Patent Application 17777790 - CLOTHES DRYING DEVICE

Title: CLOTHES DRYING DEVICE

Application Information

Invention Title: CLOTHES DRYING DEVICE
Application Number: 17777790
Submission Date: 2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z
Effective Filing Date: 2022-05-18T00:00:00.000Z
Filing Date: 2022-05-18T00:00:00.000Z
National Class: 034
National Sub-Class: 523000
Examiner Employee Number: 73830
Art Unit: 3762
Tech Center: 3700

Rejection Summary

102 Rejections: 1
103 Rejections: 1

Cited Patents

No patents were cited in this rejection.

Office Action Text

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 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.

(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.

Claims 41 and 50 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Johnson (US 5,701,684).
Johnson discloses a clothing drying apparatus, comprising a cabinet assembly 2 (Fig. 3), an installation member 16 (Fig. 2), a drying drum 4 (Fig. 1), a lint cleaning member 42 (Figs. 2, 4), a lint collecting member 18, 19 and an annular filter member 28 (abstract, claim 7); the annular filter member 28 is connected to the drying drum 4 and can rotate when driven by the drying drum 4 (abstract); the installation member 16 is arranged on the cabinet assembly 2, and the lint cleaning member 42 and the lint collecting member 18, 19 are both arranged on the installation member 16 (Fig. 2, col. 2, lines 43-44); during the rotation of the annular filter member 28, the lint cleaning member 42 can clean up the lint on the annular filter member 28, and the lint collecting member 19 can collect the cleaned up lint (abstract). Wherein the clothing drying apparatus is a front-open drum clothing dryer (Fig. 1).

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.

This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 43 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Johnson (US 5,701,684) in view of Qian (CN 108842389A).
For claim 43, Johnson further discloses wherein the lint collecting member 18, 19 comprises a lint collecting box 18 which is connected with the installation member 16 (Abstract discloses lint removed from the filter is collected in the cavity within the drier door for storage, therefore door 18 is considered as lint collecting box as well; col. 2, lines 43-44 discloses door 18 is hinged to the cabinet side wall) and a lint collecting port 44 of the lint collecting box 18 is located below the lint cleaning member 42 (Fig. 2). However, Johnson does not discloses the lint collecting box is detachably connected with the installation member. Qian teaches a clothes dryer comprising a door (corresponding to the claimed lint collecting box) mounted to the cabinet wall (corresponding to the claimed installation member) by a detachable door hinge 21 (paragraph [0097]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the clothing drying apparatus of Johnson to include a detachably connect the lint collecting box to the installation member as taught by Qian in order to facilitate the mounting and dismounting of the lint collecting box.

Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 42, 44-49 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: the primary reason for allowance of claim 42 is the inclusion of the limitation regarding a connecting rod that is snap- fit on the installation member in combination with the remaining claimed elements; the primary reason for allowance of claim 44 is the inclusion of the limitation regarding the lint collecting port is arranged gradually opened in a direction approaching the lint cleaning member in combination with the remaining claimed elements; the primary reason for allowance of claims 45-49 is the inclusion of the limitation regarding the annular filter screen is detachably connected with the annular filter bracket as claimed in claim 45 in combination with the remaining claimed elements.

Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA J YUEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4878. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MICHAEL G HOANG can be reached on (571) 272-6460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jessica Yuen/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3762

JY