DETAILED 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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claim 6 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Invention II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 7/23/2026.
Applicant's election with traverse of Invention I (claims 1-5) in the reply filed on 7/23/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the entire application could be made without the imposition of any undue burden on the Examiner. In addition, it is respectfully submitted that the search required for any one of the inventions indentified by the Examiner would in large part overlap with the searches required for the other invention.. This is not found persuasive because “The Examiner takes the position that these inventions are independent or distinct, each from the other…Further, the Examiner takes the position that restriction for examination purposes is proper because all the inventions are independent or distinct and there would be a serious search and/or examination burden.”
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hiroyuki et al., JP 2007-317475.
Regarding claim 1, Hiroyuki et al., teaches a fuel cell system for generating electrical power by chemical reactions (0001-0003) caused in a fuel cell stack by supplying hydrogen as a fuel gas to the anode of a fuel cell stack (0002; 0021) and supplying air as an oxygen-containing gas to the cathode of the fuel cell stack (0002), the fuel cell system comprising: an air supply path (00021-0022; 0024) through which the air to be supplied to the fuel cell stack flows (0021); an air discharge path through which the air discharged from the fuel cell stack flows (0023-0024); a drain path through which water discharged from the fuel cell stack flows (0007; 0028; 0042); a bypass path connecting the air supply path to the air discharge path while bypassing the fuel cell stack (0013-0014; 0017); a bypass valve disposed on the bypass path (0026) and configured to adjust the flow rate of the air flowing through the bypass path (0006; 0044); an air discharge valve (0023) disposed between the fuel cell stack and the bypass path on the air discharge path (0023-0027)and configured to adjust a flow rate of the air flowing through the air discharge path (0044); a compressor (0024) configured to supply the air to the air supply path (0024; 0039); and one or more processors (0031) that execute computer-executable instructions stored in a memory (0031), wherein the one or more processors execute the computer-executable instructions (0031) to cause the fuel cell system to control the compressor (0031), the bypass valve (0012) and the air discharge valve (0025) (0042), wherein in scavenging an inside of the fuel cell stack (0012; 0017; 0042), the one or more processors cause the fuel cell system to: control the air discharge valve (0007; 0010) to have an opening degree (0010) smaller than a fully-opened state at a maximum (0013; 0027), control the bypass valve (0027) to have an opening degree greater than a fully-closed state at a minimum (0027), and control the compressor to supply the air to the air supply path (0043; 0047-0048).
Regarding claim 2, Hiroyuki et al., teaches further comprising: a humidifier (0016; 0026) provided between the bypass path (0017) and the fuel cell stack (0021) on the air supply path (0021) and on the air discharge path (0021), and configured to humidify the air to be supplied to the fuel cell stack (0016-0017) by the water contained in the air discharged from the fuel cell stack (0007; 0037; 0042), wherein the air discharge valve is disposed between the bypass path and the humidifier (0042; 0058).
Regarding claim 3, Hiroyuki et al., teaches wherein in scavenging the inside of the fuel cell stack (0008; 0012; 0042), the one or more processors cause the fuel cell system to: control the air discharge valve (0027) and the bypass valve (0047) to make a flow rate of the air in the bypass path (0006; 0044) higher than a flow rate of the air in the air discharge path (0047).
Regarding claim 4, Hiroyuki et al., teaches wherein in scavenging the inside of the fuel cell stack (0006-0008; 0012), the one or more processors cause the fuel cell system to: control the air discharge valve to close (0026; 0032; 0039).
Regarding claim 5, Hiroyuki et al., teaches wherein the one or more processors cause the fuel cell system to: acquire an ambient pressure; acquire a temperature of the air (0032; 0040) to be taken into the compressor (0024; 0039); and in scavenging the inside of the fuel cell stack (0012; 0056), set an opening degree of the bypass valve based on the ambient pressure (0025) and the temperature of the air (0032).
Thus, the claims are anticipated.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELA J MARTIN whose telephone number is (571)272-1288. The examiner can normally be reached 7am-4pm.
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ANGELA J. MARTIN
Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/ANGELA J MARTIN/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
