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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 08/28/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s remarks pertaining to the drawings are not persuasive. Applicant’s amended Fig. 1 drawing now shows two pumps 114 which now has the drawing show two different embodiments in one figure which raises new matter, see drawing objection below. Applicant should provide a first figure for an embodiment having the pump 114 outside the reservoir, and a second figure for an embodiment having the pump 114 inside the reservoir.
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 08/28/2026, with respect to the U.S.C. 112(a) rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The U.S.C. 112(a) rejections of the office action dated 04/16/2026 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on the argued prior art Guender reference for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
See below for updated rejections.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.84(h)(5) because Figure 1 show(s) modified forms of construction in the same view.
Applicant’s amended Fig. 1 drawing now shows two pumps 114 which now has the drawing show two different embodiments in one figure which is improper.
As best understood, applicant’s disclosure discusses two different embodiments. One embodiment in which the pump 114 is outside the reservoir 116 and another embodiment in which the pump 114 is inside the reservoir 116. Applicant’s specification states:
[0056] Optionally, the pump is arranged to be, in use, submerged within the hydraulic fluid within the reservoir.
[0057] Optionally, the HPU comprises a cooling pump arranged within the reservoir, wherein the motor is arranged to drive the cooling pump to pump the hydraulic fluid to a cooling apparatus external to the hydraulic power unit.
[0058] Optionally, the cooling pump is arranged to be, in use, submerged within the hydraulic fluid within the reservoir.
While positioning both a cooling pump 117 and pump 114 within a reservoir appear to be supported in applicant’s original disclosure, having two pump 114 wherein one is outside the reservoir and one is inside the reservoir does not appear to be supported and constitutes new matter.
Applicant should provide a first figure for an embodiment having the pump 114 outside the reservoir, and a second figure for an embodiment having the pump 114 inside the reservoir.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The amendment filed 08/28/2026 is objected to under 35 U.S.C. 132(a) because it introduces new matter into the disclosure. 35 U.S.C. 132(a) states that no amendment shall introduce new matter into the disclosure of the invention. The added material which is not supported by the original disclosure is as follows:
Applicant’s amended Fig. 1 drawing now shows two pumps 114 which now has the drawing show two different embodiments in one figure which raises new matter, see drawing objection below. Applicant should provide a first figure for an embodiment having the pump 114 outside the reservoir, and a second figure for an embodiment having the pump 114 inside the reservoir.
Applicant is required to cancel the new matter in the reply to this Office 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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7, 8, 13, 15, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chenoweth et al. (US 5109672), hereinafter ‘Chenoweth’ in view of Guender (US 2018/0274526) and Aspelin (US 2887063) discloses:
Chenoweth discloses:
1. (Previously Presented) A hydraulic power unit (HPU), for providing a pressurised hydraulic fluid to a material testing apparatus, the HPU comprising:
a reservoir (30) for storing a hydraulic fluid; a pump (16) for pumping the hydraulic fluid to an outlet connectable to the material testing apparatus, wherein the pump is located within the reservoir (see Fig. 1a), and wherein the pump is arranged to be, in use, submerged within the hydraulic fluid within the reservoir (see Fig. 1a, Col. 3 lines 57-67, Col. 4 lines 1-3);
an electric motor (18) arranged to drive the pump (16), wherein the electric motor is located within the reservoir (see Fig. 1a, motor 18 within reservoir 30)
a cooling pump (42) configured to pump the hydraulic fluid to a cooling apparatus (46) external to the HPU,
Chenoweth does not disclose:
an alternating current, AC, electric motor arranged to drive the pump,
wherein the cooling pump is located within the reservoir, and wherein the cooling pump is arranged to be, in use, submerged within the hydraulic fluid within the reservoir; and
an electrical inverter for providing an AC electrical supply to the electric motor, wherein the electrical inverter is arranged to control an operating point of the electric motor.
