DETAILED ACTION
Claim(s) 1-12 as filed 9/16/2025 are pending for consideration.
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 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, 3, and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sausner (US Patent 4,759,331).
Regarding Claim 1, Sausner discloses a valve apparatus (abstract) comprising: a drive source (including magnet coil 4) provided with a shaft 12 and configured to perform a linear motion of the shaft (via the armature 17 acting against the spring 13); an annular valve seat 14 with an axial direction (axial direction of the axis of the opening through the center of 14) parallel to a direction of the linear motion (i.e. both directions are vertical as shown in Figure 1); and a valve element 18 configured to perform a forward/backward motion in the same direction as the linear motion with respect to the annular valve seat 14 in accordance with the linear motion (i.e. the valve element 18 moves in a forward/backward motion in the linear direction with the shaft 12 as it is coupled to end 22 of the shaft), wherein the shaft 12 and the valve element 18 are connected to each other by engagement of a first engagement part 22 provided in the shaft 12 and a second engagement part (hollow space 21 or alternatively portion 20 of element 18 provides a second engagement part) provided in the valve element 18 with a degree of freedom in at least a perpendicular direction to the direction of the linear motion (a degree of freedom exists in the radial direction, which is perpendicular to the direction of the linear motion along the axis of the valve; this degree of freedom is shown between the positions shown in Figures 2 and 3a, respectively, such that 18 has moved in the radial or lateral direction relative to shaft 12).
Regarding Claim 3, Sausner further discloses the first engagement part 22 and the second engagement part (21 or 20 as described above) are engaged with each other with a degree of freedom in a parallel direction to the direction of the linear motion (this is seen to be achieved via the “annular spring 24”; that is, a spring is seen to inherently be capable of compression and such compression provides a degree of freedom in the axial direction parallel to the direction of the linear motion), and the valve apparatus further includes an urging member (spring 24) for urging the valve element 18 toward the shaft (24 urges the valve element 18 upwardly such that the lower end of 18 is urged toward end 22 of the shaft).
Regarding Claim 5, Sausner further discloses a positioning groove (positioning groove provided within housing 3 defined in the upper half thereof as shown in the annotated Figure 1 below; the positioning groove being provided above the narrowest inner portion of 3 to accommodate the winding form 5) for positioning the drive source (4, 5), wherein the positioning groove is a columnar space (columnar space accommodating the winding form 5 as shown in Figure 1) formed coaxially with the annular valve seat 14 (as shown in Figure 1), the drive source includes a positioning part (the downwardly extending protrusion of 5 defines a positioning part as shown in the annotated Figure 1 below) having a columnar shape (a columnar shape to accommodate the seal 7 thereon), the positioning part being located on an inner circumference side of the positioning groove (as shown in the annotated Figure 1) and formed coaxially with the shaft 12, and the valve apparatus is provided with an elastic member 7 having a circular ring shape and being located in a clearance between an inner peripheral surface of the positioning groove and an outer peripheral surface of the positioning part (as shown in the annotated Figure 1 below).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4, and 6-12 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claim 2, the prior art fails to teach the combination of limitations set forth in the claim. Sausner fails to teach threaded engagement parts with a play as claimed. It is noted that “a threaded engagement with a play” as claimed requires a clearance or spacing between the male and female threads to ensure the degree of freedom as is consistent with applicant’s specification as filed.
Murai (US Patent 10,934,976) teaches a valve including seal member 117 and further teaches threaded engagement parts 100a and 173a (Figures 15 and 16 especially) which include a play to ensure a degree of freedom. However, the drive source and shaft 93 are not configured to perform a linear motion of the shaft as required by claim 1.
Regarding Claim 7, the prior art fails to teach the combination of limitations set forth in the claim. Hansen, III (US Patent 4,550,896) teaches a valve with a guide part (recess 141; Figure 7 especially), a valve element includes an inserted part 142 having first and second elastic seals (unnumbered o-ring seals in the inserted part as shown in Figure 7). However, Hansen fails to teach a drive source provided with a shaft and configured to perform a linear motion of the shaft as required by claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Hirata et al. (US Patent 6,247,497) teaches a valve having a valve element provided with a degree of freedom relative to a valve shaft. Davis et al. (US Patent 3,141,476) teaches a valve with a threaded connection allowing a degree of freedom between the threaded components.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN MURPHY whose telephone number is (571)270-5243. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Craig Schneider can be reached on (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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/KEVIN F MURPHY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
