DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: “ones” should be changed to “one”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities: “(B)” should be removed. 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.
Claims 1, 5 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kondo USPA 2008/0185218 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Kondo discloses a fuel-cell exhaust arrangement for a fuel-cell system and the fuel-cell exhaust system in a vehicle (paragraph 36), the fuel-cell exhaust arrangement comprising: a fuel-cell exhaust line for accommodating a flow of fuel-cell exhaust gas therethrough (figure 9: line 99); a muffler for receiving and passing the flow of fuel-cell exhaust gas therethrough (figures: muffler 10); said muffler including a muffler housing having an inlet region for the fuel-cell exhaust gas and an outlet region for the fuel-cell exhaust gas (figure 2: inlet at D; outlet 30); said fuel-cell exhaust line having an upstream line section connected to said inlet region and a downstream line section connected to said outlet region (see figure 9); said muffler further including: at least one muffler chamber formed in said muffler housing (figure 2: sound absorption material 45); at least one liquid-collecting chamber (paragraph 42: portion 38); said muffler housing having a housing base separating said at least one liquid-collecting chamber from said at least one muffler chamber (figure 3: 30); at least one liquid-passage opening in said housing base connecting said at least one muffler chamber to said at least one liquid-collecting chamber for exchanging liquid (figure 3: hole 32); and, at least one liquid-discharging opening provided on said muffler housing for discharging liquid from said at least one liquid-collecting chamber (figure 4: water discharge hole 34; paragraph 44).
Regarding claim 5, Kondo discloses that the muffler housing defines a longitudinal axis (L) and is configured to be elongated in the direction of said longitudinal axis (L); said muffler housing has an upstream axial end region and a downstream axial end region; and, said inlet region for the fuel-cell exhaust gas is formed in said upstream axial end region of said muffler housing and said outlet region for the fuel-cell exhaust gas is formed in said downstream axial end region of said muffler housing (figures 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 13, Kondo discloses an opening through which hydrogen could pass (figures: hydrogen is capable of passing through holes 30). Although Kondo does not disclose that the openings are for hydrogen, claims directed to an apparatus must be distinguished in the prior art in terms of structure rather than function. MPEP 2114.
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 2-4, 6-10 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kondo USPA 2008/0185218 A1 in view of Heo USPA 2013/0175114 A1.
Kondo is relied upon as above.
Regarding claim 2, Kondo does not disclose a plurality of said muffler chambers formed in said housing; a plurality of partitions separating corresponding ones of said plurality of said muffler chambers one from the other; and, each one of said muffler chambers being separated from said at least one liquid-collecting chamber by said housing base. Heo discloses a similar invention with a plurality of muffler chambers formed in the housing and a plurality of partitions separating corresponding ones of said plurality of said muffler chambers one from the other (figure 3A: chambers 301 and partitions 304). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kondo to include a plurality of said muffler chambers formed in said housing; a plurality of partitions separating corresponding ones of said plurality of said muffler chambers one from the other, as taught by Heo, in order to reduce the noise reduction performance (see Heo paragraph 67). If Kondo was modified in this way, each one of said muffler chambers would be separated from said at least one liquid-collecting chamber by said housing base, since Kondo discloses such separation (see figure 3).
Regarding claim 3, in the case where Kondo is modified by Heo to include chambers and partitions, a plurality of said liquid-passage openings being provided in said housing base would be assigned to corresponding ones of said muffler chambers, so that water could pass out of each chamber.
Regarding claim 4, Kondo discloses at least one fuel-cell exhaust pipe extending within at least one of said muffler chambers provided in said muffler housing; and, said at least one fuel-cell exhaust pipe being open to at least one of said muffler chambers via at least one opening or via a plurality of openings (see figure 2: exhaust at 30).
Regarding claim 6, Heo discloses that a first one of said muffler chambers is an upstream muffler chamber and a second one of said muffler chambers is a downstream muffler chamber; said inlet region for the fuel-cell exhaust gas is open to said upstream muffler chamber and said outlet region for the fuel-cell exhaust gas is open to said downstream muffler chamber; and, said upstream muffler chamber is separated from said downstream muffler chamber by at least one of the following: i) at least one of said partitions; and, ii) at least one of the other ones of said plurality of muffler chambers (see Heo figure 3A).
