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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 11-19 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.
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.
Claims 11,12,13,14,16,17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Plumley (US 5507320 A), hereafter known as Plumley, in view of Cilleruelo (FR 3014889 A1), hereafter known as Cilleruelo, in further view of Gantrade’s webpages “Ultimate Performance Polyurethanes Based on Polycarbonate Diols”, “FAQ | Polyurethane Curatives & Chain Extenders”, and “Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate (MDI) - Essential Building Blocks for Polyurethanes”, hereafter known as Gantrade, FAQ, and Petrochemical, respectively.
Regarding claim 11, Plumley discloses a fluid conduit for a motor vehicle (title, Plumley) having
a base body (fig 1, layer 17, Plumley) and a chafe layer (not disclosed),
wherein the base body has at least one layer made of plastic (col 3, lines 37-41, layer 17 is nylon 12, a plastic, Plumley),
and the chafe layer forms an outer layer of the fluid conduit (not disclosed),
wherein the chafe layer has a layer thickness of at least 0.1 mm to at most 1.0 mm, is applied to an outer layer of the base body (not disclosed),
wherein the base body comprises polyamide, polypropylene or polyphthalamide (col 3, lines 37-41, layer 17 is polyamide 12, Plumley),
and wherein the chafe layer consists of thermoplastic polyurethane comprising polyol present as polycarbonate polyol, diol as a chain extender and isocyanate (not disclosed),
wherein the thermoplastic polyurethane additionally comprises at least 1 wt.% and at most 3 wt.% of an ethylene- propylene copolymer or an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer as an abrasion improver (not disclosed),
and wherein between the base body and the chafe layer and/or within the chafe layer an additional layer serving to improve flame resistance is arranged (fig 1, col 4 lines 33-39, layer 18 is exterior to layer 17, and is flame resistant, but chafe layer is not disclosed Plumley).
Plumley does not disclose a chafe layer as an outer layer of the fluid conduit, or the dimensions and composition of the chafe layer. However, Cilleruelo teaches an external protective layer resistant to abrasion at high temperatures (abstract, description first paragraph, Cilleruelo) that is 0.5-1mm thick (page 12, last paragraph, Cilleruelo) made of thermoplastic polyurethane (abstract, Cilleruelo) with between 1 and 1.5% of an ethylene-propylene copolymer additive (page 8, lines 6-8 and last paragraph, Cilleruelo). Cilleruelo describes a protective cover layer for a fuel transport pipe in a vehicle, a field closely related to Plumley and the claimed invention. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before time of file to incorporate the teachings of Cilleruelo into Plumley and covered the exterior of the fuel hose of Plumley with the covering of Cilleruelo. The covering of Cilleruelo provides abrasion resistance at high temperatures (abstract, Cilleruelo), improving the reliability of the fuel line. After modification, the flame resistant layer 18 of Plumley will be between layer 17 of Plumley and cover layer of Cilleruelo.
Plumley in view of Cilleruelo does not disclose the thermoplastic polyurethane comprising polyol present as polycarbonate polyol. However, Gantrade teaches using polycarbonate diols, which is a type of polycarbonate polyol, to make polyurethanes (title, Gantrade). Gantrade is a blog post about the benefits of polycarbonate diols on polyurethane performance, a field closely related to Plumley, Cilleruelo, and the claimed invention. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before time of file to incorporate the teachings of Gantrade into Plumley in view of Cilleruelo and use polycarbonate diol in the thermoplastic composition. Polycarbonate diols feature many benefits, inducing low water absorption and high chemical resistance (page 1, bullet points, Gantrade), all of which can be passed on to the fuel line.
Plumley in view of Cilleruelo and Gantrade does not disclose diol as a chain extender. However, FAQ teaches 1,4-Butanediol as a chain extender (page 8, row 1, page 6, BDO, FAQ). FAQ is a informational site about different polyurethane chain extenders, which is closely related to Plumley, Cilleruelo, Gantrade, and the claimed invention. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before time of file to incorporate the teachings of FAQ into Plumley in view of Cilleruelo and Gantrade and use 1,4-Butanediol as the polyurethane chain extender. Using 1,4-Butanediol as a chin extender is well known in the art, and it produces urethane with good abrasion and resilience (page 6, BDO, FAQ), which would increase the durability of the fuel line.
Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, and FAQ does not disclose isocyanate. However, Petrochemical teaches using 4,4’-MDI as building blocks for thermoplastic polyurethanes (page 1, first paragraph, page 2 paragraph 3, Petrochemical). Petrochemical is a blog post about how Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate is essential for the formation of polyurethane, which is closely related to Plumley, Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ, and the claimed invention. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before time of file to incorporate the teachings of Petrochemical into Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, and FAQ and use 4,4’-MDI to form the thermoplastic polyurethane of the fuel line of Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, and FAQ. Using 4,4’-MDI to form polyurethane is well known in the art, and MDI’s are the most produced diisocyanate, which would reduce the material cost of the fuel line.
Regarding 12, Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ , and Petrochemical discloses the fluid conduit according to claim 11, wherein the isocyanate is a diphenyl methane-4,4'-diisocyanate (page 2 paragraph 3, Petrochemical, 4,4’-MDI is diphenyl methane-4,4'-diisocyanate).
Regarding claim 13, Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ , and Petrochemical discloses the fluid conduit according to claim 11, wherein the thermoplastic polyurethane additionally contains at least one of the following substances as an additive: a lubricant, a wax, a phenolic antioxidant, an aminic antioxidant, a thioester- based antioxidant, a phosphite, a UV absorber, a sterically hindered amine, a hydrolysis inhibitor, in particular a carbodiimide, an antistatic agent, and a flame retardant. (abstract, Cilleruelo, the thermoplastic polyurethane has a lubricant additive.)
Regarding claim 14, Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ , and Petrochemical discloses the fluid conduit according to claim 13, wherein the additive has a proportion of at least 0.05% by weight and/or at most 10% by weight (page 8, lines 6-8 and last paragraph, Cilleruelo, additive is of 1-1.5% by mass).
Regarding claim 16, Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ , and Petrochemical discloses a method for producing the fluid conduit according to claim 11 wherein the method comprises the following steps:
a) providing the base body of the fluid conduit (page 4 paragraph 1, last sentence Cilleruelo, covering of Cilleruelo can be extruded over the internal pipe, thus the base body, in this case the fuel line of Plumley is provided.);
b) applying the chafe layer to the base body by extrusion of an extrusion mixture conduit (page 4 paragraph 1, last sentence Cilleruelo, covering of Cilleruelo can be extruded over the internal pipe, thus the extrusion mixture of Cilleruelo is extruded over the fuel line of Plumley); wherein the extrusion mixture contains the thermoplastic polyurethane as a polymeric mixture component (abstract, covering of Cilleruelo contains thermoplastic polyurethane, and since the covering is extruded, the extrusion mixture has at least the same composition).
Regarding claim 17 Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ , and Petrochemical discloses the method according to claim 16, wherein the extrusion mixture comprises an ethylene copolymer as an additive as a further mixture component (page 4 paragraph 1, last sentence Cilleruelo, covering of Cilleruelo can be extruded, thus extrusion mixture contains at least the same composition as the covering, and page 8, lines 6-8 and last paragraph states the composition contains ethylene copolymer, Cilleruelo).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ, and Petrochemical, in further view of Additivesforpolymer’s product page “UV 234, Tiunvin 234, CAS 321-86-7”, hereafter known as Additives.
Regarding claim 20, Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ , and Petrochemical discloses the fluid conduit according to claim 13, but does not disclose wherein the additive is a UV absorber based on benzotriazole or triazine. However, Additives teaches using benzotriazole UV absorber as an additive to prevent polymer degradation (page 1, name and application, Additives). Additives is a product page for a polymer additive, and is closely related to Plumley, Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ , Petrochemical, and the claimed invention. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before time of file to incorporate the teachings of Petrochemical into Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ, Petrochemical and add the UV absorber of Additives into the fuel line. UV absorbers are well known in the art for their ability to convert UV radiation into heat, preventing degradation of polymers, a feature that would benefit the fuel line.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ, and Petrochemical, in further view of Triiso’s product page “Stabaxol”, hereafter known as Triiso.
Regarding claim 21, Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ , and Petrochemical discloses the fluid conduit according to claim 13, but does not disclose wherein the additive is a hydrolysis inhibitor based on a carbodiimide. However, Triiso teaches using carbodiimide as an additive to prevent hydrolysis (product description, Triiso). Triiso is a product page for a polymer additive, and is closely related to Plumley, Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ , Petrochemical, and the claimed invention. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before time of file to incorporate the teachings of Petrochemical into Plumley in view of Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ, Petrochemical and add the additive of Triiso into the duel line. Hydrolysis inhibiting additives are well known in the art, and the additive of Triiso increases the durability of the fuel line.
Claims 18,22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cilleruelo in view of Gantrade, FAQ, and Petrochemical.
