DETAILED ACTION
This detailed action is in response to the amendments and arguments filed on 01/06/2026, and any subsequent filings.
Notations “C_”, “L_” and “Pr_” are used to mean “column_”, “line_” and “paragraph_”.
Claims 1, 3-9 and 11-23 are pending.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/06/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1 and 12
The Applicant argues that reference Rolchigo is not configured to filter a melt of polymeric material (pg. 9-11). This argument is unpersuasive because this is directed towards the amended claim.
The Applicant argues that Rolchigo and Vlachopoulos do not teach the limitations of the amended claims (pg. 11-12). This argument is unpersuasive because this is directed towards the amended claim.
The Applicant argues that references Lewitt, Macia, Tanida, Ibar, Vachon, Delgado, Fischel and Carew do not remedy the deficiencies of Rolchigo and Vlachopoulos with respect to the amended independent claims 1 and 12 (pg. 12-19). This is unpersuasive because this is directed towards the amended claim.
Response to Amendment
Claim Objections
Claims 5 and 21 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 5 is objected to because Claim 5 reads “filtered fluid of the meld of polymeric material”.
Claim 21 is objected to because Claim 21 reads “along the first longitudinal central”, which may have intended to read “along the first longitudinal central axis”.
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 1, 3-9 and 11-23 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.
Claims 1 and 17 recites the limitation "the contaminated viscous fluid". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 5 recites “another side” whereas Claim 1, upon which Claim 5 depends, reads “other side”. It is unclear whether the “another side” and “other side” refer to the same or distinct sides of the perforation surface, rendering Claim 5 indefinite.
Claim 12 recites the limitation “the a size”, rendering size of the perforation apertures in Claim 12 indefinite.
Claim 17 recites “another side” whereas Claim 12, upon which Claim 17 depends, reads “other side”. It is unclear whether the “another side” and “other side” refer to the same or distinct sides of the perforation surface, rendering Claim 17 indefinite.
Dependent claims not recited above require all of the limitations of independent Claim 1, and therefore are rejected for the same reasons set forth above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claims 1, 7-9, 12-15 and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent US6378705B1 (‘Bacher’) in view of Publication Understanding Rheology and Technology of Polymer Extrusion (‘Vlachopoulos', First Edition, Polydynamics Inc, Dundas, ON, Canada (2019)) and in further view of U.S. Patent US7124895B2 (‘Ettlinger’) and in further view of Publication Polymer Processing and Rheology (‘Polychronopoulos’, Polychronopoulos, N.D., Vlachopoulos, J. (2019). Polymer Processing and Rheology. In: Jafar Mazumder, M., Sheardown, H., Al-Ahmed, A. (eds) Functional Polymers. Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series. Springer, Cham.).
The Applicant’s claims are directed towards a method and an apparatus.
Regarding Claims 1 and 7-9, Bacher teaches a method of continuous filtration of contaminants from a melt of polymeric material (abstract) with contaminants that include solid particles (C3/L25-29), the method comprising:
pumping by providing pressure to the melt of polymeric material (C1/L52-55 and C5/L43-45, pressure exerted by the plastic material fed in to be filtered) between a non-perforated surface (Fig. 1-2, C5/L41-42, hollow cylindrical housing 1) and a perforated surface (Fig. 1-2, C5/L45-47, filter element 3) disposed substantially parallel to each other at a defined annular gap (Fig. 1-2, C5/L45-47, hollow space 2 of housing 1), thereby forcing movement of the melt of polymeric material in a longitudinal direction along the gap (C5/L53-60);
moving the non-perforated surface and the perforated surface with respect to each other at a defined rotational relative speed (C5/L45-50), thereby forcing movement of the melt of polymeric material in a direction substantially parallel to the relative speed, thereby generating a shear rate in the contaminated viscous fluid near the perforated surface in the direction substantially parallel to the relative speed (C5/L45-50);
wherein the perforated surface is shaped as a first cylindrical body having a first central longitudinal axis and the non-perforated surface is shaped as a second cylindrical body having a second central longitudinal axis coinciding with the first longitudinal axis and the first and second cylindrical bodies overlap (Fig. 1-2, C5/L45-50, longitudinal axis 4);
generate on the melt of polymeric material self-sweeping tangential relative motion simultaneously on the entire filtering section of the perforated surface, so that a layer of the melt of polymeric material adjacent to the perforated surface is forced to flow through perforation apertures of the perforated surface to other side of the perforated surface (C5/L53-60), while solid particles of said contaminants having a size larger than a size of the perforation apertures (C5/L61-64, residues retained by filter element 3) are forced to flow in the direction substantially parallel to the relative speed, wherein the relative speed is directed tangentially to surfaces of the first and second cylinders and perpendicularly to the second central longitudinal axis of the second cylindrical body and the first central longitudinal axis of the first cylindrical body (Fig. 10, contaminants get caught in filtering holes).
