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
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:
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.
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 – 2, 4 – 7, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stemmer et al. (WO 2016198120 A1) in view of Pryor (US 4383801 A).
Regarding Claim 1, Stemmer et al. discloses a fluidic rotor (Stemmer Fig. 1),
comprising a rotary structure (rotor 10) mounted on a base (housing 18) (Stemmer Fig. 1) and supporting a set of directionally adjustable blades/vanes (16) capable of oscillating relative to the rotation of the rotary structure about a rotor axis (12) (Stemmer et al. Fig. 4 and Para [0047] lines 8 – 11),
a set of transmission devices (each set comprising one first gear 41 and one second gear 42) between a central shaft (inherently shown from axis of rotation 12) of the rotor and each of the blades (Stemmer et al. Fig. 5),
capable of individually controlling the oscillations of said blades (Stemmer et al. Para [0047] lines 6 – 11),
Stemmer et al. does not disclose:
each device comprising two pivoting elements having offset pivot axes,
one of said elements having a slot and the other having a pin that engages the slot,
wherein the two pivoting elements of each transmission device are intermediate elements of an individual transmission consisting of a set of elements engaged with each other between said central shaft and the blades.
Pryor discloses:
each device comprising two pivoting elements having offset pivot axes (Pryor Fig. 1 discloses a pitch control slot 29 that has a pivot axis and a pin 46 that has a pivot axis that are offset from each other),
one of said elements having a slot (29) and the other having a pin (46) that engages the slot (Pryor Fig. 2).
Stemmer et al. and Pryor et al. structurally disclose:
wherein the two pivoting elements (pitch control slot 29 and pin 46 of Pryor et al. Fig. 2) of each transmission device (one first gear 41 and one second gear 42, respectively, of Stemmer et al. Fig. 5) are intermediate elements of an individual transmission consisting of a set of elements (pitch control slot 29 30 and pin 46 of Pryor et al. Fig. 2 and one first gear 41 and one second gear 42, respectively, of Stemmer et al. Fig. 5) engaged with each other between said central shaft (inherently shown from axis of rotation 12) and the blades/vanes (16) (Stemmer et al. Fig. 4).
Stemmer et al. and Pryor disclose transmission devices therefore, Pryor constitutes prior art. Pryor discloses a wind turbine with adjustable air foils that have two offset pivoting elements, one with a slot and a another with a pin. It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have each device comprising two pivoting elements having offset pivot axes, one of said elements having a slot and the other having a pin that engages the slot of Pryor and wherein the two pivoting elements of each transmission device are intermediate elements of an individual transmission consisting of a set of elements engaged with each other between said central shaft and the blades of structurally disclosed Stemmer et al. and Pryor for the purpose of allowing oscillation variability to the plurality of blades depending on the direction of flow of a fluid.
Regarding Claim 2, Stemmer et al. and Pryor discloses the rotor according to claim 1, wherein said elements of a transmission device are toothed elements in direct engagement with one another (Stemmer et al. Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 4, Stemmer et al. and Pryor disclose the rotor according to claim 1.
Stemmer et al. does not disclose:
wherein the pin of a transmission device is mounted directly in one of the intermediate elements.
Pryor et al. discloses:
wherein the pin of a transmission device is mounted directly in one of the intermediate elements (Pryor et al. discloses the pin 46 is mounted in the pitch flange 32).
It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have wherein the pin of a transmission device is mounted directly in one of the intermediate elements of Pryor for the purpose of aligning and securing intermediate components of the set of transmission devices together.
Regarding Claim 5, Stemmer et al. and Pryor disclose the rotor according to claim 1.
Stemmer et al. does not disclose:
wherein the slot of a transmission device is provided in an element attached to a second one of the intermediate elements.
Stemmer et al. and Pryor structurally discloses:
wherein the slot of a transmission device is provided in an element (pitch control crank 30 of Pryor et al. Fig. 1) attached to a second one of the intermediate elements (Stemmer et al. Fig. 5).
It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have wherein the slot of a transmission device is provided in an element attached to a second one of the intermediate elements of structurally disclosed Stemmer et al. and Pryor for the purpose of connecting and guiding intermediate elements to change pitches of respective blades.
Regarding Claim 6, Stemmer et al. and Pryor disclose the rotor according to claim 1.
Stemmer et al. does not disclose:
wherein the slot of a transmission device is provided in a second one of the intermediate elements.
Pryor discloses:
wherein the slot of a transmission device is provided in a second one of the intermediate elements (pitch control 30).
It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have wherein the slot of a transmission device is provided in a second one of the intermediate elements of Pryor for the purpose of an easier connection between the intermediate elements of the transmission.
Regarding Claim 12, Stemmer et al. and Pryor disclose a rotary machine selected from a group comprising electric motors, electric generators and fluid pumps (flow converter) (Stemmer et al. Para [0001] lines 4 – 5),
the machine comprising a rotor according to claim 1 (see above in rejection of claim 1).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stemmer et al. in view of Pryor and further in view of Kelly (US 20090136346 A1).
Regarding Claim 3, Stemmer et al. and Pryor disclose the rotor according to claim 2.
Stemmer et al. does not disclose:
wherein the two pivot elements having offset pivot axes comprise a first intermediate element engaged with an axial element rigidly connected to the central shaft,
and a second intermediate element engaged with an element constrained to rotate with a frame of the associated blade.
