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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/27/2025 has been entered.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: The written disclosure discloses the electrical resistivity of the magnesia fill (18) at 1000 degrees Celsius to be in a unitless range, the Office understands that this measurement should have been Ohm meters because that is the traditional unit used and also corresponds to the properties of magnesia or magnesium oxide.
Appropriate correction is required.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the newly amended claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 1-3 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cichy (US 4.304,954).
Regarding claim 1, Cichy (C) discloses an industrial furnace for melting glass materials (Abstract, Figure 1), comprising: an electric melting operation configured to electrically melt the glass materials (via (19), i.e. electrode); metal components (11, Figure 3); and a refractory shell (23) positioned to cover an inner surface of the metal components such that one or more pockets (area (27) Figure 3) are defined between the metal components and the refractory shell, the refractory shell having an inner surface that substantially defines a melting bath (21) in which the glass materials are deposited for melting, the refractory shell being configured to inhibit exposure of the metal components to the glass materials; and a dry vibe fill (27) disposed in each of the pockets, wherein 90 % to 99.5 % of the dry vibe fill is composed of magnesia materials selected from the group consisting of dead-burned magnesia, fused magnesia, and a combination thereof, and wherein an electrical resistivity of the dry vibe fill at 1000 C is in a range of 3 x 10^2 and 1 x10^5 Ohm-m (C1,L7-29), similarly materials will have similar characteristics.)
Regarding claim 2, Cichy (C) discloses the industrial furnace according to claim 1, wherein the metal components (11, Figures 1-3) comprise a metal floor and a metal sidewall, and wherein the refractory shell (23) comprises a floor refractory lining and a sidewall refractory lining positioned to cover respective inner surfaces of the metal floor and the metal sidewall, and wherein the sidewall refractory lining is positioned to cover the inner surface of the metal sidewall such that a side pocket (area of 27 in Figure 3) of the pockets is defined between the metal sidewall and the sidewall refractory lining.
Regarding claim 3, Cichy (C) discloses the industrial furnace according to claim 2, wherein the floor refractory lining is positioned to cover the metal floor and a layer of the dry vibe fill deposited on the metal floor such that a floor pocket (area 27, Figure 3) of the pockets is defined between the metal floor and the floor refractory lining containing the fill therein.
Regarding claim 7, Cichy (C) discloses the industrial furnace according to claim 2, wherein the metal sidewall and the metal floor define a metal shell (11, Figures1-4).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cichy (US 4.304,954) and an Engineering Expedient.
Regarding claim 4, Cichy (C) discloses the industrial furnace according to claim 3, but not that the fill layer deposited on the metal floor has a thickness above the metal floor that is in a range of 0.75 in to 2.0 in. However, an Engineer in the daily course of work would find it obvious to choose the fill layer deposited on the metal floor to have a thickness above the metal floor that is in a range of 0.75 in to 2.0 in, in order to prevent the steel from melting and minimizing manufacturing cost.
Regarding claim 5, Cichy (C) discloses the industrial furnace according to claim 2, but not that the side pocket has a width between the metal sidewall and the sidewall refractory lining that is in a range of 0.5 in to 1.0 in.
However, an Engineer in the daily course of work would find it obvious to choose that the side pocket has a width between the metal sidewall and the sidewall refractory lining that is in a range of 0.5 in to 1.0 in., in order to prevent the steel from melting and minimizing manufacturing cost.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cichy (US 4.304,954) and Doza (US 3,687,437).
Regarding claim 6, Cichy (C) discloses the industrial furnace according to claim 1, but not that the dry vibe fill is further composed of materials selected from the group consisting of CaO, A1203, SiO, Fe203, TiO2, Cr203, B203, MnO, P205, soda binders, boron binders, and any combination thereof.
However, Doza (D) discloses an industrial furnace vibratory material (Figure 6,) suitable for a glass furnace, wherein the dry vibe fill is further composed of materials selected from the group consisting of CaO, Al203, SiO, Fe2O3, TiO2, Cr20s, B20s, MnO, P205, soda binders, boron binders, and any combination thereof (C11, L22-35, C7, L 66-C8, L13). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of this application to utilizes various adjuncts to the vibratory mixture in order to enact various desirable properties. For example, if the refractory layer were solid, such as a brick, then the inventor would be free to use material that could possibly contaminate the melted pool, yet provide better insulating or energy containing properties.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN E BARGERO whose telephone number is (571) 270-1770. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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/JOHN E BARGERO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/STEVEN B MCALLISTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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