Additional Disclosures Included:
Claim 7: the perforation apertures are disposed along at least one longitudinal filtering section along a circumference and length of the first cylindrical body (Bacher, Fig. 1).
Claim 8: the first cylindrical body is disposed within the second cylindrical body (Bacher, Fig. 1).
Claim 9: the second cylindrical body is disposed within the first cylindrical body (Bacher, Fig. 3, C7/L34-58).
Regarding Claims 12-15 and 20-21, Bacher teaches a device for continuous filtration of contaminants from a melt of polymeric material (abstract) with contaminants that include solid particles (C3/L25-29), the device comprising:
a first cylindrical body (Fig. 1, C6/L6-9, filter element 3 consists of a thin hollow cylinder 17) having a first longitudinal central axis and comprising at least one longitudinal filtering section (Fig. 1, C6/L15-21, perforated zone 20), the at least one longitudinal filtering section comprising a perforated surface having a plurality of perforation apertures along a circumference thereof (Fig. 1); and
a second cylindrical body (Fig. 1, C5/L41-47, cylindrical housing 1) having a second longitudinal central axis that coincides with the first longitudinal axis of the first cylindrical body (Fig. 1, C5/L45-47, longitudinal axis 4) and a non-perforated surface (Fig. 1);
wherein the first cylindrical body is adapted to overlap and to rotate with respect to the second cylindrical body (C5/L45-47) such that an annular gap (Fig. 1-2, C5/L45-47, hollow space 2 of housing 1) is formed between the first cylindrical body and the second cylindrical body, wherein the annular gap is adapted to receive the melt of polymeric material (C5/L50-53), and
wherein the perforated surface is shaped as a first cylindrical body having a first central longitudinal axis, and the non-perforated surface is shaped as a second cylindrical body having a second central longitudinal axis coinciding with the first longitudinal axis and the first and second cylindrical bodies overlap (Fig. 1, C5/L45-47),
wherein the device is configured to
pump by providing pressure on the melt of polymeric material between the non-perforated surface and the perforated surface (C1/L52-55 and C5/L43-45, pressure exerted by the plastic material fed in to be filtered), thereby forcing movement of the melt of polymeric material in a longitudinal direction along the gap (C5/L53-60),
move the non-perforated surface and the perforated surface with respect to each other at a defined rotational relative speed (C5/L45-50), thereby forcing movement of the melt of polymeric material in a direction substantially parallel to the relative speed, thereby generating a shear rate in the melt of polymeric material near the perforated surface in the direction substantially parallel to the relative speed (C5/L45-50), and
generate on the contaminants in the melt of polymeric material self-sweeping tangential relative motion simultaneously on the entire filtering section of the perforated surface so that a layer of the melt of polymeric material adjacent to the perforated surface is forced to flow through the perforation apertures of the perforated surface to other side of the perforated surface (C5/L50-60), while solid particles of said contaminants having a size larger than the a size of the perforation apertures (C5/L61-64, residues retained by filter element 3) are forced to flow in the direction substantially parallel to the relative speed, wherein the relative speed is directed tangentially to surfaces of the first and second cylinders and perpendicularly to the second central longitudinal axis of the second cylindrical body and the first central longitudinal axis of the first cylindrical body (Fig. 10, contaminants get caught in filtering holes).
Bacher does not teach a smooth, vortex-free laminar flow with Reynolds Number (Re) < 1 and regulating the relative speed, the pressure and an average shear rate at the gap, the average shear rate being at least 50 1/sec.
