DETAILED ACTION
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, 2, 5-9, 11-13, 18, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Hultgren (US 20140283407 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Hultgren discloses a radio frequency moisture-removal system configured to minimize temperature increases caused by radio frequency heating while increasing intermolecular hydrogen bond disruption, comprising:
a radio frequency generator (abstract; Fig. 6, 240);
a receptacle divided into at least two drying zones (each zone is the space between a conductive shape 216 and the bin 212) each drying zone having at least two capacitor plates (216; paras. 64, 67) with at least one capacitor plate configured to act as an emitter and at least one capacitor plate configured to act as a ground plate (para. 64);
at least two radio frequency match networks each associated with and coupled to a corresponding drying zone (controller 218 can tune the frequency of each zone to achieve resonant conditions; see paras. 65-66);
a radio frequency switch system coupled to the radio frequency generator and the at least two radio frequency match networks, the radio frequency switch system configured to selectively route radio frequency waves generated by the radio frequency generator to each of the drying zones (electronic relays; para. 58, see also paras. 15, 67 and Comment 1 below).
Comment 1. Hultgren is believed to anticipate the radio frequency switch; however, even if this were not the case, it would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of effective filing of the application to modify the Fig. 6 embodiment to include the claimed radio frequency switch, so that the RF energy can be redistributed from a zone that has finished drying to the zones that need further drying.
Regarding claim 2, Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal system of claim 1 further comprising a fan (Fig. 6, 236) configured to remove moisture from the receptacle (paras. 20, 62).
Regarding claim 5, Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal system of claim 1, wherein the receptacle is a cylindrical receptacle (para. 17) divided horizontally into the at least two drying zones (see rejection of claim 1 for the drying zones).
Regarding claim 6, Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal system of claim 5, wherein the cylindrical receptacle contains a parallel capacitor plate configuration having five capacitor plates. Hultgren discloses where the conductive shapes (Fig. 6, 216) are parallel to the bin wall (212), each conductive shape forms a capacitor with the bin wall 212 (para. 64). Although the number of conductive shapes is not known, the number is a matter of optimization that can be found through routine experimentation. For example, the number of conductive shapes would depend on the height of the drying system (210), with more conductive shapes needed for a taller drying system.
Regarding claim 7, Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal system of claim 6, wherein the parallel capacitor plate configuration includes two emitter sections (Fig. 6, 216) configured to induce a voltage potential difference (para. 64).
Regarding claim 8, Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal system of claim 1, except wherein the receptable is a length-cuboid receptacle with a length as the dominant dimension. However, the particular shape was a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular shape was significant. See MPEP 2144.04(IV)(B).
Regarding claim 9, Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal system of claim 8, except further comprising a second radio frequency generator coupled to the radio frequency switch system. However, a mere duplication of the first frequency generator (Fig. 6, 240) to provide a second radio frequency generator has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. See MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B). Moreover, a person skilled in the art at the time of effective filing would have been motivated to have a second radio frequency generator to serve as a backup for the first frequency generator. The second frequency generator can also produce a second signal to superimpose onto the signal from the first frequency generator (first signal) to create a constructive/destructive interference with the first signal, in order to reduce or amplify the RF signal applied to the harvested material.
Regarding claim 11, Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal system of claim 1, except, wherein the receptable is a height-cuboid receptacle with a height as the dominant dimension. However, the particular shape was a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular shape was significant. See MPEP 2144.04(IV)(B).
Regarding claim 12, modified Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal system of claim 11, wherein the height-cuboid receptacle is vertically divided into drying zones based on the moisture content of received biomass material (Hultgren discloses vertically divided into drying zones based on the moisture content of received biomass material, in para. 67), wherein the residency time of the biomass material in each drying zone is adjusted such that each drying zone receives biomass material with a set moisture content (para. 67) (note: modified Hultgren discloses a system capable of implementing the claimed intended use limitations).
Regarding claim 13, modified Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal system of claim 11, wherein the height-cuboid receptacle includes at least five capacitor plates (see rejection of claim 6).
Regarding claim 18, Hultgren discloses (see rejection of claim 1 for citations unless otherwise noted) a radio frequency moisture-removal method, comprising: producing, by a radio frequency generator, radio frequency waves; routing, via a radio frequency switch system, the radio frequency waves to one of at least two radio frequency match networks, wherein each radio frequency match network is associated with and coupled to a corresponding drying zone of a receptacle configured to receive biomass material, each drying zone having at least two capacitor plates with at least one capacitor plate configured to act as an emitter (216) and at least one capacitor plate configured to act as a grounding plate (Fig. 6; 212+238).
Regarding claim 19, Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal method of claim 18 further comprising, before producing radio frequency waves: feeding biomass material into the receptacle with an auger system (paras. 19, 63).
Claim(s) 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Hultgren (US 20140283407 A1) in view of Snapper (US 20030046826 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal system of claim 1, except a propane tank kept at an inlet of the receptacle to produce hot air for circulation in the receptacle.
However, Snapper teaches a crop dryer comprising a propane tank to produce hot air for circulation in the receptacle (note: a propane tank is inherently disclosed since one is required for the propane heater) (paras. 3, 64). Although the relative position of the propane tank and the receptable is not taught by Snapper, the particular placement is a matter of obvious design choice which has no effect on the heating of the crop material.
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of effective filing of the application to modify Hultgren to include a propane tank kept at an inlet of the receptacle to produce hot air for circulation in the receptacle. The motivation to combine is to provide a means to heat the air for drying the harvested material (Hultgren, paras. 46, 88).
Claim(s) 14, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Hultgren (US 20140283407 A1) in view of Joshi (US 6155818 A).
Regarding claim 14, Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal system of claim 1, except wherein the radio frequency switch system is configured to automatically switch between radio frequency match networks based on loss of a power signal.
However, Joshi teaches the technique of using supplying heat with a main burner (equivalent to a frequency match network that is used for RF heating in the present claim), and if a fault is detected in the operation of the main burner, then the operation switches to a backup burner (equivalent to another frequency match network that is used for RF heating in the present claim) (col. 3, lines 16-20).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of effective filing of the application to modify Hultgren wherein the radio frequency switch system is configured to automatically switch between radio frequency match networks based on loss of a power signal (loss of power signal = fault detected). The motivation to combine is so that if a loss of power signal is detected (i.e., fault condition in one of the frequency match networks), then the remaining power from the radio frequency generator can be distributed to the still functioning radio frequency match networks so that RF drying can continue without interruption.
Regarding claim 20, Hultgren discloses the radio frequency moisture-removal system of claim 18, except wherein the radio frequency switch system is configured to automatically switch between radio frequency match networks based on loss of a power signal. However, see the rejection of claim 14.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 10, 15-17 are 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.
Conclusion
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/JASON LAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762