DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 1 October 2025 have been considered by the examiner. However, the examiner notes that the IDS documents include an extensive number of references, many/most of which have little to no relevance to the specifics of the claimed invention of the current application. Although the examiner has reviewed the applicant’s submitted references, the examiner again requests that the applicant submit additional disclosure of any particularly relevant references to the current claimed invention for more focused review by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 1-9 and 11-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Robinson (3,477,087) in view of Catlett (4,175,352), Kim et al. (7,547,338) and Dimbylow et al. (2018/0263439).
Regarding claims 1 and 22, Robinson discloses a dust collection apparatus for a vacuum cleaner, having an air flow path extending from a nozzle having a dirty air inlet (85), which is provided at the front end, to a clean air outlet; a suction motor (M) operable to move air along the air flow path; a non-cyclonic cleaning stage comprising a non-cyclonic chamber (11) having a first end, a second end, and a length extending in a direction of the longitudinal axis from the first end to the second end, and a bag (81) provided in the non-cyclonic chamber, the bag extending from the first end to a position adjacent the second end wherein, in operation, air enters the non-cyclonic chamber and particulate matter is retained in the non-cyclonic chamber and treated air exits the non-cyclonic chamber, the front end of the handheld vacuum cleaner comprises an openable front end wall (F in Fig. 1) which, when moved to an open position, opens the non-cyclonic chamber of the non-cyclonic cleaning stage, and wherein the nozzle comprises a conduit (F in Fig. 7) that extends forwardly from the openable front end wall such that the nozzle is in a fixed position with respect to the non-cyclonic cleaning stage during cleaning operations of the handheld vacuum cleaner and the nozzle moves with the openable front end wall as the openable front end wall is moved to the open position during emptying operations of the handheld vacuum cleaner. However, Robinson fails to disclose a screen or a cyclonic cleaning stage downstream from the non-cyclonic cleaning stage.
Regarding the screen, while Robinson only discloses a bag, Catlett discloses a similar cleaner, also having a non-cyclonic cleaning stage including a container to collect debris, having similar location and shape to the bag of Robinson, and Catlett teaches that the container is formed from paper or cloth if dust is being collected, or plastic or metal if larger objects are being collected (Col. 5, Lines 56-60). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to optionally provide the bag of Robinson to be formed from plastic or metal, as taught by Catlett, when larger debris is to be collected and/or when a stronger material is needed for the bag, wherein any porous container formed from plastic or metal would effectively define a screen, particularly with the structure shown in Fig. 6 of Catlett.
Regarding the cyclonic cleaning stage, both Kim and Dimbylow discloses suction cleaners with first non-cyclonic cleaning stages, and second cyclonic cleaning stages downstream therefrom, which would be understood to anyone of ordinary skill in the art to further filter smaller debris and dust from the airflow that would pass through the first cleaning stage, to protect the motor from dust and to collect more dust/debris for disposal from the surrounding environment. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the cleaner of Robinson with a similar secondary cleaning stage, having cyclonic separators, as taught by Kim and Dimbylow, to improve dust removal by the cleaner. Further, both Kim and Dimbylow disclose that the cyclonic cleaning stage includes a dirt collection chamber that extends around the non-cyclonic cleaning stage and includes an end wall (with Dimbylow most similar to Robinson) that may be opened to access the collected debris from the non-cyclonic and cyclonic cleaning stages, such that it further would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the similar configuration of the dirt collection chambers of the cyclonic cleaning stage, when providing the cyclonic stage to Robinson, such that opening the front end wall of Robinson will similarly access the collected debris from the non-cyclonic and cyclonic cleaning stages by opening the non-cyclonic chamber of the non-cyclonic cleaning stage and the dirt collection chamber of the cyclonic cleaning stage, and allowing for simultaneous emptying as needed.
Regarding claim 11, when providing the cleaner of Robinson with the cyclonic cleaning stage and dirt collection chamber extending to the openable end wall, as discussed supra, a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis extends through the non-cyclonic chamber, the screen and the dirt collection chamber.