Vlachopoulos also relates to a melt of polymeric material (pg. 6-21), including movement with a smooth, vortex-free (pg. 3-44, in HDPE, PP and PVC melts flow pattern is virtually without vortices) laminar flow with Reynolds Number (Re) < 1 (pg. 2-9, Reynolds number is very small (Re = 10-3-10-4 for polymeric liquids, see pg. 3-15), therefore flows are always laminar for polymer melts) and an average shear rate that is at least 50 1/sec (pg. 2-5, Fig. 2.3-1).
Ettlinger also relates to a method of continuous filtration of contaminants from a melt of polymeric material with contaminants that include solid particles (abstract), including regulating the relative speed (C2/L49-55), the pressure (C4/L31-46) and an average shear rate (C2/L49-55) at the gap.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the melt of polymeric material of Bacher can have movement with a smooth, vortex-free laminar flow with Reynolds Number (Re) < 1, as demonstrated by Vlachopoulos, because flows are always laminar for polymer melts, which have high viscosities (Vlachopoulos, pg. 2-9), and vortex formation depends on elongational viscosity (Vlachopoulos, pg. 3-44). It would have been obvious to regulate the relative speed, pressure and an average shear rate in Bacher and Vlachopoulos, such as having an average shear rate being at least 50 1/sec, to obtain a very high concentration of impurities and simultaneously have an optimum active filter surface (Ettlinger, C2/L49-55) and because the higher the shear rate, the easier it is for the molten polymer to flow through (Polychronopoulos, pg. 5).
Additional Disclosures Included:
Claim 13: a rotating assembly comprising at least a rotational motor (Bacher, C5/L45-50, motor), the rotational motor being coupled to one of the first cylindrical body and the second cylindrical body and adapted to rotate the one of the first cylindrical body and the second cylindrical body, respectively, at a controlled rotational speed; and
a controller (Ettlinger, Fig. 1, C4/L31-43, electronic control unit 36) in communication with the rotating assembly, the controller being configured to control a relative rotation between the first cylindrical body and the second cylindrical body by the rotating assembly according to the controlled rotational speed (Ettlinger, C4/L31-43) (It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the controller of Ettlinger and the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger and Polychronopoulos, to control rotary movement as a function of a detected pressure differential and reduce wear and tear (Ettlinger, C4/L31-43)).
Claim 14: the first cylindrical body is disposed within the second cylindrical body (Bacher, Fig. 1).
Claim 15: the second cylindrical body is disposed within the first cylindrical body (Bacher, Fig. 3, C7/L34-58).
Claim 20: the at least one longitudinal filtering section is disposed at a predetermined distance downstream a first end of the first cylindrical body (Bacher, Fig. 1).
Claim 21: the annular gap tapers along the common rotational axis by at least one of the first cylindrical body tapers along the first longitudinal central axis and the second cylindrical body tapers along the second longitudinal central axis such that the gap diminishes along the first longitudinal central (Bacher, Fig. 3, C8/L33-42, outside of hollow space 2 can taper).
Claims 3 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent US6378705B1 (‘Bacher’), Publication Understanding Rheology and Technology of Polymer Extrusion (Vlachopoulos', First Edition, Polydynamics Inc, Dundas, ON, Canada (2019)), U.S. Patent US7124895B2 (‘Ettlinger’) and Publication Polymer Processing and Rheology (‘Polychronopoulos’, Polychronopoulos, N.D., Vlachopoulos, J. (2019). Polymer Processing and Rheology. In: Jafar Mazumder, M., Sheardown, H., Al-Ahmed, A. (eds) Functional Polymers. Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series. Springer, Cham.) as applied to claims 1 and 12 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent US9409106B2 (‘Levitt’).
The Applicant’s claims are directed towards a method and an apparatus.
Regarding Claims 3 and 16, the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger and Polychronopoulos teaches the method of Claim 1 and the device of Claim 12, except that the perforation apertures being slots each having a long dimension and a short dimension and wherein the long dimensions of the slots are substantially aligned substantially perpendicular to the relative speed and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the first cylindrical body.
