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 .
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 5/19/2025 was filed prior to the mailing date of the mailing of this action. The submission complies with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because it appears that, at least, the numerals in Figure 5 of “L21” should be marked as M2 in comparing the cutaway indicators A-A for Figure 4.
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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.
Claims 2-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "or" in line 12. The limitations following “or”, being “or the downstream internal flow path opens on the same plane as the valve seat surface, and an opening of the downstream internal flow path extends outward of the downstream annular groove in a plan view”, are unclear as to what limitations are required prior to the limitation “or”, for the structural features required in the claim, or,
are the limitations following “or”, the only structural features required in the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Hayashi (US 20120255630). The claims being rejected as best understood based on the 112 rejection above.
Regarding claim 1, Hayashi discloses a fluid control valve 3 that controls a fluid from an upstream flow path 51A to flow out to a downstream flow path 51B, the fluid control valve comprising: an orifice 4 having a valve seat surface (4a,10, para.0058); and a valve body 6 having a seating surface 6a seated on the valve seat surface, wherein the orifice includes an annular groove 9A,9B formed in the valve seat surface, and an internal flow path 41A communicating with the upstream flow path or the downstream flow path and opened in the annular groove, the internal flow path is opened (via 41b) on a same plane as the valve seat surface, and an opening (41c,see Fig. 5) of the internal flow path extends outward of the annular groove in a plan view (as shown in Fig. 3 also, the size of the aperture of 41c extends outward).
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Regarding claim 2, as best understood, Hayashi discloses the internal flow path 41a includes an upstream internal flow path 41b communicating with the upstream flow path, and a downstream internal flow path 51B communicating with the downstream flow path, the annular groove includes an upstream annular groove 9A to which the upstream internal flow path is opened, and a downstream annular groove 9B to which the downstream internal flow path is opened, and the upstream internal flow path opens on the same plane as the valve seat surface, and an opening (one of the holes of 41c) of the upstream internal flow path extends outward (one of the holes of 41c, the size extends outward) of the upstream annular groove in a plan view, or the downstream internal flow path opens on the same plane as the valve seat surface, and an opening (one of the holes of 42c) of the downstream internal flow path extends outward (one of the holes of 42c, the size extends outward) of the downstream annular groove in a plan view.
Regarding claim 3, Hayashi discloses the upstream annular groove and the downstream annular groove are formed substantially concentrically in the valve seat surface (as shown in Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 4, Hayashi discloses the upstream annular groove and the downstream annular groove are formed alternately in the valve seat surface (as shown in Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 5, Hayashi discloses a plurality of the upstream internal flow paths (the paths within the other openings 41c in 9A) is opened in the upstream annular groove, and a plurality of the downstream internal flow paths (the paths within the other openings of 42c in 9B) is opened in the downstream annular groove (as shown in Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 6, Hayashi discloses openings (the openings of 41c) of the upstream internal flow paths and openings (the openings of 42c) of the downstream internal flow paths are formed to be shifted from each other in a circumferential direction in the plan view (as shown in Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 7, Hayashi discloses the upstream annular groove and the downstream annular groove have different depths from each other (as shown in Fig. 7 and comparing it with figure 3, the depths of the upstream grooves 9A are deeper than the groove depths for the downstream groove 9B).
Regarding claim 8, Hayashi discloses an internal flow path (the rightmost path of 41b as shown in fig.4) penetrating from a lower surface (the bottom of the hole/bore 41a) opposite to the valve seat surface communicates with a shallower annular groove (the groove at 9A aligned with the rightmost path) of the upstream annular groove or the downstream annular groove.
Regarding claim 9, Hayashi discloses a linear internal flow path (the path of 42a) formed from a side surface (the outer left side of 4 where port 42a opens) other than the valve seat surface and a lower surface (this outer diameter surface is lower than the valve seat surface) opposite to the valve seat surface communicates with a deeper annular groove (the middle groove of 9A, see Fig. 5) of the upstream annular groove or the downstream annular groove (one of the grooves of 9B, see Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 10, Hayashi discloses a fluid control device 100 comprising: the fluid control valve according to claim 1; a flow rate measurement unit (2, para.0039) that measures a flow rate of a flow path; and a valve controller (para.0036, “control part”) that controls the fluid control valve on a basis of a measurement value measured by the flow rate measurement unit.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The references to Saga ‘173 and Johnson ‘752 disclose openings that are wider than the groove they intersect.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Craig Price, whose telephone number is (571)272-2712 or via facsimile (571)273-2712. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (8:00AM-4:30PM EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Craig Schneider, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-3607, 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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/CRAIG J PRICE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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