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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over USPub20220325185 see claim 1 and 13-20 in view of CN109476179A see paragraphs [0014]-[0021].
Claim 1 is directed to a method of recycling waste tires comprising: subjecting a waste tire material to a hydrothermal cracking process to generate a solid component and a fluid component, the fluid component comprising oil and water; recovering at least one filler material from the solid component, the at least one filler material being selected from carbon black, silica, and mixtures thereof; fractionating the oil in the fluid component to generate at least two oil fractions; refining at least a first portion of a first of the oil fractions to isolate at least one of a wax and a process oil optionally, using at least a second portion of the first of the oil fractions as a feedstock for forming carbon black; steam cracking a second of the oil fractions to form precursors for forming components of rubber tire; and forming the components of the tire from the precursors, the least one filler material and the at least one the wax and the process oil, whereby at least 50 wt. % of a new tire is derived from the waste tire material.
USPub20220325185 discloses recycling waste tire material by hydrothermal cracking, recovering tire materials and forming a new tire from the recovered materials. See claims 1 and 13-20.
CN109476179A discloses incorporating recycled tire material into a tire wherein the recycled tire derived material is present in an amount greater than or equal to 40% in claim 1 and greater than 60% in claim 3. The reference further teaches that high levels of recycled tire material may be incorporated into a tire while maintaining acceptable tire performance. See pages 1-4 and claims of machine translation.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to increase the amount of recycled tire material incorporated into the USPub20220325185 in view of CN109476179A in order to increase use of recovered tire materials, reduce waste, and reduce consumption of virgin raw materials.
Regarding claim 2, wherein at least 80wt.% of the new tire is derived from the waste tire material , it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to increase the proportion of recycled waste tire material in the newly formed tire to at least 80wt.% to further reduce virgin material use, since USPub20220325185 discloses recycled content ranges up to at least 90wt%/98%wt% and CN109476179A discloses high recycled tire content greater than 40% and preferably greater than 60%. See USPub20220325185 paragraph [0029]; CN109476179A page 3 lines 3-4 and lines 48-50.
Regarding claim 3, wherein the waste tire material consists of shredded tires , it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use shredded tires as the waste tire material because CN109476179A discloses recycling end of life tires by disassembling damaged and worn tires and milling or grinding the rubber material into powder and crumb rubber for reuse. See page 1 lines 37-42, page 2 lines 23-28.
Regarding claim 4, wherein the hydrothermal cracking process is carried out in a reactor at a temperature of at least 5000C and a pressure of at least 18,000 kPa , it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the hydrothermal cracking process at a temperature as claimed since USPub20220325185 discloses hydrothermal conversion under elevated temperatures and pressures. See paragraphs [0038]-[0043], [0229]-[0233].
Regarding claim 5, wherein the hydrothermal cracking process is carried out at a temperature of up to 750°C, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the process as claimed since optimization of reaction temperature within known hydrothermal processing ranges would have been a routine matter of process design. See paragraphs [0038]-[0043], [0229]-[0233].
Regarding claim 6, wherein the hydrothermal cracking process uses no catalyst other than water , it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the process as claimed since USPub20220325185 discloses hydrothermal conversion utilizing water, including supercritical water, as the reaction medium. See paragraphs [0010]-[0015], [0044]-[0048]. [0129]-[0135].
Regarding claim 7, wherein the first of the oil fractions has an Atmospheric Equivalent Temperature (AET) of at least 350*C and the second of the oil fractions has an AET of below 350°C, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to fractionate the oil as claimed since USPub20220325185 discloses separating hydrothermal oil products into fractions based on boiling point ranges. See paragraphs [0051]-[0056], [0137]-[0139].
Regarding claim 8, wherein the precursors comprise a conjugated diene , it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the precursor to comprise a conjugated diene because steam cracking hydrocarbon fraction predictably produces conjugated diene compounds useful in elastomer manufacture. See USPub20220325185 [0053]-[0056], [0137]-[0139].
