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 .
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) 16, 17 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kleyn (US 5398839) in view of Takaoka et al. (US 2016/0069309) (Takaoka).
Kleyn discloses a motor vehicle tank as shown in Fig. 2, comprising: a main tank (shown as the portion to the right of line A marked “MAIN” in annotated Fig. 2, line A aligns with a partition 34) without a filler connection and including a main flow line (outlet neck 22) to facilitate extraction of fuel from the main tank, and a plurality of baffles (there are two baffles 34 and baffles 32) to divide the main tank into a plurality of chambers, each baffle having a plurality of openings (38); an auxiliary tank reservoir (shown as the portion to the left of line A marked “AUX” in annotated Fig. 2) connected at a side of the main tank to collect fuel for indirect filing of the main tank, the auxiliary tank reservoir including a filler connection (filler neck 20) to facilitate direct filling of the auxiliary tank, a partition wall (partition 34 aligned with line A) extending from a bottom of the motor vehicle tank to a top of the motor vehicle tank, the partition wall having an opening (38) to facilitate an overflow of fuel between the auxiliary tank and the main tank in a manner that facilitates the indirect filling of the main tank.
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Kleyn fails to disclose an auxiliary flow line, the connection of the auxiliary flow line to the main flow line to lead into a common flow line and an auxiliary return line. Takaoka teaches a flow and return fuel system with an auxiliary extraction unit (auxiliary flow line 671 for the first auxiliary tank 61) having an auxiliary flow line (671) to facilitate extraction of fuel from the auxiliary tank reservoir (61), and an auxiliary return line (auxiliary return line 681) to facilitate return of the extracted fuel to the auxiliary tank (61), wherein the main flow line (main flow line 672 extending from main tank 62) and the auxiliary flow line (671) are fluidically connected outside outer delimiting walls of the motor vehicle tank (at junction 65) to lead into a common flow line (common flow line 670 which supplies the engine). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to add the flow and return fuel system and lines of Takaoka to provide proper fuel management among the engine and the main fuel tank and the auxiliary reservoir to provide consistent and reliable fuel management.
Re claim 17, the junction 65 of Takaoka represents a tee or valve or some other type of mechanical connection of the flow lines.
Re claim 20, claim 20 additionally requires that the partition wall opening is located at an upper partition wall region. Figure 2 of Kleyn discloses the opening at a lower region rather than an upper region. Openings 38 are provided at upper regions for the baffles 32, 34 and this provides a teaching that openings may be provided at an upper region. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to add an opening 38 at an upper region of the partition wall to increase the rate of flow of fuel to properly manage fuel level between the main tank and the auxiliary reservoir to provide consistent and reliable fuel management.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5, 7, 10 and 15 are allowed.
REASONS FOR ALLOWANCE
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim 1 includes the designation that the auxiliary tank reservoir is unitary (see claim 1, line 6). Additionally, the auxiliary reservoir is weld connected to a side of the main tank and the partition wall of the auxiliary reservoir must have a weld connection to the main tank. Among the prior art are side-to-side connected and sealed main tank to auxiliary reservoir fuel tanks. Kleyn (US 5698839) and Ohlsson et al. (US 2008/0035649) are representative of two such fuel tanks with main tank with connected and sealed auxiliary reservoir. However, Kleyn, Ohlsson et al. and all the other found prior art fail to provide a weld connection at the partition wall which connects and seals the main tank to the auxiliary reservoir as claimed in claim 1, lines 6-7 and 9-12. A weld connection is structurally different than a formed sheet material or a molded construction as the weld connection may be stronger or weaker as this depends on materials, weld type, preparation before welding as well as the welder’s technique and skill. Also, the weld placement is at the partition wall because the partition wall of the auxiliary reservoir is being connected to the main tank by the weld.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejections of the claims have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN J CASTELLANO whose telephone number is (571)272-4535. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday.
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sjc/STEPHEN J CASTELLANO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3733
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