Pryor discloses:
wherein the two pivot elements having offset pivot axes comprise a first intermediate element (pitch flange 32) engaged with an axial element (vane crank 36) rigidly connected to the central shaft (16) (Pryor Fig. 1),
Kelly discloses:
a second intermediate element (38) engaged with an element (40) constrained to rotate with a frame (pivot 19) of the associated blade (18) (Kelly Fig. 6).
Stemmer et al., Pryor, and Kelly discloses intermediate elements of a transmission device therefore, Kelly constitutes as prior art. Kelly discloses a vertical axis wind turbine having a control member connected to a pin rotating relative to a pivot of an airfoil. It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have wherein the two pivot elements having offset pivot axes comprise a first intermediate element engaged with an axial element rigidly connected to the central shaft of Pryor and a second intermediate element engaged with an element constrained to rotate with a frame of the associated blade of Kelly for the purpose of 1) having a rigid and secure rotating connection between the shaft and the intermediate elements of the transmission and 2) having a rigid and secure rotating connection between the second intermediate element and the frame of the associated blade.
Regarding Claim 7, Stemmer et al. and Pryor disclose the rotor according to claim 1.
Stemmer et al. and Pryor does not disclose:
further comprising a common device for adjusting the maximum amplitude of oscillation of the blades,
this device comprising a plate able to rotate around the rotor axis and having pivots of the first or second intermediate elements of each of the transmissions,
so as to vary the distance between the pivot axes of the first and second intermediate elements in the circumferential direction.
Kelly discloses:
further comprising a common device for adjusting the maximum amplitude of oscillation of the blades (18) (Kelly Para [0014] whole paragraph discloses a device capable of airfoil pitch control),
Pryor and Kelly structurally disclose:
this device comprising a plate (34 of Kelly Fig. 1) able to rotate around the rotor axis (16 of Kelly Fig. 1) and having pivots of the first or second intermediate elements (pitch control slot 29 and a pin 46 of Pryor Fig. 1) of each of the transmissions (Pryor Fig. 1 and Kelly Fig. 1),
so as to vary the distance between the pivot axes (Kelly Para [0034] whole paragraph discloses distance between control plate engaged with the pivot axes can angularly be displaced which affects the distance between pitch) of the first and second intermediate elements (pitch control slot 29 and a pin 46 of Pryor Fig. 1) in the circumferential direction (Kelly Fig. 1 and Pryor Fig. 1).
It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further have a common device for adjusting the maximum amplitude of oscillation of the blades, of Kelly and this device comprising a plate able to rotate around the rotor axis and having pivots of the first or second intermediate elements of each of the transmissions, so to vary the distance between the pivot axes of the first and second intermediate elements in the circumferential direction of structurally disclosed Stemmer et al., Pryor and Kelly for the purpose of 1) having the ability to maximize the pitch oscillation of blades and 2) to determine best pitch adjustment for blade correction.
Claims 10 – 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stemmer et al. in view of Pryor and further in view of Kawaguchi et al. (US 20160352197 A1).
Regarding Claim 10, Stemmer et al. and Pryor discloses the rotor according to claim 1.
Stemmer et al. does not disclose:
wherein a fixed axial shaft and the rotary structure of the rotor carry inner and outer elements of a rotary machine,
the outer element carried by the rotary structure being able to generate energy within said rotary structure under the effect of its rotation relative to the inner element carried by the central shaft.
Pryor et al. discloses:
wherein a fixed axial shaft (16) and the rotary structure (generator 14) of the rotor carry inner and outer elements of a rotary machine (generators inherently discloses rotating parts and stationary parts that can either be inner or outer from each other).
Pryor and Kawaguchi et al. structurally discloses:
the outer element (stator 3 of Kawaguchi et al. Fig. 1) carried by the rotary structure (generator 14 of Pryor Fig. 1) being able to generate energy within said rotary structure under the effect of its rotation relative to the inner element (rotor core 21) carried by the central shaft (1) (Kawaguchi et al. Fig. 1).
Stemmer et al., Pryor, and Kawaguchi et al. discloses a rotary structure therefore, Kawaguchi constitutes prior art. Kawaguchi et al. discloses an electric generator having a rotor and a stator. It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have wherein a fixed axial shaft and the rotary structure of the rotor carry inner and outer elements of a rotary machine of Pryor and the outer element carried by the rotary structure being able to generate energy within said rotary structure under the effect of its rotation relative to the inner element carried by the central shaft of structurally disclosed Pryor, and Kawaguchi et al. for the purpose of 1) having a rotary structure generating a rotational motion for the shaft and 2) having the motor be fixedly secured to the rotary structure.
Regarding Claim 11, Stemmer et al., Pryor, and Kawaguchi et al. disclose the rotor according to claim 10, wherein the rotary machine belongs to a group comprising electric motors, electric generators and fluid pumps (flow converter) (Stemmer et al. Para [0001] lines 4 – 5),
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 – 9 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding Claim 8, the prior art discloses various of rotors having shafts. However, the particular structure in combination with previously recited features, wherein an inner shaft constituting the central shaft of the rotor, angularly movable so as to cause a corresponding overall change in the pitch of the blades via the transmission devices, an intermediate shaft rotationally adjustable to control the angular displacement of the plate of the amplitude adjustment device, and an outer shaft belonging to the rotary structure of the rotor are all arranged concentrically about the axis of the rotor is not disclosed/suggested in the prior art. Thus, the invention recited above is neither anticipated nor rendered obvious in the art.
Regarding Claim 9, it would be objected as being dependent on allowable claim 8.
Conclusion
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/THEODORE L PERKINS/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/TERRANCE L KENERLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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