Detailed Correspondence
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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicants’ amendment of the claim, filed on 07/21/2026, in response to the rejection of claims 1, 4-7, and 10-13 from the non-final office action (05/06/2026), by amending claims 1, 4-5, 10-12, 14, and 17-18 and cancelling claim 13 is entered and will be addressed below.
The examiner notices Applicants fails to underline the “at least four” at the 2nd last line of page 2.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 14 and 17-18 remain withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Interpretation
The “at least four porous walls having a first porosity and a first uniform thickness“ of claim 1 is considered as comprising a first uniform thickness, it does not requires the whole walls exclusively have the same thickness.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 4-7, and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Crutchfield (US 11932941, hereafter ‘941), in view of MIYATANI (JP 2014221696, hereafter ‘696), Malshe et al. (US 20060199013, hereafter ‘013), Thebault et al. (US 5217755, hereafter ‘755), and Ritchey (US 20210101841, hereafter ‘841). (US 6237596 is evidenced for flow rate through porous material). (US 6206531 is evidenced for a PPI value of reticulated vitreous carbon).
‘941 teaches some limitations of:
Claim 1: FIG. 1 illustrates an example furnace 10 having a furnace working zone 12. Furnace may be a CVI/CVD furnace (col. 6, lines 32-33), preheater 16 may be part of a larger load assembly or retort for processing parts disposed within furnace working zone 12 (col. 6, lines 58-60), Load assembly 60 also includes a plurality of fixtures 68 configured to be positioned within spaces 66 and 76. Each fixture of plurality of fixtures 68 may be configured to contain a part or parts 88 to be treated by reactive gases flowing through load assembly 60 (Figs. 6-7, col. 12, lines 3-7), load assembly 60 may include any suitable number of levels (e.g., spaces 66, 76) (col. 11, lines 56-57), Preheater 16 may use energy from furnace working zone 12 and/or plurality of heating elements 14 to heat reactant gases flowing through preheater 16. In some examples, reactant gases enter preheater 16 through central inlet 18 directly from raw material storage at or near room temperature and exit plurality of apertures 110 in outlet diffuser plate 108 (col. 10, lines 43-49, including the claimed “An arrangement of tooling assemblies within a CVI reactor having a plurality of levels sequentially disposed between an inlet and an outlet of the reactor, the arrangement comprising: a first plurality of tooling assemblies disposed in a first level of the reactor closest to the inlet” Fig. 6 shows each level has about 10 fixtures 68),
each fixture of plurality of fixtures 68 may include a plurality of perforations 84 configured to allow gas to flow from outside of each fixture to inside of each fixture. Perforations 84 may be positioned uniformly throughout fixtures 68, or may be positioned at selected locations of fixtures 68 to guide reactant gases to part or parts 88 positioned within fixtures 68 (col. 12, lines 57-64, Fig. 7 shows at least two perforations 84 surrounding each part 88), Each fixture of plurality of fixtures 68 may include multiple sections, which are configured to be clamped by at least one clamp 82. At least one clamp 82 is configured to retain the multiple sections of the fixture with respect to each other, and to retain the multiple sections of the fixture surrounding part or parts 88 (col. 12, lines 19-24, including the claimed “each of the first plurality of tooling assemblies comprising: at least two porous walls having a first porosity and a first uniform thickness; and at least one connector securing the at least two porous walls together;
and a second plurality of tooling assemblies disposed in a second level of the reactor farther from the inlet than the first level, each of the second plurality of tooling assemblies comprising: at least two porous walls having a second porosity and a second uniform thickness; and at least one connector securing the plurality of porous walls together”),
load assembly 60 may include any suitable number of levels (e.g., spaces 66, 76) (col. 11, lines 56-57, Fig. 6 shows four levels, including the claimed “a third plurality of tooling assemblies disposed in a third level between the first level and the second level, each of the third plurality of tooling assemblies comprising: at least two porous walls having at third porosity and at third uniform thickness; and at least one connector securing the plurality of porous walls together“).
