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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the active mud system” lacks antecedent basis. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-7, 9-14, 16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Sredneaziatsky (NL 8000225), hereinafter Red.
With respect to claim 1, Red discloses an apparatus for conditioning drilling fluid comprising: a) a housing (1) defining an inner chamber (shown in fig. 1); b) a fluid inlet (2) extending into said inner chamber; c) a fluid outlet (3) extending out of said inner chamber; d) a stationary ring (8) disposed between said fluid inlet and said fluid outlet, and having an inner surface (facing the interior of the mixing chamber) and an outer surface (opposite the inner surface), wherein said stationary ring has a plurality of shaped protrusions (9) extending from said inner surface of said stationary ring; e) a movable ring (5) disposed between said fluid inlet and said fluid outlet, and having an inner surface (facing the interior of the mixing chamber ) and an outer surface (opposite the inner surface) wherein said movable ring is oriented substantially parallel to said stationary ring (shown in fig. 1), and having a plurality of shaped protrusions (6) extending from said inner surface of said movable ring; and f) a drive shaft (4) operationally attached to said movable ring configured to impart torque force to said movable ring (shown in fig. 1).
With respect to claim 2, Red discloses a pipe segment (pipe segment of 2) disposed between (central of) said plurality of shaped protrusions of said stationary ring.
With respect to claim 3, Red discloses wherein said pipe segment directs drilling fluid flow toward said plurality of shaped protrusions extending from said inner surface of said stationary ring and said plurality of shaped protrusions extending from said inner surface of said movable ring (since the outlet is across these features from the inlet 2 the inlet directs fluid towards these features).
With respect to claim 4, Red discloses a motor (not shown but mentioned in the spec pg. 4 ll. 10-15) operationally attached to said drive shaft.
With respect to claim 5, Red discloses wherein said housing is installed within the active mud system of a drilling rig (abstract, if it receives mud, it can be construed as part of the active mud system and whatever feeds the mud into the device can be considered part of the active mud system).
With respect to claim 6, Red discloses wherein drilling fluid is diverted from said active mud system and directed into said fluid inlet (whatever delivers the mud to inlet 2 can itself be considered part of the active mud system and can be said to divert it from the active mud system to the inlet).
With respect to claim 7, Red discloses wherein drilling fluid effluent from said fluid outlet is directed into said active mud system (to be used for drilling, abstract, whatever device or tubing extends from the outlet 3 can be said to be part of the active mud system).
With respect to claim 9, Red discloses wherein surface tension of drilling fluids is reduced (cavitation reduced surface tension, the device of Red induces cavitation as discussed in pg. 3 ll. 25-30, corresponding to pgph. 11 of the Applicant-provided translation of the spec which is not completely accurate), allowing ultrafine solids to clump together and be removed by a centrifuge or other solids removal device (it can allow for this but this step is not explicitly required to occur).
With respect to claim 10, Red discloses wherein said ultrafine solids can be removed without requiring dilution of said drilling fluids (this is a possibility by any number of filtration or centrifuging processes but is not required to occur by the claims).
The limitations of claims 11-14 and 16 are substantially similar to those of claims , rejected supra.
With respect to claim 19, Red further discloses wherein the fluid properties of said drilling fluid can be controlled by adjusting the distance between said plurality of shaped protrusions extending from said inner surface of said stationary ring and said plurality of shaped protrusions extending from said inner surface of said movable ring (this is the case since adjusting this distance will affect at least the size of the particles which can pass through).
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Lawson (US 3245399 A) hereinafter Law.
With respect to claim 1, Law discloses an apparatus for conditioning drilling fluid comprising (part of the preamble and functional language only and thus not read into the claim): a) a housing (13) defining an inner chamber (shown in fig. 1); b) a fluid inlet (11) extending into said inner chamber; c) a fluid outlet (12) extending out of said inner chamber; d) a stationary ring (15) disposed between said fluid inlet and said fluid outlet, and having an inner surface (facing the interior of the mixing chamber and 17) and an outer surface (opposite the inner surface), wherein said stationary ring has a plurality of shaped protrusions (20, 21) extending from said inner surface of said stationary ring; e) a movable ring (17) disposed between said fluid inlet and said fluid outlet, and having an inner surface (facing the interior of the mixing chamber) and an outer surface (opposite the inner surface) wherein said movable ring is oriented substantially parallel to said stationary ring (shown in fig. 1), and having a plurality of shaped protrusions (19) extending from said inner surface of said movable ring; and f) a drive shaft (18) operationally attached to said movable ring configured to impart torque force to said movable ring (shown in fig. 1).
With respect to claim 2, Law discloses a pipe segment (pipe segment at end of 11 sticking into 13, alternatively, element 26) disposed between (central of) said plurality of shaped protrusions of said stationary ring.
With respect to claim 4, Law discloses a motor (M) operationally attached to said drive shaft (fig. 1).
With respect to claim 8, Law discloses wherein no cavitation or shearing of drilling fluid occurs within said housing (this will be the case in Law).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 17 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Red in light of Hoskins (US 20200263512 A1).
With respect to claim 17, Red fails to disclose removal of UFPs.
Neverthele4ss, Hoskins discloses wherein said ultrafine solids leaving said fluid outlet are removed from said drilling fluid by a centrifuge or other solids removal device (pgph. 46).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have removed ultra-fine particles from the drilling fluid of Red with a centrifuge as taught by Hoskins (pgph. 46) since this is the application of a known technique in a similar device to improve it in the same way with predictable and obvious results and a reasonable expectation for success.
With respect to claim 18, Hoskins discloses wherein said ultrafine solids can be removed from said drilling fluid without requiring dilution of said drilling fluid (Hoskins does not disclose dilution in order to remove the particles in pgph. 46).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 15 is 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20170274333 A1 also discloses a mixer in a drilling fluid system. US 5042726 A discloses adjusting the spacing between projections.
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/KIPP C WALLACE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3674 01/21/2026