DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the baffle of claims 8-9 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seaver US 20170218958 in view of Kanaizumi US 20140314586.
Seaver discloses:
1. A vacuum system comprising: an enclosure (see e.g. Fig 4) comprising a frame 22 and a plurality of panels (comprising 106, 108) attached to the frame, the enclosure including at least a first pump bay 40 and a second pump bay 38 positioned above the first pump bay, wherein the first pump bay and the second pump bay each include a motor 58 and a vacuum pump 56 driven by the motor during use, wherein the vacuum pumps each include a pump air intake (see e.g. annotated Fig 2 herein) and a pump air exhaust (82, 80); an enclosure air intake 116 bridging an interior and exterior of the enclosure through which ambient air from an environment surrounding the enclosure enters the enclosure, wherein the enclosure air intake is located in a side of the enclosure (see e.g. Fig 4); and an exhaust manifold 78 in fluid communication with the pump air exhausts of each of the vacuum pumps (see e.g. Fig 5), wherein ambient air entering the pump air intakes of the vacuum pumps cools the respective vacuum pump and is expelled as heated air via the respective pump air exhaust into the exhaust manifold (at 82 and 80), wherein the heated air exiting the pump air exhausts is isolated from a remainder of the interior of the enclosure (via 78 e.g. in Fig 5) and is expelled back into the environment surrounding the enclosure via an outlet 98 of the exhaust manifold located in a top surface of the enclosure (see e.g. Figs 4-5).
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Seaver discloses fans at the pump air exhaust and configured to pull ambient air entering the enclosure air intake upwards both to the pump air intakes of each of the vacuum pumps and around the vacuum pumps towards the enclosure air outlet (see e.g. Figs 2 and 5).
Seaver does not disclose at least one fan positioned proximate to the enclosure air outlet, and an enclosure air outlet bridging an interior and exterior of the enclosure through which air within the enclosure is expelled back into the environment surrounding the enclosure, wherein the enclosure air outlet is located in a top surface of the enclosure.
However, Kanaizumi discloses at least one fan 13 positioned proximate to the enclosure air outlet (see annotated Fig 5 herein), and an enclosure air outlet bridging an interior and exterior of the enclosure through which air within the enclosure is expelled back into the environment surrounding the enclosure, wherein the enclosure air outlet is located in a top surface of the enclosure (see annotated Fig 5 herein).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to utilize an enclosure air outlet with fans proximate the enclosure outlet as taught by Kanaizumi in the system of Seaver to gain the benefit of “Because the heated air generated in the cabinet flows upward, arranging the exhaust fan 13 on the ceiling of the cabinet efficiently exhausts the heated air” as taught by Kanaizumi in 0037.
Seaver as modified above discloses (all references to Seaver unless noted otherwise):
2. The vacuum system of claim 1, wherein the first pump bay is open to the second pump bay, permitting air to pass freely between the first pump bay and the second pump bay (see e.g. Fig 2).
3. The vacuum system of claim 2, wherein a motor and a vacuum pump of the second pump bay are supported by a support structure that permits air to pass freely between the first pump bay and the second pump bay (see e.g. Fig 2).
4. The vacuum system of claim 1, wherein the enclosure air intake is located on a side of the enclosure (see e.g. Fig 4) and is positioned proximate to an intake of the vacuum pump of the first pump bay (see e.g. annotated Fig 2 herein).
5. The vacuum system of claim 1, wherein the enclosure air outlet is positioned vertically above and aligned with the vacuum pumps of the first pump bay and the second pump bay (see 13 in Figs 5-6 of Kanaizumi).
6. The vacuum system of claim 1, wherein the ambient air entering the enclosure air intake that is pulled upwards around the vacuum pumps of the first pump bay and the second pump bay towards the enclosure air outlet cools the area within the enclosure surrounding the vacuum pumps of the first pump bay and the second pump bay (see e.g. Fig 2).
7. The vacuum system of claim 1, wherein the heated air is expelled via the pump air exhaust directly into the exhaust manifold (see e.g. Fig 5), thereby preventing the heated air from entering the remainder of the interior of the enclosure (see e.g. Fig 5).
8. The vacuum system of claim 1, the vacuum system further comprising a baffle positioned proximate to the enclosure air intake and configured to split the ambient air entering the enclosure air intake into separate flow paths for at least the pump air intake of the vacuum pump in the first pump bay and the pump air intake of the vacuum pump in the second pump bay (see e.g. annotated Fig 2 herein).
