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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09 January 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description:
Reference numeral – 103 --, as shown in Figure 7, does not appear within the written specification.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 1, line: A paragraph disclosing related patent applications should be provide along with priority claims.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 16-28 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Re claim 16, claim line 3: The term – melting – has been misspelled.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 20-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 20 recites operating the transportable routing machine in a rotary speed range of over 10,000 revolutions per minute. The specification, page 2, line 28 through page 3, line 3 disclose the recited limitation above, as well as a rotary speed of 30000 rotations per minute +10%. While over 10,000 revolutions per minute and 30,000 rotations per minute +10% broadly meet the limitations of the claim, the claim as recited also includes any and all revolutions greater than 10,000. The specification, however, does not support revolutions greater than 33,000 rotations per minutes; and as currently constructed, one does not know the range boundary of over 10000 revolutions per minute as claimed. Thus, the claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
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.
Claims 16-18, 20-23, and 26-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2991551 (Fogle et al.) in view of US 5,971,001 (Andersson).
With respect to the limitations of claim 1, Fogle et al. disclose a method and apparatus for forming holes in pipes by melting a hole into a tube/pipe (9) with a non-cutting friction drilling process by melting material of the tube/pipe (9) of a gas line (col. 1, lines 12-15, col. 5, lines 20-36 and Figures 3 and 7-8). Fogle et al. fail to disclose connecting a measuring facility at the melted-in hole.
Andersson disclose a fitting assembly and method for fixing a sensing unit (32) to a conduit (12) containing fluid; and attaching the sensing unit (32) to the conduit (12) through a clamp member (14), whereby characteristics of the fluid can be measured through the creation of a hole in the conduit (Figures 1-4 and col. 2, lines 51-63, col. 3, lines 56-57, and col. 4, lines 8-12). Modifying Fogle et al. with means for measuring characteristics of a fluid line would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention as a means of determining the characteristics of the fluid flowing within the fluid line as well as to determine conditions of the fluid line, such as leaks or faults, which would require repairs.
NOTE: With respect to where the tube is located, i.e., a vehicle or rail vehicle, the Examiner is not giving any patentable weight to the location containing the tube because the invention is directed to a method of attaching a measuring facility to a tube; and the particular location of the tube is not deemed to be a patentable consideration, given that it is known, as argued above, to tap gas lines in other environments and the location is merely a choice of design that would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art where fluids are to be monitored/measured.
With respect to the limitations of claim 17, the combination appears to disclose initially mounting a pipe boring clamp at a site on the tube situated in the vehicle, and carrying out the friction drilling process at the site defined by the pipe boring clamp (Andersson discloses a clamp member (14b) attached at a site on the tube (12) and carrying out the drilling process at the site – col. 2, lines 26-50 and Figures 1-2; Fogle et al. disclose the friction drilling process).
With respect to the limitations of claim 18, the combination (Fogle et al.) appears to disclose melting the hole into a fluid line. NOTE: The type of line and the location of the line are choices of design that would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to measure/monitor the characteristics of any particular type of fluid line in the environment containing said line in order gain better understanding of the fluid conditions and to monitor hazardous situations.
With respect to the limitation of claim 20, the combination (Fogle et al.) disclose carrying out the non-cutting friction drilling process with a transportable routing machine while operating the transportable routing machine in a rotary speed range. The combination fails to disclose a rotary speed range of over 10,000 revolutions per minute. Fogle et al. further disclose that the rotary speed may be increased in accordance with variable factors such as tool diameter and the quality of the metal being swaged (col. 5, lines 38-41). The Examiner argues that the claimed range is also metal dependent such that a particular range is well within the purview of one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention; and it is not inventive to find the appropriate speed for melting the tube, as each tube may have different characteristics and through routine experimentation the appropriate speed can be determined.
With respect to the limitation of claim 21, the combination (Fogle et all.) appears to disclose pressing the transportable routing machine onto the tube during operation exclusively manually without any additional pressing facility (a handle (7) is operated manually to engage the forming tool chuck (10) with the tube (9) – Figure 1).
With respect to the limitations of claim 22, the combination (Fogle et all.) appears to disclose placing an adapter facility (14) between the transportable routing machine (10) and a pipe boring clamp (15,16,17).
With respect to the limitations of claim 23, the combination (Fogle et all.) appears to further disclose mounting the adapter facility (14) on the transportable routing machine (10) forming a routing machine adapter unit (fixture/adapter facility (12,14) secures the cylindrical collar (23) of the chuck/routing machine (10) via inner race (22) and outer race (23) as the chuck (10) is secured into an opening in a plate (18) of the fixture (12) – col. 3, line 70 through col. 4, line 5 and Figure 2); and placing the routing machine adapter unit on the pipe boring clamp (block (14) of the fixture (12) is placed on the pipe boring clamp (15,16) – Figure 2).
