes penetrating a circumferential seal wall (seen in fig. 3) of the at least one seal so as to provide elastic deformability of the at least one seal. Baden et al. similarly discloses claims 11 and 17.
8. (Currently amended) The coolant regulator according to claim 2, wherein the at least one seal comprises two parts of different plastics which are inseparably overmolded with one another (31 is produced by injecting onto 32; see [0008], [0011]).
9. (Currently amended) The coolant regulator according to claim 8, a first sealing part (31) of the two parts of different plastics is in sealing contact with the rotary slide valve (20).
12. (New) The coolant regulator of claim 11, wherein the rotary slide valve is configured with a spherical outer surface (fig. 2b).
13. (New) The coolant regulator of claim 12, wherein the seal includes: a first sealing lip extending radially inwardly from a radial inner side of seal, the first sealing lip sealingly engaged with the housing, or a second sealing lip (310) extending radially outwardly from a radial outer side of the seal, the second sealing lip sealingly engaged with the housing (seen in fig. 2b).
Baden et al. does not disclose wherein the spring force results solely from the at least one seal; and the first sealing part comprises polytetrafluoroethylene and a second sealing part of the two parts of different plastics comprises ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber.
Yagi teaches a related coolant regulator (Background Art), wherein the deformation of the seal is known to be applied solely from the seal without a separate spring (see 5th embodiment, fig. 5) as an alternate equivalent for pressing the seal toward the valve, in a manner yielding predictable results.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Baden et al., such that the spring force results solely from the at least one seal, as taught by Yagi, as an alternate equivalent for pressing the seal toward the valve, in a manner yielding predictable results.
Although Baden et al. do not specifically disclose the “first sealing part comprises polytetrafluoroethylene and a second sealing part of the two parts of different plastics comprises ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber”, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art such that the “first sealing part comprises polytetrafluoroethylene and a second sealing part of the two parts of different plastics comprises ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber”, 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. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4, 6-7, 10, 14-16, and 20 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 6196262, US 5069240, US 10794488, JP H0727238, EP 3561345, and US 20070267588 each disclose related seals for rotary plug valves.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARINA TIETJEN, whose telephone number is 571-270-5422. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (10:30AM-7:00PM CST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Tom Barrett can be reached at 571-272-4746, Ken Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881, and Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MARINA A TIETJEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
