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 .
Response to Amendment
In response to the amendment received on June 29, 2026:
Claims 1, 2, 4-11 and 13 are pending. Claims 3 and 12 have been canceled as per Applicant’s request;
The objection to the abstract set forth in the previous Office Action has been withdrawn in light of the amendment;
The claim objections to the abstract set forth in the previous Office Action has been withdrawn in light of the amendment;
The 112 rejections to the abstract set forth in the previous Office Action has been withdrawn in light of the amendment;
The prior art rejection to Fletcher set forth in the previous Office Action is withdrawn in light of the amendment;
The prior art rejections to Pfannenmueller set forth in the previous Office Action stand in light of the amendment.
Claim Interpretation
Claims 1, 2, 4-10 and 13 appear to include intended use language pertaining to the device.
If the body of a claim fully and intrinsically sets forth all of the limitations of the claimed invention, and the preamble merely states, for example, the purpose or intended use of the invention, rather than any distinct definition of any of the claimed invention’s limitations, then the preamble is not considered a limitation and is of no significance to claim construction. Shoes by Firebug LLC v. Stride Rite Children’s Grp., LLC, 962 F.3d 1362, 2020 USPQ2d 10701 (Fed. Cir. 2020) (The court found that the preamble in one patent’s claim is limiting but is not in a related patent); Pitney Bowes, Inc. v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 182 F.3d 1298, 1305, 51 USPQ2d 1161, 1165 (Fed. Cir. 1999). See also Rowe v. Dror, 112 F.3d 473, 478, 42 USPQ2d 1550, 1553 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
To satisfy an intended use limitation which is limiting, a prior art structure which is capable of performing the intended use as recited in the preamble meets the claim. See, e.g., In re Schreiber, 128 F.3d 1473, 1477, 44 USPQ2d 1429, 1431 (Fed. Cir. 1997)
For example, language pertaining to “for recirculating anode gas in an anode circuit of a fuel cell system”, “for introducing fresh anode gas”, “for recirculating anode gas”, “for fresh and recirculated anode gas” (claim 1); “hydrogen-conducting area” (claim 2; “for metering fresh anode gas” (claim 9); “the fresh anode gas” (claim 12) can be interpreted as intended use and not further limiting with respect to the device itself.
The use of reference characters within the claims is to be considered as having no effect on the scope of the claims (see MPEP § 608.01(m)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 2, 4-9, 11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Pfannenmueller et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0170694).
While Pfannenmueller was published after the effective filing date of the instant invention, Pfannenmueller has an earlier effective filing date (April 7, 2021) compared to the instant invention (currently March 15, 2022 – PCT filing date; noting that the claim for foreign priority has not been perfected as the priority documents do not include a certified translation of the foreign priority document of the instant application). Therefore, Pfannenmueller qualifies as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).
As to claim 1, Pfannenmueller discloses a device for recirculating anode gas in an anode circuit of a fuel cell system, said device comprising
at least one jet pump 14 with a propelling nozzle 16 for introducing fresh anode gas via hydrogen inlet line 10;
an inlet for recirculated anode gas, and
an outlet 38 for fresh and recirculated anode gas,
wherein an actively controllable valve 28 for closing and opening the inlet is arranged in an area of the inlet, said valve comprising a magnet assembly 28 for acting on a reciprocating armature 26, and a valve spring 34 (see annotated Figs. 1 and 3, below, for example).
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In addition, the magnet assembly 28 of the valve is arranged such that a direction of action of the magnet assembly 28 is perpendicular (left <-> right direction above) to a main flow direction (up/down direction above) in the inlet, wherein the reciprocating armature 26 is coupled to a valve closing element or forms a valve closing element which blocks the inlet.
The magnet assembly 28 of the valve is arranged such that a direction of action of the magnet assembly 28 is perpendicular (left <-> right direction above) to a main flow direction (up/down direction above) in the inlet, wherein the reciprocating armature 26 is coupled to a valve closing element or forms a valve closing element which blocks the inlet. According to Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the device includes a recirculating inlet 12 and a valve closing element 24 which is electromagnetically coupled to the magnet assembly 28 and actuator 26 of the assembly. In Fig. 3, in a de-energized state, the recirculating inlet 12 is opened as valve closing element 24 is not obstructing the flow in inlet 12 (paras. [0035]-[0036]). In an energized state, the linear actuator 28 pulls the actuator such that high pressure gas pushes the valve closing element 24 to close the recirculating inlet 12 (paras. [0037]-[0038])
As to claim 2, the magnetic assembly 28 in Fig. 1 is arranged outside of the hydrogen conducting area along path 12 (see Figs. 1 and 3 above).
As to claim 4, the reciprocating armature 26 is interspersed in an axial direction by at least one pressure compensating opening, the opening through which spring 34 resides in armature 26, permitting movement of armature 26 (Fig. 1 for example).
As to claim 5, the reciprocating armature 26 is at least partially sleeve shaped in order to receive spring 34 (Fig. 1 above).
As to claim 6, the magnet assembly 28 includes a magnetic coil, outer pole body surrounding the magnet coil and a non-magnetic pot-shaped or sleeve-shaped element inserted into the coil 28, wherein the non-magnetic separating element is configured to guide the armature 26 (Figs. 1 and 3-6).
