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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-3 and 5-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fumagalli (EP 0736626).
Regarding claim 1, Fumagalli discloses:
A power device for dual water paths, comprising:
a water path connecting body (1) provided with a water inflow cavity (15) and two water outflow cavities (28, 29), wherein the two water outflow cavities (28, 29) are connected in parallel with each other and in series with the water inflow cavity 15 (see Figures 4 and 5; Col. 3, lines 9-16, 54-58)
a filter (2) arranged on the water path connecting body (1) and located at a water outlet end of the water inflow cavity 15 (see Figure 7; Col. 2, lines 55-59)
two pumping units (4, 5) respectively arranged on the two water outflow cavities 28, 29 (see Figure 6; Col. 4, lines 1-8)
Regarding claim 2, Fumagalli discloses:
wherein the water path connecting body (1) is further provided with a water outflow through-cavity (21, 27), the water inflow cavity (15) is connected to the water outflow through-cavity (21, 27), one of the water outflow cavities (28, 29) is connected to one end of the water outflow through-cavity (21, 27), and the other water outflow cavity (28, 29) is connected to the other end of the water outflow through-cavity (21, 27), and the two pumping units (4, 5) are located on one side of the water outflow through-cavity 21, 27 (see Figure 5; Col. 3, lines 37-43)
Regarding claim 3, Fumagalli discloses:
wherein the water outlet end of the water inflow cavity (15) is connected to one end of the water outflow through-cavity (21, 27), and the filter (2) is arranged at a junction where the water inflow cavity (15) is connected to the water outflow through-cavity 21, 27 (see Figure 7)
Regarding claim 5, Fumagalli discloses:
wherein the filter (2) is detachably connected to the water path connecting body 1 (Col. 2, lines 55-59)
Regarding claim 6, Fumagalli discloses:
wherein the filter (2) comprises a filter body (2) and a fixing element (3), the water path connecting body (1) is provided with a mounting hole (14), the filter body (2) is inserted into the mounting hole (14), and the fixing element (3) is connected to the water path connecting body (1) and abuts against the filter body (2) to fix the filter body (2) at the water outlet end of the water inflow cavity 15 (Col. 2, lines 55-59)
Regarding claim 7, Fumagalli discloses:
wherein the filter (2) further comprises a sealing element (24), and the sealing element (24) is arranged between the fixing element (3) and the water path connecting body (1) to maintain a sealed connection between the fixing element (3) and the mounting hole 14 (Col. 3, lines 26-31; see Figure 1)
Regarding claim 8, Fumagalli discloses:
wherein the water path connecting body (1) is provided with a fixing end (11, 12) for fixedly connecting the water path connecting body (1) to a component to be connected (Col. 4, lines 1-8)
Regarding claim 9, Fumagalli discloses:
wherein the pumping unit (4, 5) comprises a pump head (4, 5) and pump vanes (6), the pump head is connected to the water path connecting body (1), and the pump vanes (6) are arranged at an output end of the pump head (4, 5) and located within the water outflow cavity 28, 29 (see Figure 6; Col. 3, lines 9-17)
Regarding claim 10, Fumagalli discloses:
A washing apparatus (Col. 1, lines 1-2) comprising a return water path and a drainage water path, and the power device for dual water paths according to claim 1 (see above), wherein the return water path and the drainage water path are respectively connected to the two water outflow cavities 28, 29 (Col. 4, lines 1-8)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is 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. Zhao et al. (U.S. 2020/0399816) discloses a power device for a dual water path comprising a water path connecting body provided with a water inflow cavity and two water outflow cavities; the water outflow cavities connected in parallel and each having a pumping unit; a filter arranged on the water path connecting body at a water outlet end of the inflow cavity.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KELSEY E CARY whose telephone number is (571)272-9427. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:30am-5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors, Craig Schneider can be reached at (571)-272-3607 or Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881.. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KELSEY E CARY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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