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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10 November 2025 has been entered.
Status
This Office Action is in response to the Amendments and Arguments filed 10 November 2025. As directed by applicant, claims 1, 7-11, 13-19, 21 and 22 are amended; claims 23-26 are added and no claims are cancelled. Thus, claims 1-26 are pending. This is a non-Final Office Action.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
Claims 1-5, 7 -26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Applicant’s Admitted Prior Art (Within filed application 17/469,855; Herein After “AAPA”) in view of Masaoka (U.S. Patent 4,218,604).
Regarding claim 1, AAPA discloses a temporary and mobile convection apparatus for preheating a substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded, said apparatus comprising:
an external insulation material (AAPA, fig. 2B, external insulation 240) ; and
an external heating system comprising one or more heaters for heating the substrate (AAPA, fig. 2B, Heated Band 234 on outside of pipe).
However, AAPA does not disclose
“one or more convection boxes, wherein a convection box of the one or more convection boxes comprises:
one or more panels being at least one of affixed to, abutted against, around, or on or a combination thereof, the substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded, the one or more panels defining an internal convection space, and
one or more manifolds for heating or cooling one side of the substrate, wherein a portion of the one or more manifolds is within the internal convection space; an external insulation material”.
AAPA does disclose insulation (240) on the opposite side of the weld (i.e. inside of the pipe) to help to cooling, but nothing further. However, Masaoka teaches “one or more convection boxes (Masaoka, fig. 7, created by columns 7 & 8), wherein a convection box of the one or more convection boxes comprises:
one or more panels (Masaoka, outside panel P, see annotated drawing below) being at least one of affixed to, abutted against, around, or on or a combination thereof, the substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded, the one or more panels defining an internal convection space.
one or more manifolds (Masaoka, fig. 7, coming through 4 and then being divided towards the welds, fig. 7) for heating or cooling one side of the substrate (spraying out to cool the weld), wherein a portion of the one or more manifolds is within the internal convection space.
AAPA does disclose an insulation plate (240) on the inside, opposite the weld, to help cool the weld, but nothing further. However, Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the AAPA, to have the box and manifold of Masaoka, within an internal heating space of AAPA modifying the cooling plate of AAPA, in order to have cooling jets being directly applied to cool the wall and applied in the direction perpendicular to and directly at the wall, in order to have more direct and robust cooling and heat exchange away from the wall.
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Regarding claim 2, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teaches an apparatus wherein the external insulation material and the external heating system are positioned on an opposite side of the substrate than the convection box (AAPA, fig. 2b, heater is opposite the cooling side.).
Regarding claim 3, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teaches an apparatus wherein the external heating system comprises one or more external heaters (AAPA, 232 ).
Regarding claim 4, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 3, as above, and further teaches an apparatus wherein the multiple external heaters are positioned to create a predetermined heat band and multiple heat gradient bands (AAPA, fig. 2b, element 236 indicates a heat gradient)
Regarding claim 5, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 4, as above, and further teach an apparatus wherein the multiple heat gradient bands comprise two outer bands configured to achieve a temperature with the external insulation and through heat from the internal convection box (AAPA).
Regarding claim 7, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teaches an apparatus wherein the manifold is at least one of a cooling manifold or a heating manifold, or a combination thereof (Masaoka, for cooling. This would have been combined in the combination above).
Regarding claim 8, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 7, as above, and further teaches an apparatus wherein the manifold comprises one or more of:
one or more extensions (Masaoka, part 4 leading up to manifold area. This would have been combined in the combination above),
one or more pipes and
one or more throttles.
Regarding claim 9, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 8, as above, and further teaches an apparatus wherein an extension of the one or more extensions passes through a barrier or wall of the panel of the internal convection box (Masaoka, extension 9 passes through back 8; This would have been combined in the combination above.).
Regarding claim 10, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 9, as above, and further teaches an apparatus wherein the extension is connected to at least one of a chilling device (Masaoka, extension is connected to cooling fluid) or heating device, or a combination thereof
Regarding claim 11, AAPA in view of Rajagopalan and Liebert teaches all the limitations of claim 10, as above, and further teaches an apparatus wherein a pipe (9) of the one or more pipes passes internally through an interior of the internal convection box, and
wherein the pipe comprises a terminus throttle (annular opening 11, shooting out the fluid).
Regarding claim 12, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 11, as above, and further teaches an apparatus wherein a diameter, length and material of the manifold are predetermined (“predetermined” meaning having preset dimensions, which it does).
