DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16th, 2013 is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 10, the claim recites, “…wherein an inner wall of the housing 1 defines a…” However, it appears that the element number ‘1’ is an artifact that should be removed for clarity.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC §112(b)
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 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 3, 5, 6, and 7, these claims all recite the limitation of “the suction pump.” However, claim 2, upon which the above claims depend, recites “a vacuum pump” in lieu of “a suction pump.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims identified above. For purposes of examination, the “suction pump” will be interpreted as the “vacuum pump.”
Regarding claim 12, the claim recites “…the cover body is arranged” in line 2. However, there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The term “a cover body” is first introduced in claim 11. It is unclear if claim 12 should be dependent upon claim 11 as opposed to claim 2, which claim 12 is currently dependent upon.
Regarding claims 4, 6, 8-10, these claims are also rejected under 35 USC 112(b) due to their dependence upon rejected claims identified above.
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.
Claims 1-2, 5, 7-8, 11, and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Qi (US 2022/0185569 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Qi discloses an integrated box for a vacuum bucket (Shown in figure 1), comprising: a housing (Figure 2, #10); wherein a vacuum pumping assembly (Figure 2, #14), a control circuit board (Figure 2, #15), and a storage battery (Figure 2, #173) are arranged in the housing (Shown in figure 2);
the vacuum pumping assembly is electrically connected to the control circuit board (Shown in figure 2), and the storage battery is electrically connected to the control circuit board (Shown in figure 2 and described in ¶'s [0038] - [0039]);
the vacuum pumping assembly comprises a suction end passing through the housing (Shown in figures 2 & 4, #121/#122 and described in ¶'s [0038] & [0039]), and the storage battery comprises a power supply port passing through the housing (Shown in figures 1 and 2); the housing is arranged with a charging port of the storage battery (Figure 2, #175 illustrates the charging port. This is further described in ¶ [0038] - [0039]), the charging port is electrically connected to the control circuit board (Shown in figure 2).
Regarding claim 2, Qi discloses wherein the vacuum pumping assembly comprises a vacuum pump (Figure 2, #141) and a pipe assembly (Pipe assembly shown in figure 2 and described in ¶ [0042]); the vacuum pump is connected to the pipe assembly (Shown in figure 2), and the suction end is arranged on the pipe assembly (Described in ¶ [0042]).
Regarding claim 5, Qi discloses wherein a mounting portion (Mounting portion shown in figure 2, #112) extends from each of both sides of the suction pump (Figure 2 illustrates that the mounting portion #112 extends from both sides of the vacuum pump #141), and correspondingly, a bottom wall of the housing is arranged with a mounting column to match with the mounting portion (Shown in figure 2); the suction pump is arranged on the mounting column by the mounting portion (Shown in figure 2).
Regarding claim 7, Qi discloses wherein the storage battery is arranged above the pipe assembly, and the control circuit board is arranged above the suction pump (Shown in figure 2).
Regarding claim 8, Qi discloses wherein the integrated box further comprises a cover body (Figure 2, #111), the housing defines an opening (Figure 2, #21), and the cover body covers the opening (Shown in figure 4); the cover body is arranged with an indicator light (Figure 2, #172), and the indicator light is electrically connected to the control circuit board (Shown in figure 2 and described in ¶'s [0038] - [0039]).
Regarding claim 11, Qi discloses wherein the integrated box further comprises a cover body (Figure 2, #111), the housing defines an opening (Figure 2, #21), and the cover body covers the opening (Shown in figure 4); the cover body is arranged with an indicator light (Figure 2, #172), and the indicator light is electrically connected to the control circuit board (Shown in figure 2 and described in ¶'s [0038] - [0039]).
Regarding claim 13, Qi discloses wherein the integrated box further comprises a high-pressure detection sensor and a low-pressure detection sensor, and the high-pressure detection sensor and the low-pressure detection sensor are both electrically connected to the control circuit board (Described in ¶ [0042]).
Regarding claim 14, Qi discloses a vacuum bucket, comprising: a bucket cover and an integrated box according to claim 1 (Figures 2 and 4); wherein the bucket cover defines an accommodation cavity (Figure 4, #30) for receiving the integrated box (Shown in figure 4); an inner wall of the accommodation cavity is arranged with a first locking portion, and an outer wall of the integrated box is arranged with a second locking portion; the first locking portion is detachably connected to the second locking portion; the accommodation cavity defines a suction hole and is arranged with an electrical connection end, the suction hole is connected to the suction end, and the electrical connection end is connected to the power supply port (Shown in figures 2 and 4).
Allowable Subject Matter
If the above rejections under 35 USC 112(b) are overcome, claims 3-4, 6, 9-10, and 12 would be 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.
The other cited arts of Kwok (US 2018/0111741 A1), Moon (US 2015/0027921 A1), Shao (US 7,571,748), Small (US 2001/0177771 A1), and Chen (US 5,499735) all teach relevant aspects of a vacuumized container having a vacuum pump.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB A SMITH whose telephone number is (571) 272-3974 and email address is Jacob.Smith@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7:30AM - 5:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anna Kinsaul can be reached at (571) 270-1926. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JACOB A SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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