Levitt also relates to a method (abstract) of continuous filtration of contaminants ((C14/L57). Note that Bacher and Levitt both involve rotary filter devices), including perforation apertures are slots each having a long dimension and a short dimension and wherein the long dimensions of the slots are substantially aligned substantially perpendicular to the relative speed and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the first cylindrical body (Figs. 1 and 5, C4/L41-46).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the perforation apertures of the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger and Polychronopoulos to be slots each having a long dimension and a short dimension and wherein the long dimensions of the slots are substantially aligned substantially perpendicular to the relative speed and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the first cylindrical body, as demonstrated by Levitt, because such slotted pores, being longer than they are wide, tend to offer less fluid resistance than a number of smaller circular or square pores having the same combined open area (Levitt, C7/L48-52).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent US6378705B1 (‘Bacher’), Publication Understanding Rheology and Technology of Polymer Extrusion (Vlachopoulos', First Edition, Polydynamics Inc, Dundas, ON, Canada (2019)), U.S. Patent US7124895B2 (‘Ettlinger’), Publication Polymer Processing and Rheology (‘Polychronopoulos’, Polychronopoulos, N.D., Vlachopoulos, J. (2019). Polymer Processing and Rheology. In: Jafar Mazumder, M., Sheardown, H., Al-Ahmed, A. (eds) Functional Polymers. Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series. Springer, Cham.) and U.S. Patent US9409106B2 (‘Levitt’) as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Publication Handbook of Batch Process Design (‘Rushton’, P. N. Sharratt (ed.), Handbook of Batch Process Design © Chapman & Hall 1997).
The Applicant’s claims are directed towards a method.
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger, Polychronopoulos and Levitt teaches the method of Claim 3, except increasing the rotational speed of the second cylindrical body for a first period of time at a given rotational speed acceleration and then be deaccelerated to a nominal rotational speed at a lower rate, thereby momentarily increasing a sweeping effect of solid particles of said contaminants off the perforated surface.
Rushton also relates to filtration of contaminants (section 6.1 Introduction), including increasing the rotational speed of the second cylindrical body for a first period of time at a given rotational speed acceleration and then be deaccelerated to a nominal rotational speed at a lower rate, thereby momentarily increasing a sweeping effect of solid particles of said contaminants off the perforated surface (section 6.3.2 Centrifugal filters).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to increase then deaccelerate the rotational speed, as demonstrated by Rushton, to discharge a filter cake (Rushton, section 6.3.2 Centrifugal filters).
Claims 5 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent US6378705B1 (‘Bacher’), Publication Understanding Rheology and Technology of Polymer Extrusion (Vlachopoulos', First Edition, Polydynamics Inc, Dundas, ON, Canada (2019)), U.S. Patent US7124895B2 (‘Ettlinger’) and Publication Polymer Processing and Rheology (‘Polychronopoulos’, Polychronopoulos, N.D., Vlachopoulos, J. (2019). Polymer Processing and Rheology. In: Jafar Mazumder, M., Sheardown, H., Al-Ahmed, A. (eds) Functional Polymers. Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series. Springer, Cham.) as applied to claims 1 and 12 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent US4755290A (‘Neuman’) and U.S. Patent US5453194A (‘Klein’).
The Applicant’s claims are directed towards a method and an apparatus.
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger and Polychronopoulos teaches the method of Claim 1, except for removing contaminant solid particles of said contaminants accumulating on the perforated surface by increasing the pressure of a filtered fluid of the melt of polymeric material at another side of the perforated surface to a level substantially the same as the pressure of the melt of polymeric material at the side with the filtered fluid of the meld of polymeric material during actual filtering of the melt of polymeric material while shear rate at the gap is maintained by providing pressurized jets of the filtered fluid towards the side with the melt of polymeric material during the actual filtering of the melt of polymeric material.