However, Guender discloses a hydraulic power unit similar to Chenoweth and the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Guender discloses an alternating current, AC, (implicit with the frequency converter 2) electric motor (M) arranged to drive the pump an electrical inverter (2) for providing an AC electrical supply to the electric motor, wherein the electrical inverter is arranged to control an operating point of the electric motor (paragraph [0042]).
Since Chenoweth remains silent as to the details of its electric motor, and since Guender discloses a suitable electric motor and control configuration, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the device of Chenoweth to have used an alternating current, AC, electric motor arranged to drive the pump, and an electrical inverter for providing an AC electrical supply to the electric motor, wherein the electrical inverter is arranged to control an operating point of the electric motor as taught by Guender to yield only the predictable results of an adjustable power hydraulic power unit through control of the AC electric motor driving the pump.
The combination of Chenoweth and Guender does not explicitly disclose wherein
the cooling pump is located within the reservoir, and wherein the cooling pump is arranged to be, in use, submerged within the hydraulic fluid within the reservoir.
However, Aspelin discloses a hydraulic system similar to the present application and therefore constitute analogous art. Aspelin teaches that it is known in the art to submerge a pump in a bath of the liquid which it pumps to lubricate the pump (Aspelin
Col. 1 lines 28-39).
Since lubricating a pump is beneficial, it is known in the art to submerge pumps,
it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention
was filed to have further modified the system of Chenoweth in view of Guender to have
the cooling pump is located within the reservoir, and wherein the cooling pump is
arranged to be, in use, submerged within the hydraulic fluid within the reservoir as taught by Aspelin. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art
at the time the invention was filed to have modified the system of Guender in view of Chenoweth to position the implemented cooling pump of Chenoweth rearrangement of parts rationale since relocation of a submerged pump to any reservoir would not change its function of pumping the fluid that it is submerged in.
The combination of Chenoweth, Guender, and Aspelin further renders obvious:
2. (Original) The HPU of claim 1, wherein the HPU is arranged to provide the hydraulic fluid to the outlet at a target pressure (Chenoweth Col. 3 lines 25-56, discloses controlling its HPU as required for flight control purposes;
Guender, paragraph [0042], the control of the electric motor would be implemented in light of the modification of the Chenoweth’s device to use an AC electric motor that is controlled as desired).
3. (Original) The HPU of claim 2, wherein the target pressure is set based on a received signal (Chenoweth Col. 3 lines 25-56, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that flight control signals dictate the target pressure that is required to actuate various devices or position various devices;
Guender, paragraph [0042], the control of the electric motor would be implemented in light of the modification of the Chenoweth’s device to use an AC electric motor that is controlled as desired).
4. (Previously Presented) The HPU of claim 1, wherein the electrical inverter is arranged to control the operating point of the electric motor by controlling any one or more of: a voltage of the AC electrical supply; a current of the AC electrical supply; a frequency of the AC electrical supply; and a phase of the AC electrical supply (Guender, paragraph [0042], the control of the electric motor would be implemented in light of the modification of the Chenoweth’s device to use an AC electric motor that is controlled as desired).
5. (Previously Presented) The HPU of claim 4, wherein the electrical inverter is arranged to control the operating point of the electric motor by controlling one or more of the current of the AC electrical supply, the frequency of the AC electrical supply, and the phase of the AC electrical supply such that an operating efficiency of the electric motor is changed to maintain the operating point (Guender, paragraph [0042], operating point is controlled to maintain p, depending on p, the operating efficiency changes).
7. (Currently Amended) The HPU of claim 2 further comprising a controller arranged to control a rotational speed of the electric motor to maintain the hydraulic fluid at the outlet at the target pressure (Guender, paragraph [0042], PID regulator is a controller).
8. (Original) The HPU of claim 7, wherein the controller is arranged to control a fluid displacement of the pump to maintain the hydraulic fluid at the outlet at the target pressure (Chenoweth Col.3 lines 25-46, Guender, paragraph [0042]).
