DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
This Office action is based on the 18/025,993 application filed 13 March 2023, which is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-14 are pending and have been fully considered.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 8-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitamura et al (EP 1911517).
With respect to claims 1-6 and 8-10, Kitamura et al discloses “[a]n exhaust gas purifying catalyst…The exhaust gas purifying catalyst 1 includes a catalyst substrate 3 and a catalyst coating layer 5 which contains a noble metal and a refractory inorganic oxide and is formed on the catalyst substrate. The exhaust gas purifying catalyst is characterized in that the catalyst coating layer 5 includes an upstream portion 11 located upstream and a downstream portion 13 located downstream in a flow direction of an exhaust gas. The upstream portion 11 has a layered structure including an upstream portion inside layer 17 and an upstream portion outside layer 15” [abstract]. :More specifically, Kitamura et al discloses “[a]n area ratio, or a length ratio in the flow direction of the exhaust gas, between the upstream portion and the downstream portion is preferably within a range of 1: 0.2 to 5” and “[t]he exhaust gas purifying catalyst in the present invention may be formed, for example, with a single catalyst substrate and a catalyst coating layer formed on the catalyst substrate. In this case, each of an upstream portion and a downstream portion may be formed on the single catalyst substrate. The upstream portion, which may be located upstream from the downstream portion, is preferably an area including an end surface of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst as an entrance of an exhaust gas. The downstream portion, which may be located downstream from the upstream portion, is preferably an area including an end surface of the exhaust gas purifying catalyst as an exit of an exhaust gas” and “[t]he ratio in the coating amount per unit volume of the catalyst coating layer between the upstream portion and the downstream portion is preferably within a range of 1:1 to 5, and more preferably within a range of 1:1.1 to 2.0” and “[t]he refractory inorganic oxide may be, for example, alumina (particularly active alumina)…A preferable amount of the refractory inorganic oxide is within a range of 100-300 g per liter of the catalyst.” Even more particularly, the reference teaches:
“Embodiment 1
a) A description will now be given on a structure of an exhaust gas purifying catalyst 1 of an Embodiment 1 with reference to FIG. 1. In FIG. 1 and later-described FIGS. 2 through 17, ‘CZ’ represents a Ce rich composite oxide, ‘ZC’ represents a Zr rich composite oxide, ‘A1’ represents alumina, and ‘Sub’ represents a substrate.
The exhaust gas purifying catalyst 1 is constituted by a substrate (a catalyst substrate) 3 and a catalyst layer 5 formed on a surface of the substrate 3. The substrate 3 is a monolith honeycomb substrate having a length of 100mm, a capacity of 1.0 L and a cell density of 900 cells/ in2. The catalyst coating layer 5 is formed on an inner face of each cell of the substrate 3. In FIG. 1, a left end is an entrance end 7 of the cell and a right end is an exit end 9 of the cell. Accordingly, a direction from the entrance end 7 to the exit end 9 is a flow direction of exhaust gas. (Although a gas flow is indicated by an arrow only in FIG. 1, the same is applicable to the other figures.)
The catalyst coating layer 5 includes an upstream portion 11 over an area of 50 mm from the entrance end 7 and a downstream portion 13 over an area of 50 mm from the exit end 9 (that is, a portion from a most downstream end of the upstream portion 11 to the exit end 9). Also, the upstream portion 11 includes an upstream portion outside layer 15 and an upstream portion inside layer 17.
The upstream portion outside layer 15 includes Rh (0.75g) as a noble metal, alumina and a Zr rich composite oxide. The upstream portion inside layer 17 includes alumina and a Ce rich composite oxide (a refractory inorganic oxide). The downstream portion 13 includes Rh (0.26g) and Pd (1.0g) as noble metals, alumina and a Zr rich composite oxide (a refractory inorganic oxide).
b) A description will now be given on a method of manufacturing the exhaust gas purifying catalyst 1 of the Embodiment 1.
Slurries S1A, S1B and S1C were prepared as below.
