NON-FINAL ACTION
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 filed on 6 May 2026 with respect to the rejection of claims 31-34 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made of claims 22, 32-34, and 39 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Roth in view of Dudrey (U.S. Patent No. 4,406,651).
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 27 April 2023. These drawings are acceptable.
Specification
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware of in the specification.
The title of the invention is acceptable.
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 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 22-28, 32-36, and 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roth (U.S. Patent No. 10,654,050) in view of Dudrey et al. (U.S. Patent No. 4,406,651, hereinafter Dudrey).
Regarding claim 22, Roth discloses a self-draining separator configured to centrifugally separate a suspension into at least a liquid phase, a solid phase, and an intermediate phase (col. 1 line 16 – col. 2 line 3), the self-draining separator comprising: a centrifuging drum (drum assembly 102, Fig. 1) rotatable about a rotational axis (separator rotational axis R1, Fig. 1) and configured so that the suspension to be processed can be introduced into the centrifuging drum; at least one liquid discharge (light fraction outlet tube 117, Fig. 1) configured to discharge the light liquid phase; one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings (drum ejection passages 124, Fig. 4) configured to discharge the solid phase, wherein a first discontinuously acting discharge device (first piston 140, Fig. 4) is assigned to the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings, and wherein the first discontinuously acting discharge device is configured to discontinuously open and close the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings (col. 10 line 46 – col. 11 line 11); and one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings (middle ejection passage 147, Fig. 5) configured to discharge the intermediate phase, wherein a second discontinuously acting discharge device (second piston 150, Fi. 5) is assigned to the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings, and wherein the second discontinuously acting discharge device is configured to discontinuously open and close the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings (col. 11 lines 25-59), wherein the second discontinuously acting discharge device is actuatable independently of the first discontinuously acting discharge device so that the discharge of the intermediate phase is performed temporally independently of the discharge of the solid phase (col. 3 line 63 – col. 4 line 3), but does not disclose nozzle-like tubes arranged in or at the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings, wherein a length of the nozzle-like tubes is such that the nozzle-like tubes extend radially up to a radius R3 into a layer of the intermediate phase forming radially in the centrifuging drum during rotation of the centrifuging drum, so that discharge of the intermediate phase from the centrifuging drum occurs on the radius R3.
Dudrey discloses analogous art related to a multi-purging centrifuge comprising nozzle-like tubes (64, Fig. 1) wherein a length of the nozzle-like tubes is such that the nozzle-like tubes extend radially up to a radius R3 ([t]he tubes are adjustably mounted in the side wall 16 of the centrifuge bowl 12 so that the ends 66 thereof can be adjustably positioned at varying radial distances into the centrifuge bowl 12”, col. 6 lines 17-20). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Roth’s middle ejection passage 147 to include a radially extending, adjustable length tube as taught by Dudrey, in order to enable adjustment of the discharge radius to a radius R3. Dudrey teaches that such adjustability allows the tube end to be precisely positioned relative to a phase boundary “depending of the fluid volume flow rates, the rate of bowl rotation, the nature of the fluid “ (col. 6 lines 59-61, Dudrey). Because Dudrey’s tube 64 is mounted at a discharge location on a structure (side wall 16) and reaches into the centrifuge bowl interior to reach a phase layer, and exiting radially outward under centrifugal force (col. 6 lines 1-24, Dudrey) in the same manner Roth’s middle passage inlet 148 facilitate ejection of material from regions of the drum assembly volume radially inside of the region at the maximum diameter (col. 8 lines 52-67, Roth), a person of ordinary skill would have had a reasonable expectation of success in incorporating the adjustable tube of Dudrey into the middle ejection passage 147 of Roth, without disrupting the alignment of middle passage outlet 149 with drum ejection passage 124, since modification is made at the inlet end of passage 147, which is structurally separate from the shared outlet/passage 124. This is a combination of prior art elements (Roth’s discontinuous, independently actuatable intermediate-phase discharge structure and Dudrey’s radially adjustable discharge tube) according to known methods to yield predictable results. KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007).
Regarding claim 23, the combination of Roth and Dudrey discloses wherein the first discontinuously acting discharge device comprises at least one hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means (first piston 140 is hydraulically actuatable, col. 10 line 46 – col. 11 line 11, Fig. 4, Roth), with which the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings are openable and closable, and the second discontinuously acting discharge device comprises at least one hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means (second piston 150 is hydraulically actuatable, col. 11 lines 25-59, Fig. 5, Roth), with which the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings are openable and closable.
