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 .
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.
Specification
The specification and drawings have been reviewed and no clear informalities or objections have been noted.
Priority
The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119(a) to Indian Application No. 202311017467, filed March 15, 2023. Entitlement to a foreign priority date is determined on a claim-by-claim basis and claimed invention is entitled to the foreign filing date only where the foreign priority application provides adequate support for the claimed subject matter.
Claims 1-15 are entitled to the 3/15/2023 priority date. However, the Indian Application does not provide written-description support for the limitations of claim 16 related to the cross-sectional area. As such, claims 16-20 are given a priority date of 2/23/2024, the filing date of the present application.
Claim Objections
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 16 states “aligned within an opening the housing”. This appears to be a typographical error and should be “aligned within an opening of the housing”. Appropriate correction is required.
Furthermore claim 16 states “the second outlet duct as a second maximum cross-sectional area”. This appears to be a typographical error and should be “the second outlet duct as a maximum cross-sectional area”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 18, Applicant claims “the flexible coupling includes a structural member including a neck member…. a shoulder part…. a sleeve part… a rim joined to the sleeve part, wherein the rim is fixed to the structural member”. There are now tow potential “structural members”. It is unclear whether “the structural member” in “the rim is fixed to the structural member” means:
The newly introduced coupling structural member, in which case the claim arguably says a rim that is already part of the structural member is fixed to itself; or
The “structural member of a fuselage” recited in claim 16.
Clarification is required.
In claim 20, similarly, Applicant claims “a second end attached to the structural member”. Like in claim 18, it is unclear if the “the structural member” is in reference to the structural member introduced in claim 18 or claim 16. Clarification is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Villanueva (US 2021/0391627) in view of French (US 2003/0132630).
Regarding claim 1, Villanueva discloses a venting device for an energy storage system comprising:
a burst disc (burst membrane 112);
a fluid flow path including a first outlet duct (see outlet duct 2106 in Fig. 21) and a second outlet duct (vent outlet 1810);
a flexible coupling around a junction between the first outlet duct and the exterior of a plane and the second outlet duct (see flexible coupling 2114 that joins together the first outlet duct 2106 and the second outlet duct/outlet 1810, also see paragraph 125 that teaches that the flexible coupling 2114 exists to accommodate movement between the battery pack and the wing of the plane).
Villanueva, however, does not teach the claimed “piston seal”.
French also discloses a ducting system that is designed for aircraft (see paragraph 37).
French teaches a sealing mechanism between two ducts that utilizes a “piston seal” type configuration. French goes on to teach that this “piston seal” comprises two ducts (12 and 14) with a seal (sealing tube 28 and smooth surface 62) that provide a structure that allows for axial movement of the joint along with rotational movement and angular misalignment (paragraph 34).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to replace the flexible joint of Villanueva with the piston type flexible seal of French in order to provide the joint with axial, rotational and alignment flexibility. Furthermore, such a modification is nothing more than a simple substitution of one known flexible joint for another to yield entirely predictable results.
Regarding claim 2, Villanueva, as modified by French above, further discloses the piston seal and the flexible coupling are arranged to provide an expansion cavity for gases exiting the burst disc (the axial movement of the piston joint of French will create cavities/regions that are filled with battery exhaust gas that is to exit the disc, Fig. 8 of French illustrates such a feature where axial movement of the ducts occurs and cavities are created, see the section right next to reference number 148a which is a cavity created by axial movement).
Regarding claim 3, Villanueva, as modified above, further discloses the flexible coupling and the piston seal are arranged for relative sliding movement (the flexible coupling, 122 and the piston seal 28/62 of French are arranged to slide).
Regarding claim 4, Villanueva, as modified above further discloses wherein the flexible coupling comprises:
a first rigid structural member associated with the first outlet duct (rigid metallic tube 120 of French, see paragraph 69) of and a second rigid structural member associated with the second outlet duct (rigid sealing sleeve/support member 160 of French, see paragraph 76), and
a flexible sleeve between the first rigid structural member and the second rigid structural member (a flexible sleeve 122 of French is positioned between these rigid structures to facilitate axial movement).
Regarding claim 5, modified Villanueva further discloses the flexible sleeve comprises a tube of elastomeric material (see paragraph 34 which discloses that flexibility from the joint is achieved through an elastomeric material).
Regarding claim 6, modified Villanueva further discloses the flexible sleeve comprises a bellows duct (see bellows 122 of French).
Regarding claim 7, modified Villanueva further discloses the first and second rigid structural members are configured for sliding movement with respect to the outlet ducts (French expressly teaches that the sliding sealing member 132 moves by sliding in the wear resistant sealing sleeve 126 which moves the rigid structures relative to the outlet ducts) .
Regarding claim 8, modified Villanueva further discloses the piston seal (32 of French which is a sealant member) is attached to the first outlet duct (sealing member 32 is attached to duct 14 of French) and is arranged to make sliding contact with the second structural member (sealing member 32 slides along second structural member 63, see paragraph 50 of French).
Regarding claim 9, modified Villanueva further discloses the first and second outlet ducts are arranged along a common axis and the flexible coupling is coaxial with the common axis and is arranged around the first and second outlet ducts (see paragraph 69 of French which discloses that the inner surface is concentrically arranged about the longitudinal axis of joint 110).
Regarding claim 10, Villanueva further discloses the energy storage system comprises a housing including an outlet to the burst disc (housing as depicted in Fig. 6 with an outlet 112 for the burst disc).
Regarding claim 11, Villanueva further discloses a battery (504) in a housing (as depicted in Fig. 6), and the venting device as claimed in claim 1.
Regarding claim 12, Villanueva further discloses batteries each in a respective housing (see Fig. 3 which illustrates multiple battery packs/housings), and each of the housings includes the venting device as claimed in claim 1.
Regarding claims 13 and 15, Villanueva further discloses a vehicle (such as an airplane, as depicted in Fig. 3) comprising the energy storage system as claimed in claim 11.
Regarding claim 14, Villanueva further discloses a venting system comprising at least one duct between the venting device and an exterior surface of the vehicle (see Fig. 21 which illustrates a duct between the venting device and the exterior of the aircraft).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-17 allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art, Villanueva and French, teaches a flexible exhaust gas pathway between a rupture disc of a battery and the exterior of an airplane including the claimed piston seal attached to the flexible coupling. However, the prior art neither teaches nor suggests the claimed configuration of claim 16 in which, in addition to the claimed flexible coupling limitations, the second outlet duct has a maximum cross-sectional area that is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the first outlet duct.
Claims 18-20 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.
Relevant Prior Art
US 2023/0207957 – Discloses an aircraft battery venting system having a rupture disk and a vent that guides the vented gases to the exterior of the airplane, similar to the claimed invention.
US 2008/0087783 – Discloses a system for supporting aircraft ducting from the frames or other structural members of a fuselage while allowing relative movement, similar to the instant claimed invention.
FR 3071583 A1 – Discloses movable upstream and downstream ducts joined by a bellows with a movable annular seal, similar to the claimed invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW J MERKLING whose telephone number is (571)272-9813. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8am-6pm.
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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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/MATTHEW J MERKLING/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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