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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Claims 1-6 in the reply filed on 12/19/2025 is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 10/30/2024, only with respect to the non-patent literature document, fails to comply with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609 because the document should be identified as a Chilean office action, not a Columbian office action. Please correct and resubmit. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered as to the merits. Applicant is advised that the date of any re-submission of any item of information contained in this information disclosure statement or the submission of any missing element(s) will be the date of submission for purposes of determining compliance with the requirements based on the time of filing the statement, including all certification requirements for statements under 37 CFR 1.97(e). See MPEP § 609.05(a).
Drawings
The drawings were received on 06/16/2023. These drawings are accepted.
Status of Claims
Claims 1, 3-5, 7, 8, and 10-15 are currently amended, and Claims 2, 6, and 9 are as originally filed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION - The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “a refractory material more resistant to corrosion and thermal shock” in line 11. It is not clear to what this refractory material is being compared, since “more” implies a different material.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the complementary receiving portion" in lines 1 and 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the locking portion" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
In Claim 6, it is not clear what applicant intends to recite with the limitation “with chords removed.” Does the rotary device need to represent empty spaces from which chords are removed, or is this a negative limitation with no chords?
Claims dependent on any of the rejected claims are likewise rejected under this statute.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schmeisser (US 8,281,964 B2) in view of International Syalons.
Schmeisser teaches a rotary stirring device as represented below in the annotated drawings:
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Inert gas is passed through the driveshaft and the graphite shaft into the metal via the rotor and is dispersed (column 11, lines 49-51). A continuous flow path exists from the source of the gas, through the bore of the shaft and connection piece, through the roof of the rotor, into the chamber, through the inlets, into the passages, and out of the rotor through the outlet (column 7, lines 62-67). Shaft is connected directly to the rotor or indirectly (column 5, lines 43-48). However, Schmeisser does not teach the tubular sleeve or driveshaft is formed from a refractory material as claimed.
International Syalons teaches using sialon (silicon alumina nitride) ceramics for rotary degassers (page 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the sialon ceramic for the driveshaft material in Schmeisser, since International Syalons teaches sialon ceramics are uniquely suited to withstand the demanding thermochemical conditions of molten aluminum processing at temperatures exceeding 700 °C (pages 2 and 3).
Regarding Claim 2, International Syalons teaches silicon alumina nitride as described above.
Regarding Claim 3, Schmeisser teaches the rotor is threaded to the shaft as represented above.
Regarding Claim 4, Schmeisser teaches the first end of the graphite shaft is connected to the driveshaft within a housing 182 as represented above in FIG. 15. The second end of the graphite shaft is attached to the rotor as described above with FIG. 3a.
Regarding Claim 5, Schmeisser teaches a threaded throughbore with a tubular connection piece (column 7, lines 41-43).
Regarding Claim 6, Schmeisser teaches in FIG. 3b a polygonal cross section in the rotor (column 8, lines 2-16).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tima M. McGuthry-Banks whose telephone number is (571)272-2744. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 4:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith D. Hendricks can be reached at (571) 272-1401. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Tima M. McGuthry-Banks
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1733
/TIMA M. MCGUTHRY-BANKS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1733