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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities: the duplicate “and” found in lines 8 and 10, respectively, should be deleted.
Claims 19 and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities: “claim 1” in line 1 of each claim should read “claim 11”; otherwise, claims 19 and 20 are substantial duplicates of claims 9 and 10, respectively.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 15-17 and 20 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 15 recites “further comprising a housing around the swash plate” in line 1. It is unclear if this is the same “housing” found in line 5 of claim 11, from which claim 15 depends. For purposes of examination the housings found in both claims will be interpreted as referring to the same element.
Claims 16-17 depend upon claim 15 and are rejected for the same reason therefrom.
Claim 20 recites “further comprising reed valves” in line 1. It is unclear if this is the same element as the “plurality of valves” found in line 8 of claim 11, from which claim 20 depends. For purposes of examination the valves found in both claims will be interpreted as referring to the same element.
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 (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 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) 1-7, 9-16 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 112032016 A to Pan et al. (Pan). A machine translation was relied upon for the basis of this rejection.
In reference to claim 11, Pan discloses a system comprising: a crank (16; Fig. 7); an electric motor (1; Fig. 1) coupled to rotate the crank; a swash plate (18; Figs. 2-4, 7) coupled with the crank; a housing (11) disposed around at least the swash plate; a cylinder block (9) comprising a plurality of cylinders (see 901, Fig. 2), and fluid inlets (1101) and fluid outlets (803) associated with the cylinders; a plurality of valves (1003; Fig. 4, 15; Fig. 8) controlling flow through the fluid inlets and the fluid outlets; a plurality of pistons (10), each of the pistons moveable in a respective one of the cylinders; and a plurality of crank rods (1001), the crank rods coupling the pistons by ball joints with the swash plate (see Fig. 4), activation of the motor causing rotation of the crank, and rotation of the crank causing reciprocating movement of the swash plate, and reciprocating movement of the swash plate causing reciprocating movement of the crank rods and the pistons, the reciprocating movement of the pistons pumping a fluid through the fluid inlets to the fluid outlets.
In reference to claim 12, Pan discloses the system as recited in claim 11, wherein the pistons are multi-piece constructions that each comprise a base piece (1002; Figs. 4-5), a cap piece (1003, or alternatively, the top portion of piston at symbol 10021, or alternatively, 1004), and a seal (1003 or alternatively, 1005, or alternatively, 10023 or alternatively, 10022) captured between the base piece and the cap piece.
In reference to claim 13, Pan discloses the system as recited in claim 12, wherein the seal includes a cavity (the hole in 1003, or alternatively, the threaded hole at symbol 10022) into which the cap piece nests.
In reference to claim 14, Pan discloses the system as recited in claim 13, wherein the seal circumscribes a central opening (the hole in 1003, or alternatively, the hole that passes through 10022), and the cap piece includes a pin (1004) that extends through the central opening and engages a pin hole in the base piece.
In reference to claim 15, Pan discloses the system as recited in claim 14, further comprising a housing (11) around the swash plate, and a linear guide (1701, 1702; Fig. 7) limiting rotational movement of the swash plate.
In reference to claim 16, Pan discloses the system as recited in claim 15, wherein linear guide includes guide rails (the side faces of 1702) and a guide rail follower (1703) slidable along the guide rails.
In reference to claim 18, Pan discloses the system as recited in claim 11, wherein the seal (1005) is circular and seals against side walls of the cylinder.
In reference to claim 19, Pan discloses the system as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the ball joints includes a ball on one of the crank rod or the swash plate and a socket on the other of the crank rod or swash plate (see Figs. 3, 4).
In reference to claim 20, Pan discloses the system as recited in claim 1, further comprising reed valves on the cylinders (see 1502; Fig. 8).
In reference to claims 1-7, 9 and 10, the claims only recite limitations that are substantively identical to what is found in claims 11-16 and 18-20. See rejections above; the same rationale applies.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 17 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.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US 5,839,347 A, 4,875,834 A, 4,776,259 A, 4,712,982 A and 4,506,648 A each disclose similar pumps with anti-rotation devices applicable to the claims and may be relied upon in a subsequent Office action.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN MATTHIAS whose telephone number is (571)272-5168. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Wednesday 10am - 6pm Pacific Time.
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/JONATHAN R MATTHIAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
17 September 2026
