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 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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 7-9, 10-13, 17-18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sloan et al (US PGPub No. 2019/0284972) in view of Viator et al (US PGPub No. 2022/0290547) in view of Little et al (US Patent No. 5,497,852).
Sloan teaches:
limitations from claims 1 and 12-13, an automatic packing lubrication system for lubricating a hydraulic fracturing pump unit (see paragraphs 2-10 teaching the delivery of lubricant to compressors in the oil and gas industry, particularly compressor rod packings at paragraph 18), the system comprises: a single lubricant reservoir (4a), a single lubricant pump (10) fluidically coupled to the lubricant reservoir and receiving lubricant from the reservoir (FIG. 1; paragraph 29), a regulating valve (see paragraph 22, “flow control valve) fluidically coupled to the lubricant pump, a divider block (14), wherein one divider block is individually fluidically coupled to one regulating valve (paragraph 22, 29), wherein for every divider block there is a regulating valve fluidically coupled between the divider block and the single lubricant pump (paragraph 29 and FIG. 1 disclose a divider block 14 in-line with a pump 10; paragraph 22 teaches that flow control valves can be included in the lubricant flow path); and a control system (16) connected to the divider/valves (see connecting lines in FIG. 1 in which control 16 is connected to divider 14);
Sloan teaches providing lubricant to a single machine (compressor), rather than multiple lubricant paths to multiple on-site machines;
Viator teaches:
limitations from claims 1 and 12-13, a lubrication system (see FIG. 2-3 and 22; paragraph 2) including a lubricant reservoir (58), pump (60), and regulating valves/divider (62); wherein at least two users (30; see FIG. 22) are coupled to a single pump, reservoir and individual controllable valving (paragraph 51 in particular, disclosing that valves 64 may alternatively be provided on the skid 122 or at each user 30; paragraphs 31 and 52-53 teaching controllers for the pumps and valves); a controller (130) for controlling the valving ( FIG. 22 and paragraph 52-53 of Viator teaching individually controlled valving components);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to use the lubrication system of Sloan to provide multiple machines with lubricating fluid, from a single pump assembly as taught by Viator, in order to reduce the need for multiple lubrication systems at a site, and to minimize the equipment required.
Sloan teaches that regulating valves can be provided in the pump system (paragraph 22), but does not explicitly teach a location in the system in which the valve is placed;
Little teaches:
limitations from claims 1 and 12, a lubrication system (FIG. 1) including a reservoir (1) providing pressurized fluid, a controllable regulating valve (5), and a divider (“III”), each provided in-line (FIG. 1); wherein the regulating valve (5) receives lubricant from the pressurized reservoir (1, C. 3 Lines 15-17; in this combination the pressurized reservoir fluid comes from the pump of Sloan which is between the reservoir and the rest of the circuit) and supplies fluid to the divider (III; C. 3 Lines 20-40);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of pumps at the time the invention was filed to provide the regulating valve of Sloan a any point in the pressurized fluid circuit, such as between the pump/reservoir and the divider as taught by Little, in order to control the fluid flow through various points in the system…for example when it is desired to prevent fluid flow to/from the dividers and the user.
Sloan further teaches:
limitations from claim 2, wherein the control system is also connected to each of the divider blocks (see connecting lines in FIG. 1 in which control 16 is connected to divider 14; see also FIG. 22 and paragraph 52-53 of Viator teaching individually controlled valving components);
limitations from claim 8, wherein the lubricant is an oil-based lubricant (see paragraph 3, 19);
limitations from claim 9, further comprising a hydraulic fracturing pump unit for each divider block (see paragraphs 2-10 teaching the delivery of lubricant to compressors in the oil and gas industry, particularly compressor rod packings at paragraph 18); wherein one hydraulic fracturing pump unit is fluidically coupled to each divider block (Sloan teaches a single compressor coupled to a single divider block, FIG. 1; Viator teaches multiple users and dividers, FIG. 22 and paragraph 51);
Viator further teaches:
limitations from claims 10 and 17, wherein the control system is programmable to control the regulating valve automatically and without the control of a wellbore operator (paragraph 31);
limitations from claims 11 and 18, wherein the control system is configured to control each regulating valve independently of the other regulating valves (paragraph 31 and 53);
Regarding claims 7 and 20:
Neither Sloan nor Viator teach a particular type of regulating valve;
Little teaches a lubrication system (FIG. 1) including a reservoir (1) providing pressurized fluid, a regulating valve (5), and metering devices (“V”) provided in-line (FIG. 1); and wherein the regulating valve is embodied as a solenoid valve (C. 3 Lines 15-19);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of pumps at the time the invention was filed to choose a valve type for the regulating valve of Sloan, such as a solenoid valve taught by Little, as a matter of design choice in order to reach an expected result (in this case controlling the flow of a pressurized fluid).
Claim(s) 3-5 and 14-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sloan et al (US PGPub No. 2019/0284972) in view of Viator et al (US PGPub No. 2022/0290547) in view of Little et al (US Patent No. 5,497,852) as applied to claims 1-2 and 12 above, and in further view of Roys et al (US Patent No. 5,835,372).
Sloan does not teach monitoring the cycles of the divider for faults;
Roys teaches:
a lubrication system (FIG. 4) for pumps (see C. 1 Lines 31-35) including a reservoir (56), pump (58), and divider (44); and
limitations from claims 3 and 14 wherein the system further comprises a contact switch (10, 16) for each divider block; wherein there is a contact switch coupled to each of the divider blocks and the individual contact switches are configured to count a pumping cycle of their respective divider blocks (C. 3 Lines 26-29 and C. 4 Lines 8-27);
limitations from claims 4 and 15, wherein a control system is configured to track the pumping cycles of the divider blocks based on the counts of the contact switches (C. 5 Lines 12-19 and Lines 30-37);
limitations from claims 5 and 16, wherein the control system is configured to compare the tracked pumping cycles of the divider blocks to a desired pumping cycle count for each of the divider blocks and if the tracked divider block cycle count differs from the desired divider block cycle count, the control system is configured to flag the specific divider block and provide a notification capable of being received by a wellbore operator (C. 3 Lines 22-24; C. 5 Lines 37-40, 47-49, and 63-67; and C. 6 Lines 15-16);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of pumps at the time the invention was filed to provide a monitoring system for the divider blocks of Sloan, as taught by Roys, in order to monitor the system for faults to prevent malfunction of the system that would damage the components due to lack of sufficient lubrication.
Claim(s) 6 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sloan et al (US PGPub No. 2019/0284972) in view of Viator et al (US PGPub No. 2022/0290547) in view of Little et al (US Patent No. 5,497,852) as applied to claims 1 and 12 above, and in further view of Reuter et al (US PGPub No. 2022/0372919).
Sloan teaches the use of metering devices (paragraph 22), but not in a particular location of the system;
Reuter teaches a fluid metering system (100; FIG. 1) including a fluid supply (101), metering orifice (113; paragraph 22-23), regulating valve (121; paragraph 24), and divider valve (127; paragraph 26); and wherein the metering orifice controls a rate flow (paragraph 24 for example);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of pumps at the time the invention was filed to provide a metering device before each regulating valve of Sloan/Viator, as taught by Reuter, in order to maintain a particular flow and pressure in the system (paragraph 24 of Reuters).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see response, filed 11/05/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 12 under Sloan have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Little.
Little has been further relied upon to teach the use of regulating valves between a pressurized source of supply fluid and a divider block.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER S BOBISH whose telephone number is (571)270-5289. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5.
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/CHRISTOPHER S BOBISH/Examiner, Art Unit 3746