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 Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: “comprising” should be changed to “comprises” in line 1. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-12 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.
Regarding claim 1, the term “comprising” in line 1 is placed after a comma such that it is unclear whether the term is related to the system or the soil. For purposes of examination, the examiner interprets “comprising” to mean “the system comprising”. Claims 2-12 are rejected for depending from a rejected claim.
Claim 4 recites the limitations “the first suppression structure” in line 1, “the conveyor belt” in lines 1-2, and “the feed opening” in lines 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 7 recites the limitations “the second suppression structure” in line 1, and “the discharge opening” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
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.
Claims 1-12 (as best understood) are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al (TW M640833 U) in view of Chen et al (CN 207103413 U).
Regarding claim 1, Yu discloses a microwave desorption system for soil (e.g. A, Fig. 1, paragraph 0082), comprising: a rectangular housing (e.g. 1, Fig. 1, paragraph 0082); a microwave heating device located inside and fixed to the rectangular housing (e.g. 100, Fig. 1, paragraph 0082) and configured to heat a material with a moisture content ranging between 5% and 50% and a particle size not greater than 5 cm (e.g. 180, Fig. 1, paragraphs 0081 and 0083, wherein the microwave heating device is configured to heat soil, and wherein the microwave energy will heat up the material of any moisture content including between 5% and 50% and any size including not greater than 5 cm); a gas treatment device located inside and fixed to the rectangular housing (e.g. 3, Fig. 1, paragraph 0084), connected to the microwave heating device (e.g. Fig. 1, paragraph 0085), and configured to purify a waste gas generated after the microwave heating device heats the material (e.g. 160, Fig. 1, paragraph 0085), so that a purified waste gas is released by the gas treatment device (e.g. 161, Fig. 1, paragraph 0085); and an air extraction module located inside and fixed to the rectangular housing (e.g. 2, Fig. 1, paragraph 0084), connected to the gas treatment device (e.g. paragraph 0086), and configured to extract the purified waste gas released by the gas treatment device out of the rectangular housing (e.g. paragraph 0086). Yu does not explicitly disclose that the gas treatment device is equipped with a plurality of ultraviolet light sources configured to emit an ultraviolet light energy to directly decompose and purify the waste gas. Chen teaches a desorption system for soil (e.g. claim 1), comprising: a heating device configured to heat a material with a moisture content ranging between 5% and 50% and a particle size not greater than 5 cm (e.g. 18, Fig. 1, claim 1); a gas treatment device connected to the heating device (e.g. 17, Fig. 1, claim 1) and equipped with a plurality of ultraviolet light sources (e.g. 13, Fig. 1, claim 4), wherein the plurality of ultraviolet light sources are configured to emit an ultraviolet light energy to directly decompose and purify a waste gas generated after the microwave heating device heats the material (e.g. paragraph 0028), so that a purified waste gas is released by the gas treatment device (e.g. paragraph 0028); and an air extraction module connected to the gas treatment device and configured to extract the purified waste gas released by the gas treatment device (e.g. 16, Fig. 1, paragraph 0028). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to add ultraviolet light sources as taught by Chen to the gas treatment device of Yu because such are known devices in the art that would provide the expected benefit of treating the waste gas and reducing secondary pollution (e.g. Chen, paragraphs 0028-0029).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Yu and Chen further discloses that the microwave heating device comprises: a heating chamber (e.g. Yu, 110, Fig. 1) having a feed opening (e.g. Yu, leftmost 112, Fig. 1) and a discharge opening opposite to the feed opening (e.g. Yu, rightmost 112, Fig. 1), wherein the heating chamber is equipped with microwave power sources to provide a microwave energy to heat the material (e.g. Yu, 120, Fig. 1, paragraph 0088); a first microwave suppression chamber connected to the feed opening of the heating chamber (e.g. Yu, leftmost 130, Fig. 1, paragraph 0088) and equipped with a first suppression structure configured to absorb the microwave energy from the feed opening (e.g. Yu, leftmost 132, Fig. 1, paragraphs 0095 and 0098); a second microwave suppression chamber connected to the discharge opening of the heating chamber (e.g. Yu, rightmost 130, Fig. 1, paragraph 0088) and equipped with a second suppression structure configured to absorb the microwave energy from the discharge opening (e.g. Yu, rightmost 132, Fig. 1, paragraphs 0095 and 0098); a conveyor belt configured to transport the material from a feed module into the first microwave suppression chamber, then into the heating chamber, and finally into the second microwave suppression chamber for outputting the material (e.g. Yu, 150, Fig. 1, paragraph 0089); and an exhaust module connected to the heating chamber of the microwave heating device and configured to discharge the waste gas out of the heating chamber to send the waste gas to the gas treatment device (e.g. Yu, 140, Fig. 1, paragraph 0090).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Yu and Chen further discloses that the gas treatment device is connected to the exhaust module of the microwave heating device via a pipe (e.g. Yu, 141, Fig. 1, paragraph 0091).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Yu and Chen further discloses that the first suppression structure is positioned over the conveyor belt and includes a first absorbing material for absorbing the microwave energy from the feed opening (e.g. Yu, leftmost 132, Fig. 1, paragraphs 0095 and 0098).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Yu and Chen further discloses that the first absorbing material is a ferrite material, a conductive polymer, or a carbon-based material (e.g. Yu, carbon-based material, paragraph 0098).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Yu and Chen further discloses that the first suppression structure further includes a first microwave absorbing fluid for absorbing the microwave energy from the feed opening (e.g. Yu, leftmost 136, Fig. 1, paragraph 0097).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Yu and Chen further discloses that the second suppression structure is positioned over the conveyor belt and includes a second absorbing material for absorbing the microwave energy from the discharge opening (e.g. Yu, rightmost 132, Fig. 1, paragraphs 0095 and 0098).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Yu and Chen further discloses that the second absorbing material is a ferrite material, a conductive polymer, or a carbon-based material (e.g. Yu, carbon-based material, paragraph 0098).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Yu and Chen further discloses that the second suppression structure further includes a second microwave absorbing fluid for absorbing the microwave energy from the discharge opening (e.g. Yu, rightmost 136, Fig. 1, paragraph 0097).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Yu and Chen further discloses that an inner space of the rectangular housing is a negative pressure environment (e.g. Yu, paragraph 0093).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Yu and Chen further discloses that the microwave heating device is electrically grounded to the rectangular housing via at least one metal sheet (e.g. Yu, 4, Fig. 1, paragraphs 0040 and 0087), and the rectangular housing is electrically grounded to a ground (e.g. Yu, 5, Fig. 1, paragraph 0087).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Yu and Chen does not explicitly disclose that the at least one metal sheet is a copper sheet. The examiner takes official notice that copper is notoriously well known in the art. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use copper for the metal sheet of the combination of Yu and Chen because 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, and copper provides the expected benefit of high conductivity and corrosion resistance.
Conclusion
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/S.N.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3678
/AMBER R ANDERSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3678
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