Regarding claim 9, wherein the forming of the components of the tire comprises synthesizing a synthetic rubber from the precursors, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to synthesize a synthetic rubber from the precursors because conjugated dienes are conventional feedstocks for synthetic rubber production. See USPub20220325185 [0053]-[0056], [0137]-[0139].
Regarding claim 10, wherein the forming of the components of the tire comprises synthesizing a resin from the precursors, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make a resin from the precursors because aromatic and olefinic hydrocarbon feedstocks obtained from cracking processes are conventionally used in resin processing. See USPub20220325185 [0053]-[0056], [0137]-[0139].
Regarding claim 11, wherein the forming of the components of the tire comprises synthesizing at least one of an antioxidant, an antiozonant, and a curative from the precursors, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make an antioxidant, antiozonant, and/or curative from the precursor because these compounds are known products derived from hydrocarbon feedstocks used in tire manufacturing. USPub20220325185 [0053]-[0056], [0137]-[0139].
Regarding claim 12, wherein the synthesis of the antioxidant comprises synthesizing at least one of aniline and an alkyl-substituted aniline from the precursors and synthesizing 4-aminodiphenylamine from the at least one of the aniline and the alkyl-substituted aniline, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to synthesize at least one of aniline and an alkyl-substituted aniline from the precursors and synthesizing 4-aminodiphenylamine from the at least one of the aniline and the alkyl-substituted aniline since they are recognized intermediates useful in preparing rubber antioxidants. See USPub20220325185 [0053]-[0056], [0137]-[0139].
Regarding claim 13, wherein the forming of the components of the tire comprises synthesizing a reinforcement material from the precursors , it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the material as claimed to further increase recycled content in the newly manufactured tire and reduce dependence on virgin petrochemical feedstocks since USPub20220325185 [0053]-[0056], [0137]-[0139].
Regarding claim 14, wherein the reinforcement material comprises at least one of polyethylene terephthalate and Nylon, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the reinforcement material to comprise PET and Nylon since they are well-known tire reinforcement materials. See CN109476179A pages 1-2.
Regarding claim 15, wherein the forming the components of the tire comprises forming a tire tread , it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the components of the tire comprises forming a tire tread since the tread is a conventional tire part and represents a predictable use of the recovered materials in forming a new tire. since USPub20220325185 [0053]-[0056], [0137]-[0139].
Regarding claim 16, the claim is directed to an apparatus for recycling waste tires comprising: a grinder which grinds waste tires or parts thereof to form a waste tire material; a hydrothermal cracking reactor which converts the waste tire material to a mixture comprising a solid component and a fluid component, the fluid component including oil and water; a depressurizing component which reduces a temperature and a pressure of the fluid component; a separator which separates the oil from the water in the fluid component; and a fractionating system which fractionates the oil to generate at least two oil fractions, a first of the oil fractions being suitable for producing a process oil and a wax, a second of the oil fractions being suitable for producing precursors for forming components of a rubber tire; whereby at least 50 wt. % of a new tire is derived from the waste tire material.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide an apparatus as above since USPub20220325185 teaches an integrated hydrothermal cracking system in which polymeric feedstocks are processed in a reactor under elevated temperature and pressure conditions to produce oil, wax, gaseous products, and aqueous fractions, followed by depressurization, separation, and fractionation of the resulting products. See claim 20, and paragraphs [0267]-[0351]. The reference further teaches fractionating recovered oil products into boiling range fractions and recovering wax fractions suitable for further use and processing. CN109476179A teaches incorporating substantial quantities of recycled tire derived materials into new tire products. See claims 1 and 11-14. It would further have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ waste tire feedstock and utilize the recovered materials in the manufacture of new tire components since
CN109476179A discloses tire structures and processes incorporating substantial amounts of recycled tire derived material into new tire products. See claims 1 and 11-14.