(Slurry S1A)
Below listed components (fine powder; the same applies below) were mixed to prepare the slurry S1A.
alumina: 25 g
Ce rich composite oxide (with a relative proportion of CeO2 of 80 wt%): 25 g
water; 50 g
(Slurry S1B)
Below listed components were mixed to prepare the slurry S1B.
alumina: 25 g
Zr rich composite oxide (with a relative proportion of ZrO.sub.2 of 80 wt%): 25 g
Rh nitrate solution: an amount containing 0.75 g of Rh
water: 50 g
(Slurry S1C)
Below listed components were mixed to prepare the slurry S1C.
alumina: 50 g
Zr rich composite oxide (with a relative proportion of ZrO.sub.2 of 80 wt%): 50 g
Rh nitrate solution: an amount containing 0.25 g of Rh
Pd nitrate solution: an amount containing 1.0 g of Pd
water: 100 g
50 g of the slurry S1A was applied to coat a cell of the substrate 3 over an area of 50 mm from the entrance end 7, dried at 250°C for an hour, and calcined at 500°C for an hour. The upstream portion inside layer 17 was formed by this step.
The same conditions of drying and calcination are applicable hereinafter. In the present description, an amount of a coating of slurry means a weight of solid materials.
Subsequently, 50.75 g of the slurry S1B (containing 0.75 g of Rh) was applied to coat the area where the slurry S1A was already be applied, dried at 250°C for an hour, and calcined at 500°C for an hour. The upstream portion outside layer 15 was formed by this step.
Then, 101.25 g of the slurry SIC (containing 0.26 g of Rh and 1.0 g of Pd) was applied to coat the cell of the substrate 3 over an area of 50 mm from the exit end 9 (that is, a portion where the slurry S1A or S1B was not coated), dried at 250°C for an hour, and was calcined at 500°C for an hour. The downstream portion 13 was formed by this step, and thus the exhaust gas purifying catalyst 1 was completed.”
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Note that in the preceding embodiment, the alumina content in the inside layer 17 of the upstream portion is about 25 wt % or 12.5 g since 50 g S1A is coated onto the substrate, wherein S1A is 25 g alumina + 25 g Ce rich composite oxide + 50 g water (100 g total). Likewise, the alumina content in the outside layer 15 of the upstream portion is about 25 wt % or 12.5 g. Consequently, the entire alumina content of the upstream portion is about 25 g over a volume that is about ½ of 1 L, which is a concentration of about 50 g /L substrate , which is within the range required in instant claim 3. Similarly, the alumina content of the downstream portion is about 25 wt % and since 101.25 g of slurry S1C is applied to the downstream portion, the alumina content of the downstream portion is about 25 g. Consequently, the alumina content per unit volume of the substrate in the upstream portion is not more than the alumina content per unit volume of the substrate in the downstream portion. Likewise, the coating amount in the upstream portion (50 g +50.75 g = 100.75 g, if wet; 25 g + 25.56 = 50.56 g, if dry, which is equivalent to 101.12 g/L substrate) is slightly less than the coating amount in the downstream portion (101.25 g,if wet, 50.9 g if dry, which is equivalent to 101.8 g/L substrate), which meets the requirement of the ratio Y2/Y1 in instant claim 1. Additionally, recall the teaching of the reference above: “[t]he ratio in the coating amount per unit volume of the catalyst coating layer between the upstream portion and the downstream portion is preferably within a range of 1:1 to 5, and more preferably within a range of 1:1.1 to 2.0.” Further note that the components in Slurry S1B correspond to the upper lay of instant claim 5.
With respect to claims 11-13, see figure 10. The reference teaches “[a]n exhaust gas purifying catalyst 1 of an Embodiment 10 has basically the same structure as that of the Embodiment 1. as shown in FIG, 10, The Embodiment 10 is different from the Embodiment 1 in that 0.5 g of Pd as the noble metal is contained in the upstream portion inside layer 17 and in that the noble metals contained in the downstream portion 13 are 0.25 g of Rh and 0.5 g of Pd.”
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Claim(s) 1-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuno et al (US 2020/0129962).
With respect to claims 1-4, 6, and 8-10, Kuno et al discloses “an exhaust gas purification catalyst capable of purifying hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides in exhaust gas at low temperatures, the exhaust gas purification catalyst according to the present invention includes: a region (2) containing palladium on a three-dimensional structure (1), and a first region (3) and a second region (4) provided on the region (2) in order from an inflow side of exhaust gas to an outflow side of exhaust gas” [abstract].