Regarding claim 9, Seaver as modified above discloses utilizing a sound absorbing material for baffles (see e.g. 0020). It is unclear if the baffle in annotated Fig 2 herein has the sound absorbing material. However, It has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice (In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416). Thus, given the teachings of Seaver in 0020, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to utilize sound absorbing material in the baffle in annotated Fig 2 herein to gain eh benefit of using a known material for baffles that absorbs sound to reduce noise.
10. The vacuum system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the enclosure air intake and the enclosure air outlet includes at least one baffle 74 arranged to prevent the emission of sound generated by either the motor or the vacuum pump to the environment surrounding the enclosure.
11. The vacuum system of claim 1, wherein the vacuum pumps comprise oilless claw vacuum pumps (see e.g. claim 4).
12. The vacuum system of claim 1, the vacuum system further comprising a third pump bay positioned above the second pump bay and the first pump bay, the third pump bay including a motor and a vacuum pump driven by the motor during use (See e.g. “Although two bays are shown in the example embodiment, the vertical beams 34 may be extended and additional horizontal beams 36 may be included to provide additional bays.” in 0020). Thus, a person of ordinary skill in the art would use a third bay for a third vacuum pump and associated motor to gain the benefit of providing additional pumping capacity.
Seaver discloses:
13. A method of generating a multi-vacuum enclosure, the method comprising: enclosing a set of pump assemblies (58, 56) in an enclosure (see e.g. Fig 4) defined by a plurality of panels (comprising 106, 108) attached to a frame 22, wherein the pump assemblies include at least a first pump assembly and a second pump assembly (see e.g. Fig 2) each including a motor 58 and a vacuum pump 56 driven by the motor during use; forming an enclosure air intake 116 in a side of the enclosure through which ambient air from an environment surrounding the enclosure enters the enclosure; and forming an exhaust manifold 78 in fluid communication with pump air exhausts (82, 80) of each of the vacuum pumps, wherein ambient air entering the pump air intakes of the vacuum pumps cools the respective vacuum pump and is expelled as heated air via the respective pump air exhaust into the exhaust manifold (see e.g. Fig 2), and wherein the heated air exiting the pump air exhausts is isolated from a remainder of the interior of the enclosure (via 78) and is expelled back into the environment surrounding the enclosure via an outlet 98 of the exhaust manifold located in a top surface of the enclosure (see e.g. Figs 4-5).
Seaver does not disclose forming an enclosure air outlet in a top surface of the enclosure through which air within the enclosure is expelled back into the environment surrounding the enclosure; providing a fan positioned proximate to the enclosure air outlet
configured to pull ambient air entering the enclosure air intake upwards both to pump air intakes of each of the vacuum pumps and around the vacuum pumps towards the enclosure air outlet.
However, Kanaizumi discloses forming an enclosure air outlet (see annotated Fig 5 herein) in a top surface of the enclosure through which air within the enclosure is expelled back into the environment surrounding the enclosure; providing a fan 13 positioned proximate to the enclosure air outlet configured to pull ambient air entering the enclosure air intake upwards both to pump air intakes of each of the pumps and around the pumps towards the enclosure air outlet (see e.g. Figs 5-6).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to utilize an enclosure air outlet with fans proximate the enclosure outlet as taught by Kanaizumi in the system of Seaver to gain the benefit of “Because the heated air generated in the cabinet flows upward, arranging the exhaust fan 13 on the ceiling of the cabinet efficiently exhausts the heated air” as taught by Kanaizumi in 0037.
Seaver as modified above discloses (all references to Seaver unless noted otherwise):
14. The method of claim 13, wherein ambient air entering the enclosure air intake that is pulled upwards around the vacuum pumps towards the enclosure air outlet cools the area within the enclosure surrounding the vacuum pumps (see e.g. Figs 5-6 of Kanaizumi).
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the heated air is expelled via the pump air exhausts directly into the exhaust manifold (see e.g. Fig 5), thereby preventing the heated air from entering the remainder of the interior of the enclosure (see e.g. Fig 5).
Conclusion
See form PTO-892 for additional prior art made of record but not relied upon that is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure including:
Sato US 20050063844 discloses fans on the top of a pump enclosure.
Kato US 11937410 discloses a pump enclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS ANDREW FINK whose telephone number is (571) 270-3373. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th 9-7.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Laurenzi can be reached on (571) 270-7878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-4373.
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/Thomas Fink/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
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