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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 9/3/25 has been entered.
Claim Status
Claims 1-20 are pending. Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s amendments to claims 1 and 9.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 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.
Claim Objections
Claims 15-20 are objected to because of the following informalities: Line 1 – replace “connection ring” after “pipe” with --coupling--.
Correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kottusch U.S. Patent No. 1,323,192.
With regard to claim 1, Kottusch discloses a pipe connection ring for a pipe coupling, the pipe connection ring comprising:
a ring body (at 5) defining a first circumferential end and a second circumferential end (ends next to 10 -see Fig 1) opposite the first circumferential end, the ring body having a flat outer surface (as shown in Fig 1);
a first stepped portion (at 9) extending from the first circumferential end of the ring body; and
a second stepped portion (at 9) extending from the second circumferential end of the ring body, the second stepped portion contacting and overlapping the first stepped portion when the pipe connection ring is in an uncompressed configuration within a pipe coupling (page 1, lines 98-101);
wherein the second stepped portion is unconnected to the first stepped portion and is configured to slide relative to the first stepped portion as the pipe connection ring is compressed during tightening of a pipe coupling within which the pipe connection ring is placed (page 1, lines 101-104).
Note: the pipe coupling is not a part of the claimed invention.
With regard to claim 2, Kottusch discloses wherein the each of the first stepped portion (at 9) and the second stepped portion (at 9) define a thickness that is less than a thickness of the ring body (page 1, lines 62-64 and as shown in Fig 1).
With regard to claim 3, Kottusch discloses wherein the first stepped portion (at 9) and the second stepped portion (at 9) nest inside one another (as shown in Fig 3).
With regard to claim 4, Kottusch discloses wherein:
the ring body defines a first shoulder (at 10) at the first circumferential end;
the ring body defines a second shoulder (at 10) at the second circumferential end;
a distal end of the first stepped portion (at 9) contacts the second shoulder when the pipe connection ring is sufficiently compressed (as shown in Fig 3); and
a distal end of the second stepped portion (at 9) contacts the first shoulder when the pipe connection ring is sufficiently compressed (as shown in Fig 3).
With regard to claim 5, Kottusch discloses wherein, in the uncompressed configuration, a first angular opening is defined between the distal end of the first stepped portion and the second shoulder and a second angular opening is defined between the distal end of the second stepped portion and the first shoulder (as shown below).
PNG
media_image1.png
272
452
media_image1.png
Greyscale
With regard to claim 6, Kottusch discloses wherein:
the first stepped portion (at 9) defines a first slip surface (as shown above) and the second stepped portion (at 9) defines a second slip surface (as shown above);
the first stepped portion slides along the second slip surface as the pipe connection ring is compressed (as shown from Fig 1 to Fig 3); and
the second stepped portion slides along the first slip surface as the pipe connection ring is compressed (as shown from Fig 1 to Fig 3).
With regard to claim 7, Kottusch discloses wherein an axial ring thickness of the pipe connection ring measured at the first stepped portion and the second stepped portion is about equal to the axial ring thickness of the pipe connection ring measured at the ring body (page 1, lines 65-68 and as shown in Fig 3).
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) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kottusch.
With regard to claim 8, Kottusch discloses the claimed invention but do not disclose that an axial ring thickness of the pipe connection ring measured at the first stepped portion and the second stepped portion is less than the axial ring thickness of the pipe connection ring measured at the ring body.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have an axial ring thickness of the pipe connection ring measured at the first stepped portion and the second stepped portion be less than the axial ring thickness of the pipe connection ring measured at the ring body with a reasonable expectation of success since a change in the size of a prior art device is a design consideration within the skill of the art (In re Rose, 220 F.2d 459, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955)) and because the thicknesses of the elements may be optimized to the desired operational parameters through the use of routine experimentation.
Claim(s) 9-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bowman U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0176728 A1 in view of Kottusch.
With regard to claim 9, and as shown in Figure 1A, Bowman discloses a pipe coupling comprising:
a coupling segment (at 12) having an inner surface defining a ring groove (at 26) oriented proximate to an axial end of the coupling segment; and
a pipe connection ring (at 48) disposed within the ring groove.
However, Bowman does not disclose the pipe connection ring defining a ring body with a first circumferential end and a second circumferential end, a first stepped portion extending from the first circumferential end of the ring body, and a second stepped portion extending from the second circumferential end of the ring body, the pipe connection ring further defined by at least one flat axial end surface; and wherein the second stepped portion contacts and overlaps the first stepped portion in an uncompressed configuration.