13. (Previously Presented) The HPU of claim 1, wherein the electric motor is arranged to be, in use, submerged within the hydraulic fluid within the reservoir (Chenoweth, electric motor 18 is submerged within the hydraulic fluid 32 within the reservoir 30).
15. (Currently Amended) A system comprising: the HPU of claim 1; and a material testing apparatus arranged to receive a pressurised hydraulic fluid from the HPU, wherein the material testing apparatus comprises a hydraulic actuator arranged to exert one or both of a force and a torque along one or more axes of a material sample for a material test process (this limitation is met when Chenoweth’s hydraulic actuator 10 exerts a force on a control surface which comprises a material because the recitation of “for a material test process” is an intended use recitation and is met since it is capable for Chenoweth’s actuator 10 to apply a force on a control surface material to test the material for its flight functions).
17. (New) The system of claim 15, further comprising the cooling apparatus, wherein the cooling apparatus is located external to the HPU and is arranged to receive the hydraulic fluid pumped by the cooling pump (cooling apparatus 46 receives fluid pumped by cooling pump 42 which would be implemented inside the reservoir 30 with the HPU pump 16 in light of the teachings of Aspelin).
Claim(s) 15, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chenoweth, Guender and Aspelin as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kohei (JP 2012194092), 2012-10-11, F15B11/00.
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Chenoweth, Guender, and Aspelin renders obvious the hydraulic power unit of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose a material testing apparatus.
However, Kohei discloses a hydraulic power unit similar to Chenoweth and the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Kohei discloses using a pump 41 driven by an AC motor 42 to drive a hydraulic cylinder similar to Chenoweth and teaches that the hydraulic cylinder used in a material testing machine and applies a force to test a material (Kohei, paragraph [0002], [0021], [0022], etc.).
Since hydraulic power units are known in the art to be used in material testing application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have used the modified hydraulic power unit of Chenoweth, Guender, and Aspelin in a material testing apparatus to exert one or both of a force and a torque along one or more axes of a material sample for a material test process as taught by Kohei.
The combination of Chenoweth, Guender, Aspelin, and Kohei further renders obvious:
17. (New) The system of claim 15, further comprising the cooling apparatus, wherein the cooling apparatus is located external to the HPU and is arranged to receive the hydraulic fluid pumped by the cooling pump (Chenoweth’s modified HPU includes cooling apparatus 46 that is located external to the HPU receives fluid pumped by cooling pump 42, wherein the cooling pump 42 would be implemented inside the reservoir 30 with the HPU pump 16).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chenoweth, Guender, and Aspelin as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Takahashi et al. (US 12416135), hereinafter ‘Takahashi’.
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Chenoweth, Guender, and Aspelin renders obvious the HPU of claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the electric motor is arranged to drive both the pump and the cooling pump.
However, Takahashi discloses a hydraulic system similar to Chenoweth and the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Takahashi discloses two pumps 30, 2 driven by a single AC motor 1 that is controlled by an inverter 60 which is controlled by controller 50.
Since it is known in the art to drive two hydraulic pumps using the same AC electric motor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have further modified the HPU of Chenoweth, Guender, and Aspelin to have both of its pumps driven by the same AC motor as taught by Takahashi which achieves the benefit reducing the number of electric motors in the system.
Claim(s) 6-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Guender in view of Chenoweth and Aspelin and in further view of Henno (DE 102012009136).
Regarding claim 6, Guender in view of Chenoweth and Aspelin renders obvious the HPU of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the pump is a variable displacement pump to control a flow rate of the hydraulic fluid from the outlet.
However, Henno discloses a device including a pump 20 driven by an electric motor 31 similar to Guender and the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Henno teaches: wherein the pump is a variable displacement pump (20) to control a flow rate of the hydraulic fluid from the outlet (paragraph [0021]-[0023]) as claimed in claim 6.
Since a variable displacement pump provides the benefit of being able to adjust the fluid output volume of the pump, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have further modified the device of Guender in view of Chenoweth and Aspelin to have used a variable displacement pump to control a flow rate of the hydraulic fluid from the outlet as taught by Henno.