Neuman also relates to a method of continuous filtration of contaminants from a melt of polymeric material with contaminants that include solid particles (abstract), including removing contaminant solid particles of said contaminants accumulating on the perforated surface (C11/L48-52) by increasing the pressure of a filtered fluid of the melt of polymeric material at another side of the perforated surface to a level substantially the same as the pressure of the melt of polymeric material at the side with the filtered fluid of the meld of polymeric material during actual filtering of the melt of polymeric material while shear rate at the gap is maintained by providing pressurized jets (C3/L28-31, pulses) of the filtered fluid towards the side with the melt of polymeric material during the actual filtering of the melt of polymeric material (C7/L47-55, reverse flow).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the removing contaminant solid particles of Neuman and the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger and Polychronopoulos because it is known to use a portion of filtered material as a reverse flow through the filter to dislodge contaminants (Neuman, C1/L57-60) as mechanical back-flushing aids, such as scrapers or arms, are subject to wear, necessitating replacement of parts involved and repair (Klein, C1/L51-65).
Regarding Claim 17, the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger and Polychronopoulos teaches the device of Claim 12, except being further configured to generate one or more jets on another side of the perforated surface adapted to provide pressurized jets of filtered the melt from another side of the perforated surface towards a side with the melt of polymeric material during actual filtering of the contaminated viscous fluid.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger and Polychronopoulos to generate one or more jets on another side of the perforated surface adapted to provide pressurized jets of filtered the melt from another side of the perforated surface towards a side with the melt of polymeric material during actual filtering of the contaminated viscous fluid, as demonstrated by Neuman, because it is known to use a portion of filtered material as a reverse flow through the filter to dislodge contaminants (Neuman, C1/L57-60) as mechanical back-flushing aids, such as scrapers or arms, are subject to wear, necessitating replacement of parts involved and repair (Klein, C1/L51-65).
Claims 6 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent US6378705B1 (‘Bacher’), Publication Understanding Rheology and Technology of Polymer Extrusion (Vlachopoulos', First Edition, Polydynamics Inc, Dundas, ON, Canada (2019)), U.S. Patent US7124895B2 (‘Ettlinger’), Publication Polymer Processing and Rheology (‘Polychronopoulos’, Polychronopoulos, N.D., Vlachopoulos, J. (2019). Polymer Processing and Rheology. In: Jafar Mazumder, M., Sheardown, H., Al-Ahmed, A. (eds) Functional Polymers. Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series. Springer, Cham.) and U.S. Patent US9409106B2 (‘Levitt’) as applied to claims 3 and 16 above, and further in view of German Patent DE4308685C2 (‘Gail’). Machine translations accompany this detailed action and the claims are mapped to those translations and the drawings in the original documents.
The Applicant’s claims are directed towards a method and an apparatus.
Regarding Claims 6 and 18-19, the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger, Polychronopoulos and Levitt teaches the method of Claim 3 and the device of Claim 16, except that the perforated surface comprises a plurality of grooves, wherein a depth of the grooves is smaller than a short dimension of the slots and wherein at least one of the grooves lays across at least one of the slots.
Gail also relates to a method of continuous filtration of contaminants from a melt of polymeric material with contaminants that include solid particles ([0001]), including that the perforated surface (Fig. 1, [0034], filter body 9) comprises a plurality of grooves (Fig. 9, [0046], slots 55), wherein a depth of the grooves is smaller than a short dimension of the slots (Fig. 9, [0046], bores 53) and wherein at least one of the grooves lays across at least one of the slots (Fig. 9, [0019] and [0046]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the perforated surface of the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger, Polychronopoulos and Levitt to comprise a plurality of grooves, wherein a depth of the grooves is smaller than a short dimension of the slots and wherein at least one of the grooves lays across at least one of the slots, as demonstrated by Gail, to maximize the flowable cross-section while maintaining sufficient strength in the cylindrical filter body (Gail, [0003], [0013] and [0016]).
Claims 11 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent US6378705B1 (‘Bacher’), Publication Understanding Rheology and Technology of Polymer Extrusion (Vlachopoulos', First Edition, Polydynamics Inc, Dundas, ON, Canada (2019)), U.S. Patent US7124895B2 (‘Ettlinger’) and Publication Polymer Processing and Rheology (‘Polychronopoulos’, Polychronopoulos, N.D., Vlachopoulos, J. (2019). Polymer Processing and Rheology. In: Jafar Mazumder, M., Sheardown, H., Al-Ahmed, A. (eds) Functional Polymers. Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series. Springer, Cham.) as applied to claims 7 and 13 above, and further in view of U.S. Publication US20150283484A1 (‘Vachon’).
The Applicant’s claims are directed towards a method and an apparatus.
