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 .
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) 1-10,13,15-21are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wochner (US9488026) {hereinafter ‘026}.
With respect to claim 1 ‘026 discloses a subsea oi and or gas facility (column 1 lines 15-20) comprising:
Rotating equipment/machinery located subsea and configured for subsea use, the rotating equipment/machinery comprising pumping equipment/machinery having one or more pumps or compression equipment/machinery having one or more compressors, or both for processing oil and or gas generated by the subsea oil and or gas facility (implicit in “oil and mineral drilling operations”) ; and
A noise mitigation system configured for deepwater use and configured to mitigate noise generated by the rotating equipment/machinery (see column 2 lines 1-30 and column 1lines 15-20),
Wherein the noise mitigation system comprises a deepwater resonator array (see column 3 lines 60-67 “a plurality of resonators 102 on a panel 100”) configured for deepwater use and comprising an array of resonators filled with gas to mitigate the noise (column 4 lines 1-5).
The conventional machinery is implicitly disclosed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found the use of the noise mitigation system with the claimed machinery as an obvious matter.
With respect to claim 2 ‘026 as modified further discloses wherein the noise mitigation system further comprises a frame (see figure 16 which shows a frame, capable of surrounding on at least one side a noise source, the placement of silencing elements to surround a noise source is well understood in the art of noise mitigation and would have been an obvious orientation for tone of ordinary skill to select as is described in column 8 ) surrounding the rotating equipment/machinery and wherein the deepwater resonator array comprises a plurality of panels in which resonator cups (see column 6 regarding resonator cups) are formed, the plurality of panels being attached to the frame such that the deepwater resonator array surrounds the rotating equipment machinery on at least one side, and wherein the frame is configured to hold the plurality of panels in a noise mitigation orientation in which the resonator cups have an open end oriented toward the seabed to capture gas for noise mitigation (described as “inverted cups”).
With respect to claims 3 and 4 ‘026 as modified further discloses wherein the frame of the noise mitigation system is positioned around and connected to the support frame of the rotating equipment/machinery (column 8 lines 1-15). This is applicable to a module support frame as this would constitute a support of the noise source.
With respect to claim 5 ‘026 as modifieds further discloses wherein the frame of the noise mitigation system comprises a first section and a second section (see figure 16c 1650 and 1640 respectively) the first section being configured to hold a first panel of the plurality of panels and the second section being configured to hold a second panel of the plurality of panels (see again figure 16c).
With respect to claim 6 ‘026 as modified further discloses (see figure 16c) wherein the first section is configured to hold the first panel of the plurality of panels in a first orientation and the second section is configured to hold the second panel of the plurality of panels in a second orientation different from the first.
With respect to claims 7 and 8 ‘026 further discloses wherein the first section (1650) is hinged or retractable to allow the first section to be rotated away from the rotating equipment/machinery and thereby allow access to the rotating equipment/machinery while remaining sections of the frame remain stationary, the reversal of this relationship to provide for the second section to be the moving section would have been an obvious matter of rearranging of the parts. It has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
With respect to claim 9 while not expressly disclosing the use of an actuation system to move the movable panel the teachings of use of multiple winches to place the panels implies the use of such an actuation system to move from the open to the closed positions (see columns 7 and 8).
With respect to claim 10 ‘026 further discloses wherein the resonator actuation system comprises one or more winches attached to either or both of the first panel and the second panel (as the winch mechanisms are sued to lower and deploy the elements their use as actuators for the opening and closing of the hinged member would have been an obvious smatter to one of orinday skill.)
With respect to claim 13 ‘026 further discloses wherein the resonator actuator system is coupled to the frame and configured to selectively move one or both of the first section (taught) and the second section of the frame relative to the rotating equipment machinery (the movement of the frame portion is shown and as such the actuation system must necessarily be coupled to the frame portion which moves ).
With respect to claim 15 as it regards the permanent nature of the installation there is no expressly claimed structure which would differentiate the claimed invention from the teachings of ‘026 as modified. The permanent nature of the installation would merely be the absence of the device being removed.
With respect to claim 16 ‘026 disclsoes a method of mitigating long term noise produced in a subsea oil and or gas facility comprising rotating equipment/machinery located subsea and configured for subsea use (see column 1 regarding drilling, as for the long term noise this would require only not removing the structures and as such is implicitly taught),
The rotating equipment/machinery comprising pumping equipment/machinery having one or more pumps, or compression equipment/machinery having one or more compressors or both, for processing oil and or gas generated by the subsea oil and gas facility, the method comprising:
Securing a deepwater resonator frame to a module support frame of the rotating equipment/machinery (see figures 16), the deepwater resonator frame being attached to a deepwater resonator array comprising an array of resonator cups (column 6) formed within resonator panels, the resonator cups being capable of being filled with gas (taught as inverted)l and
Filling the resonator cups with gas (nitrogen etc disclosed) to form resonators, the resonators being configured to mitigate noise generated by the rotating equipment machinery during operation; and
Wherein securing the deepwater resonator frame to the module support frame places the deepwater resonator array sufficiently proximate the rotating equipment/machinery to enable resonators of the deepwater resonator array to mitigate the noise generated by the rotating equipment/machinery during operation.
