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 .
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.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 3, “complaint” is believed to be a misspelling. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 8 depends from apparatus claim 2, however now recites “The process” which also raises antecedent basis issues. Also is claim 8, the use of “characterized by” is not required. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 10 depends on claim 1, which is improperly dependent. It is believed the proper dependency should be claim 8. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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) 1-8, 10-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bombin et al [ES2337332], further in view of Navanteri [20090078302].
With respect to claim 1, Bombin discloses: A modular solar concentrator comprising: at least a second support including a first tubular element (2) defining an axis of rotation said second support can rotate with respect to said first support and two first flanges (12) arranged respectively at the ends of said first tubular element along said axis of rotation, one or more solar mirrors (9) defining a reflecting surface and configured to focus solar rays towards a focal zone, one or more receivers available in correspondence with said focal zone and configured to acquire solar rays focused by said one or more mirrors [inherent to parabolic solar reflecting panels, see page 4 of machine translation with paragraph start “A perspective is shown in figure 1…” referencing “It has not been represented or the supports and anchors of the frame to the ground nor the collector tube that runs along the focal point of the parabola.”], and a plurality of sideboards (4) each defining a profile of concave shape determined by a plane of section normal to said axis of rotation and a constraint area with a circular sector configured to allow one or more said sideboards to be constrained on each said first flange thus to make one or more support frames on which to constrain at least one said mirror so that two opposite sides of said mirror follow said profiles [see FIG 3], one or more extensions (1) including each a second tubular element adapted to be centered with respect to said axis of rotation and including two second flanges (12) arranged respectively at the ends of said second tubular element along said axis of rotation and configured to be connected to a respective said first flange in such a way as to extend said second support, and by the fact that one or more of said sideboards can also be compliant to a respective said second flange so as to allow the realization of a plurality of said frames on which to constrain said mirrors and expanding the total extension of said reflecting surfaces of said mirrors [see FIG 3, page 5, paragraph starting with “Figure 3 shows…”].
Bombin further shows:
{cl. 2} The concentrator according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of bars (5, 6) configured to be placed between two said side sideboards parallel to said axis of rotation in such a way as to strengthen said frame realized from these banks [see FIG 2].
{cl. 3} The concentrator according to claim 1, wherein each frame comprises a plurality of said bars (5, 6) [see FIG 2].
{cl. 5} The concentrator according to claim 1, wherein said second flange of said extensions are configured to be constrained in said second flanges of another said extension [see FIG 3].
{cl. 6} The concentrator according to claim 1, wherein said frame comprises two pairs of said sideboards (12) and two of said sideboards of each of said pairs are constrained on opposite sides of said first flange and/or said second flange so that said sideboards are substantially mirrored with respect to said second support and said pairs are mutually spaced from said first tubular element or said second tubular element [see FIG 2].
{cl. 10} The process according to claim 1, wherein in said connection phase more bars (5, 6) are connected between each pair of said sideboards and in said positioning phase a said mirror is positioned for each space included between two said bars and two said sideboards [see FIGs 2-3].
{cl. 11} The concentrator according to claim 1, wherein one or more of said sideboards is compliant to a respective said second flange so as to allow the realization of a plurality of said frames on which to constrain said mirrors and expanding the total extension of said reflecting surfaces of said mirrors [see FIGs 2-4].
Bombin however does not show the first support as further claimed.
Navanteri makes up for these deficiencies by teaching:
{cl. 1, cont’d} a first support (10) defining a main axis transversal to a ground, at least a second support (5, 9) constrained in a complaint way to said first support and including a first tubular element defining an axis of rotation transversal to said main axis around which said second support can rotate with respect to said first support [see abstract, FIGs 1-3, paragraph 0037, 0046] and one or more receivers (8) available in correspondence with said focal zone and configured to acquire solar rays focused by said one or more mirrors [paragraph 0054].
Navanteri further teaches:
{cl. 4} The concentrator according to claim 1,wherein each said receiver (8) comprises an acquisition portion of said solar rays extending parallel to said axis of rotation and two connectors arranged at two opposite ends of said acquisition portion and configured to be linked each to a respective said sideboards in such a way as to extend transversely to said axis of rotation and maintain said acquisition portion spaced from said reflecting surface made by said mirrors [see FIG 1].
{cl. 7} The concentrator according to claim 1, comprising control means configured to move, on command, said second support around said main axis and around said axis of rotation with respect to said first support and comprising at least one processor and one or more motors controlled by said processor [paragraph 0037].
Bombin in view of Navanteri further show:
{cl. 8} The process for manufacturing a modular solar concentrator according to at least claims claim 2, characterized by comprising: superimposing said constraint area of at least two of said sideboards to a separate said first flange and constraining said constraint areas to said first flanges so as to firmly constrain said sideboards to said second support and define at least one said frame [see FIG 3]; arranging one or more said extensions (1) centered with respect to said rotation axis and at least one said second flange facing said first flange and connected thereto, trapping said constraint area between said second flange and said first flange [see FIG 2]; further superimpose said constraint area of at least one further said sideboards to a said second free flange and constrain said constraint area to said second flange so as to integrally constrain said further sideboards to said extension and to define at least one further said frame; mutually connecting said sideboards with one or more said bars; positioning one or more mirrors on said frames [see pages 4-6 of machine translation].
Where Navanteri further teaches:
{cl. 8, cont’d} constraining at least one said connector integrally to each of said sideboards and said acquisition portion to said connectors in such a way as to realize said receiver (8) [see FIG 4].
{cl. 12} The process according to claim 8, wherein each said receiver (8) comprises an acquisition portion of said solar rays extending parallel to said axis of rotation and two connectors arranged at two opposite ends of said acquisition portion and configured to be linked each to a respective said sideboards in such a way as to extend transversely to said axis of rotation and maintain said acquisition portion spaced from said reflecting surface made by said mirrors [see FIG 4].
It would have been obvious at the time of filing the invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Bombin with the teachings of Navanteri because Navanteri provides a support frame that allows for two degrees of solar tracking to maximize solar energy conversion.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The limitation is not found in the prior art applied, and there is no reason to modify the applied art without impermissible hindsight reasoning.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. PTO-892 shows various relevant art showing similar features of the claimed invention. Specifically, the similar features found are the sideboards, supports and mirror with specific positioning of the receiver. As an example, Saito et al [20150247490], Clavelle et al [20140196794] and Kalus et al [20140102510] show these features and should be reviewed.
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/AVINASH A SAVANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
9/25/2025