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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 15-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on May 29, 2026.
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.
Claims 1, 6, 11 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Rossi et al. (US 2008/0210216 A1), in view of Cadima (US 2017/0205075 A1).
The applied reference has a common inventor with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
RE Claim 1, Rossi discloses a fuel manifold 50 for a burner assembly 10, 100 (Par. 0073, Figs. 1-4), comprising: a body; a fuel passage 71 extending from an inlet opening 53 to an outlet opening (not labeled, multiple outlet openings are provided in posts 70, Par. 0083); at the body, a post 70 extending along an axial direction corresponding toward a heat sink plate 140, 141 (Pars. 0077-0080, 0083 and 0103); the post 70 configured to statically position the heat sink plate 140, 141 adjacent along the axial direction to the body (See figure 17); as a separable component, the heat sink plate 140, 141 formed comprising a through-opening (not shown) corresponding along a circumferential direction to the outlet opening at the fuel passage 71; the heat sink plate 140, 141 comprises a post opening corresponding along the circumferential direction to the post 70 at the body (Pars. 0077-0080, Figs. 1-4, 8, 10-14, 16 and 17).
Rossi does not explicitly disclose forming via casting or additive manufacturing process, a unitary body.
Cadima discloses a method for fabricating a fuel manifold 210 for a burner assembly 200, the method comprising: forming, via a casting or additive manufacturing process, a unitary body 210 (Par. 0033); forming, at the unitary body, a fuel passage 220 extending from an inlet opening 222 to an outlet opening 224 (Pars. 0043, 0046 and , Figs. 1-7). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the fuel manifold of Rossi as a unitary body using a casting process as disclosed by Cadima, as a known method of manufacturing fuel manifolds for burner assemblies.
RE Claim 6, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. The combination discloses forming the fuel passage 220 comprises forming, from the unitary body 210 comprising an aluminum or aluminum alloy material, the fuel passage (See Cadima, Par. 0046).
RE Claim 11, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. Rossi discloses forming the heat sink plate 140, 141 comprises forming one or more igniter openings through the heat sink plate 140, 141, each igniter opening is configured to receive a corresponding igniter 80 (See figures 15-17).
RE Claim 12, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. Rossi does not explicitly disclose forming a second fuel passage extending from a second inlet opening to a second outlet opening.
Cadima discloses a method of forming, at a unitary body 210, a second fuel passage 230 extending from a second inlet opening 232 to a second outlet opening 234, the second fuel passage 230 is fluidly separate from a first fuel passage 220 (See Cadima, Par. 0040-0044, Figs. 3 and 4), to assist in reducing a vertical height of a gas burner assembly 200 relative to burners that deliver fuel to burners from below flame ports due to required spacing between burners and a cooking utensil needed for proper combustion of fuel (Par. 0042). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Rossi by forming a second fuel passage as disclosed by Cadima, for the benefit of reducing a vertical height of gas burner assembly relative to burners that deliver fuel to burners from below flame ports due to required spacing between burners and a cooking utensil needed for proper combustion of fuel.
Claims 2-5, 7-10, 13 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Rossi et al. (US 2008/0210216 A1), in view of Cadima (US 2017/0205075 A1), as applied to claim 1, in view of Frost (US 10591157).
RE Claim 2, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. Rossi does not explicitly disclose forming the fuel passage comprises forming, via a first machining process, the fuel passage.
Frost discloses a method for fabricating a fuel manifold 12 for a burner assembly 10, the method comprising: forming at a body, a fuel passage 30, 32 extending from an inlet opening 34 to an outlet opening 40; and forming the fuel passage 30, 32, comprises forming, via a first machining process, the fuel passage (Col. 2, Lines 9-24 and Col. 3, Lines 15-18 and Lines 37-56, Figs. 1-5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Rossi by forming the fuel passage using a first machining process as disclosed by Frost, as a known method of manufacturing fuel manifolds for burner assemblies.
RE Claim 3, the combination as applied to claim 2 remains as previously applied. The combination discloses forming the fuel passage 30, 32 comprises extending a tool bit (not shown, Note: Frost discloses the passages are drilled, obviously requiring a tool bit to perform the drilling) along a linear pathway to form one or more fuel conduits at the fuel passage 30, 32 (See Frost, Col. 2, Lines 9-24 and Col. 3, Lines 15-18 and Lines 37-56, Figs. 1-4).