‘941 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 1: (1A) at least four porous walls having a first porosity and a first uniform thickness; and
at least four connectors securing the at least four porous walls together collectively forming a rectangular prism, the at least four connectors disposed at corners of the rectangular prism and each comprising at least two slots for receiving two adjacent walls of the at least four porous walls; and
at least four porous walls having a second porosity and a second uniform thickness; and
at least four connectors securing the at least four porous walls together collectively forming a rectangular prism, the at least four connectors disposed at corners of the rectangular prism and each comprising at least two slots for receiving two adjacent walls of the at least four porous walls; and
at least four ([missing underline]) porous walls having a third porosity and a third uniform thickness; and
at least four connectors securing the at least four porous walls together collectively forming a rectangular prism, the at least four connectors disposed at corners of the rectangular prism and each comprising at least two slots for receiving two adjacent walls of the at least four porous walls;
(1B) wherein the second porosity is greater than the first porosity and the third porosity is greater than the first porosity and less than the second porosity; and
(1C) wherein the second thickness is less than the first thickness and the third thickness is less than the first thickness and greater than the second thickness.
‘696 is analogous art in the field of CVI (Chemical Vapor Impregnation) process (P2, 2nd paragraph). ’696 teaches that The bottom member 10, the side wall members 20, 30, the corner members 40, 50, and the auxiliary member 60 are formed of a carbon fiber reinforced carbon composite material (C / C composite). Further, the CVI (Chemical Vapor Impregnation) process is performed on the surfaces of the bottom member 10, the side wall members 20 and 30, the corner members 40 and 50, and the auxiliary member 60. As a result, the pores of the bottom member 10, the side wall members 20 and 30, the corner members 40 and 50, and the auxiliary member 60 are filled with a carbon material (matrix) such as silicon carbide (P2, 2nd paragraph, see all figures).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have replaced the two perforations 84 and two clamps 82 of the each fixtures 68 with four wall members 20, 30 and four corner members 40, 50 of ‘676, (the limitation of 1A), for its suitability to perform CVI with predictable results. The selection of something based on its known suitability for its intended use has been held to support a prima facie case of obviousness. MPEP 2144.07.
Note in instant application, CVI is also depositing vapor on the walls 32 to a small extent. Likewise in ‘941, vapor also deposited on perforations 84 to some extent.
‘013 is analogous art in the field of chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) ([0110]). ’013 teaches that A low flow velocity can cause depletion of precursors downstream, and a high velocity can prevent adequate coating formation leading to significant thickness non-uniformity ([0246], 4th sentence).
‘755 is analogous art in the field of Chemical Vapor Infiltration Method Utilizing Substantially Diffusive Conditions (title). ’755 teaches that In the example of FIG. 2, the porous substrates are inside a rigid cylindrical envelope constituting a bell 50 standing on a tray 52, both being made of graphite, for example. The bell 50 constitutes a permeable wall because of holes 54 formed through its side wall 50a, and through its top wall 50b … By having no holes in the tray 52 facing the incoming gas flow, and by forming holes solely in the side wall 50a parallel to the direction of incidence of the gas flow, and also in the top wall 50b, the already greatly attenuated impact effect that the gas flow may have on the porous substrate(s) 12 is further reduced, thereby further reducing any possible deposition thickness gradient (col. 4, lines 13-29). It is possible to make a permeable wall that has a permeability gradient, with its permeability increasing in the gas flow direction. In the example of FIG. 2, this may be achieved by increasing the number and/or the diameter of the holes 54 on going from the tray 52 to the top wall 50b, which may itself be omitted (col. 4, lines 30-35, i.e. increasing porosity in the gas flow direction), In the example of FIG. 1, the permeable wall is a cloth envelope 40 which is closed like a bag, surrounding the porous substrate(s) 12 and held apart therefrom (col. 3, lines 57-59, Fig. 2 also shows that the porous substrates 12 is apart from the porous bell 50).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have known that the precursor depletion downstream from the inlet 18 in ‘941, as taught by ‘013, and to have applied an increasing the number and/or the diameter of the holes, or the porosity, to attenuate the impact of the precursor depletion downstream (the limitation of 1B), as taught by ‘755, for the purpose of reducing deposition thickness gradient, as taught by ‘755 (col. 4, lines 28-29).
‘841 is analogous art in the field of ASSEMBLY FOR CHEMICAL VAPOR INFILTRATION OF A FIBER PREFORM (title). ’841 teaches that the thickness of the sacrificial preform 108 may be selected to correspond to diffusion depths associated with the formation and deposition of excess coating material 114 in conventional CVI ([0013], 2nd sentence).
