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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/16/2023 has been considered by the examiner.
Drawings Objections
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference characters “34” and “35” have both been used to designate “HEMI”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description:
(i) Figure 1: Reference numbers 9 and 10 shown in Figure 1 are not described in the specification.
(ii) Figure 2: Reference numbers 50A, 50B and 50B shown in Figure 2 are not described in the specification.
The drawing is objected to because it appears to be a typographical error and should be labeled #50C to maintain consistency with the specification and other drawing label:
(i) Figure 2: Refence number 50B shown in Figure 2 appears to be a typographical error and should be labeled #50C to maintain consistency with the description and other drawing labels.
Specification Objections
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
1. The drawing inconsistently label the term HEMI as reference #34 and 35 (Fig. 5, paragraph [0005], page2, line 16 and line 17) without clear indication whether these reference number refer to the same structure or difference structures.
2. The specification uses the acronym “HEMI” in paragraph [0005], page 2, line 17 without defining first what each letter represents.
3. Reference #53 shown in the drawing Fig 4a is not described anywhere in the specification.
4. References #24 shown in Figure 1 is inconsistently described in the specification. Specifically:
a) in paragraph [0004], page 1, line 30, reference #24 is described as a “manifold”
b) in paragraph [0005], page 2, line 13, reference #24 is described as a “variable frequency drive”
5. The specification inconsistently refer to drawing figures using lowercase, “figure 1” [0025]. The specification consistently uses the uppercase format of “Figure”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 (line 24, page 2) objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate of claim 5 (line 1, page 3). When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claims 5 and 6 objected to because of the following informalities:
(i) Claim 5 (page 3, line 4) recites “circuit o the first variable”. There is a typographical error. It is respectfully suggested to amend the limitation to “circuit to the first variable”
(ii) Claim 5 (page 3; line 14) recites “reverse membrane”. It is respectfully suggested to amend the limitation to “reverse osmosis membrane” for consistent recitation of claim limitation.
(iii) Claim 6 (page 4, line 4-line 5) recites “operatively connecting”. There is a grammatical error. It is respectfully suggested to amend the limitation to “operatively connected”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 5 is 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 regard(s) as the invention.
Claim 5 recites “second output port” in line 9 is indefinite since it is connected to an output of the at least one switch to a motor. This appears to be a misspelling of “second input port” in the context of the recitation.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 USC 103 as being unpatented over Oklejas (US 11046594 B2, hereinafter as “Oklejas”) in view of Gibbs (US 10033322 B2, hereinafter as “Gibbs”)
In regards to claim 1, Oklejas discloses a reverse osmosis (RO) system and operation thereof comprising desalination equipment including pumps, conduits, and reverse osmosis membranes arranged to produce permeates and brine stream (Abstract).
Oklejas discloses reverse osmosis system comprising (910, Fig. 9A; col. 9, line 33 thru col. 12, line 46):
(i) a high-pressure pump (920, Fig. 9A) that is coupled to a motor (960, Fig. 9A; col. 19, line 67 thru col. 20, line 2), the high-pressure pump having an inlet (the feed line before the HP pump 920, Fig. 9A) for receiving a fluid and an outlet (the feed line right after the HP pump 920, Fig. 9A) for discharging the fluid from the high-pressure pump;
(ii) a first turbo (922, Fig. 9A) having a pump section (924, Fig. 9A) and a turbine section (926, Fig. 9A), the pump section having an inlet port and an outlet port, the inlet port connected to the outlet (the feed line after the HP pump 920, Fig. 9A) of the high-pressure pump (920, Fig. 9A), the outlet port (928, Fig. 9A) connected to a first reverse osmosis membrane (930, Fig. 8), the turbine section (926, Fig. 9A) having an inlet port (963, Fig. 9A) and a discharge port (974, Fig. 9A) ;
(iii) the first reverse osmosis membrane (referred here as pressure vessel that houses the membrane elements, 930, Fig. 9A) having a discharge port for fluid (932, Fig. 9A) that has been purified and a discharge outlet for fluid (938, Fig. 9A) that has not been purified;
(iv) a second turbo (940, Fig. 9A) having a pump section (942, Fig 9A) with an inlet port and outlet port, the inlet port (938, Fig. 9A) of the pump section connected to discharge outlet (938, Fig. 9A) of the first reverse osmosis membrane (930, Fig. 9A), and turbine section (944, Fig. 9A) with an inlet port (954, Fig. 9A) and a discharge port (963, Fig. 9A); and
(v) a second reverse osmosis membrane (936, Fig. 9A) connected to the outlet port (946, Fig. 9A) of the pump section (946, Fig. 9A) of the second turbo (940, Fig. 9A), the second reverse osmosis membrane (936, Fig. 9A) having a discharge port (950, Fig. 9A) for fluid that has been purified and a discharge outlet (954, Fig. 9A) for fluid that has not been purified, the discharge outlet connected to the inlet port (954, Fig. 9A) of the turbine (944 (T), Fig. 9A) section of the second turbo (940, Fig. 9A), the discharge port (963, Fig. 9A) of the turbine section (944, Fig. 9A) of the second turbo (940, Fig. 9A) connected to the inlet port (963, Fig. 9A) on the turbine section (926, Fig. 9A) of the first turbo (922, Fig. 9A).
