DETAILED ACTION
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2-4 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.
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 statements filed on 6/11/2025 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 (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.
(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, 5-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zeigler et al. US 3191906 (“Zeigler”).
Regarding Claim 1, Ziegler discloses a valve (10, fig. 2) comprising: a housing (14) having a flow path of fluid (from inlet 32 to outlet 33) in the housing (14); and a valve body (18) provided rotatably with respect to the housing (rotatable about shaft 37), and configured to open and close (illustrated in fig. 2i a closed position) the flow path, wherein the housing has a housing seal surface (22) that surrounds the flow path (col. 2 lines 16-31, “a flow control valve with a novel valve plug having a V-shaped opening therein, the leading edges of the V- shaped opening cooperating with a sealing ring in the control valve with a scissors action, thus, tending to wipe the seating surface and cut any particles that would prevent tight valve seating.”), wherein the valve body (18) has a valve body seal surface (39), which is formed on an outer periphery portion of the valve body (18, see fig. 3) and faces the housing seal surface (22) when the valve body is located at a closing position for closing the flow path (see fig. 2), and wherein the valve body seal surface (39) faces a closing rotation direction of the valve body for closing the flow path, over an entire circumference of the outer periphery portion (col. 3 lines 46-55, “The seal means 22 comprise a washer-like member detachably connected between the casing 14 and an annular support 64. The seal means may be made from a hard, horny thermoplastic material, such as polyamides like nylon; polyhsalogenethylene material, such as Teflon or KEL-F; or from metal, for example, stainless steel. (36) The leading edge of the opening 20 in the valve plug cooperates with the seal means 22 with a scissors action to cut any particles that would prevent tight valve plug seating.“).
Regarding Claim 5, Ziegler discloses the valve body seal surface (39) has unevenness in a front-rear direction orthogonal to a circumferential direction of the outer periphery portion (as illustrated in the figures, the surface shape is not a round ball, it has a V shape (74, 75, 76).
Regarding Claim 6, Ziegler discloses the outer periphery portion (39) includes a return portion configured to cause the valve body seat surface (39) to face the closing rotation direction at a trailing end position of the valve body seal surface in the closing rotation direction (col. 3 lines 46-55, “The seal means 22 comprise a washer-like member detachably connected between the casing 14 and an annular support 64. The seal means may be made from a hard, horny thermoplastic material, such as polyamides like nylon; polyhsalogenethylene material, such as Teflon or KEL-F; or from metal, for example, stainless steel. (36) The leading edge of the opening 20 in the valve plug cooperates with the seal means 22 with a scissors action to cut any particles that would prevent tight valve plug seating.“).
Regarding Claim 7, Ziegler discloses the housing seal surface (22) holds a seal (22) extending along a circumferential direction of the housing seal surface (see fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 8, Ziegler discloses the housing (14) includes a sealing tube (64) having the flow path in the sealing tube, and the housing seal surface (22) is formed on an end surface of the sealing tube (64).
Regarding Claim 9, Ziegler discloses the housing (14) includes a flat portion (upper and lower ends of the housing 14 that support the shaft 37 are flat, see ann. fig. 2) in a vicinity of a portion that axially supports the valve body (18).
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ZIEGLER – ANNOTATED FIGURE 2
Regarding Claim 10, Ziegler discloses the valve body (18) includes a hemispherical main blocker (74, 75, 76) on an inner side of the outer periphery portion, and wherein the housing includes a spherical portion (ann. fig. 2), in which the main blocker of the valve body (18) that has opened the flow path stands by, at a position adjacent to the flat portion (ann. fig. 2) in a circumferential direction of the housing (14).
Regarding Claim 11, Ziegler discloses a valve (10, fig. 2) comprising: a housing (14) having a flow path of fluid (from inlet 32 to outlet 33) in the housing (14); and a valve body (18) provided rotatably with respect to the housing (rotatable about shaft 37), and configured to open and close (illustrated in fig. 2i a closed position) the flow path, wherein the housing has a housing seal surface (22) that surrounds the flow path (col. 2 lines 16-31, “a flow control valve with a novel valve plug having a V-shaped opening therein, the leading edges of the V- shaped opening cooperating with a sealing ring in the control valve with a scissors action, thus, tending to wipe the seating surface and cut any particles that would prevent tight valve seating.”), wherein the valve body (18) has a valve body seal surface (39), which is formed on an outer periphery portion of the valve body (18, see fig. 3) and faces the housing seal surface (22) when the valve body is located at a closing position for closing the flow path (see fig. 2), and wherein the valve body seal surface (39) faces a closing rotation direction of the valve body for closing the flow path, over an entire circumference of the outer periphery portion (col. 3 lines 46-55, “The seal means 22 comprise a washer-like member detachably connected between the casing 14 and an annular support 64. The seal means may be made from a hard, horny thermoplastic material, such as polyamides like nylon; polyhsalogenethylene material, such as Teflon or KEL-F; or from metal, for example, stainless steel. (36) The leading edge of the opening 20 in the valve plug cooperates with the seal means 22 with a scissors action to cut any particles that would prevent tight valve plug seating.“).A recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. The limitations of “a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a processing container configured to accommodate and process a substrate; an exhaust path connected to the processing container and configured to discharge a gas from the processing container; and a valve provided in the exhaust path and configured to control a flow of the gas in the exhaust path” lack structures because it reads broadly with regard to a system. There is a device or system that is upstream from the valve.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Shorback et al. US 11953113, Legris US 4172584, and Varden US 4634098 disclose ball valves.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Daphne Barry whose telephone number is (571)272-9966 and fax number is (571) 273-9966. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday 9 AM-6 PM (eastern).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor either Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at (571) 272-4881 or Craig Schneider can be reached at (571) 272-3607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAPHNE M BARRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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