US 6237596 is evidenced for Darcy’s law (col. 3, equation (2), the flux of gas is inverse proportional to the distance between samplings, which is thickness of the porous material).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have known that the precursor depletion downstream from the inlet 18 in ‘941, as taught by ‘013, and to have applied an increasing a decreasing thickness to increase the flow rate through the porous material to attenuate the impact of the precursor depletion downstream (the limitation of 1C), as taught by ‘841, for the purpose of selecting thickness to correspond to diffusion flow, as taught by ‘841 ([0013], 2nd sentence).
The combination of ‘941, ‘696, ‘013, ‘755, and ‘841 further teaches the limitations of:
Claim 11: the permeable wall may be made of carbon (carbon felt or cloth) or of graphite (a rigid perforated graphite envelope) (‘755, col. 2, lines 39-41, includes the claimed “wherein the at least four porous walls of each of the first, second, and third plurality of tooling assemblies are formed from graphite”, note ‘696 teaches carbon fiber reinforced carbon composite material).
Claim 12: load assembly 60 may be formed from graphite (‘941, col. 13, lines 27-28, as clamp 82 is part of the load assembly, it would be obvious to have adopted graphite clamp, includes the claimed “wherein the at least four connectors of at least one of the first, second, and third plurality of tooling assemblies is formed from graphite”, note ‘696 teaches carbon fiber reinforced carbon composite material).
Claim 4: Referring now to FIG. 1A, the assembly 100 comprises a tool 102 having through-holes 104 for passage of gaseous reactants during CVI. The fiber preform 106 is constrained within the tool 102 for deposition of reaction products from the gaseous reactants, and a sacrificial preform 108 is disposed between the fiber preform 106 and the tool 102. The sacrificial preform 108 is gas permeable to allow for diffusion of the gaseous reactants into the fiber preform 106 ([0012]), the sacrificial preform 108 may comprise carbon fibers (e.g., a carbon fiber fabric or carbon fiber mat), … and/or a carbon foam (e.g., reticulated vitreous carbon foam). To facilitate ease of use and assembly, the sacrificial preform 108 is preferably flexible and/or deformable (‘841, [0014], last two sentences, obvious to replacing the graphite permeable wall of ‘755 with reticulated vitreous carbon of ‘841, for the purpose of flexibility, includes the claimed “wherein the at least four porous walls of each of the first, second, and third plurality of tooling assemblies are formed from reticulated vitreous carbon”).
Claim 5: each of the perforations 84 at each level intrinsically having a pores-per-inch (PPI) value (includes the claimed “the at least four porous walls of the first tooling assembly have a first pores-per-inch value; the at least four porous walls of the second tooling assembly have a second pores-per-inch value; and the at least four porous walls of the third tooling assembly have a third pores-per-inch value”).
Claim 6: It is possible to make a permeable wall that has a permeability gradient, with its permeability increasing in the gas flow direction. In the example of FIG. 2, this may be achieved by increasing the number and/or the diameter of the holes 54 on going from the tray 52 to the top wall 50b, which may itself be omitted (‘755, col. 4, lines 30-35, when applied to multi levels of tools/fixtures 68 of ‘941, would have the claimed “ wherein the first pores-per-inch value is different from the second pores-per-inch value, and wherein the second pores-per-inch value is different from the third pores-per-inch value”).
Claim 7: as ‘755 teaches PPI is an effect parameter, it is obvious to optimize the PPI value to achieve desired permeability gradient (including the claimed “wherein each of the first, second, and third pores-per-inch values ranges from 5 to 100”, note US 6206531 is evidenced that reticulated vitreous carbon having about 80 pores per inch, … Preferred pores per inch values for this material are from about 45 to 100, col. 4, lines 48-55, see also col. 6, lines 8-9).
Claim 10: ‘841 teaches the thickness is an effect parameter, the selection of thickness of the perforations 84 is optimized by permeability as well as porosity at each level, including the claimed “wherein each of the first, second, and third uniform thicknesses range from 0.0625 inches to 0.25 inches”.
Alternatively, claims 1, 4-7, and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘941, in view of Arnold et al. (US 5489074, hereafter ‘074), ‘013, ‘755, and ‘841. (US 6237596 is evidenced for flow rate through porous material). (US 6206531 is evidenced for a PPI value of reticulated vitreous carbon).
