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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because “the outlet” in line 1 should be --the outlet of the corresponding exhaust pipe--.
Claim 8 is objected to because “the same orientation” in lines 1-2 should be --a same orientation--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hunten (EP0207443A1)
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Re claim 1
Hunten discloses an exhaust manifold (Figs. 1-3) of an engine including a plurality of cylinders (Para 8 - “…an exhaust manifold on a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine…”), the exhaust manifold comprising:
a plurality of exhaust pipes (3, connecting pipe - Para 11) through each of which an exhaust gas discharged from each of the cylinders flows (see Figs. 1-3 and Paras 9-11); and
a joining pipe (2, collector pipe - Para 9) coupled to the plurality of exhaust pipes (3)(see Figs. 1-3 and Paras 9-11), to which the exhaust gas flowing through each of the exhaust pipes (3) is joined (see Figs. 1-3 and Paras 9-11),
wherein the joining pipe (2) includes a plurality of guide portions (8, tongue - Para 10) provided to respectively correspond to the plurality of exhaust pipes (3)(see Figs. 1-3 and Para 10),
wherein each of the guide portions (8) guides the exhaust gas flowing in from the corresponding exhaust pipe (3) in a flow direction of the exhaust gas flowing through the joining pipe (2)(see Figs. 1-3 and Paras 10-11),
wherein each of the guide portions (8) has an opposing surface (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - A (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element A as a type of opposing surface of element 8)) provided to be opposed to an outlet (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - B (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element B as a type of outlet of element 3)) of the corresponding exhaust pipe (3)(see Modified Figs. 2-3 above and Paras 10-11), and
wherein at least one of the guide portions (8) has a part (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - C (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element C as a type of part of element 8 which is disposed downstream from element B in a flow direction)) that is disposed on a downstream side in the flow direction (see arrows in Figs. 1-3) with respect to the outlet (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - B)(see Modified Figs. 2-3).
Re claim 2:
Hunten discloses the exhaust manifold (Figs. 1-3) according to claim 1 (as described above), wherein each of the guide portions (8) divides a flow passage of the exhaust gas (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - D (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element D as a type of flow passage of exhaust gas in element 2)) in the joining pipe (2)(see Fig. 1 and Modified Figs. 2-3 above and Paras 10-12).
Re claim 3:
Hunten discloses the exhaust manifold (Figs. 1-3) according to claim 1 (as described above), wherein each of the guide portions (8) covers the outlet (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - B) as viewed from a direction that is opposed to the outlet (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - B) of the corresponding exhaust pipe (3)(see Modified Figs. 2-3 above).
Re claim 4:
Hunten discloses the exhaust manifold (Figs. 1-3) according to claim 1 (as described above), wherein an upstream end on an upstream side in the flow direction (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - F (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element F as a type of upstream end on an upstream side in the flow direction in each element 8)) in each of the guide portions (8) is disposed on an orthogonal plane (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - E (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element E as a type of orthogonal plane passing through element G)) that passes through a peripheral edge end (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - G (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element G as a type of peripheral edge end on the upstream end side in the flow direction in element B)) on the upstream side in the flow direction in the outlet (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - B) of the corresponding exhaust pipe (3) and is orthogonal to the flow direction (see arrows in Figs. 1-3)(see Fig. 1 and Modified Figs. 2-3 above).
Re claim 5:
Hunten discloses the exhaust manifold (Figs. 1-3) according to claim 1 (as described above), wherein a downstream end on the downstream side in the flow direction (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - I (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element I as a type of downstream end on the downstream side in the flow direction in element 8)) in at least one of the guide portions (8) is disposed to overlap a center line (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - H (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element H as type of center line of element 2 orthogonal to the direction element 8 extends toward element 2 when viewed in the flow direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 2-3)) of the joining pipe (2) orthogonal to a direction in which the corresponding exhaust pipe (3) extends toward the joining pipe (2) as viewed from one side in the flow direction (see arrows in Figs. 1-3)(see Fig. 1 and Modified Figs. 2-3 above).
Re claim 6:
Hunten discloses the exhaust manifold (Figs. 1-3) according to claim 1 (as described above), wherein the opposing surface (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - A) is formed into a curved surface shape (see Modified Figs. 2-3 above at element J (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize a type of curved surface shape of element A is shown at element J)).
Re claim 7:
Hunten discloses the exhaust manifold (Figs. 1-3) according to claim 1 (as described above), wherein the opposing surface (Modified Figs. 2-3 above - A) is formed into a flat surface shape (see Modified Figs. 2-3 above at element A (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize a type of flat surface shape is shown at element A)).
Re claim 8:
Hunten discloses the exhaust manifold (Figs. 1-3) according to claim 1 (as described above), wherein each of the exhaust pipes (3) is disposed in the same orientation (see Figs. 1-3 (especially see Fig. 1)).
Re claim 9:
Hunten discloses the exhaust manifold (Figs. 1-3) according to claim 1 (as described above), wherein each of the guide portions (8) is formed integrally with the joining pipe (2)(see Figs. 2-3 and Para 10).
Re claim 10:
Hunten discloses an engine (see Fig. 1 and Para 8 - “…a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine…”) comprising:
a plurality of cylinders (see Fig. 1 and Para 8 - “…a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine…”); and
the exhaust manifold (Figs. 1-3 and Para 9 - “…an exhaust manifold…”) according to claim 1 (as described above).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Loren C Edwards whose telephone number is (571)272-7133. The examiner can normally be reached M-R 6AM-430PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Laurenzi can be reached at (571) 270-7878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LOREN C EDWARDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746 9/11/26
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