As to claim 7, the pot-shaped or sleeve-shaped separating element is supported via an annular collar (flange) that supports the separating element on an outer housing wall surface of the device, or indirectly using a sealing element (Figs. 1 and 3-6, such as annotated Fig. 3 below).
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As to claim 8 the inlet 12 opens into a suction chamber (suction chamber in front of nozzle 16, see para. [0029]) of the jet pump 14, wherein the jet nozzle 16 is arranged inside the suction chamber (see Fig. 1 above).
As to claim 9, the jet nozzle 16 is downstream of a control valve 32 or integrated in the nozzle needle (paras. [0006]; [0021]; [0029]).
As to claim 11, the device is further included in a fuel cell whereby the device of claim 1 is integrated into an anode circuit of the fuel cell (para. [0029], Fig. 1 and corresponding disclosure).
The fresh anode gas is hydrogen (para. [0029], for example).
As to claim 13, the valve closing element 26 is engageable with a lateral opening provided in a part of the device blocking where return spring 2 resides (Figs. 1 and 3-6).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pfannenmueller et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0170694) in view of either Noh et al. (KR 20100103990A) or Blaszczyk et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0064255).
Pfannenmueller does not appear to teach or suggest of at least two jet pumps 14 connected in parallel to be activated depending on the load.
The application of dual jet pumps in an anode circulation and recirculation system of a fuel cell, has been established in the art as a design for response to load demands to a fuel cell system. For example, Noh is directed to the same field of endeavor, pertaining to devices for supplying and recycling anode gas to a fuel cell using a jet nozzle, ejector or equivalent device. Noh additionally recognized that dual jet nozzles can be readily implemented into the device (Fig. 7, for example) and that such a design can provide for enhanced fuel circulation based on varied load demands. Similarly, Blaszczyk is also directed to the same field of endeavor, pertaining to devices for supplying and recycling anode gas to a fuel cell using a jet nozzle, ejector or equivalent device. Blaszczyk also recognized that dual jet nozzles can be readily implemented into the device (Fig. 1, for example) and that such a design can provide for enhanced fuel circulation based on varied load demands.
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Pfannenmueller to include a second jet nozzle as taught by either Noh or Blaszczyk since it would have provided a device design for circulating anode gas to a fuel cell system where a dual jet nozzle design would have predictably and expectedly provided for enhanced fuel circulation based on varied load demands.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see applicant’s remarks, filed June 29, 2026, with respect to Fletcher have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 102 rejection of Fletcher has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed June 29, 2026 with respect to Pfannenmueller have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
More specifically, Applicant alleges Pfannenmueller does not disclose that "the reciprocating armature (8) is coupled to a valve closing element or forms a valve closing element which blocks the inlet (4)," as recited in amended claim 1. Rather, as shown in Examiner-annotated FIGS. 1 and 3 of Pfannenmueller below, the alleged reciprocating armature, the linear actuator 28, is not coupled with a valve closing element or does not form a valve closing element that blocks the inlet. Rather, the linear actuator 28 is configured to block a connection of the hydrogen inlet 10 to the recirculation gas inlet 12. In contrast, amended claim 1 requires that the reciprocating armature is coupled to a valve closing element or forms a valve closing element which blocks the inlet that provides the recirculated gas.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees:
Pfannenmueller teaches that the magnet assembly 28 of the valve is arranged such that a direction of action of the magnet assembly 28 is perpendicular (left <-> right direction above) to a main flow direction (up/down direction above) in the inlet, wherein the reciprocating armature 26 is coupled to a valve closing element or forms a valve closing element which blocks the inlet.
According to Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the device includes a recirculating inlet 12 and a valve closing element 24 which is electromagnetically coupled to the magnet assembly 28 and actuator 26 of the assembly. In Fig. 3, in a de-energized state, the recirculating inlet 12 is opened as valve closing element 24 is not obstructing the flow in inlet 12 (paras. [0035]-[0036]). In an energized state, the linear actuator 28 pulls the actuator such that high pressure gas pushes the valve closing element 24 to close the recirculating inlet 12 (paras. [0037]-[0038]).
Another way to explain it is that actuator 28 is coupled (mechanically/kinematically) to valve 26. Valve 26 is hydraulically/pneumatically coupled to the blocking valve 24 to close the blocking valve 24 in response to energizing the electromagnetic. So actuator 28 is still effectively coupled to blocking valve 24 through the pressure it creates based on the design and teaching of Pfannenmueller discussed above.
In general, Pfannenmueller teaches of a similar device whereby a main anode gas supply includes a recirculation gas supply and the device for recirculating includes a jet pump, inlet for recirculating gas, outlet for both gases and a controllable valve for opening and closing the recirculating inlet 12 via the valve assembly. It essentially solves the same core problem (control of gas flow in an anode circuit including “fresh” anode gas and recirculated gas) in a remarkably similar way (using an electromagnetically controlled assembly to open and close the recirculation inlet as needed) as discussed above.
Therefore, Pfannenmueller is still held to anticipate at least base claim 1 as discussed above.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGG CANTELMO whose telephone number is (571)272-1283. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 7am to 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Basia Ridley can be reached at (571) 272-1453. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGG CANTELMO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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