DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/20/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues that the prior art does not teach the electrically insulating seal in the newly added limitations of claim 1. The applicant argues that Overweg only teaches opaque layers that allow infrared radiation to pass but does not satisfy the newly added limitations of electrical insulation.
This argument is not persuasive because Overweg discloses in column 2, line 29 that “In a preferred embodiment of the radiation screen (a) electrically non-conducting opaque layer(s) (is) are arranged in between or covering the overlapping elongate thermal conductors. The layers may have some thermal conductivity, but the layers' electrical conduction properties suppress electrical eddy currents. The opaque layers are opaque, i.e. non-transparent in the infrared wavelength range.” This clearly discloses that the opaque layer 103 and 104 are electrically insulating.
Overweg also discloses in column 2, line 56 that “Because the thermally conductive fibres are electrically insulated from each other, eddy currents are effectively suppressed.” This teaches that opaque layers are inherently electrically insulating in order to keep the elongate strips to also be electrically insulated, since the opaque layers and the elongate conductors are contacting each other.
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, 7-8, and 12-13 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.
In re claims 1 and 8, it appears that the insulating seal and the insulating sheet are referring to the same structure with two different names. This lacks clarity as to what specific structure is being claimed. Appropriate correction is required. These two structures are interpreted as the same structure.
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, 7-8, and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AAPA (conventional device discussed in paragraphs 3-4 of the disclosure) in view of Overweg (US 10794973) and Huang et al. (US 8903465).
In re claim 1, paragraphs 3-4 (AAPA) disclose a superconducting electromagnet device comprising: a superconducting coil for generating a magnetic field; a cooling mechanism for cooling the superconducting coil; a radiation shield housing the superconducting coil thereinside to prevent heat intrusion from the outside; and a vacuum vessel for vacuum insulation which houses the radiation shield. AAPA does not disclose the claimed details of the circumferential and axial cooling units, or the cooling units being adhered directly to the coil, or the insulating seal. Overweg however, in figures 1-4, discloses a cooling mechanism having a circumferential cooling unit having a plurality of strip-shaped circumferential cooling sheets (one of 101 or 201; see figure 2 for best detail) arrayed each with an interval along a circumferential direction of the superconducting coil; and an axial cooling unit having a plurality of strip-shaped axial cooling sheets (another one of 101 or 201; see figure 2 for best detail) arrayed each with an interval along an axial direction of the superconducting coil; and wherein an insulating seal (103) is disposed between a strip-shaped circumferential cooling sheet and a strip-shaped axial cooling sheet such that the strip-shaped circumferential cooling sheet and the strip-shaped axial cooling sheet are electrically insulated by the insulating seal (see column 2, line 29 discussion). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have adapted strip shaped structure of the cooling unit, including an insulating seal, as taught by Overweg to the device of AAPA in order to provide cooling while improving eddy current resistance (as discussed by Overweg throughout the disclosure, including the abstract). Huang teaches a similar device having a cooling unit (22) that can be made of strip shaped cooling sheets and is directly adhered to the coil (with epoxy, see column 5, lines 6-7). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have adhered one of the cooling units of AAPA/Overweg directly to the superconducting coil as taught by Huang to provide a more secure connection between the cooling units and the superconducting coil.
In re claim 7, AAPA modified by Overweg discloses that the circumferential cooling unit is disposed at a position nearer to the superconducting coil than the axial cooling unit (any configuration of the cooling unit positioning would have been an obvious matter of design choice).
In re claim 8, AAPA modified by Overweg discloses that an insulating sheet (103 in Overweg) is disposed between the circumferential cooling sheet and the axial cooling sheet.
In re claim 12, Overweg discloses that the insulating seal is a tape. (A tape is interpreted as a piece of material that has one dimension that is thin and that is capable of being flexed or rolled into a roll. The insulating seal structure of Overweg is thin and rolled in a tube shape and thus meets the broadest reasonable interpretation of a tape.)
In re claim 13, Overweg discloses that seal is disposed between strip-shaped axial cooling sheets (when the layers shown in figure 2 are combined).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Alexander Talpalatski whose telephone number is (571)270-3908. The examiner can normally be reached 10 AM - 6 PM PT.
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/Alexander Talpalatski/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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