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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on December 23, 2025 has been received. Claims 1-7 are under consideration. Claims 8-10 are withdrawn from further consideration.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement.
The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 1, the limitation “wherein the connecting piece is flexible and compensates for thermal movement created by the reactor input stream” (at lines 29-30; with emphasis added) is not supported by the original disclosure.
The specification (at page 4, lines 5-20; with emphasis added) states,
“It is accordingly an object of the present invention to make it possible to use a multipoint thermocouple in the interior of a reformer tube for catalytic steam reforming of hydrocarbons in a configuration in which the introduction of the input gas into the reformer tube is effected vertically through the upper or lower end of the reformer tube using a feed pipe, wherein the feed pipe configured as a thermal stress compensator or the feed pipe provided with a thermal stress compensator on the one hand and the reformer tube on the other hand are arranged with their longitudinal axes in alignment and are gastightly connectable, for example connected by a flange on the entry-side end of the reformer tube.
A thermal stress compensator is to be understood as meaning a flexible element for compensating movements in pipes, in particular as the result of thermal length changes, for example of reactor tubes. This compensation is effected mechanically, for example via an elastic bellows or via pipe elbows, pipe windings or pipe coils which are elastically deformable along the compensation direction but can simultaneously continue fulfilling their main function as conduits that are fluid-tight with respect to the environment…”.
The specification (at page 6, lines 4-30; with emphasis added) further states,
“The invention is based on the finding that for reducing mechanical stresses occurring as a result of lengthening of reactor tubes through thermal expansion it is advantageous when the tube element provided with a thermal stress compensator is arranged in alignment with the reactor tube itself. This lengthening is very pronounced especially in reformer tubes for steam reforming of hydrocarbons when said tubes are heated from ambient temperature to the reaction temperature of nearly 1000° C. in the course of being brought online …
Supplying the hydrocarbon-steam mixture via a feed pipe arranged in alignment with the reformer tube longitudinal axis in the steam reforming of hydrocarbons would therefore be advantageous and would at least reduce the recited disadvantages, though the multipoint thermocouple shown in in FIG. 1 or described in US 2016/0263542 A1 can then no longer be used in the described manner.
These problems are solved with the present invention when a connecting piece is provided between the inlet-side tube end (entry end) of the reactor tube and a feed pipe which is intended for introducing a reactor input stream into the reactor tube and which is configured as a thermal stress compensator; this simultaneously serves as a reducing piece or transition piece if the entry end of the reactor tube and the feed pipe have different nominal widths/internal diameters or different flange sizes or if an insulating body in the shape of a pipe piece has been introduced into the entry end of the reactor tube.”
Therefore, the feed pipe intended for introducing an input stream to the reactor tube is flexible and a thermal stress compensator, not the connecting piece itself.
Furthermore, the feed pipe compensates for thermal movement created as a result of the lengthening of the reactor tube through thermal expansion (such as when the reactor tube is heated from ambient temperature to the reaction temperature, e.g., nearly 1000 °C in the case of steam reforming), and not thermal movement created by the reactor input stream (e.g., an input stream comprising a hydrogen-steam mixture, in the case of steam reforming).
As shown in FIG. 2, the connecting piece 30 merely allows for a feed pipe 35 (i.e., a feed pipe that is flexible and configured as a thermal stress compensator, e.g., via provision of elastic bellows or via pipe elbows, pipe windings, or pipe coils which are elastically deformable along the compensation direction) to be connected to a reactor tube 10 in a manner such that the feed pipe 35 and the reactor tube 10 are aligned along a common longitudinal axis 40.
Furthermore, the specification discloses that the connecting piece is manufactured using techniques such as metal casting, 3D printing, machining from solid material, welding, etc. (see page 8, lines 8-18). Such manufacturing techniques would have produced a connecting piece that was not flexible, within the context of the disclosure.
The remaining claims are also rejected because they depend from a rejected base claim.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on December 23, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant (at pages 6-7) argues,
“Applicants also respectfully point out that the instant specification clearly states: "A thermal stress compensator is to be understood as meaning a flexible element for compensating movements in pipes, in particular as the result of thermal length changes, for example of reactor tubes" (page 4, lines 14 - 16).
Applicants also respectfully point out that the term "thermal stress compensator" is one that is well known in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that such common means such as thermal compensating washers on the flanges will prevent metal fatigue during temperature changes. Therefore, Applicants submit that the specification, when read as a whole, contains "sufficient information regarding the subject matter of the claims as to enable one skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the claimed invention" as required by MPEP 2164.1.”
The Office respectfully disagrees.
The claimed “connecting piece” is NOT the thermal stress compensator being described at page 4, lines 14-16, of the specification. The specification (at page 4, from lines 5-20, which provides context to Applicant’s citation) states,
“It is accordingly an object of the present invention to make it possible to use a multipoint thermocouple in the interior of a reformer tube for catalytic steam reforming of hydrocarbons in a configuration in which the introduction of the input gas into the reformer tube is effected vertically through the upper or lower end of the reformer tube using a feed pipe, wherein the feed pipe configured as a thermal stress compensator or the feed pipe provided with a thermal stress compensator on the one hand and the reformer tube on the other hand are arranged with their longitudinal axes in alignment and are gastightly connectable, for example connected by a flange on the entry-side end of the reformer tube.
A thermal stress compensator is to be understood as meaning a flexible element for compensating movements in pipes, in particular as the result of thermal length changes, for example of reactor tubes. This compensation is effected mechanically, for example via an elastic bellows or via pipe elbows, pipe windings or pipe coils which are elastically deformable along the compensation direction but can simultaneously continue fulfilling their main function as conduits that are fluid-tight with respect to the environment…”. (with emphasis added).
Thus, the feed pipe for introducing an input stream to the reactor tube (i.e., a feed pipe 35, shown by dotted line in FIG. 2) is flexible and elastically deformable along the compensation direction, so as to act as a thermal stress compensator. Specifically, the feed pipe 35 may comprises a structure (not shown) to effect stress compensation mechanically, for example, elastic bellows, pipe elbows, pipe windings, or pipe coils which are elastically deformable.
However, the claimed connecting piece (i.e., a connecting piece 30 including sections 32, 34, and 36, shown in bold line in FIG. 2) is not a flexible or elastically deformable structure. The structure does not compensate for thermal stress.
Thermal stress compensators for pipes are well-known in the art and are further illustrated by the prior art to Stirnemann (US 2,788,266). Stirnemann discloses a reactor (see FIG. 1) comprising a reactor tube 3, a feed pipe 21 for introducing an input stream to the reactor tube, and a discharge pipe 12 for discharging a reaction product from the reactor tube. Specifically, the feed pipe 21 and the discharge pipe 12 are configured as thermal stress compensators by means of “an elastic connecting element for gas supply or gas discharge, e.g. a flexible metal pipe or a spiral tube” (see column 2, lines 4-10 and 52-55).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNIFER A LEUNG whose telephone number is (571)272-1449. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM EST.
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/JENNIFER A LEUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1774