Regarding claim 18, Cilleruelo discloses an outer layer of a fluid conduit (abstract, Cilleruelo, the cover of Cilleruelo covers a fluid conduit, thus is the outer layer of the conduit), the outer layer comprising
a chafe layer (abstract, description first paragraph, Cilleruelo, the cover is abrasion resistant, thus can serve as chafe layer) with a layer thickness of at least 0.1 mm to at most 1.0 mm (page 12, last paragraph, layer is 0.5-1mm thick, Cilleruelo) and consisting of a thermoplastic polyurethane (abstract, Cilleruelo) comprising polyol present as polycarbonate polyol (not disclosed), diol as a chain extender (not disclosed), and isocyanate (not disclosed), wherein the thermoplastic polyurethane additionally comprises at least 1 wt.% and at most 3 wt.% of an ethylene-propylene copolymer or an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer as an abrasion improver (page 8, lines 6-8 and last paragraph, 1-1.5% additive of ethylene-propylene copolymer, page 9, lines 1-4, the additive provided increased abrasion resistance, Cilleruelo).
Cilleruelo does not disclose the thermoplastic polyurethane comprising polyol present as polycarbonate polyol. However, Gantrade teaches using polycarbonate diols, which is a type of polycarbonate polyol, to make polyurethanes (title, Gantrade). Gantrade is a blog post about the benefits of polycarbonate diols on polyurethane performance, a field closely related to Cilleruelo and the claimed invention. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before time of file to incorporate the teachings of Gantrade into Cilleruelo and use polycarbonate diol in the thermoplastic composition. Polycarbonate diols feature many benefits, inducing low water absorption and high chemical resistance (page 1, bullet points, Gantrade), all of which can be passed on to the fuel line cover of Cilleruelo.
Cilleruelo in view of Gantrade does not disclose diol as a chain extender. However, FAQ teaches 1,4-Butanediol as a chain extender (page 8, row 1, page 6, BDO, FAQ). FAQ is an informational site about different polyurethane chain extenders, which is closely related to Cilleruelo, Gantrade, and the claimed invention. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before time of file to incorporate the teachings of FAQ into Cilleruelo in view of Gantrade and use 1,4-Butanediol as the polyurethane chain extender. Using 1,4-Butanediol as a chin extender is well known in the art, and it produces urethane with good abrasion and resilience (page 6, BDO, FAQ), which would increase the durability of the fuel line cover of Cilleruelo.
Cilleruelo in view of Gantrade and FAQ does not disclose isocyanate. However, Petrochemical teaches using 4,4’-MDI as building blocks for thermoplastic polyurethanes (page 1, first paragraph, page 2 paragraph 3, Petrochemical). Petrochemical is a blog post about how Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate is essential for the formation of polyurethane, which is closely related to Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ, and the claimed invention. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before time of file to incorporate the teachings of Petrochemical into Cilleruelo in view of Gantrade and FAQ and use 4,4’-MDI to form the thermoplastic polyurethane of the fuel line cover of Cilleruelo in view of Gantrade and FAQ. Using 4,4’-MDI to form polyurethane is well known in the art, and MDI’s are the most produced diisocyanate (page 1, first paragraph, Petrochemical), which would reduce the material cost of the fuel line cover.
Regarding claim 22, Cilleruelo in view of Gantrade, FAQ and Petrochemical discloses the outer layer of claim 18, wherein the chafe layer forms the outer layer of the fluid conduit for a motor vehicle (page 2, description paragraph 1, the coating of Cilleruelo can be applied to the outside of fluid transport pipe in a motor vehicle.)
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cilleruelo in view of Gantrade, FAQ, and Petrochemical, in further view of Plumley.
Regarding claim 23, Cilleruelo in view of Gantrade, FAQ and Petrochemical discloses the outer layer of claim 22, but does not disclose wherein the outer layer further comprises an additional layer serving to improve flame resistance arranged between a base body of the fluid conduit and the chafe layer and/or within the chafe layer.
However, Plumley teaches a fluid conduit with a base body (fig 1, layers 12,14,15,17, Plumley) and outer layer with flame resistance (fig 1, col 4 lines 33-39, layer 18 is exterior to layer 17, and is flame resistant, Plumley). Plumley describes a polymer vehicle fuel line, a field closely related to Cilleruelo, Gantrade, FAQ, Petrochemical, and the claimed invention. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before time of file to incorporate the teachings of Plumley into Cilleruelo in view of Gantrade, FAQ and Petrochemical and apply the coating of Cilleruelo in view of Gantrade, FAQ and Petrochemical over the fuel hose of Plumley. Coating a fuel hose to increase its durability is well known in the art, and the fuel line of Plumley would add flame resistance to the resulting pipe.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Noone (US 5383087 A) discloses polyamide fuel line for vehicles.
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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/H.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3753
/KENNETH RINEHART/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3753