With respect to claim 17 ‘026 further discloses moving at least one resonator panel of the resonator panels form an initial position to a noise mitigation position via an actuation mechanism integrated into the deepwater resonator frame that allows the resonator panels to move relative to the deepwater resonator frame (see figures 16, the term integrate is broad enough to cover the initial installation using the winches and cranes for the moving of the panels as described in columns 7 and 8 , the initial position maintaining the at least one resonator panel in a collapsed position proximate one or more other resonator panels (see figures 16) while the deepwater resonator frame is secured to the module support frame.
With respect to claim 18 ‘026 further discloses moving at least one resonator panel of the resonator panels from a noise mitigation position to a maintenance position (figures 15 demonstrate stowed and deployed positions wherein the frame is not removed from around the drilling structure this teachings would allow for a maintenance position by lifting back into the stowed position without a full removal as such is disclosed. ) via an actuation mechanism integrated into the deepwater resonator frame that allows resonator panels to move relative to the deepwater resonator frame (integrated is broad enough to cover the winches and cranes taught to be used for installation they are integrated when they are connected to the panels) the maintenance position allowing greater access to the rotating equipment/machinery r outside of the deepwater resonator frame than the noise mitigation position; and
returning the at least one resonator panel from the maintenance position to the noise mitigation position without moving the deepwater resonator frame (see figure 15a and 15b).
With respect to claim 19 ‘026 discloses both positions and means by which to provide them (see again 15a and 15b and the winch structures included therein) as the device is intended to reduce noise the placement back into the noise mitigation position once the maintenance is completed would have been obvious to allow for continued function of the device.
With respect to claim 20 ‘026 further discloses wherein securing the deepwater resonator frame to the module support frame is done after deployment of the rotating equipment/machinery in a deepwater environment (see figures 16 ).
With regard to claim 21 given the structures in question the device is constructed in such a way as to be connected to the drilling equipment frame, as such the frame would be the only piece of equipment needed to have been deployed for the noise mitigation structure to be deployed, the change in order of the other steps of the installation would not have an impact on the function of the noise mitigation device and as such would be done in any order without alteration to the function of the noise mitigation device. This rearrangement would have been an obvious smatter to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wochner (US9488026) {hereinafter ‘026} in view of KR20160002250.
With respect to claim 11 ‘026 discloses the invention as claimed except expressly the provision of an ROV interface configured to allow for an ROV to cause the first panel or the second panel to move.
The use of an ROV for maintenance or repair in a subsea drilling operation is known from at least KR20160002250 (see translation). The ROV would be used in a known manner to provide motive force to the structure, the inclusion of an interface to allow for the ROV to move the panel would have been obvious to allow for the connection thereto.
The use of an ROV to provide the motive force would have been an obvious mater to one of ordinary skill in the art as such vehicles are known to be used in such subsea operations, their ability to withstand the pressures needed without placing human life in danger is well known.
With respect to claim 12 The provision of a receptacle for a torque tool of the ROV would have been understood as torque would need to be applied to the structure to allow for the motive force to act on the structure. Such a provision would have been understood by one of ordinary skill and included to allow for the desired function.
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wochner (US9488026) {hereinafter ‘026} in view of Prescott (US20050283276).
With respect to claim 14 ‘026 discloses the invention as claimed except expressly the provision of a gas source and the control system thereof.
‘026 discloses the use of a gas within the resonators and such this implies the presence of a gas source.
The use of sensors and control systems in a topside location for the control of subsea systems is known from at least Prescott and would be understood by one of ordinary skill as such control would need to be remotely conducted due to the environmental conditions such as pressure. AS such the sensing and control of the system would have been an obvious matter to ensure the proper parameters of the gas and thus by extension the resonators are met.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Batho (US12049799) discloses a noise mitigation of subsea drilling operations; Wochner (US9812112) discloses a subsea resonator structure; Wochner (US9410403) discloses a subsea resonator structure of inverted cups; Elmer (US20150078833) discloses a method for handling hydrosound; Mohr (US8500369) discloses a method and device for underwater sound reduction; Ward (US20130056270) discloses a subsea noise mitigation system; Jung (US20120097476) discloses a device and method for reducing noise; and Baskerville (US20080083783) discloses an underwater energy damping structure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FORREST M PHILLIPS whose telephone number is (571)272-9020. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dedei Hammond can be reached at (571) 272-3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FORREST M PHILLIPS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837