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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species 4 in the reply filed on 08/14/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 3, 6, and 7 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 08/14/2026.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bruno et al. (US 2019/0135440 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Bruno discloses a compressing device (Bruno 40) for use in an environmental control system (Bruno 20) comprising:
A plurality of turbines (Bruno 44, 46, and 48) configured to provide energy by expanding one or more mediums (Bruno [0036], “The bleed air turbine 44, the fresh air turbine 46, and the power turbine 48 are mechanical devices that expand a medium and extract work therefrom (also referred to as extracting energy)”), the plurality of turbines being arranged in series relative to the one or more mediums (Bruno [0042], “Within the turbine 44, the first medium A1 is expanded and work is extracted, to power operation of the compressor 42.”, Bruno [0046], “in the second mode of operation, valve V3 is open. As a result, at least a portion of the first medium A1 output from the bleed air turbine 54 of the expansion device 52 is mixed with the second medium A2 upstream from the inlet of the compressor 42”, and Bruno [0045], “The cool second medium A2 having a medium pressure is then provided to the fresh air turbine 46 of the compression device 40 where it is expanded and work is extracted, thereby driving operation of the compressor 42.”, see Bruno figure 1, Examiner notes Bleed Airflow A1 will flow through turbine 44 then pass through the compressor 42 with the cabin airflow A3 then pass through turbine 46 and therefore will pass through the turbines in series), wherein the one or more mediums provided at an outlet of at least one turbine of the plurality of turbines forms a heat sink within the environmental control system (Bruno [0049], “The third medium A3 output from the power turbine 48 may be provided to a downstream portion of the system 20. In an embodiment, the third medium A3 is directed to an inlet of the ram air circuit 30, where it is combined with the ram air before flowing across the ram air heat exchangers 34, 36, 38.” And Bruno [0050], “As a result, the first medium A1 output from the bleed air turbine 44 of the compression device 40 passes through the compressor before being directed to a downstream portion of the system 20. When valve V7 is open, the first medium A1 is not provided to the expansion device 52. Rather, the first medium A1 is directed to an inlet of the ram air circuit 30, where it is combined with the ram air before flowing across the ram air heat exchangers 34, 36, 38.” Examiner notes that the air in the ram air circuit cools the heat exchangers and is therefore a heat sink);
A compressor (Bruno 42) configured to receive energy from the one or more mediums expanded across at least one turbine of the plurality of turbines (Bruno [0036], “In the compression device 40, the turbines 44, 46, and 48 drive the compressor 42 via the shaft 50.”), wherein during a first mode of the compressing device, energy derived from a first medium (Bruno A1) and a second medium (Bruno A2) of the one or more mediums is used to compress a second medium at the compressor (Bruno [0042], “In the first mode, valve V6 for controlling a supply of the third medium A3 to the system 20 may, but need not be open. Accordingly, the supply of third medium A3 is not critical to operation of the system 20 in the first mode. In the first mode, each of valves V2, V5, and V7 is in a closed configuration.”, when valve v6 is closed only the first and second medium are utilized in the compressors, see Bruno figure 1) and during a second mode of the compressing device , energy derived from the first medium (Bruno A1), the second medium (Bruno A2), and the third medium (Bruno A3) of the one or more mediums is used to compress the second medium at the compressor (Bruno [0042], “In the first mode, valve V6 for controlling a supply of the third medium A3 to the system 20 may, but need not be open. Accordingly, the supply of third medium A3 is not critical to operation of the system 20 in the first mode. In the first mode, each of valves V2, V5, and V7 is in a closed configuration.”, When valve V6 is open all three mediums are provided to the turbines, see Bruno figure 1).
Regarding claim 2, Bruno as applied to claim 1 further discloses the plurality of turbines includes a first turbine (Bruno 44) configured to receive and extract work from the first medium (Bruno [0042], “Within the turbine 44, the first medium A1 is expanded and work is extracted, to power operation of the compressor 42”) and a second turbine (Bruno 48) configured to receive and extract work from the third medium (Bruno [0049], “Within the turbine 48, the third medium A3 is expanded and work is extracted, to provide additional energy for operation of the compressor 42”).
Regarding claim 8, Bruno as applied to claim 2 further discloses the at least one turbine further comprises a third turbine (Bruno 46) configured to receive and extract work from the second medium (Bruno [0045], “The cool second medium A2 having a medium pressure is then provided to the fresh air turbine 46 of the compression device 40 where it is expanded and work is extracted, thereby driving operation of the compressor 42.”).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bruno et al. (US 2019/0135440 A1) as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Bruno et al. (US 2016/0347456 A1). To avoid confusion the base reference will be referred to as Bruno ’19 and the secondary reference will be referred to as Bruno ’16.
Regarding claim 4, Bruno ’19 as applied to claim 2 is silent regarding the first turbine (Bruno ’19, 44) and the second turbine (Bruno ’19, 48) being arranged in series such that the second turbine is also configured to receive and extract air from the first medium.
However, Bruno ’16 teaches an aircraft environmental control system (Bruno ’16, 100) where a first turbine (Bruno ’16, 112) is configured to receive and extract work from a first medium (Bruno ’16 [0027], “hot high-pressure bleed air B drawn from the engine 20 or the APU 80 is supplied to the primary heat exchanger 102 where it is cooled by ram air. The warm air then enters a first turbine 112 of the ACM 106, where it is cooled by the process of extracting work” and then is mixed with a third medium and passes through a second turbine (Bruno ’16, 114) where work is extracted from both the first and third mediums (Bruno ’16 [0027], “the bleed air B is mixed with some recirculation air R discharged from the cabin 108. The recirculation air R is pressurized by the compressor 110 of the air cycle machine 106 and cooled by the secondary heat exchanger 104 prior to being mixed with the bleed air B, thereby reducing the moisture within the air mixture. The mixed air then enters the second turbine 114 of the ACM 106 where it is again cooled by the process of extracting work.). Examiner notes that Bruno ‘16’s bleed air and cabin air is consistent with Bruno ‘19’s use of bleed air A1 and cabin air A3 as first and third mediums.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify Bruno ‘19’s compressing device to utilize Bruno ‘16’s teachings of connecting the first and second turbine’s in series to allow the second turbine to extract work from the first and third mediums to produce a predictable result of extracting more work from the mediums to improve overall compressing device efficiency.
Regarding claim 5, Bruno ’19 and Bruno ’16 as applied to claim 4 teach that the first medium output from the first turbine (Bruno ’16, 112) is mixed with the third medium at a location upstream (see annotated figure) from the second turbine (Bruno ’16, 114).
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Bruno ’16 figure 6 (annotated)
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bruno et al. (US 2019/0135440 A1) as applied to claim 8 above.
Regarding claim 9, Bruno as applied to claim 8 teaches the second turbine (Bruno 48) is located near the center of the shaft (see Bruno figure 1) and the third turbine (Bruno 46) is located at an end of the shaft (see Bruno figure 1).
Bruno is silent regarding the second and third turbine being mounted at opposite ends of the shaft.
However, applicant’s own specification is silent regarding any functional advantage of the placement at opposite ends of the shaft and a court has held that a mere rearrangement of parts without altering the functionality of a device cannot sustain a patent (see MPEP § 2144.04 VI C).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify Bruno’s compressing device to mount the second and third turbines at opposite ends of the shaft to produce a predictable result of shortening the flowpath from the second turbine to the ram air conduit.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES R BRAWNER whose telephone number is (571)272-0228. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at (571) 272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHARLES R BRAWNER/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/HELENA KOSANOVIC/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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