Regarding claim 24, the combination of Roth and Dudrey discloses wherein the hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the first discontinuously acting discharge device is a piston slide valve arranged in or on an outside of the centrifuging drum (first piston control valve 160 located outside of the drum interior, Fig. 4, Roth), wherein the piston slide valve is configured to be hydraulically actuated and movable into different positions to open the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings (drum ejection passages 124, Fig. 4, Roth) in an open position or to close the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings in a closed position.
Regarding claim 25, the combination of Roth and Dudrey discloses wherein the electrically or fluidically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the first discharge device has one or more electrically or fluidically actuatable piston valves (first piston 140, Fig. 4, Roth), which are assigned to respective ones of the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings (drum ejection passages 124, Fig. 4, Roth) to open the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings or to close the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings in a closed position.
Regarding claim 26, the combination of Roth and Dudrey discloses wherein the hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the second discharge device is a piston slide valve arranged on an outside of the centrifuging drum (second piston control valve 170 located outside of the drum interior, Fig. 6, Roth) and, is hydraulically actuatable to be moved into different positions in order to open the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings in an open position or to close the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase in a closed position (col. 12 lines 7-67, Roth).
Regarding claim 27, the combination of Roth and Dudrey discloses wherein the hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the second discharge device has one or more electrically or fluidically actuatable piston valves (second piston 150, Fi. 5, Roth), which are assigned to respective ones of the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate discharge openings (middle ejection passage 147, Fig. 5, Roth) to open the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate discharge openings or to close the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate discharge openings in a closed position.
Regarding claim 28, the combination of Roth and Dudrey discloses wherein the hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the first discharge device is a piston slide valve arranged in the centrifuging drum (first piston 140 is axially movable and slides between open and closed positions and thus is considered to be a piston slide valve, Fig. 4, Roth) and is hydraulically actuatable, and wherein the hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the second discharge device is a further hydraulically actuatable piston slide valve arranged on an outside of the centrifuging drum (second piston control valve 170 located outside of the drum interior, col. 12 lines 7-67, Fig. 6, Roth).
Regarding claim 32, the combination of Roth and Dudrey discloses wherein the nozzle-like tubes are distributed on a circumference of a lower drum part of the centrifuging drum (Roth discloses that middle ejection passages 147 “may be provided periodically at different angular orientations about first piston 140” (col. 8 lines 57-62, Roth) and that drum ejection passage control element (first piston 140, Fig. 2, Roth) is positioned at the lower portion of drum assembly). It would have been obvious for the same reasons set forth above to have provided the adjustable tubes of Dudrey at each of these circumferentially distributed locations about the first piston 140.
Regarding claim 33, the combination of Roth and Dudrey discloses wherein the first discontinuously acting discharge device includes a piston slide valve (first piston 140, Fig. 2, Roth), and wherein the nozzle-like tubes are distributed on a circumference of the piston slide valve (Roth as modified by Dudrey has tubes formed on and distributed circumferentially about the first piston 140).
Regarding claim 34, the combination of Roth and Dudrey discloses wherein the radius R3 (radial position of tube end in the intermediate region 181, Fig. 3, Roth) is smaller than a radius R2 (radial position of region 180 of maximum diameter, Fig. 3, Roth) of the centrifuging drum, wherein the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings are arranged on the radius R2, wherein the at least one liquid discharge is arranged on a radius R1 (radial position of light fraction outlet tube 117, Fig. 2, Roth) of the centrifuging drum, and wherein the radius R3 is larger than the radius R1.
Regarding claim 35, the combination of Roth and Dudrey discloses a peeling disc (centripetal pump 110, Fig. 2, Roth) assigned to the at least one liquid discharge.
Regarding claim 36, the combination of Roth and Dudrey discloses an inlet pipe (feed tube 109, Fig. 2, Roth); and a distributor (129, Fig. 2, Roth), wherein the suspension to be processed is introducible into the centrifuging drum through the inlet pipe and the distributor.
