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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 26 is objected to because of the following informalities: the term “”the apparatus for the thermal treatment” recited in line 1 should be changed to “An apparatus for a thermal treatment”. 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 22-24 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.
Regarding claim 22, recites “a use of an electromagnetically excited conductive material for the thermal treatment of a mineral raw material” renders the claim indefinite because it merely recites a use without any active, positive steps delimiting how this use is actually practiced (MPEP 2173.05(q)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 22-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 22 recites “a use of an electromagnetically excited conductive material for the thermal treatment of a mineral raw material” that do not purport to claim a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter fail to comply with 35 U.S.C. 101 (MPEP 2173.05(q)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 19 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gassen (US Pat. 3,046,320) (previously cited).
Regarding claim 19, Gassen discloses an induction furnace coil having a kiln (10’) comprising a kiln interior, a kiln wall (Fig. 3), and a device (induction coil 1’) for generating an electromagnetic field, wherein the device (1’) for generating the electromagnetic field is mounted outside the kiln interior and wherein the kiln (10’) has a wall thickness of maximum of 50 cm (Fig. 3; Col. 4, Line 26-28, , “a wall thickness of, for example, 20 cm”).
Regarding claim 21, Gassen discloses the kiln has an average inner diameter of 0.1 to 5 m (Fig. 3; Col. 3, Lines 63-65).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
Claim(s) 1-10 and 14-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gu (CN 110240381) in view of Yu et al. (CN 106045341) (both cited by Applicant).
Regarding claim 1, Gu discloses an induction heating material drying device and drying methos thereof, comprising at least the step of: providing a sludge material (4) and a conductive material (metal ball 5), placing the sludge material (4) and the conductive material into a kiln (Par. 14, kiln); generating an electromagnetic field (via induction coil 2) inside the kiln, thermally treating the sludge material (4) in the kiln by means of electromagnetic excitation of the conductive material (5) in the electromagnetic field, and removing the thermal treated sludge (4) and the conductive material (5) from the kiln (Fig. 1; Par. 14, 16-17 and 31-33). Gu does not discloses the thermal treatment of mineral raw materials. However, the materials to be used is intended use. Yu et al. discloses the thermal treatment of a mineral raw material (natural magnesium-containing minerals such as magnesite, dolomite and serpentine; and liquid mineral sources, such as seawater, salt lake water, brine, and other magnesium-containing liquids; Par. 5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize in Gu, the thermal treatment of a mineral raw material, as taught by Yu et al., for the purpose of suitable to the user application for thermal treatment different material
Regarding claim 2, Gu/Yu discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention as set forth above including from Gu, the conductive material (metal ball 5) and the sludge (mineral bulk) are mixed and being placed into the kiln (Fig. 1; Par. 25); and from Yu, the mineral bulk (magnesite ore/dolomite) is crushed by the crusher (1) and fed to the hopper (2) and place into the kiln (7) (Fig. 1; Par. 50); and except the mineral bulk material and the conductive material are mixed before being placed into the kiln. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize in Gu/Yu, the mineral bulk material and the conductive material are mixed before being placed into the kiln, for the purpose of suitable to the user application for balancing the ratio mixture of the bulk material with the conductive material.
Regarding claim 3, Yu et al. discloses the mineral bulk material comprises a hydroxide and/or a carbonate (Par. 5 and 8-9).
Regarding claim 4, Yu et al. discloses the mineral bulk material is selected from the group consisting of dolomite, magnesite (Par. 5, 15 and 17).
Regarding claim 5, Gu/Yu disclose substantially all features of the claimed invention as set forth above including from Yu, the mineral bulk material has a bulk density (Par. 5 and 7) except the mineral bulk material has a bulk density of from 1.0 to 3.0 t/m3. However, different mineral bulk material has different bulk density and since Yu discloses the use of dolomite as a mineral bulk material just as the same as the Applicant. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize in Gu/Yu, the mineral bulk material has a bulk density of from 1.0 to 3.0 t/m3, for the purpose of suitable to the user application to heat treatment other mineral bulk material.
