D DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 4-12, 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mendenhall (20100116384) in view of Lundstrom (5756929).
Regarding claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 12, 14, Mendenhall discloses a gas generant composition that includes a primary fuels such as guanidine nitrate from 5-60 % (0036), a primary oxidizer such as basic copper nitrate from 5-95 % (0036), a secondary oxidizer such a potassium perchlorate from 1-20 % (0039 and 0040). Mendenhall discloses that mixtures of fuels may be used but does not disclose the claimed secondary fuel.
Lundstrom discloses the addition of a secondary fuel such as melamine nitrate at 10 % to be used in a gas generating composition with primary fuel such as guanidine nitrate (col. 2, lines 20-58).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use the teachings of Lundstrom since Lundstrom suggests that the use of the amounts of secondary fuel such as melamine nitrate with a similar gas generating composition. Lundstrom further recites that the “high gas volume/low combustion solids ratios of the guanidine compounds can be combined with other fuels having advantageous properties, such as lower ignition threshold temperatures, easier ignitability and improved burning rate tailoring capability without sacrificing the desirable properties of the individual components to provide synergistically improved superior fuels.” (col. 2, lines 62-68). The burn rate and burn rate slope are considered to be method of intended use limitations. A recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.
Regarding claims 6, 7, 9-11, 15, 16, and 18-20, Mendenhall discloses additives from 0-20 % which include coolants as well as lubricants such as graphite, molybdenum sulfide, and magnesium and calcium stearates (0046).
Regarding claims 8 and 17, Mendenhall discloses the addition of both metal oxides and hydroxide to the gas generant composition (0036). Lundstrom also discloses the addition of metal oxides as an additive to improve ignition (col. 4, lines 6-17).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
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/AILEEN B FELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1734