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 Amendments
In response to the amendments filed 05/06/2025:
Claims 8-12 and 15 are pending in the current application. Claims 13-14 have been canceled. Claim 1 has been amended.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because at least Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 with heater element 42 misaligned partially or fully outside of the housing, thus not reading on the claimed invention. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Øvrebø et al. (WO 2010/120188) in view of Hafemeister et al. (US 2010/0098978) and Jansson et al. (WO 2012/131163).
Regarding claim 8, Øvrebø teaches a solid oxide cell assembly, comprising:
a housing 14 including, a base plate, a cover, and one or more side walls (Fig. 3);
one or more solid oxide cell stacks or units 13 positioned in the housing (pg. 12; Fig. 3); and
at least one radiant heater element, or microwave/wave guide/shields 71/51 positioned inside the housing and configured to emit radiant heat onto the one or more solid oxide cell stacks 12/13, wherein the at least one radiant heater element 1 is formed as a heating plate (pg. 5 [25-27]; pg. 12-13 [35-5]; Fig. 3.7.9),
wherein the at least one radiant heater element 71/51 comprises of a plurality of separately controllable segments each comprising separate power connections (pg. 6 [11-25]; pg. 9-10 [38-6]; pg. 16-17 [4-11]; Fig. 3.7.9),
wherein the solid oxide cell assembly is formed as a high temperature electrolysis cell assembly (SOEC), capable at operating at a higher temperature and allowing necessary reactants (pg. 1-5; pg. 15 [10-33]) and wherein a SOFC and a SOEC are equivalent, but operating in reverse, and thus formed of the same claimed material.
and wherein the at least one radiant heater element 71 is fixed to at least one of the one or more side walls and the base plate, or provided on any sides, top/bottom/side of the fuel cell stack (pg. 7-8 [30-2]; Fig. 3.7-9)
Øvrebø is silent in explicitly teaching that the one or more solid oxide cell stacks positioned on the base plate; however, Hafemeister, in a similar field of endeavor related to fuel cells (P2), teaches an enclosure for fuel cells and other heating components (P13-15) including a base plate, or bottom wall 10, a cover 12, and multiple side walls 14,16,18,20 (P24) where the solid oxide cell stacks 24 are positioned on the base plate 10 to have a simple installation that reduces heat loss to the outside while housing multiple components (P10-11.13-15.24; Fig. 1-2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to use an enclosure, such as the one taught by Hafemeister, comprising a base plate, a cover, and one or more side walls; one or more solid oxide cell stacks positioned on the base plate; as the enclosure of Øvrebø to have a simple enclosure. Furthermore, the rationale to support a conclusion that the claim would have been obvious is that all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art.
While modified Øvrebø teaches the radiant heater element disposed on the side walls, one of ordinary skill in the art would be further inclined to have the at least one radiant heater element integrated into one of the one or more side walls in light of Jansson.
Jansson, in a similar field of endeavor, teaches integrating radiant heater elements into one or more of the sidewalls for convenient removal, replacement, and efficient use of space (P8 [1-32]; pg. 10 [1-12]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to have the at least one radiant heater element integrated into one of the one or more side walls of modified Øvrebø to efficiently use space and have an easily accessible structure, as taught by Jansson. The rationale to support a conclusion that the claim would have been obvious is that a method of enhancing a particular class of devices (methods, or products) has been made part of the ordinary capabilities of one skilled in the art based upon the teaching of such improvement in other situations. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been capable of applying this known method of enhancement to a "base" device (method, or product) in the prior art and the results would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art. MPEP 2143 C
Regarding claim 9, modified Øvrebø teaches the one or more solid oxide cell stacks, or units 13 are disposed as a solid oxide cell stack series circuit 12, wherein feed streams are parallel, comprising a plurality of rows adjacent to one another, and wherein one of the at least one radiant heater element is assigned for each solid oxide cell stack (pg. 11-12 [36-4]; pg. 15-17; Fig. 9),
Regarding claim 10, modified Øvrebø teaches at least one heat transferor, or reflector 47 positioned in the housing (pg. 14 [27-35]; Fig. 3.7.9).
Regarding claim 11, modified Øvrebø teaches at least one heat transferor, or reflector 47 positioned on a flange, such as insulation layer between housing and transferor or on flange fluid line (pg. 12 [7-28]; pg. 14 [8-10]; Fig. 3.7-9).
Regarding claim 12, modified Øvrebø teaches the interaction between the at least one radiant heater element and the at least one heat transferor 47 increase system efficiency (pg. 14 [27-35]; Fig. 3.7.9).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Øvrebø as applied to at least claim 8 above, and further in view of Pedersen (US 20150368818).
Regarding claim 15, modified Øvrebø teaches the at least one radiant heater element is integrated into one or more plates, or guides (pg. 7 [15-40]; Fig. 3-9).
Modified Øvrebø is silent in teaching the radiant heater element plate can be ceramic, but teaches that the material preferably should be solid and has limited electronic conductivity with ohmic resistance (pg. 7 [17-22]).
However, Pederson teaches a method of heating a SOEC system using an electrical heater wherein the heater element is integrated into a planar plate. The heating plate, used for the same purpose as that of modified Øvrebø, is solid and has limited electronic conductivity with ohmic resistance, constructed of a number of possible ceramics mixed to produce the desired resistivity and target values for heating (P43-47).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to form the plate the at least one radiant heater element is integrated into of modified Øvrebø, of ceramic, as taught by Pederson, to achieve the properties for conductivity and heating. The rationale to support a conclusion that the claim would have been obvious is that a method of enhancing a particular class of devices (methods, or products) has been made part of the ordinary capabilities of one skilled in the art based upon the teaching of such improvement in other situations. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been capable of applying this known method of enhancement to a "base" device (method, or product) in the prior art and the results would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art. MPEP 2143 C
Furthermore, with respect to the above combination of overall element, the rationale to support a conclusion that the claim would have been obvious is that all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. The simple substitution of one known element for another is likely to be obvious when predictable results are achieved. MPEP 2143 B
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues the new claim limitations overcome the previous showing of obviousness. The amendments overcome the previous rejections. New and amended grounds of rejection are above set forth. New and amended grounds of rejection are necessitated by the claim amendments.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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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/Amanda Rosenbaum/Examiner, Art Unit 1752
/Helen Oi K CONLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752