Regarding claim 7, Kondo discloses a liquid-eliminating chamber formed in said muffler housing; said upstream line section of said fuel-cell exhaust line being open to said liquid-eliminating chamber and said liquid-eliminating chamber being separated from one of said muffler chambers by a further partition; said liquid-eliminating chamber being separated from said at least one liquid-collecting chamber by said housing base; and, at least one liquid-passage opening connecting said liquid-eliminating chamber to said at least one liquid-collecting chamber for the exchange of liquid being provided in said housing base (figure 3: liquid-eliminating chamber 47 is separate from liquid collecting chamber via partition 30; paragraph 47).
Regarding claim 8, Kondo discloses an eliminating-line section extending within said liquid-eliminating chamber (figure 3: any portion of chamber 47 can be considered an eliminating-line section) adjoins, with an upstream eliminating-line part in the inlet region for fuel-cell exhaust gas (figure 3: any upstream portion of 47), the upstream line section of the fuel-cell exhaust line, and with a downstream eliminating-line part passes through said further partition separating the liquid-eliminating chamber from a muffler chamber, and/or is open to at least one of said muffler chambers, and wherein in the region of the downstream eliminating-line part adjacent to the upstream eliminating-line part, an opening region open to the liquid-eliminating chamber, is formed (see figures 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 9, Kondo discloses that in the opening region, an upstream end section of the downstream eliminating-line part has been positioned in engaging manner in a downstream end section of the upstream eliminating-line part such that the liquid-eliminating opening has been formed between the upstream end section of the downstream eliminating-line part and the downstream end section of the upstream eliminating-line part (figures 2 and 3: any portions of 47 can be considered to anticipate these various claimed sections).
Regarding claim 10, Kondo discloses that the downstream end section of the upstream eliminating-line part has been configured to be widening in a conical manner in a main direction of flow (H) of exhaust gas, or/and wherein the upstream end section of the downstream eliminating-line part has been configured to be widened in a conical manner in the main direction of flow (H) of exhaust gas (figure 2: widening starting at 41).
Regarding claim 16, Kondo discloses that the opening has a ring-like liquid-eliminating opening that opens to the liquid-eliminating chamber (figures 2 and 3: opening to 47 is circular).
Claims 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kondo USPA 2008/0185218 A1, in view of Heo USPA 2013/0175114 A1, in further view of Hofler DE102016221566 A1 [translation].
Kondo in view of Heo is relied upon as above.
Regarding claim 11, Kondo does not disclose a swirl-flow-generating unit has been provided upstream of the liquid-eliminating opening. Hofler discloses such a swirl-flow-generating unit to increase removal of water droplets from the stream (see Hofler paragraph 22). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kondo to include a swirl-flow-generating unit upstream of the liquid-eliminating opening, as taught by Hofler, to assist in removing water from the exhaust.
Regarding claim 12, Hofler discloses that the swirl-flow-generating unit comprises a plurality of flow-deflecting elements succeeding one another in the circumferential direction with respect to a center axis (S) of flow and pitched with respect to the main direction of flow of exhaust gas (see Hofler paragraph 8: curved blades).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kondo USPA 2008/0185218 A1 in view of Jung USPA 2018/0159159.
Kondo is relied upon as above.
Regarding claim 14, Kondo does not disclose a hydrogen sensor for making information available about the hydrogen content in the fuel-cell exhaust gas has been provided in the downstream line section of the fuel-cell exhaust line. Jung discloses the use of a hydrogen concentration sensor in the exhaust line along with a muffler (see Jung paragraph 76). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kondo to include a hydrogen sensor for making information available about the hydrogen content in the fuel-cell exhaust gas, as disclosed by Jung, for the purpose of allowing the hydrogen content to be monitored. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to located such a sensor downstream from the muffler, for the purpose of allowing the hydrogen concentration to be measured in the gas being exhausted.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kondo USPA 2008/0185218 A1 in view of Oglesby USPA 2007/0048572 A1.
Kondo is relied upon as above.
Regarding claim 15, Kondo does not disclose that at least one of the following applies: (i) a gas-stream-regulating valve has been arranged in the upstream line section; and, (ii) a condenser unit has been arranged in the upstream line section of the fuel-cell exhaust line. Oglesby discloses that is is conventional to have a condenser unit arranged in the upstream line section of the fuel-cell exhaust line (see Oglesby paragraphs 3 and 4). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify Kondo to include a condenser unit in the upstream line section of the fuel-cell exhaust line, as taught by Oglesby, for the purpose of condensing water prior to passing into the muffler, so that the water would drain straight to the water collection chamber.
Conclusion
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/CHRISTOPHER P JONES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776