Regarding claim 13, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches a method of welding section of a vessel including the substrate (Masaoka, 1) to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded, wherein the method comprises:
positioning the temporary, mobile convection apparatus of claim 1 (using the apparatus combined in claim 1) in proximity to a weld site of the substrate of the vessel such that the one or more panels are at least one of affixed to, abutted against, around, or on, or a combination thereof, the substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded; and
operating the one or more manifolds for at least one of the heating or cooling (Masaoka, cooling) the substrate to at least one of control a pre-heat weld temperature, maintain a pre-heat weld temperature, control a weld interpass temperature, or control a post-weld cooling, or a combination thereof, of the substrate.
Regarding claim 14 AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches a method of preheating sections of a vessel including the substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded wherein the method comprises:
positioning the temporary, mobile convection apparatus of claim 1 (using the apparatus combined in claim 1) in proximity to a weld site of the substrate of the vessel such that the one or more panels are at least one of affixed to, abutted against, around, or on, or a combination thereof, the substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded; and
operating the one or more manifolds for at least one of heating or cooling the substrate (Masaoka, for cooling) to at least one of control a pre-heat weld temperature, maintain a pre-heat weld temperature, or control a weld interpass temperature, control a post=weld cooling, or combination thereof, of the substrate.
Regarding claim 15, AAPA discloses a temporary and mobile convection apparatus for fabricating products having a substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded (AAPA, fig. 2A), but it does not teach an apparatus comprising:
one or more internal convection boxes, wherein an internal convection box of the one or more internal convection boxes comprises:
one or more panels being at least one of affixed to, abutted against, around, or on, or a combination thereof, the substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded, the one or more panels defining an internal convection space, and
a manifold, wherein a portion of the manifold is within the internal convection space; and
an external cooling system for cooling the substrate.
But Masaoka teaches an apparatus comprising: an internal convection box (fig. 7) comprising,
a panel (Masaoka, P, see annotated fig. 7 above) defining an internal convection space, and
a manifold (Masaoka, coming from pipe 9, leading out to openings 11) , wherein a portion of the manifold is within the internal convection space; and
an external cooling system (Masaoka, cooling medium 4 coming in).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to have the manifold of Masaoka at least partially, within a heating space in AAPA in order to have cooling jets being directly applied to cool the wall and applied in the direction perpendicular to and directly at the wall in order to have more direct and robust cooling and heat exchange away from the wall.
Regarding claim 16 , AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 15, as above, and further teaches wherein the internal manifold comprises one or more of:
one or more extensions (Masaoka, pipe 9 extends away from manifold),
one or more pipes, and
one or more throttles.
Regarding claim 17, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 16, as above, and further teaches wherein an extension of the one or more extensions (Masaoka, 9) passes through a barrier or wall of the panel (8, see annotated fig. 7 above) of the internal convection box.
Regarding claim 18, AAPA in view of Rajagopalan teaches all the limitations of claim 17, as above, and further teaches wherein an extension (9) of the one or more extensions is adapted to be connected to a chilling device (4, cooling medium).
Regarding claim 19, AAPA in view of Rajagopalan teaches all the limitations of claim 18, as above, and further teaches wherein a pipe (9) of the one or more pipes passes internally through an interior of the internal convection box, and wherein the pipe comprises a terminus throttle (11).
Regarding claim 20, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 19, as above, and further teaches an apparatus wherein a diameter, length and material of the manifold are predetermined (Masaoka, “predetermined” meaning having preset dimensions, which it does). .
Regarding claim 21, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches a method of cooling welded sections of a vessel including the substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded, wherein the method comprises:
positioning the temporary, mobile convection apparatus of claim 15 (see rejection of 15, above) in proximity to a weld site of the substrate of the vessel such that the one or more panels are at least one of affixed to, abutted against, around, or on, or a combination thereof, the substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded; and
operating the one or more manifolds within the internal convection space to cool the welded sections of the vessel (Masaoka, cools).
Regarding claim 22, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches a method of cooling sections of a vessel with higher than ambient temperatures due to welding (AAPA), wherein the method comprises:
positioning the temporary, mobile convection apparatus of claim 15 (AAPA in view of Masaoka, see rejection of claim 15, above) in proximity to a weld site of the vessel, wherein the vessel includes the substrate to be welded (Masaoka, 1), being welded, or cooling from being welded, such that the one or more panels are at least one of affixed to, abutted against, around, or on, or a combination thereof (the heating box and panels are “around” the welding substrate), the substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded; and
operating the one or more manifolds within the internal convection space to cool the sections of the vessel (this is what it does).