Regarding claim 39, Roth discloses a method for operating a self-draining separator (col. 5 line 37 – col. 6 line 23) comprising a centrifuging drum (drum assembly 102, Fig. 1) to centrifugally separate a suspension into at least a liquid phase, a solid phase, and an intermediate phase (col. 1 line 16 – col. 2 line 3), the method comprising: a) introducing the suspension into a centrifugal field of the centrifuging drum through an inlet pipe (feed tube 109, Fig. 2) and a distributor (129, Fig. 2); b) discharging, via at least one liquid discharge (light fraction outlet tube 117, Fig. 1), the liquid phase; c) discontinuously discharging the solid phase through at least one solid matter discharge opening (drum ejection passages 124, Fig. 4) by controlling a first discharge device (first piston 140, Fig. 4) to discontinuously open and close the at least one solid matter discharge opening; and d) discontinuously discharging the intermediate phase through at least one intermediate phase discharge opening (middle ejection passage 147, Fig. 5) by controlling a second discharge device (second piston 150, Fi. 5) to discontinuously open and close the at least one intermediate phase discharge opening, wherein the second discharge device is actuatable independently of the first discharge device so that the discharge of the intermediate phase is decoupled from the discharge of the solid phase (col. 3 line 63 – col. 4 line 3), but does not disclose nozzle-like tubes arranged in or at the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings, wherein a length of the nozzle-like tubes is such that the nozzle-like tubes extend radially up to a radius R3 into a layer of the intermediate phase forming radially in the centrifuging drum during rotation of the centrifuging drum, so that discharge of the intermediate phase from the centrifuging drum occurs on the radius R3.
Dudrey discloses analogous art related to a multi-purging centrifuge comprising nozzle-like tubes (64, Fig. 1) wherein a length of the nozzle-like tubes is such that the nozzle-like tubes extend radially up to a radius R3 ([t]he tubes are adjustably mounted in the side wall 16 of the centrifuge bowl 12 so that the ends 66 thereof can be adjustably positioned at varying radial distances into the centrifuge bowl 12”, col. 6 lines 17-20). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Roth’s middle ejection passage 147 to include a radially extending, adjustable length tube as taught by Dudrey, in order to enable adjustment of the discharge radius to a radius R3. Dudrey teaches that such adjustability allows the tube end to be precisely positioned relative to a phase boundary “depending of the fluid volume flow rates, the rate of bowl rotation, the nature of the fluid “ (col. 6 lines 59-61, Dudrey). Because Dudrey’s tube 64 is mounted at a discharge location on a structure (side wall 16) and reaches into the centrifuge bowl interior to reach a phase layer, and exiting radially outward under centrifugal force (col. 6 lines 1-24, Dudrey) in the same manner Roth’s middle passage inlet 148 facilitate ejection of material from regions of the drum assembly volume radially inside of the region at the maximum diameter (col. 8 lines 52-67, Roth), a person of ordinary skill would have had a reasonable expectation of success in incorporating the adjustable tube of Dudrey into the middle ejection passage 147 of Roth, without disrupting the alignment of middle passage outlet 149 with drum ejection passage 124, since modification is made at the inlet end of passage 147, which is structurally separate from the shared outlet/passage 124. This is a combination of prior art elements (Roth’s discontinuous, independently actuatable intermediate-phase discharge structure and Dudrey’s radially adjustable discharge tube) according to known methods to yield predictable results. KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007).
Claims 29 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roth in view of Dudrey, as applied to claim 23, and further in view of Paschedag (U.S. Patent No. 4,054,244).
Regarding claim 29, the combination of Roth and Dudrey discloses wherein the hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the first discharge device is a piston valve (first piston 140, Fig. 4) arranged in the centrifuging drum and is hydraulically actuatable, but does not disclose wherein the hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the second discharge device has hydraulically or electrically actuatable piston valves, which are assigned to respective ones of the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings in order to open the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings or to close the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings in a closed position.
Paschedag discloses analogous art related to a centrifuge drum equipped with discharge valves, the discharge valves being hydraulically actuatable piston valves (discharge valves 11, Fig. 1) individually assigned to respective discharge openings for discharging material from a centrifuging drum (col. 2 lines 3-29), but does not explicitly disclose wherein the hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the second discharge device has hydraulically or electrically actuatable piston valves, which are assigned to respective ones of the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings in order to open the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings or to close the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings in a closed position. However, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the second discharge device of the combination of Roth and Dudrey with a set of piston valves as taught by Paschedag for discharging an additional phase (i.e., an intermediate phase) such that the drum interior will be free of valve structures and valve conduits, and the settled solids will be able to be removed easily and completely from the drum, so that sterile procedures and easy cleaning will be possible (col. 2 lines 3-8, Paschedag). Duplicating a known discharge mechanism for another phase would have yielded predicable results. KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007).
Regarding claim 30, the combination of Roth and Dudrey does not disclose wherein the hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the first discharge device has hydraulically or electrically actuatable piston valves that are assigned to respective ones of the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings in order to open the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings or to close the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings in a closed position, and wherein the hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the second discharge device has further hydraulically or electrically actuatable piston valves that are assigned to respective ones of the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings in order to open the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings or to close the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings in a closed position.