Regarding Claims 11 and 22, the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger and Polychronopoulos teaches the method of Claim 7 and the device of Claim 22, except that one of the first cylindrical body and the second cylindrical body comprises at least one section of helically flighted fins disposed along the respective longitudinal central axis and downstream the at least one longitudinal filtering section, wherein the helically flighted fins protrude into the annular gap.
Vachon also relates to a method ([0003]) of continuous filtration of contaminants ([0024]), wherein one of the first cylindrical body and the second cylindrical body comprises at least one section of helically flighted fins (Fig. 1, [0018], vanes 23) disposed along the respective longitudinal central axis (Fig. 1) and downstream the at least one longitudinal filtering section (Fig. 1, [0015], filtration membrane 18), wherein the helically flighted fins protrude into the annular gap (Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger and Polychronopoulos to comprise at least one section of helically flighted fins, as demonstrated by Vachon, to further assist in providing a strong rotary vortex fluid movement, thereby allowing the filtration system to operate for a longer period of time before clogging (Vachon, [0018]).
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent US6378705B1 (‘Bacher’), Publication Understanding Rheology and Technology of Polymer Extrusion (Vlachopoulos', First Edition, Polydynamics Inc, Dundas, ON, Canada (2019)), U.S. Patent US7124895B2 (‘Ettlinger’) and Publication Polymer Processing and Rheology (‘Polychronopoulos’, Polychronopoulos, N.D., Vlachopoulos, J. (2019). Polymer Processing and Rheology. In: Jafar Mazumder, M., Sheardown, H., Al-Ahmed, A. (eds) Functional Polymers. Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series. Springer, Cham.) as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent US5453194A (‘Klein’).
The Applicant’s claim is directed towards an apparatus.
Regarding Claim 23, the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger and Polychronopoulos teaches the device of Claim 13, except for further comprising a washing assembly, the washing assembly comprising: at least one washing injector comprising a plurality of injection holes/slots; and a washing tube in fluid communication with the at least one washing injector and adapted to deliver a filtered melt of the melt of polymeric material to the at least one
washing injector; wherein the at least one washing injector is disposed and dimensioned so as to extend along at least a portion of the at least one longitudinal filtering section of the first cylindrical body and adapted to inject the filtered melt towards the rotating first cylindrical body from a side of the rotating first cylindrical body with filtered melt of the melt of polymeric material through its apertures towards the other side of the rotating first cylindrical body.
Klein also relates to a device for filtration of contaminants from a melt of polymeric material with contaminants that include solid particles (abstract and C2/L39-46), including a washing assembly, the washing assembly comprising:
at least one washing injector (C6/L18-22, pressure generation) comprising a plurality of injection holes/slots (Fig. 2, C3/L45-49 and C4/L58-59, separating plate 5 enables functions necessary for back-flushing); and
a washing tube (Fig. 2, C6/L18-22, outlet port 4) in fluid communication with the at least one washing injector (C6/L18-22) and adapted to deliver a filtered melt of the melt of polymeric material to the at least one washing injector (C6/L18-22);
wherein the at least one washing injector is disposed and dimensioned so as to extend along at least a portion of the at least one longitudinal filtering section (Fig. 3, C6/L18-27, filter 3 is supported by filtrate plate 12 (Fig. 2, C6/L6-17)) and adapted to inject the filtered melt from a side with filtered melt of the melt of polymeric material through its apertures towards the other side (C6/L18-22).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the washing assembly of Klein in the combination of Bacher, Vlachopoulos, Ettlinger and Polychronopoulos to make available a filtration device which is fully capable of being back-flushed without using mechanical aids in the back-flushing operation, where the filter residue can be removed from the filter almost completely, as mechanical back-flushing aids, such as scrapers or arms, are subject to wear, necessitating replacement of parts involved and repair, and these operating procedures are particularly costly when a highly viscous liquid is being filtered (Klein, C1/L51-65).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BOI-LIEN THI NGUYEN whose telephone number is (703)756-4613. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 8 am to 6 pm.
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, Bobby Ramdhanie can be reached at (571) 270-3240. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BOI-LIEN THI NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1779
/Bobby Ramdhanie/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1779