But Oklejas does not explicitly disclose the specific electrical architecture recited in lines 2-11 of claim 1, including VFD connected through defined input and output circuits and a switching arrangement configured to power between the input circuit, the drive output and the motor.
However, Gibbs discloses a system includes a variable frequency drive (VFD) comprising an inverter having an output configured to be coupled to a motor and a switch configured to couple a power source to the motor to bypass the VFD (Abstract).
Gibbs discloses such variable frequency drive (VFD) architecture (Fig. 9; col. 6, lines 22-43) including:
(i) a single variable frequency drive (910, Fig. 9) for supplying variable frequency power (915, Fig. 9A)
(ii) an input circuit (920, Fig. 9) connected to a single variable frequency drive (910, Fig. 9) to supply electrical energy (905, Fig. 9) to the variable frequency drive (910, Fig. 9);
(iii) an output circuit (930, Fig. 9) connected to the variable frequency drive (910, Fig. 9);
(iv) at least one switch (consists of a bypass contactor which acts as a manual or automatic bypass switch, 940, Fig. 9) having a first input port (the input port located along input power bus 905 that connects to the bypass contactor (940, Fig. 9) connected to the input circuit 920, Fig.9) and having a second input port (the input port located along the output power bus 915 (Fig. 9 ) that connects to bypass contactor 940, Fig. 9) connected to the output circuit (930, Fig. 9) of the variable frequency drive (910, Fig. 9), the at least one switch (consists of a motor select contactor which acts as a motor select switch 950, Fig. 9) having an output port connected to a motor (30, Fig. 9);
Oklejas and Gibbs are analogous art because Oklejas teaches RO system comprising multiple motors in an RO system to the high-pressure pump, and Gibbs teaches the use of a variable frequency drive (VFD) to control plurality of motors (Gibbs, col. 6, line24), which is applicable to controlling the motor-driven pumps of the RO system of Oklejas.
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the RO system of Oklejas in view of Gibbs to incorporate the VFD architecture and switching arrangement into the pump drive systems of the RO system as recited in the claimed invention, because the speed of the high-pressure pump motor could be varied through variable-frequency control through switching between power paths (Gibbs; col. 1, line 24-26), and such modification would have predictably allowed the pump speed to be adjusted to regulate feed pressure and flow delivered to the RO membranes (Oklejas; col. 20 lines 42-51), thereby improving the operational control and energy efficiency of the RO system.
In regard to claim 2, as set forth above, in the light of the teachings from Oklejas, it would have been considered obvious because of the additional disclosure that was presented in Fig. 14 (col. 21, line 58 thru col. 22, line 24) which is an expansion of the RO system presented in Fig. 9A, specifically denoting a motor (1312, Fig. 14) operatively connected to the turbine section (926, Fig. 14) and a pump section (924, Fig. 14) of the first turbo (922, Fig. 14). A person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the motor driven pump of Oklejas system would necessarily operate in coordination with the turbo device to maintain appropriate pressure and flow conditions across the RO membranes. Configuring the motor to be operatively connected to the pump and turbine sections of the turbo represents the predictable integration of the energy recovery device within the motor-driven RO pump system.
In regard to claim 3, it would have been obvious for the RO system of Oklejas to include a second variable frequency drive operatively connected to the motor because additional disclosure was presented in Fig. 14 (col. 21, line 58 thru col. 22, line 24), wherein a second variable frequency drive (1310, Fig. 14 operatively connected to the motor (1312, Fig, 14). A person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to provide additional VFD independently control another motor-driven component of the RO system in order to improve regulation of pressure and flow across the membrane stages. Providing multiple VFDs to independently control motors in pump systems represents a predictable design choice for achieving more precise operational control of RO systems.