Regarding claim 17, further comprising a heated conduit which connects the grinder and the hydrothermal cracking reactor, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the apparatus of claim 16 with a heated conduit connecting the grinder and hydrothermal cracking reactor as recited in claim 17 since USPub20220325185 discloses transferring polymeric feed material to the hydrothermal reactor under elevated temperature conditions and maintaining the feed stream at processing temperature prior to reactor introduction. See paragraphs [0307]-[0315],[0365-[0366].
Regarding claim 18, further comprising an inlet to the heated conduit by which superheated water mixed with the waste tire material, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the heated conduit of claim 17 with an inlet for introducing superheated water to mix with the waste tire material because USPub20220325185 discloses forming a reaction mixture by contacting polymeric material with supercritical or superheated aqueous solvent prior to reactor treatment and teaches injection of the aqueous solvent at the mixing zone. See claim 1 and [0313]-[0314].
Regarding claim 19 is directed to a method of recycling waste tires comprising: subjecting a waste tire material to a hydrothermal cracking process to generate a solid component and a fluid component, the fluid component comprising oil and water; recovering at least one filler material from the solid component, the at least one filler material being selected from carbon black, silica, and mixtures thereof; fractionating the oil in the fluid component to generate at least two oil fractions; refining at least a first of the oil fractions to isolate a wax and a process oil and/or using the first of the oil fractions to produce carbon black; steam cracking at least a second of the oil fractions to form precursors for forming components of rubber tire, the precursors including a conjugated diene and at least one aromatic monomer; synthesizing at least one elastomer from the conjugated diene; synthesizing a resin from at least one of the conjugated diene and the at least one aromatic monomer; synthesizing at least one additive from the precursors, the at least one additive being selected from an antioxidant, an antiozonant, and a curative; forming a rubber composition comprising the wax, the process oil, the at least one elastomer, the resin, the at least one additive, and the least one filler material; and curing the rubber composition to form a component of a tire.
USPub20220325185 discloses hydrothermal cracking of polymeric materials to produce oil, wax , aqueous products and fractionated hydrocarbon streams and further teaches separating and recovering those streams for other use, chemical conversion and upgrading into useful products. See clams 20-23 and [0273]-[0352].
CN109476179A discloses the incorporation of recycled tire materials into new tire constructions and tire manufacturing processes including compositions containing substantial quantities of recycled tire material and reinforcing materials used in tire production. See claims 1 and 11-14.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recycle waste tires by subjecting waste tire material to hydrothermal cracking to generate solid and fluid products including oil and water, recovering filler material from the solid component, fractionating the oil into multiple fractions, isolating wax and process oil from one fraction, producing tire precursor materials from another fraction, synthesizing elastomers, resins and tire additives from the precursor materials, forming a rubber compositions and curing the rubber composition into a tire component.
Regarding claim 20 to the method of claim 19, further comprising synthesizing a reinforcing material from the precursors, and incorporating the reinforcing material in the component of the tire, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further synthesize a reinforcing material from the recovered precursor materials and incorporate the reinforcing material into the tire components as recited in claim 20 because CN109476179A discloses tire constructions using reinforcing materials associated with recycled tire compositions and expressly identifies reinforcing materials including polyethylene terephthalate and nylon for incorporation into tire structures. See claims 11-14. USPub20220325185 teaches recovering hydrocarbon feedstocks and intermediates suitable for further material synthesis and reuse. See claims 20-23 and [0273]-[0275].
In conclusion, in view of the above, there appears to be no significant difference between the reference(s) and that which is claimed by applicant(s). Any differences not specifically mentioned appear to be conventional. Consequently, the claimed invention cannot be deemed as unobvious and accordingly is unpatentable.
Information Disclosure Statement
Note that any future and/or present information disclosure statements must comply with 37 CFR § 1.98(b), which requires a list of the publications to include: the author (if any), title, relevant pages of the publication, date and place of publication to be submitted for consideration by the Office.
Improper Claim Dependency
Prior to allowance, any dependent claims should be rechecked for proper dependency if independent claims are cancelled.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TERRESSA M BOYKIN whose telephone number is (571)272-1069. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7-5:30.
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/Terressa Boykin/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1765
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