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 .
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is responsive to the amendment filed on 3/2/2026. Claim 11 has been added. Claims 1-11 are pending. Applicant’s arguments have been considered. Claims 1-11 are finally rejected for reasons of record.
Claims Analysis
Regarding the limitation “the length and/or volume of a purge path” in claim 1, it has been interpreted that the entire length of the purge path is construed with a simple gas line with a single diameter because the instant Specification is silent as to specific geometry of the purge path line. Hence, the limitations “the length and/or volume” in claim 1 and “the pressure” in claim 3 avoid 112, 2nd issues.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6, 10, 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto (US 2009/0286116).
Regarding claim 1, Matsumoto discloses a method for determining the length and/or volume of a purge path within a fuel cell system, wherein the fuel cell system comprises a fuel cell stack, an air path, an exhaust line, and a fuel line with a recirculation loop (see figure 1), the method comprising;
measuring, during the purging process, the H2 concentration via an H2 sensor in the exhaust line [0076]. Matsumoto discloses that the hydrogen sensor may be provided in the anode gas system [0076, 0111]. The anode gas system entails the hydrogen discharge channel 35 [0012], and hence reads on Applicant’s “the H2 concentration via an H2 sensor in the exhaust line”.
Regarding claim 1, determining the length and/or volume of the purge path as a function of a profile of the measured H2 concentration, Matsumoto discloses the purge process is a process which replaces gas circulating in the anode gas system with hydrogen gas newly supplied from the hydrogen tank to increase the concentration of hydrogen in the anode gas system. More specifically, in this purge process, gas circulating in the anode gas system is replaced with newly supplied hydrogen gas by opening and closing the purge valve at a predetermined timing, discharging gas circulating in the anode gas system out of the fuel cell system, and then newly supplying hydrogen from the hydrogen tank to the anode gas system (hereafter, referred to as "purge-controlling"). In the present embodiment, the replacing amount of gas per unit time for performing this purge process, which is the amount of gas introduced to the diluter per unit time, is defined as the purge amount. Therefore, this purge amount is approximately proportional to the opening period or the opening degree of the purge valve [0070].
It is noted that the amount of gas can be expressed in various ways, such as mass or volume. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to express Matsumoto’s gas purging amount in terms of volume for the benefit of determining the amount of hydrogen to be purged, depending on the degree of purge valve opened.
Regarding claim 2, a period of time between the opening of a purge valve and the increase in H2 concentration on the H2 sensor is determined. See figure 2.
Regarding claim 3, the pressure in the recirculation loop and the pressure in the exhaust line are determined. See figure 2.
Regarding claim 4, taking into account the diffusion rate of hydrogen, the length and/or the volume of the purge path is/are determined, it is noted that Matsumoto’s volume would be determined by dividing the gas flowrate with the purging time.
Regarding claim 6, during the purging process, the mass air flow in the exhaust line is kept constant so as to prevent changes in the dilution conditions on the H2 sensor. See figure 2.
Regarding claim 10, the method is carried out during startup of the fuel cell system for application of the parameters of the purge path and/or vehicle-specifically for adaptation of changed parameters [0072].
Regarding claim 11, wherein the H2 sensor in the exhaust line is positioned outside the recirculation loop, Matsumoto discloses that the hydrogen sensor may be provided in the anode gas system [0111]. The anode gas system entails the hydrogen discharge channel 35 [0012]. It is noted that the hydrogen discharge channel 35 is positioned outside the recirculation loop. See figure 1.
Claims 5, 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto (US 2009/0286116) as applied to claim 1, in view of Morita (US 2018/0151902).
Regarding claim 5, the recirculation loop is filled with pure hydrogen prior to the opening of the purge valve, Morita teaches a fuel cell purging operation, in which the hydrogen is supplied to the recycle channel [0037]. The concentration detector is provided outside of the fuel cell system and, specifically, arranged in the outlet of the first discharge channel or a vicinity thereof. The concentration detector detects the hydrogen concentration of the anode off-gas discharged to the outside through the first discharge channel and outputs the detected value to the controller [0076]. When the purge valve is in the open state to perform the purge operation and the purge operation is normal, the anode off-gas is discharged from the first discharge channel to the outside. When the hydrogen concentration detected by the concentration detector is increased and reaches the predetermined concentration because of the hydrogen contained in the anode off-gas, the determination unit determines that the purge operation is normal [0078]. On the other hand, when the first discharge channel and the purge valve are clogged with the foreign substance, no anode off-gas is discharged to the outside. Thus, for example, when the concentration detected by the concentration detector does not reach the predetermined concentration after a predetermined time is passed from the purge operation, the determination unit determines that the purge operation is abnormal [0079].
Regarding claim 8, the purge duration is increased and/or the purge interval is reduced when there is a clog. See figure 2.
Regarding claim 9, the method is applied in each purging operation or after predetermined time intervals in order to check for a clog.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to use the hydrogen concentration profile of Matsumoto to determine if there is a clog in the anode line.
Regarding claim 7, the measured volume of the purge path is compared to predetermined values for the volume of the purge path, and a partial clogging of the purge path is detected based on a deviation, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to use hydrogen concentration or Matsumoto’s volume of the purge line to determine if there is a clog in the purge path based on a deviation of hydrogen from Matsumoto’s hydrogen control map.
Response to Arguments
Arguments filed 3/2/2026 are addressed below:
Regarding the limitation “measuring, during the purging process, the H2 concentration via an H2 sensor in the exhaust line” in claim 1, Matsumoto discloses that the hydrogen sensor may be provided in the anode gas system [0076, 0111]. The anode gas system entails the hydrogen discharge channel 35 [0012], and hence reads on Applicant’s “the H2 concentration via an H2 sensor in the exhaust line”.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 CYNTHIA KYUNG SOO WALLS whose telephone number is (571)272-8699. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F until 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Leong can be reached at 571-270-1292. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CYNTHIA K WALLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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