In regard to claim 4, in the light of the teachings of Oklejas and Gibbs, with the switch architecture of Gibbs as applied to claims 1, 2 and 3, it would have been obvious to incorporate the switching architecture of Gibbs (Fig. 9) into the controller-based drive system (controller (PLC), 970, Fig 14) of Oklejas so that the controller could receive signals from the switching components (940 and 950, Fig. 9) of Gibbs and coordinate operation of the first (1210, Fig, 14) and second VFDs (1310, Fig 14) of Oklejas. Such coordinated control would allow the electrical power supplied to the pump motor to be varied in response to system operating conditions to meet the pressure and flow requirements of the first and second RO membranes of Oklejas, representing a predictable integration of known control and switching techniques in motor-driven pump systems.
Claims 5-8 are rejected under 35 USC 103 as being unpatented over Oklejas, in view of Gibbs.
In regards to claim 5, Oklejas discloses a method of operating a reverse osmosis system comprising (910, Fig. 9A; col. 9, line 33 thru col 12, line 46):
(i) connecting a high-pressure pump (920, Fig. 9A) coupled to a motor (960, Fig. 9A; col. 19, line 67 thru col. 20, line 2), the high-pressure pump having an inlet (the feed line before HP pump 920, Fig. 9A) for receiving a fluid and an outlet (the feed line right after the HP pump 920, Fig. 9A) for discharging the fluid from the high-pressure pump;
(ii) connecting an inlet port (the feed line after the HP pump 920 that connects to the turbo 922, Fig. 9A) of a first turbo (922, Fig. 9A) having a pump section (924, Fig. 9A) with an inlet port (the feed line after the HP pump 920 that connects to the turbo 922, Fig. 9A) and an outlet port (928, Fig. 9A) to the outlet (the feed line after the HP pump 920 that connects to the turbo 922, Fig. 9A) of the high-pressure pump (920, Fig. 9A), connecting an outlet port (974, Fig. 9A) of a turbine section (926, Fig. 9A) having an inlet port (963, Fig. 9A) and a discharge port (974, Fig. 9A) to the outlet (the feed line after the HP pump 920 that connects to the turbo 922, Fig. 9A) of the high-pressure pump (920, Fig. 9A);
(iii) providing a first reverse osmosis membrane (referred here as pressure vessel that houses the membrane elements, 930, Fig. 9A) for purifying a fluid, the first reverse osmosis membrane (930, Fig. 9A) having a discharge port (932, Fig. 9A) for fluid that has been purified and a discharge outlet for fluid (938, Fig. 9A) that has not been purified;
(iv) connecting an inlet port (938, Fig. 9A) of a pump section (942, Fig. 9A) of a second turbo (940, Fig. 9A) to the discharge outlet (938, Fig. 9A) of the first reverse membrane (930, Fig. 9A), the pump section (942, Fig. 9A) of the second turbo (940, Fig. 9A) having an outlet port (946, Fig. 9A), the second turbo having a turbine section (944, Fig. 9A) with an inlet port (954, Fig. 9A) and a discharge port (963, Fig. 9A); and
(v) connecting a second reverse osmosis membrane (936, Fig. 9A) having a discharge port (950, Fig. 9A) for fluid that has been purified and a discharge outlet (954. Fig. 9A) for fluid that has not been purified to the outlet port (946, Fig. 9A) of the pump section (942, Fig. 9A) of the second turbo (940, Fig. 9A), connecting the discharge outlet (954, Fig. 9A) of the second membrane (936, Fig. 9A) to the inlet port (954, Fig. 9A) of the turbine section (944 (T), Fig. 9A) of the second turbo (940, Fig. 9A), connecting the discharge port (963, Fig. 9A) of the turbine section (944, Fig. 9A) of the second turbo (940, Fig. 9A) to the inlet port (963, Fig. 9A) of the turbine section (926, Fig. 9A) of the first turbo (922, Fig. 9A).
But Oklejas does not disclose the specific switching arrangement recited in the claims including a switch having a first input port connected to the input circuit and second input port connected to the output circuit of the variable frequency drive (VFD) with an output port connected to the motor.
However, Gibbs discloses switching architectures configured to selectively route electrical power between an input power source, a VFD output, and a motor load through switching components (Abstract).
