FIRST NON-FINAL REJECTION
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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshimoto et al. An Investigation into the frequency dependence upon the fatigue crack growth rate conducted by a novel fatigue testing method with in-situ hydrogen-charging May 2017 in view of Al-Janabi U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0307968.
With respect to claim 1, Yoshimoto teaches a testing method having a four-point bending fatigue test system with internal circulation of hydrogen charging solution by a pump through a hole in a pipe specimen (2.1 Testing method, figure 1, page 2), and the pipe specimen is investigated by the four-point bending fatigue while the hydrogen charging solution is pumped through (2.3 Fatigue crack growth test, page 3).
Yoshimoto fails to teach an anode material capable of being accommodated in the through-hole provided inside the test specimen, in a state of being separated from an inner peripheral surface of the through-hole; and a direct-current power source that applies a minus voltage to the test specimen, and a plus voltage to the anode material.
Al-Janabi teaches a system for performing electrochemical and hydrogen permeation measurements using a test specimen subject to different forms of tensile stress (paragraph 11) wherein the system comprises two housings 1, 2, that are disposed adjacent to each other, the first cell housing 1 comprises the charging cell and includes a reservoir filled with a process fluid 12 while the second cell housing, which comprises the permeation cell and includes a reservoir filled with a basic solution 13 (paragraph 18). A test specimen 3 is positioned between the first cell housing 1 and the second cell housing 2 and is exposed to the fluids within the first and second cells via openings 4, 5 (paragraph 19, figure) and the charging cell (first cell housing) is adapted to receive an external reference electrode 14 and a counter electrode 16 (paragraph 22). The charging cell 1, the charging reference electrode 14, counter electrode 16 and test specimen 3 are connected by electrical conductors for transmission of a signal to an electronic corrosion measurement device, and in operation the potentiostat sequentially applies different voltage potentials to the counter electrode 16 to achieve several desired potentials at the working electrode, test specimen 3 (paragraph 28).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the testing method and system of Yoshimoto and provide an electrode that is capable of being accommodated within the test specimen and where the electrode and the test specimen are connected to a power source of as taught by Al-Janabi in order to provide a corrosive environment for improving the applicability of the test cell data (paragraph 29).
With respect to claim 4, Yoshimoto teaches at least one of vibration applying means that applies vibration to the test specimen (vibration applying means is interpreted as the crack growth test where the four-point bending fatigue is applied to the specimen at varying frequencies, 2.3 Fatigue crack growth test, page 3), or pulsation applying means that pulsates the electrolytic solution flowing in the through-hole (alternative language means only one of the limitations is required).
Claim(s) 5 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshimoto et al. An Investigation into the frequency dependence upon the fatigue crack growth rate conducted by a novel fatigue testing method with in-situ hydrogen-charging, May 2017 in view of Takahiro JP 2009250679.
With respect to claims 5 and 7, Yoshimoto teaches a testing method having a four-point bending fatigue test system with internal circulation of hydrogen charging solution by a pump through a hole in a pipe specimen (2.1 Testing method, figure 1, page 2), and the pipe specimen is investigated by the four-point bending fatigue while the hydrogen charging solution is pumped through (2.3 Fatigue crack growth test, page 3).
Yoshimoto fails to teach wherein a pair of tubular shaft members coaxially disposed to face each other to rotate a test specimen in a state of respectively gripping end portions of the test specimen; driving means that rotates the test specimen in a state where a bending moment is applied by the bending means.
Takahiro teaches a rotary bending test machine that is arranged so as to be rotatable coaxially and bent with each other, and a test body (TP) is supported by first and second shaft members 4 and 5 at both ends via a gripping tools 6 and 7, a bending means for applying a moment; a rotating means for rotating the specimen under a bending moment applied by the bending means; and a twisting means for applying a torsional force to the specimen against the rotational force of the rotating means (page 2, translation).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the testing method and system of Yoshimoto and modify the testing machine to apply a rotation and bending test to a specimen as taught by Takahiro (thereby the circulation path communicating through a rotary joint) in order provide a system where a bending moment can be repeatedly applied to the test body TP as the test body TP rotates, and a torsional force can be applied in a complex manner, and the bending can be accurately performed according to the actual use situation of the rotating shaft (page 3, translation).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 6, and 8 are 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
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FREDDIE KIRKLAND III
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2855
/Freddie Kirkland III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855 2/20/2026