By implementing a variable displacement pump into the modified device of Chenoweth in view of Guender and Aspelin, the device is able to be operated more efficiently as taught by Henno (Henno [0007] discloses that its invention improves the pump operation during load fluctuations and counteracts load-dependent leakage losses) and discloses benefits in the field of injection molding machines, presses, woodworking machines, test benches, etc., since a high dynamic and static control quality is particularly advantageous (Henno [0012]).
Henno further discloses: further comprising a controller (Henno 40) arranged to control a rotational speed of the electric motor to maintain the hydraulic fluid at the outlet at the target pressure (Henno paragraph [0022]), as claimed in claim 7;
wherein the controller is arranged to control a fluid displacement of the pump to
maintain the hydraulic fluid at the outlet at the target pressure (Henno paragraph [0023]), as claimed in claim 8;
wherein the pump is operable as a pressure compensated variable displacement pump having an adjustable pressure set point, the controller being arranged to control the fluid displacement of the pump by controlling the said adjustable pressure set point (Henno paragraph [0021] discloses the controller specifying a setpoint for the pump which affects the pressure, paragraph [0024] discloses a pressure control element that uses a target delivery pressure and an actual delivery pressure in the control, therefore the variable displacement pump is operable as a pressure compensated variable displacement pump), as claimed in claim 9,
wherein the controller is arranged to control both the speed of the electric motor and the fluid displacement of the pump; wherein one or both of the fluid displacement of the pump and the rotational speed of the electric motor are controlled in dependence on predetermined characterisation data, such that a combined operating efficiency of the electric motor and the pump is controlled (Henno paragraph [0025], Fig. 2), as claimed in claim 10;
where the controller is arranged to: determine a flow rate of hydraulic fluid flowing through the pump and control one or both of the fluid displacement of the pump and the rotational speed of the electric motor in dependence thereon; wherein the predetermined characterisation data is indicative of one or both of a target fluid displacement of the pump and a target rotational speed of the electric motor depending
on the said flow rate (Henno paragraph [0023], target volume flow is used to control the pump displacement), as claimed in claim 11;
wherein the controller is arranged to: control the fluid displacement of the pump based on the target fluid displacement; or control the rotational speed of the electric motor based on the target rotational speed (Henno paragraph [0024]-[0027], Fig. 2), as claimed in claim 12.
Since improved pump operation is beneficial, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the device of Chenoweth, Guender, and Aspelin to have used the controller wherein the controller is arranged to control a fluid displacement of the pump to maintain the hydraulic fluid at the outlet at the target pressure, wherein the controller is arranged to control both the speed of the electric motor and the fluid displacement of the pump; wherein one or both of the fluid displacement of the pump and the rotational speed of the electric motor are controlled in dependence on predetermined characterisation data, such that a combined operating efficiency of the electric motor and the pump is controlled, where the controller is arranged to: determine a flow rate of hydraulic fluid flowing through the pump and control one or both of the fluid displacement of the pump and the rotational speed of the electric motor in dependence thereon; wherein the predetermined characterisation data is indicative of one or both of a target fluid displacement of the pump and a target rotational speed of the electric motor depending on the said flow rate, wherein the pump is operable as a pressure compensated variable displacement pump having an adjustable pressure set point, the controller being arranged to control the fluid displacement of the pump by controlling the said adjustable pressure set point, wherein the controller is arranged to: control the fluid displacement of the pump based on the target fluid displacement; or control the rotational speed of the electric motor based on the target rotational speed, as taught by Henno.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
King et al. (US 2021/0180577), discloses a pertinent hydraulic power unit
Tufty et al. (US 10390458) discloses a submerged cooling pump 22 that pumps fluid to a cooling apparatus 24 external to the reservoir 18 and then the fluid recirculates back into the reservoir 18.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Dustin T Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)270-0163. The examiner can normally be reached M - F: 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathaniel E. Wiehe can be reached at (571) 272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DUSTIN T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745 September 18, 2026
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