Paschedag discloses wherein the hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the first discharge device has hydraulically or electrically actuatable piston valves (discharge valves 11, Fig. 1) that are assigned to respective ones of the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings (passage 27, Fig. 2) in order to open the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings or to close the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge openings in a closed position, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the hydraulically or electrically actuatable mechanically acting opening and closing means of the second discharge device has further hydraulically or electrically actuatable piston valves that are assigned to respective ones of the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings in order to open the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings or to close the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge openings in a closed position. However, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the separator of the combination of Roth and Dudrey with a set of hydraulically actuatable piston valves for discharging solid matter and a further set of piston valves for discharging an additional phase (i.e., an intermediate phase) as taught by Paschedag such that the drum interior will be free of valve structures and valve conduits, and the settled solids will be able to be removed easily and completely from the drum, so that sterile procedures and easy cleaning will be possible (col. 2 lines 3-8, Paschedag). Duplicating a known discharge mechanism for discharging the intermediate phase would have yielded predicable results. KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007).
Claims 37 and 38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roth in view of Dudrey, as applied to claim 22 above, and further in view of Pomeroy (U.S. Patent No. 2,779,536).
Regarding claim 37, the combination of Roth and Dudrey does not disclose a first annular space arranged in a hood-like housing and having a nozzle, wherein the nozzle is arranged radially on the first annular space so that a hose or a line for further discharge of the solid phase is connectable to the nozzle, wherein the self- draining separator is configured so that discharged solid phase passes through the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge opening into the first annular space.
Pomeroy discloses analogous art related to nozzle type centrifuge, comprising a first annular space (annular chamber 28, Fig. 1) arranged in a hood-like housing (housing 14, Fig. 1) and having a nozzle (pipe 53, Fig. 1), wherein the nozzle is arranged radially on the first annular space so that a hose or a line for further discharge of the solid phase is connectable to the nozzle, wherein the self-draining separator is configured so that discharged solid phase (corresponds to the underflow) passes through the one or more discontinuously acting solid matter discharge opening into the first annular space (col. 4 line 73 – col. 5 line 3). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the separator of the combination of Roth and Dudrey with the first annular space and nozzle taught by Pomeroy for the purpose of continuous discharge of the underflow (col. 4 line 73 – col. 5 line 3, Pomeroy).
Regarding claim 38, the combination of Roth and Dudrey does not disclose a further annular space arranged in the hood-like housing and having a further nozzle, wherein the further nozzle is arranged radially on the first annular space so that a hose or a line for further discharge of the intermediate phase is connectable to the further nozzle, wherein the self-draining separator is configured so that discharged intermediate phase passes through the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge opening into the further annular space.
Pomeroy discloses a further annular space (annular chamber 26, Fig. 1) arranged in the hood-like housing and having a further nozzle (outlet pipe 75, Fig. 1), wherein the further nozzle is arranged radially on the first annular space so that a hose or a line for further discharge of the intermediate phase is connectable to the further nozzle, wherein the self-draining separator is configured so that discharged intermediate phase (corresponds to the overflow) passes through the one or more discontinuously acting intermediate phase discharge opening into the further annular space (col. 5 lines 26-33). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the separator of the combination of Roth and Dudrey with the further annular space and further nozzle taught by Pomeroy for the purpose of continuous discharge of the overflow (col. 5 lines 26-33, Pomeroy).
Claims 40-42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roth in view of Dudrey, as applied to claim 39 above, and further in view of EP 3666387 (Königsson).
Regarding claims 40-42, the combination of Roth and Dudrey does not explicitly disclose wherein steps a) to d) run in parallel in time; wherein steps c) and d) run periodically or aperiodically; wherein steps c) and d) have a different period duration.
Königsson discloses a centrifugal separator with a control unit configured to independently control outlet valves (first outlet valve 14, Fig. 1; discharge slide 36, Fig. 2), based on sensed conditions and/or timing logic (para. [0023-[0030]; [0051]-[0052]; [0066]-[0069]). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the method of the combination of Roth and Dudrey with the control logic of Königsson to program discharge sequences that can run in parallel or with differing timing durations and frequencies as claimed because programmable control of multiple valves based on process conditions or timings was well known in separator control systems as demonstrated by Königsson (para. [0023-[0030]; [0051]-[0052]; [0066]-[0069], Königsson).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHUYI S LIU whose telephone number is (571)272-0496. The examiner can normally be reached MON - FRI 9:30AM - 2:30PM EST.
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/Shuyi S. Liu/ Examiner, Art Unit 1774
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