With respect to the limitations of clam 26, the combination (Andersson) further discloses providing a pipe boring clamp (14a) with a tubular attachment connecting piece (16) having an outer wall and an inner wall (clamp (14a) comprises a body member (16) having an outer wall and an inner wall (16a); placing the adapter facility or the routing machine adapter unit on the tubular attachment connecting piece and centering the adapter facility or the routing machine adapter unit on the tubular attachment connecting piece by way of the outer wall of the attachment connecting piece (attachment connecting piece (16) is provided with a bushing/adapter facility (28) that allows a bit (30) from a routing machine to be centered on a tube (12) – Figures 1-2); and after the melting-in of the hole, screwing the measuring facility into an internal thread in the inner wall of the tubular attachment connecting piece (sensing unit (32) is screwed into a port (16a) of the attachment connecting piece (16) – Figures 3-4).
With respect to the limitations of claim 27, the combination (Fogle et al.) appears to disclose that the tube is a metal tube; and would be capable of use within a freight car.
NOTE: The location of the line is a choice of design that would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention. Locating within a freight car does not further limit the method of creating a hole within a tube and attaching a measuring facility.
With respect to the limitation of claim 28, the combination appears capable of carrying out the melting of the tube material in an unpressurized state of the tube.
With respect to the limitations of claim 29, Fogle et al. disclose a method and apparatus for forming holes in pipes by melting a hole into a tube/pipe (9) of a fluid line (col. 1, lines 12-15, col. 5, lines 20-36 and Figures 3 and 7-8). Fogle et al. fail to disclose connecting a measuring facility at the melted-in hole.
Andersson disclose a fitting assembly and method for fixing a sensing unit (32) to a conduit (12) containing fluid; and attaching the sensing unit (32) to the conduit (12) through a clamp member (14), whereby characteristics of the fluid can be measured through the creation of a hole in the conduit (Figures 1-4 and col. 2, lines 51-63, col. 3, lines 56-57, and col. 4, lines 8-12). Modifying Fogle et al. with means for measuring characteristics of a fluid line would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention as a means of determining the characteristics of the fluid flowing within the fluid line as well as to determine conditions of the fluid line, such as leaks or faults, which would require repairs.
NOTE: With respect to the preamble claiming a rail vehicle, the Examiner is not giving any patentable weight to the preamble because the preamble does not breathe life and breath into the body of the claim. The body of the claim provides no recitation of this rail vehicle and only recites a fluid line and a measuring facility that could be found in any location. Both references cited above provide means for placing a hole in a fluid line comprising a tube.
With respect to the limitations of clam 30, the combination (Andersson) further discloses a pipe boring clamp (14a) having a tubular attachment connecting piece (16) with an outer wall forming an adjusting facility for a centered placement of at least one of a routing machine, an adapter facility or a routing machine adapter unit (clamp (14a) comprises a body member (16) forming an adjusting facility to allow a bit (30) from a routing machine to be centered on a tube (12) – Figures 1-2); said measuring facility (32) being screwed into said tubular attachment connecting piece (16) (sensing unit (32) is screwed into a port (16a) of the attachment connecting piece (16) – Figures 3-4).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2991551 (Fogle et al.) in view of US 5,971,001 (Andersson) as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of US 3,278,944 (Templeton).
With respect to the limitations of claim 19, the combination discloses all of the limitations of the base claim, but fails to disclose providing a compressed air line of a compressed air braking system of the vehicle as the fluid line; and connecting an air pressure measuring facility to the tube as the measuring facility for measuring an air pressure of a compressed air braking system during operation.
Templeton disclose an air pressure gage for railroad train lines, whereby the air pressure gage is engaged with a compressed air line of a compressed air braking system to measure an air pressure of the compressed braking system (Figures 1-3 and col. 2 line 27 through col. 3, line 58). Modifying the combination to measure air pressure of a compressed air line would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention as a means of testing the braking system of a train to ensure a proper working order.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Prior art was not relied upon to reject claims 24-25 because the prior art of record fails to teach and/or make obvious the following:
Claim 24: Providing a method further comprises carrying out the mounting of the adapter facility on the transportable routing machine forming the routing machine adapter unit, by feeding screws through holes in the adapter facility and screwing the screws into the transportable routing machine in combination with all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 25: Providing a method, which further comprises: placing the adapter facility at an opening of the pipe boring clamp; subsequently placing the transportable routing machine on the adapter facility; and guiding a router head of the transportable routing machine through a through hole in the adapter facility in combination with all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 24-25 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The prior art disclose various means for pressure monitoring a fluid line.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL SEAN LARKIN whose telephone number is 571-272-2198. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Laura Martin can be reached at 571-272-2160. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL S LARKIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855