Regarding claim 23, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1, above), wherein the substrate comprises one or more pipes to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded, and wherein the one or more convection boxes encompass at least a portion of a circumference of the one or more pipes (AAPA 201, and/or Masaoka, 1).
Regarding claim 24, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches 24. (New) The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the one or more convection boxes encompass an entire circumference of the one or more pipes (the convection box of Masaoka does encompass around the entire inside circumference of one or more pipes).
Regarding claim 25, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teaches an apparatus wherein the one or more panels cooperate with the substrate to define the internal convection space (Masaoka, fig. 7, elements P,7,8 etc.).
Regarding claim 26, AAPA discloses a temporary and mobile convection apparatus for at least one of controlling a pre-heat weld temperature, maintaining a pre-heat weld temperature, controlling a weld interpass temperature, or controlling a post-weld cooling, or a combination thereof, of a substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded, said apparatus comprising:
an external heating system (AAPA, 232, 234) comprising one or more heaters for heating the substrate; and
an external insulation material (AAPA, fig. 2b, element 240), wherein the external heating system is disposed between the external insulation material and the substrate, and wherein the external insulation material and the external heating system are positioned on an opposite side of the substrate than the one or more panels of the one or more convection boxes (on opposite side of cooling panel, where combination of Masaoka will put convection box/manifold on the inside and the heater and insulation will be on the outside).
However, AAPA does not disclose one or more convection boxes, wherein a convection box of the one or more convection boxes comprises:
one or more panels being at least one of affixed to, abutted against, around, or on, or a combination thereof, the substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded, the one or more panels defining an internal convection space, and
one or more manifolds for at least one of heating or cooling, or a combination thereof, the substrate, wherein at least a portion of the one or more manifolds is within the internal convection space, wherein the one or more manifolds are in communication with at least one of a heating system or a cooling system, or a combination thereof.
However, Masaoka teaches “one or more convection boxes (Masaoka, fig. 7, created by columns 7 & 8), wherein a convection box of the one or more convection boxes comprises:
one or more panels (Masaoka, outside panel P, see annotated drawing below) being at least one of affixed to, abutted against, around, or on or a combination thereof, the substrate to be welded, being welded, or cooling from being welded, the one or more panels defining an internal convection space.
one or more manifolds (Masaoka, fig. 7, coming through 4 and then being divided towards the welds, fig. 7) for heating or cooling one side of the substrate (spraying out to cool the weld), wherein a portion of the one or more manifolds is within the internal convection space; wherein the one or more manifolds are in communication with at least one of a heating system or a cooling system (Masaoka, cooling), or a combination thereof.
AAPA does disclose insulation plate (240) on the inside, opposite the weld, to help cool the weld, but nothing further. However, Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the AAPA, to have the box and manifold of Masaoka, within an internal heating space of AAPA modifying the cooling plate of AAPA, in order to have cooling jets being directly applied to cool the wall and applied in the direction perpendicular to and directly at the wall, in order to have more direct and robust cooling and heat exchange away from the wall.
Claim 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Applicant’s Admitted Prior Art (Within filed application 17/469,855; Herein After “AAPA”) in view of Masaoka (U.S. Patent 4,218,604) and further in view of Rajagopalan (U.S. Patent Application Publication 20170182605).
Regarding claim 6, AAPA in view of Masaoka teaches all the limitations of claim 5, as above, and but does not further teach an apparatus wherein the convection section comprises a panel coated with a high temperature coating adapted to contain heat within the internal convection box. However, Rajagopalan does teach coatings to protect from heat (¶230, “insulator material/coating”). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify AAPA in view of in view of Masaoka, with the teachings of Rajagopalan, to have the panel coated with a thermal coating, as even Rajagopalan teaches coatings to protect from heat, as this is what thermal coatings do, they contain and dissipate heat, in order to protect the different components from the heat of the weld and the preheating and to keep the heat within the internal convection box which is configured for cooling.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-26, filed 12 November 2025, 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. Specifically, Masaoka was added which indeed teaches a convection box with a panel “on or around” the welded substrate.
Please contact examiner regarding any questions or concerns.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see attached form PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAWRENCE H SAMUELS whose telephone number is (571)272-2683. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ibrahim Abraham can be reached on 571-270-5569. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAWRENCE H SAMUELS/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761