DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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.
Claim(s) 1 and 3-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rheaume (US 2021/0322808).
Regarding claim 1, Rheaume discloses a fire extinguishing system, comprising:
a first thermal transport bus (Examiner interprets a thermal transport bus includes one or more fluid conduits through which the working fluid flows (Applicant’s specification, Paragraph 34)) (229) and a second thermal transport bus (322) to transfer heat between fluids on an aircraft using a working fluid ( Paragraph 55, Examiner is referencing the described embodiment that includes the bypass valve 324 routing fluid to the heat exchanger 231 or the bypass line 322; In said embodiment, working fluid will be received from either the bypass line or the line extending through the heat exchanger 231); and
a fire extinguishing nozzle (Paragraph 51, the exit of valve 350 leading to protected space 340) connected to the first thermal transport bus and the second thermal transport bus (Figure 3A), the fire extinguishing nozzle positioned to deploy the working fluid as a fire extinguishing agent from the first thermal transport bus for a first period of time and from the second thermal transport bus for a second period of time at a location of the aircraft (Paragraphs 51 and 55, Dependent upon the position of the valve the position of the nozzle will provide for working fluid received for a period of time from the bypass line and a period of time from the line through heat exchanger 231), the location identified based on temperature sensor data (Paragraph 59, The location is based on temperature sensor data from sensor 370).
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Examiner’s Annotated Figure 1
Regarding claim 3, Rheaume discloses the fire extinguishing system of claim 1, wherein the first thermal transport bus or the second thermal transport bus is in connection with at least one of a supercritical carbon dioxide pump or a heat source (heat source 219).
Regarding claim 4, Rheaume discloses the fire extinguishing system of claim 3, wherein the heat source (219) includes at least one of bleed air, a bypass stream, or exhaust heat (Paragraph 39, bleed air).
Regarding claim 5, Rheaume discloses the fire extinguishing system of claim 1, wherein the fire extinguishing nozzle is positioned at least one of (1) upstream or downstream of a split valve, or (2) upstream or downstream of a heat source (Figure 3A, downstream of heat source 219).
Regarding claim 6, Rheaume discloses the fire extinguishing system of claim 1, wherein the first thermal transport bus or the second thermal transport bus (second thermal transport bus) is in connection with a first flow split valve (324) and a second flow split valve (350), a first fire extinguishing nozzle (exit of valve 350 in to space 340) positioned upstream or downstream of the first flow split valve (downstream of the first flow split valve) and a second fire extinguishing nozzle positioned upstream or downstream of the second flow split valve (The exit of system 380 is positioned downstream of the second thermal transport bus).
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) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rheaume in view of Rambo (US 20220194622).
Regarding claim 2, Rheaume discloses the fire extinguishing system of claim 1, but fails to disclose wherein the fire extinguishing agent is supercritical carbon dioxide.
Rheaume discloses the use of carbon dioxide and discloses that the system may use any fire suppression agent known in the art (Paragraph 59).
Rambo discloses that supercritical carbon-dioxide is a known alternative fire suppressing working fluid to carbon dioxide (Paragraphs 53 and 113).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Rheaume with the disclosures of Rambo, replacing the working fluid of Rheaume with supercritical carbon-dioxide, in order to provide for a known agent that yields predictable results, including performance of the functions of inerting and fire-suppression, as disclosed by Rambo (Paragraph 113).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 CHRISTOPHER R. DANDRIDGE whose telephone number is (571)270-1505. The examiner can normally be reached M-T 9am-7pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur O. Hall can be reached at (571)270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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CHRISTOPHER R. DANDRIDGE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3752
/CHRISTOPHER R DANDRIDGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752
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