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Kuno et al further discloses “[w]hen alumina is used for the refractory inorganic oxide [in the region (2) containing palladium—Examiner’s insertion], the amount of alumina is, in terms of Al2O3, not less than 5 g/L and more preferably not less than 10 g/L and is also not greater than 50 g/L, more preferably not greater than 30 g/L, and even more preferably not greater than 20 g/L relative to the three-dimensional structure” [paragraph 0034] and “[t]he amount of all components provided in the region [(2) containing palladium—Examiner’s insertion] is not less than 30 g/L, more preferably not less than 50 g/L, even more preferably not less than 70 g/L, and most preferably not less than 80 g/L and is also not greater than 150 g/L, more preferably not greater than 130 g/L, and even more preferably not greater than 110 g/L relative to the three-dimensional structure” [paragraph 0035]. Additionally, the reference teaches “[e]xamples of components besides rhodium contained in the first region include components that are ordinarily used in catalysts including alumina such as α-alumina, γ-alumina, and θ-alumina…Among the above exemplary components, an oxygen storage material (for example, cerium oxide) that is capable of storing oxygen and that is a refractory inorganic oxide or metal oxide is more preferable, and γ-alumina, θ-alumina…are even more preferable. The total amount of the oxide used in the first region is not less than 5 g/L, preferably not less than 20 g/L, more preferably not less than 30 g/L, and also not greater than 150 g/L, and more preferably not greater than 120 g/L relative to 1 liter of the three-dimensional structure” [paragraph 0037; that is, 5-150 g/L, which overlaps the range recited in instant claim 6]. Therefore, the amount of alumina in an upstream section comprising the first region and the region 2 containing palladium underlying the first region (which corresponds to the former stage of the instant application) ranges from 10 g/L to 200 g/L, which overlaps the range recited in instant claims 3 and 8. Kuno et al further discloses “[t]he amount of all components provided in the first region is not less than 10 g/L, preferably not less than 15 g/L, more preferably not less than 20 g/L, and also less than 70 g/L, preferably less than 60 g/L, and even more preferably less than 50 g/L relative to the three-dimensional structure” [paragraph 0043]. Consequently, the amount of all upstream components is in the range of 40 to 220 g/L. With respect to the second region (4), the reference teaches “Examples of components besides rhodium contained in the second region include components that are ordinarily used in catalysts including alumina such as α-alumina, γ-alumina, and θ-alumina…Among the above exemplary components, an oxygen storage material (for example, cerium oxide) that is capable of storing oxygen and is a refractory inorganic oxide or metal oxide is more preferable, and γ-alumina, θ-alumina…are even more preferable. The total amount of the abovementioned oxide used in the second region is not less than 20 g/L and more preferably not less than 25 g/L and is also not greater than 150 g/L and more preferably not greater than 120 g/L relative to the three-dimensional structure” [paragraph 0046] and “[t]he amount of all components provided in the second region is not less than 30 g/L, preferably not less than 50 g/L, more preferably not less than 60 g/L and is also not greater than 100 g/L, preferably not greater than 90 g/L, and even more preferably less than 80 g/L relative to the three-dimensional structure” [paragraph 0049]. Therefore, the amount of alumina in a downstream section comprising the second region and the region 2 containing palladium underlying the second region (which corresponds to the latter stage of the instant application) ranges from 25 g/L to 200 g/L; in view of the foregoing, it is obvious that the amount of alumina in the upstream region may be less than the amount of alumina in a downstream region. Also, the amount of all downstream components is in the range of 60 to 250 g/L, which overlaps the range for Y2 recited in instant claims 4 and 9-10. As a result, it is obvious that a ratio of the concentration of downstream components to upstream components, which corresponds to Y2/Y1 in the instant application, is within the recited range of instant claim 1.
With respect to claims 5, 7, and 11-14, Kuno et al discloses “[t]he first region is provided on the region containing palladium at the inflow side of exhaust gas. The first region need only contain at least rhodium” [paragraph 0036].
Conclusion
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/BRIAN A MCCAIG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1772
22 September 2025