Kottusch teaches, as shown in Figs 1 and 3, a pipe connection ring (at 5) defining a ring body with a first circumferential end and a second circumferential end (ends next to 10 -see Fig 1), a first stepped portion (at 9) extending from the first circumferential end of the ring body, and a second stepped portion (at 9) extending from the second circumferential end of the ring body, the pipe connection ring further defined by at least one flat axial end surface (as shown in Fig 1); and wherein the second stepped portion contacts and overlaps the first stepped portion in an uncompressed configuration (page 1, lines 98-101) which provides uniform elasticity and resiliency to insure a perfect seal and to provide a ring that is less expensive to manufacture and is highly effective in use (page 1, lines 13-18 and 24-27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have substituted the pipe connection ring of Bowman with the pipe connection ring of Kottusch with a reasonable expectation of success as the ring of Kottusch provides uniform elasticity and resiliency to insure a perfect seal, is less expensive to manufacture and is highly effective in use and to achieve the predictable result of providing a secure connection.
With regard to claim 10, Bowman in view of Kottusch disclose wherein the second stepped portion is unconnected to the first stepped portion and is configured to slide relative to the first stepped portion as the pipe connection ring is compressed to a compressed configuration (page 1, lines 101-104 of Kottusch).
With regard to claim 11, and as shown in Figure 1A, Bowman in view of Kottusch disclose wherein:
the ring groove (at 26) comprises a groove bottom surface (at 34) extending from a first end of the coupling segment to a second end of the coupling segment; and
an outer surface of the pipe connection ring contacts the groove bottom surface between the first end of the coupling segment and the second end of the coupling segment when the pipe connection ring is in the uncompressed configuration (paragraph 41, lines 5-9 and 17-21 of Bowman).
With regard to claim 12, Bowman in view of Kottusch disclose wherein the groove bottom surface includes a flat portion, and wherein a gap is defined between the outer surface of the pipe connection ring and the flat portion (note while Fig 1A of Bowman does not specifically show this feature, Fig 5A shows that the groove bottom surface can have a flat portion and a gap is defined between the outer surface of the pipe connection ring and the flat portion).
With regard to claim 13, Bowman in view of Kottusch disclose wherein the gap is defined at either the first end of the coupling segment or the second end of the coupling segment when the pipe connection ring is in the uncompressed configuration (as shown in Fig 5A of Bowman).
With regard to claim 14, Bowman in view of Kottusch disclose wherein:
the pipe coupling is configurable in a tightened position and an untightened position (wherein the pipe coupling of Bowman is configured to be in an untightened position and then a tightened position);
the pipe connection ring is in the uncompressed configuration when the pipe coupling is in the untightened position; and
the pipe connection ring is in the compressed configuration when the pipe coupling is in the tightened position; and
an inner diameter of the pipe connection ring is smaller in the compressed configuration than the inner diameter of the pipe connection ring in the uncompressed configuration (as shown in Kottusch where the inner diameter of the pipe connection ring in the compressed configuration as shown in Fig 3 is smaller than the inner diameter in the uncompressed configuration as shown in Fig 1).
With regard to claim 15, Bowman in view of Kottusch disclose wherein the each of the first stepped portion and the second stepped portion define a thickness that is less than a thickness of the ring body (page 1, lines 62-64 and as shown in Fig 1 of Kottusch).
With regard to claim 16, Bowman in view of Kottusch disclose wherein the first stepped portion and the second stepped portion nest inside one another (as shown in Fig 3 of Kottusch).
With regard to claim 17, and as shown in Fig 1 of Kottusch, Bowman in view of Kottusch disclose wherein:
the ring body defines a first shoulder (at 10) at the first circumferential end;
the ring body defines a second shoulder (at 10) at the second circumferential end;
a distal end of the first stepped portion (at 9) contacts the second shoulder when the pipe connection ring is sufficiently compressed in the compressed configuration (as shown in Fig 3 of Kottusch); and
a distal end of the second stepped portion (at 9) contacts the first shoulder when the pipe connection ring is sufficiently compressed in the compressed configuration (as shown in Fig 3 of Kottusch).
With regard to claim 18, Bowman in view of Kottusch disclose wherein, in the uncompressed configuration, a first angular opening is defined between the distal end of the first stepped portion and the second shoulder and a second angular opening is defined between the distal end of the second stepped portion and the first shoulder (as shown below).
With regard to claim 19, and as shown in Fig 1 of Kottusch, Bowman in view of Kottusch disclose wherein:
the first stepped portion (at 9) defines a first slip surface (as shown above) and the second stepped portion (at 9) defines a second slip surface (as shown above);
the first stepped portion slides along the second slip surface as the pipe connection ring is compressed (as shown from Fig 1 to Fig 3); and
the second stepped portion slides along the first slip surface as the pipe connection ring is compressed (as shown from Fig 1 to Fig 3).
With regard to claim 20, Bowman in view of Kottusch disclose wherein an axial ring thickness of the pipe connection ring measured at the first stepped portion and the second stepped portion is about equal to or less than the axial ring thickness of the pipe connection ring measured at the ring body (page 1, lines 65-68 and as shown in Fig 3).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon examples of connections rings with a ring body and first and second stepped portions.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FANNIE KEE whose telephone number is (571)272-1820. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew Troutman can be reached at 571-270-3654. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/F.K./Examiner, Art Unit 3679
/Matthew Troutman/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3679