Regarding claims 3 and 23, Robinson further discloses that the non-cyclonic chamber has a chamber axis extending centrally therethrough from the openable front end wall to a rear end of the non-cyclonic chamber and the chamber axis extends through the dirty air inlet of Dimbylow.
Regarding claim 4, as discussed supra, Kim and Dimbylow both further disclose that a portion of the dirt collection chamber extends concurrently with the non-cyclonic cleaning stage
Regarding claim 5, when providing the cleaner of Robinson with the cyclonic cleaning stage and dirt collection chamber extending to the openable end wall, as discussed supra, a front end of the dirt collection chamber is closed by the openable front end wall of the handheld vacuum cleaner when the openable front end wall is in a closed position, as discussed supra.
Regarding claims 6, 12 and 16, when providing the cleaner of Robinson with the cyclonic cleaning stage downstream from the non-cyclonic cleaning stage, as discussed supra, the suction motor has a motor axis of rotation that extends through the cyclonic cleaning stage and the non-cyclonic cleaning stage.
Regarding claims 7, 13, 17 and 25, Robinson further discloses that the non-cyclonic chamber has a chamber sidewall extending between the openable front end wall of the handheld vacuum cleaner and the rear end of the non-cyclonic chamber and the screen (when the bag of Robinson is provided as a screen, as discussed above) is moveable relative to the chamber sidewall (both Robinson and Catlett teach that the bag/screen is removable via opening of the end wall).
Regarding claims 8, 14, 18 and 24 Kim and Dimbylow both further disclose that the cyclonic cleaning stage comprises a plurality of cyclone air inlets (each guide channel 520 of Kim, 49 of Dimbylow reading on a cyclone inlet).
Regarding claims 9, 15, 19 and 20, when providing the cleaner of Robinson with the cyclonic cleaning stage downstream from the non-cyclonic cleaning stage, as discussed supra, the inlet passage of Robinson extends from the dirty air inlet to the non-cyclonic chamber, the inlet passage has an inlet passage axis that extends through the non-cyclonic chamber, the cyclonic cleaning stage and the suction motor.
Regarding claim 21, Robinson further disclose that the nozzle (upper 81 in Fig. 2; other 81 is the bag) is directly connectable to a downstream end of an accessory tool (A) whereby, when the nozzle is connected to the accessory tool, a sidewall of the conduit contacts and supports the accessory tool and the accessory tool is solely supported by the conduit (“The fitting F includes a forwardly projecting tube 81 for interfitting the rearwardly projecting tube 83 of the attachment A; Col. 3, lines 49-52).
Claims 10 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Robinson (3,477,087) in view of Catlett (4,175,352), Kim et al. (7,547,338) and Dimbylow et al. (2018/0263439) as applied to claim 1 and further in view of Tonderys et al. (2019/0090701) and Beskow et al. (8,424,154).
Regarding claim 10, the previous combination fails to disclose an energy store aligned with the handle. Each of Tonderys and Beskow disclose more current handheld cleaner configurations, both having batteries located within the handle that is rearward of the remainder of the cleaner, which both provides wireless power to the cleaner, and also provides a handle configuration that effectively increases the reach of a user controlling the cleaner and provides an ergonomic grip for the cleaner when angled downward towards a surface being cleaned. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide a similar handle configuration, rearward of the remainder of the cleaner, and having batteries therein, as taught by Tonderys and Beskow for more modern cleaners than Robinson, such that a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis extends through the handle and the energy store.
Regarding claim 26, the handle configuration taught by Tonderys and Beskow also provides an orientation wherein a plane that is transverse to the longitudinal axis and extends through a rear end of the cyclonic cleaning stage will position the handle wholly rearward of the plane in a direction of the longitudinal axis.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 10 September 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of all pending claims under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Robinson, Dimbylow and Kim et al. as discussed above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Each of Beskow et al. (8,424,154), Tonderys et al. (2019/0090701), Robinson (3,477,087), Bone et al. (5,966,774) and Wright (5,904,160) each disclose devices having similar structure and function as the applicant’s claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRYAN R MULLER whose telephone number is (571)272-4489. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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/BRYAN R MULLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723 19 September 2026
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