Regarding claim 6, Gu discloses the conductive material (metal ball 5 or iron powder; Par. 17) has a melting point of at least 500° C (Note: metal includes aluminum, copper, gold, iron, lead, nickel, silver, steel, titanium, and zinc).
Regarding claim 7, Gu discloses the conductive material (metal ball 5 or iron powder; Par. 17) comprises at least one metal from the group consisting of iron, copper, nickel. (Note: metal includes aluminum, copper, gold, iron, lead, nickel, silver, steel, titanium, and zinc).
Regarding claim 8, Gu discloses the conductive material (metal ball 5) is substantially spherical (Par. 17).
Regarding claim 9, Gu/Yu discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention as set forth above including from Gu, the conductive material (metal ball 5 or iron powder; Par. 17) except the conductive material has a mean particle side (d50) of from 1.0 to 70 mm. Applicants have not disclosed that having the conductive material has a mean particle side (d50) of from 1.0 to 70 mm provides an advantage, is used for particular purpose, or solve a problem. One of ordinary skill in the art, furthermore, would have expected Applicant's invention to perform equally well with the metal ball has good thermal conductivity such as iron copper or iron. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify Gu/Yu to obtain the invention as specified in claim 9.
Regarding claim 10, Gu/Yu discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention as set forth above including from Yu, the amount of mineral bulk material (Par. 5); and from Gu, the amount mixture of sludge and the conductive material (Par. 14 and 17, metal ball or iron powder) except the amount of mineral bulk material in method step a. is at least 10 wt. %, based on the total amount of mineral bulk material and conductive material, and/or the amount of mineral bulk material in method step a. is a maximum of 90 wt. %, based on the total amount of mineral bulk material and conductive material. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize in Gu/Yu, the amount of mineral bulk material in method step a. is at least 10 wt. %, based on the total amount of mineral bulk material and conductive material, and/or the amount of mineral bulk material in method step a. is a maximum of 90 wt. %, based on the total amount of mineral bulk material and conductive material, for the purpose of suitable to the user application for balancing the ratio mixture of the bulk material with the conductive material thereby drying the bulk material faster.
Regarding claim 14, Yu et al. discloses a gas which forms during the thermal treatment is extracted from the kiln (7) (via fan 13) (Fig. 1; Par. 14 and 17-18).
Regarding claim 15, Yu et al. discloses the gas comprises carbon dioxide (Par. 5).
Regarding claim 16, Yu et al. discloses at least part of the carbon dioxide extracted from the kiln (7) is taken for further use and/or storage (Par. 14 and 50).
Regarding claim 17, Gu discloses the step of removed the sludge material (4) and the conductive material (5), separating the conductive material from the thermally treated material (Par. 23 and 33). Yu et al. discloses step of cooling the removed mineral bulk material (Par. 50, “After roasting, the magnesite ore is sequentially cooled through a multi-stage heat exchanger 9 and a heat exchanger 10, and then the magnesium oxide product is delivered by a discharging device 11”).
Regarding claim 18, Gu discloses the step of separated conductive material is placed back to the kiln (Par, 23; “the iron powder is separated by magnet adsorption and then flow into the feed port for reuse”).
Claim(s) 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gu (CN 110240381) in view of Yu et al. (CN 106045341) and further view of Yoshikawa (JP 2013-184843).
Regarding claim 11, Gu/Yu disclose substantially all features of the claimed invention as set forth above including from Yu, the mineral bulk material in method step d is exposed to a temperature of from 700 to 800° C (Par. 15) except exposed to a temperature of from 800 to 1500° C. Yoshikawa discloses the mineral bulk material is exposed to a temperature of 1280° C. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize in Yu/Gu, exposed to a temperature of from 800 to 1500° C, as taught by Yoshikawa, for the purpose of suitable to the user application to calcining/heat treatment certain bulk material.
Regarding claim 12, the combination of GU/Yu/Yoshikawa disclose the conductive material has a melting point (Gu, metal ball 5 or iron powder, melting point of iron is 2,800° F) which is above the temperature to which the mineral bulk material in method step d is exposed (Yu, 700 to 800° C, Par. 15).