‘941 teaches some limitations of claim 1 and does not teach the other limitations of claim 1 as discussed above.
‘074 is analogous art in the field of The fairing elements 20 are made of a material that is capable of withstanding high operating temperatures, typically of the order of 800.degree. C. to 1500.degree. C. for a space plane. This material may be a ceramic matrix composite material (CMC) such as a material constituted by a carbon fiber reinforcing fabric densified by a matrix of silicon carbide. Techniques for fabricating CMCs are well known. In particular, the fiber reinforcement may be made so as to constitute a preform by draping plies of two-dimensional or multilayer fabric on tooling in order to give the reinforcement the open box shape 20. The preform may be densified by means of the ceramic matrix by chemical vapor infiltration and/or by impregnation using a liquid precursor for the matrix and transforming the precursor into ceramic by heat treatment (Figs. 1-2, col. 4, lines 10-24, note a matrix of silicon carbide is porous). ’074 teaches that The fairing element 320 is in the form of a box with a substantially square outside face 322 and with flanks 324 whose ends slope inwards. The flanks 324 are connected to one another at the corners of the box 320 by plane surfaces forming facets 328 that slope towards the inside of the box at an angle of a few degrees (about 10.degree.) relative to the face 322 (Fig. 9, col. 7, line 65 to col. 8, line 4), It is also possible to make the insulator in the form of a rigid block of porous ceramic, e.g. a block of a ceramic of the alumino-silicate type, optionally reinforced with short fibers. Under such circumstances, the insulating block may be used as tooling on which the preform of the composite fairing element is made (col. 4, lines 44-49), A support structure for a very high temperature reactor is also known from patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,261, which structure comprises link members between the graphite wall of the reactor and a lateral heat shield situated outside the reactor (col. 1, lines 60-63).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have replaced the two perforations 84 and two clamps 82 of the each fixtures 68 with fairing element 320 is in the form of a box with four flanks 324 and four facets/connectors 328 of ‘074, (the limitation of 1A), for its suitability to perform CVI with predictable results. The selection of something based on its known suitability for its intended use has been held to support a prima facie case of obviousness. MPEP 2144.07.
‘013 and ‘755 are analogous arts as discussed above.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have known that the precursor depletion downstream from the inlet 18 in ‘941, as taught by ‘013, and to have applied an increasing the number and/or the diameter of the holes, or the porosity, to attenuate the impact of the precursor depletion downstream (the limitation of 1B), as taught by ‘755, for the purpose of reducing deposition thickness gradient, as taught by ‘755 (col. 4, lines 28-29).
‘841 is analogous art as discussed above.
US 6237596 is evidenced for Darcy’s law (col. 3, equation (2), the flux of gas is inverse proportional to the distance between samplings, which is thickness of the porous material).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have known that the precursor depletion downstream from the inlet 18 in ‘941, as taught by ‘013, and to have applied an increasing a decreasing thickness to increase the flow rate through the porous material to attenuate the impact of the precursor depletion downstream (the limitation of 1C), as taught by ‘841, for the purpose of selecting thickness to correspond to diffusion flow, as taught by ‘841 ([0013], 2nd sentence).
Claims 4-6 and 10-12 rejections are discussed above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/21/2026 have been fully considered but they are not convincing in light of the new ground of rejection above.
In regarding to USC 112(a) rejection, see the lower portion of page 7, Applicants’ amendment overcomes the rejection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Note US 20030049374 is cited for substrate SB spaced apart from the porous walls 64, 66 (Fig. 2).
US 4201691 is cited for “As the flow rate through each perforation is inversely proportional to the thickness of the flow distribution means in communication with it, the thicker the flow distribution means the slower the dispersion flow from that perforation and so on” (col. 6, lines 16-20), including filtering gas in porous material (col. 10, lines 40-48).
US 20050205015 is cited for “the gas injection holes to the gas flow may be smaller in the upstream of the gas flow in the shower plate and the conductance of the gas injection holes to the gas flow may be larger in the downstream of the gas flow in the shower plate” (Fig. 1, [0100]).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEATH T CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1870. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am-5:00 pm.
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/KEATH T CHEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716
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