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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (Claims 1-13) in the reply filed on July 22, 2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on December 1, 2023 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2009/0317678, hereinafter Bono.
Regarding claim 1, Bono teaches a fuel cell system (Fig 1: 10), comprising:
a coolant stream (30) flowing through a fuel cell stack (12),
a compressor (18) including a compressor inlet (‘air is supplied to an air compressor 18’ [0027]) and a compressor outlet (‘air is pressurized by the air compressor 18’ and ‘air which has passed through the air compressor 18’ [0027]), configured to flow a first air stream comprising a first air temperature into the compressor inlet and a second air stream comprising a second air temperature out of the compressor outlet, wherein the second air temperature is higher than the first air temperature (One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that if the pressure of air increases in a container of constant volume, temperature must increase. Therefore, the temperature of air leaving the compressor will be higher than the compressor inlet temperature),
a charge cooler (24) including a charge cooler inlet (Fig 1: air from compressor 18 and coolant from channel 30 entering intercooler 24) and a charge cooler outlet (Fig 1: line 14 exiting intercooler 24), configured to flow the second air stream comprising the second air temperature into the charge cooler inlet and a third air stream comprising a third air temperature out of the charge cooler outlet, wherein the third air temperature is lower than the second air temperature, and (‘a first coolant channel 30 through which cooling water which is a coolant is provided in order to cool the intercooler 24’ [0029]. Therefore, the second air temperature will be lower than the third air temperature)
a controller (66) configured to regulate operation of the fuel cell stack (12), the compressor (18), and the charge cooler (24) (controller 66 controls the valves and pumps of the fuel cell system 10 based on signals from temperature sensor 26 [0034-0037]).
Regarding claim 2, Bono teaches the system of claim 1 (10), wherein heat energy from the second air stream is configured to increase a first coolant temperature of the coolant stream to a second coolant temperature when the coolant stream flows through the charge cooler (24) (‘a first coolant channel 30 through which cooling water is a coolant is provided in order to cool the intercooler 24’ [0029] One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that as the intercooler is cooled, heat energy transfers to the coolant and therefore increases in temperature.).
Regarding claim 3, Bono teaches the system of claim 2 (10), wherein the coolant stream comprising the second coolant temperature is configured to flow through the fuel cell stack (12) after flowing through the charge cooler (24) and wherein the fuel cell stack (12) is heated by the coolant stream comprising the second temperature (Fig 1: air and coolant exiting intercooler 24 is configured to enter fuel cell stack 12).
Regarding claim 4, Bono teaches the system of claim 2 (10), further comprising a by-pass valve (40) configured to flow a first portion of the third air stream into an exhaust (Fig 1: air exiting intercooler 24 is configured to exit valve 40).
Regarding claim 5, Bono teaches the system of claim 4 (10), wherein the coolant stream comprising the second coolant temperature is configured to flow through the fuel cell stack (12) after flowing through the charge cooler (24) and wherein the fuel cell stack (12) is heated by the coolant stream comprising the second temperature (Fig 1: air and coolant exiting intercooler 24 is configured to enter fuel cell stack 12).
Regarding claim 6, Bono teaches the system of claim 2 (10), further comprising the third air stream flowing through the fuel cell stack (12) and a backpressure valve (40) configured to flow the third air stream into an exhaust after the third air stream exits the fuel cell stack (12) (valve 40 is configured to receive the air exiting intercooler 24 and will discharge gas depending on the pressure of channel 28 [0030]).
Regarding claim 7, Bono teaches the system of claim 6 (10), wherein the coolant stream comprising the second coolant temperature is configured to flow through the fuel cell stack (12) and heat the fuel cell stack (Fig 1: coolant exiting intercooler 24 is configured to flow through fuel cell stack 12 and will therefore be heated during the process).
Regarding claim 8, Bono teaches the system of claim 6 (10), wherein the third air stream flowing through the fuel cell stack (12) is configured to melt frozen water in a cathode channel in the fuel cell stack (Fig 1: coolant exiting intercooler 24 is configured to flow through fuel cell stack 12. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that because the coolant is water [0029], it is capable of melting frozen water).
Regarding claim 9, Bono teaches the system of claim 1 (10), further comprising a backpressure valve (40) and a by-pass valve (52), wherein the controller (66) is configured to operate the backpressure valve (40) or the by-pass valve (52) based on coolant temperature, ambient temperature, or an operating state of the fuel cell stack (controller 66 controls the valves and pumps of the fuel cell system 10 based on signals from temperature sensor 26 [0034-0037]).
Regarding claim 10, Bono teaches the system of claim 1 (10), wherein the second air temperature depends on a ratio of a pressure of the first air stream to a pressure of the second air stream (‘when it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the cooling section of the intercooler, a rotational speed of the gas compressor so that the temperature of the reaction gas is less than or equal to a predetermined value according to the temperature of the reaction gas detected by the temperature detecting unit’ [0010] One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that based on the temperature exiting the cooler, the compressor speed is adjusted which directly affects both the temperature and pressure entering and exiting the compressor).
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 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 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2009/0317678, hereinafter Bono as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, and further in view of U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2010/0154629, hereinafter Fujitani.
Regarding claims 11-13, Bono teaches, as mentioned above, a fuel cell system provided with an air compressor for supplying the fuel cell stack with air; a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of air in the gas downstream from an intercooler, at the middle of an oxidation gas supplying channel; and a control section (Abstract).
However, Bono fails to explicitly teach the temperatures of the air entering the charge cooler (instant claim 11), the air exiting the charge cooler (instant claim 12), nor the coolant exiting the charge cooler (instant claim 13).
Fujitani teaches an oxidizing gas purification apparatus for a fuel cell that consists of a compressor, a cooling apparatus downstream of the compressor, an adsorbent unit (Abstract) and a controller that controls the operation of the cooling apparatus [0010]. When the compressed air passes through the body side within the intercooler, it is cooled by heat exchange with the coolant flowing in the pipe side thereof. The temperature measured by the temperature sensor located after the intercooler is, for example, -20C to 70C [0048]. This demonstrates an overlap in ranges taught. In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a Prima facie case of obviousness exists (MPEP 2144.05). One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that any air entering the cooler would be greater than or equal to the temperature exiting the cooler.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to the ordinarily skilled artist before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have set the air and coolant temperatures entering and exiting the intercooler of Bono to the fall within the temperature range of Fujitani in order to supply the fuel cell stack air at the correct operating temperature from which impurities have been removed [0048].
Conclusion
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/M.K.H./Examiner, Art Unit 1724 /BRIAN R OHARA/Examiner, Art Unit 1724
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