RE Claim 4, the combination as applied to claim 3 remains as previously applied. The combination discloses forming the fuel passage comprises extending the tool bit along the linear pathway to intersect two or more fuel conduits with one another at the fuel passage (See Frost, Col. 2, Lines 9-24).
RE Claim 5, the combination as applied to claim 4 remains as previously applied. The combination discloses plugging a tool opening at the fuel passage 32 to form the fuel passage 32 as having a single inlet opening (See Frost, Col. 4, Lines 40-51).
RE Claim 7, the combination as applied to claim 1 remains as previously applied. Rossi does not explicitly disclose forming the fuel passage comprises forming, via a first machining process, the inlet opening at the unitary body at which the fuel passage is formed.
Frost discloses a method for fabricating a fuel manifold 12 for a burner assembly 10, the method comprising: forming at a body, a fuel passage 30, 32 extending from an inlet opening 34 to an outlet opening 40; forming the fuel passage 30, 32, comprises forming, via a first machining process, the fuel passage and the inlet 34, 36 opening at the body at which the fuel passage 30, 32 is formed (Col. 2, Lines 9-24 and Col. 3, Lines 15-18 and Lines 37-56, Figs. 1-5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Rossi by forming the fuel passage and inlet opening using a first machining process as disclosed by Frost, as a known method of manufacturing fuel manifolds for burner assemblies.
RE Claim 8, the combination as applied to claim 7 remains as previously applied. The combination discloses forming the fuel passage 30, 32 comprises forming, via a second machining process, the outlet opening (See Frost, Col. 2, Lines 9-24).
RE Claim 9, the combination as applied to claim 8 remains as previously applied. The combination does not explicitly disclose the second machining process comprises extending, along a radial direction perpendicular to an extension of the inlet opening of the fuel passage, the tool bit to form the outlet opening.
Frost discloses a second machining process of forming openings that correspond to a fuel passage to provide air and fuel to the burner assembly (See Frost, Col. 2, Lines 9-24). Based on this disclosure the Examiner construes it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the machining process of Frost to extend, a tool bit along a radial direction perpendicular to an extension of the inlet opening of the fuel passage of Rossi, to form the outlet opening as desired, as a known means of properly manufacturing a fuel manifold of a burner assembly.
RE Claim 10, the combination as applied to claim 9 remains as previously applied. The combination does not explicitly disclose extending the tool bit to form the outlet opening comprises extending the tool bit along the radial direction and corresponding to a position along the circumferential direction of a mixing tube opening formed at the heat sink plate.
Rossi discloses a mixing tube opening 35 formed at the heat sink plate 140, 141 (See Figure 11, 16 and 17).
Frost discloses a second machining process of forming openings that correspond to a fuel passage to provide air and fuel to the burner assembly (See Frost, Col. 2, Lines 9-24). Based on this disclosure the Examiner construes it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the machining process of Frost to extend, a tool bit along a radial direction of a mixing tube opening formed at the heat sink plate of Rossi as desired, as a known means of properly manufacturing a fuel manifold of a burner assembly.
RE Claim 13, the combination as applied to claim 12 remains as previously applied. The combination does not explicitly disclose forming the second fuel passage comprises extending a tool bit along a linear pathway co-directional to a fuel conduit at the fuel passage.
Frost discloses a method for fabricating a fuel manifold 12 for a burner assembly 10, the method comprising: forming at a body, first and second fuel passages 30, 32 extending from inlet openings 34, 36 to outlet openings 40; and forming first and second fuel passages 30, 32, comprises extending a tool bit (not shown, Note: Frost discloses the passages are drilled, obviously requiring a tool bit to perform the drilling) along a linear pathway co-directional to a fuel conduit at the fuel passages 30, 32 (Col. 2, Lines 9-24 and Col. 3, Lines 15-18 and Lines 37-56, Figs. 1-5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Rossi by forming a second fuel passage using the process as disclosed by Frost, as a known method of manufacturing fuel manifolds for burner assemblies.
RE Claim 14, the combination as applied to claim 13 remains as previously applied. The combination discloses forming the second fuel passage 32 comprises extending the tool bit along a linear pathway perpendicular to the fuel conduit to form the outlet opening (See Frost, Col. 2, Lines 9-24).
Conclusion
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/BAYAN SALONE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726
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