Regarding claim 13, Yoshikawa discloses the electromagnetic field has a frequency of from 50 Hz to 30 MHz, in particular from 0.1MHZ to 2 MHz (Par. 15).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gassen (US Pat. 3,046,320) in view of Yu et al. (CN 106045341) (cited by Applicant).
Regarding claim 20, Gassen discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention as set forth above except the kiln comprises a fan for extracting gas. Yu et al. discloses the kiln (7) comprises a fan (13) for extracting gases (Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize in Gassen, the kiln comprises a fan for extracting gas, as taught by Yu et al., providing an exhaust fan for extracting waste gas.
Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gu (CN 110240381) (cited by Applicant) in view of Yu et al. (CN 106045341).
Regarding claim 22, Gu discloses a use of an electromagnetically (via induction coil 2) excited conductive material (metal ball 5) for the thermal treatment of sludge material (4) (Fig. 1; Abstract; Par. 31-33). Gu does not disclose the thermal treatment of a mineral raw material. However, the material to be used is intended use. Yu et al. discloses the thermal treatment of a mineral raw material (natural magnesium-containing minerals such as magnesite, dolomite and serpentine; and liquid mineral sources, such as seawater, salt lake water, brine, and other magnesium-containing liquids; Par. 5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize in Gu, the thermal treatment of a mineral raw material, as taught by Yu et al., for the purpose of suitable to the user application for thermal treatment different material.
Regarding claim 23, Gu discloses the electromagnetically (via induction coil 2) excited conductive material (metal ball 5) (Par. 17 and 31-32).
Regarding claim 24, the combination of Gu and Yu et al. discloses the electromagnetically excited conductive material (Gu, metal ball 5; Par. 17 and 31-32) is used for calcinating dolomite (Yu, Par. 5).
Claim(s) 26-27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gassen (US Pat. 3,046,320) in view of Yu et al. (CN 106045341) and further view of Gu (CN 110240381).
Regarding claim 26, combination of Gassen/Yu disclose substantially all features of the claimed invention as set forth above including a kiln according to claim 20 for thermal treatment of a mineral raw material (Yu, Par. 5) comprising: a first metering installation (flow meter 3) containing a mineral bulk material (silo 2), a supply system (feeder 5) for the transport of the bulk material, a kiln (7) according to claim 20, , at least one exhaust pipe connected to the kiln (7) and the fan (13) by means of which the extract gas can be taken away, at least one inlet on the kin (7) by means of which the mineral bulk material can be conveyed into the kiln (7) by the supply system (5), at least one gas-tight outlet on the kiln (7) for removing the thermally treated mineral bulk material. Gassen/Yu does not disclose a second meter installation containing a conductive material, the supply system for the transport of the conductive material and inlet of the kiln which the conductive material can be conveyed into the kiln, a separation system for separating the thermally treated mineral bulk material from the conductive material, a further conveyor system for the transport of the separated conductive material to the second metering installation. Gu discloses a conductive material (Par. 17; ball 5 or iron powder), the supply system for the transport of the conductive material and inlet of the kiln which the conductive material can be conveyed into the kiln (Par. 17), a separation system for separating the thermally treated mineral bulk material from the conductive material (Par. 17-18), a further conveyor system for the transport of the separated conductive material for reuse (Par. 17-18 and 23). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize in Gassen/Yu, a conductive material, the supply system for the transport of the conductive material and inlet of the kiln which the conductive material can be conveyed into the kiln, a separation system for separating the thermally treated mineral bulk material from the conductive material, a further conveyor system for the transport of the separated conductive material to the second metering installation, as taught by Gu, for the purpose of suitable to the user application to select induction heating for directly heating the conductive material thereby heating/drying the material faster. With respect to the limitation “a second metering installation containing the conductive material”, Yu et al. discloses a metering installation (flow meter 3) for the mineral bulk material; and from Gu, the conductive material (Ball 5 or iron powder) conveyed into the kiln with the sludge (Fig. 1). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize in Gassen/Yu, a second metering installation containing the conductive material, for the purpose of balancing the ratio mixture of the bulk material with the conductive material.
Regarding claim 27, Yu et al. discloses the inlet is a substantially gas tight inlet (Fig. 1).
Conclusion
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/HUNG D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
HUNG D. NGUYEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3761
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