Gibbs discloses such variable frequency drive (VFD) architectural operation (Fig. 9; col. 6, lines 22-43) including:
(i) supplying electrical energy (905, Fig. 9) to an input circuit (920, Fig. 9A);
(ii) cooperatively connecting the electrical energy (905, Fig. 9) to a variable frequency drive (910, Fig. 9), the variable frequency drive providing variable frequency power (915, Fig. 9A);
(iii) connecting an output circuit (930, Fig. 9) to the variable frequency drive (2, Fig. 3);
(iv) connecting at least one switch (referred as bypass contactor which acts a manual or automatic bypass switch, 940, Fig. 9) having a first input port (the input port located along input power bus 905 that connects to the bypass contactor 940 (Fig. 9) connected to the input circuit 920, Fig.9) ) to the input circuit (920, Fig. 9) and connecting a second output ( second input port to be consistent with claim 1 line 9; the input port located along the output power bus 915 (Fig. 9 ) that connects to bypass contactor 940, Fig. 9 ) of the at least one switch to the output circuit (930, Fig. 9) of the variable frequency drive (910, Fig. 9), connecting an outlet of the at least one switch (referred as motor select contactor which acts a manual or automatic motor select switch, 950, Fig. 9) to a motor (30, Fig. 9).
Oklejas and Gibbs are analogous art because Oklejas teaches operation of an RO system comprising use of multiple motors in an RO system to the high-pressure pump, and Gibbs teaches the operation of a variable frequency drive (VFD) in controlling a plurality of motors (Gibbs, col. 6, line24), which is an application to controlling the motor-driven pumps of the RO system of Oklejas.
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to operate the motor-driven RO pump (Fig. 9A and Fig 14) of Oklejas using the single VFD and switching configurations of Gibbs (Fig. 9) so that the motor driving the high-pressure pump can be supplied with variable-frequency power, and operating the system in this manner would allow pump speed to be adjusted to regulate feed pressure flow delivered to RO membranes (Oklejas; col. 20, lines 42-51), thereby improving pressure control and operational efficiency of the RO system.
In regard to claim 6, in the light of the teachings of Oklejas, it would have been considered obvious because of the additional disclosure that was presented in Fig. 14 (col. 21, line 58 thru col. 22, line 24) which is an expansion of the RO system presented in Fig. 9A, specifically denoting a motor (1312, Fig. 14) operatively connecting to the turbine section (926, Fig. 14) and a pump section (924, Fig. 14) of the first turbo (922, Fig. 14). Also, this configuration is operated in such a manner so that the pump operation and recovery operation can be coordinated to maintain appropriate pressure and flow conditions across the reverse osmosis membranes. This coordination, thereby, represents the predictable operation of the combined RO and motor drive system to improve pressure regulation and energy efficiency.
In regard to claim 7, it would have been obvious for the RO system of Oklejas to include a second variable frequency drive operatively connected to the motor because additional disclosure was presented in Fig. 14 (col. 21, line 58 thru col. 22, line 24), wherein a second variable frequency drive (1310, Fig. 14 operatively connected to the motor 924, Fig, 14). Also, a POSITA would have found it obvious to incorporate a second VFD to independently control another motor-driven component of the RO system to that the pressure and flow conditions suppled to the RO membranes can be more precisely regulated. Providing multiple VFD-controlled motors to represent a predictable design choice for improving operational control and efficiency of multi-component pump system.
In regard to claim 8, as set forth above, in light of the teachings of Oklejas and Gibbs, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a controller (controller here denoted as PLC, 970, Fig, 14) configured to receive signals from the second VFD (Fig. 1310, Fig. 14) and switching components (Fig. 9; Gibbs) and communicate coordinating the first (1210, Fig. 14) variable frequency drive so that the power supplied to the motor can be varied in response to the systems conditions. Such coordinated control would allow the pump operation to be adjusted to meet the pressure and flow requirements of the first and second RO membranes, thereby improving operational efficiency, stability and control of the multi-stage RO system as taught by Oklejas, and represents a predictable integration of known drive control and switching techniques in motor-driven pumps.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the examiner Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the examiner should be directed to Wilson Mendoza whose telephone number is (571) 272-8443. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Friday from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, In Suk Bullock can be reached on 571-272-5954. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or processing is assigned is 571-273-8300.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, In Suk Bullock can be reached on 571-272-5954. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or processing is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILSON GALLARDO MENDOZA/Examiner, Art Unit 1772
/YOUNGSUL JEONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1772