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 .
Overview
New objections
New 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 & 103 rejections
No art rejection of claims 52, 55-57, 63, and 67
Claim Objections
Claims 51-69 are objected to because of the following informalities. Appropriate correction is required.
51-67 and 69. These claims start with “The Membrane-less,” but “Membrane-less” should be lower case since it is not a proper noun.
68. “Membrane-less electrolyzer” should have an article before it and be consistent with the rest of the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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.
Claims 50-51, 53-54, 58-62, 65-66, and 68-69 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gillespie et al., Hydrogen production from a rectangular horizontal filter press Divergent Electrode-Flow-Through (DEFT™) alkaline electrolysis stack, 372 J. of Power Sources 252 (2017) [hereinafter Gillespie].
The body of the claim is generally written with parentheses following the limitations indicating the prior art's teachings and/or examiner notes.
50. A Membrane-less electrolyzer (membraneless electrolyzer; Gillespie abstract) comprising:
- at least a first electrode and at least a second electrode (2 electrodes; Gillespie abstract, pp. 253-54 fig. 1);
- a first fluidic channel configured to receive an electrolyte (channel between the electrodes; id.);
- a second fluidic channel configured to receive the electrolyte from the first fluidic channel (second channel outside an electrode; id.);
- a third fluidic channel configured to receive the electrolyte from the first fluidic channel (third channel outside the other electrode; id.);
the first fluidic channel being in fluidic communication with the second and third fluidic channels (fluid from the first channel goes into the other channels; id.);
wherein the first fluidic channel is connected to each of the second and third fluidic channels via a plurality of inclined fluidic canals extending from the first fluidic channel to each of the second and third fluidic channels (electrodes are porous, so the pores would inherently have canals which go various directions including inclined; id.).
51. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the inclined fluidic canals are inclined with respect to each of the first, second and third fluidic channels (the pores would form canals that would go in many different directions, including inclined). See id.
53. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the inclined fluidic canals are inclined in a direction non-perpendicular to an electrolyte flow direction through the first fluidic channel (the pores would form canals that would go in many different directions, including non-perpendicular). See id.
54. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the first fluidic channel is interconnected to the second and third fluidic channels via the plurality of inclined fluidic canals suspended between the first fluidic channel and the second and third fluidic channels (the porous fluidic canals connect the channels). See id.
58. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the second fluidic channel includes the first electrode and the third fluidic channel includes the second electrode (the electrodes touch and thus can be considered to be included in their respective channels). See id.
59. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the second and the third fluidic channels include electrodes on outer walls of the second and the third fluidic channels (the electrodes are supported by outer walls of their respective channels). See id.
60. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 57, wherein the first electrode is located on the at least one wall of the second fluidic channel and the second electrode is located on the at least one wall of the third fluidic channel (the electrodes are supported by outer walls of their respective channels). See id.
61. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the first and second electrodes include a plurality of apertures or pores extending through the first and second electrodes and communicating with the plurality of apertures or pores defined by the at least one wall of the second and third fluidic channels (the pores of the electrodes extend through the electrodes and communicate with the apertures formed at the end of the pores). See id.
62. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the plurality of apertures or pores extending through the first and second electrodes define openings larger in width or diameter than the opening defined by the pores or apertures of the first or second fluidic channels (the pores of the electrodes would have various sizes so some of the pores extending through would be larger than some of the apertures). See id.
65. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the first fluidic channel includes an output section consisting of or comprising a plurality of inclined fluidic canals (the pores would form canals that would go in many different directions, including inclined; see id.) and a V-shaped abutment (the end of the canal between the electrodes end with a V-shaped abutment). See id.
66. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the first fluidic channel is configured to distribute the electrolyte to the second and third fluidic channels, and the second and third fluidic channels are configured to generate products via electrolysis for output (distribute oxygen and hydrogen). See id.
68. Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the second fluidic channel and the third fluidic channel comprise first and second side walls and a floor (FL) (since the injection assembly and electrodes are rectangular, the area depicted behind the oxygen and hydrogen chambers in fig. 1 constitutes the floor) extending between the first and second side walls, the first and second side walls include the first and second electrodes (first and second side walls are the walls depicted at the bottom of the hydrogen and oxygen chambers in fig. 1). See id.
69. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the plurality of inclined fluidic canals are distributed or spaced apart along a direction of extension of the first fluidic channel to provide the electrolyte to each of the second and third fluidic channels in a distributed manner along a direction of extension of the second and third fluidic channels (the pores would form canals along the direction of the first channel). See id.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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 of this title, 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 64 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Gillespie as applied to claim 50 previously.
The body of the claim is generally written with parentheses following the limitations indicating the prior art’s teachings and/or examiner notes.
64. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the apertures or pores extending through the first and second electrodes are tapered or curved inwards at the aperture or pore extremity (this is an obvious change in shape).
Changes in shape are obvious. MPEP § 2144.04(IV)(B). Because this claim claims an obvious change of shape, this claim is obvious.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 52, 55-57, 63, and 67 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 and all other issues are resolved.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Gillespie et al., Hydrogen production from a rectangular horizontal filter press Divergent Electrode-Flow-Through (DEFT™) alkaline electrolysis stack, 372 J. of Power Sources 252 (2017) [hereinafter Gillespie] is the closest prior art of record.
Gillespie teaches:
Membrane-less electrolyzer (membraneless electrolyzer; Gillespie abstract) comprising:
- at least a first electrode and at least a second electrode (2 electrodes; Gillespie abstract, pp. 253-54 fig. 1);
- a first fluidic channel configured to receive an electrolyte (channel between the electrodes; id.);
- a second fluidic channel configured to receive the electrolyte from the first fluidic channel (second channel outside an electrode; id.);
- a third fluidic channel configured to receive the electrolyte from the first fluidic channel (third channel outside the other electrode; id.);
the first fluidic channel being in fluidic communication with the second and third fluidic channels (fluid from the first channel goes into the other channels; id.);
wherein the first fluidic channel is connected to each of the second and third fluidic channels via a plurality of inclined fluidic canals extending from the first fluidic channel to each of the second and third fluidic channels (electrodes are porous, so they would inherently have inclined fluidic channels forming the pores; id.).
However, Gillespie and the prior art of record do not teach:
52. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the first fluidic channel comprises a plurality of stacked Y-shaped sections, each Y-shaped section comprising a plurality of the inclined fluidic canals extending from the first fluidic channel to each of the second and third fluidic channels.
55. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the first fluidic channel includes a first porous wall located opposite the second fluidic channel and a second porous wall located opposite the third fluidic channel, and wherein a portion of the first porous wall located opposite the second fluidic channel and a portion of the second porous wall located opposite the third fluidic channel are inclined at an angle with respect to a central axis of the membrane-less electrolyzer to distribute the electrolyte equally in the fluidic canals, or
the first porous wall and the second porous wall are inclined at an angle with respect to said central axis to distribute the electrolyte equally in the fluidic canals.
56. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 55, wherein the at least one partition extends between the first fluidic channel and the second or third fluidic channel.
57. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein the first, second and third fluidic channels each include at least one wall defining a plurality of apertures or pores, and each inclined fluidic canal extends between an aperture or pore of the first fluidic channel and an aperture or pore of the second or third fluidic channel.
63. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, wherein an internal width or diameter of the first fluidic channel is tapered.
67. The Membrane-less electrolyzer according to claim 50, further comprising an inlet for providing the electrolyte into the first fluidic channel, and a first and second outlet for accessing products generated by electrolysis, and further comprising inlets for providing the electrolyte into the second and third fluidic channels for removing bubbles faster from the second and third fluidic channels through the outlets.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hosung Chung whose telephone number is (571) 270-7578. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Wednesday, 9 AM - 6 PM CT.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James Lin can be reached on (571) 272-8902. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/HOSUNG CHUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1794
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