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 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 11,12, 15-18 and 20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on generators of Jing or Williams references used in the previous action. The addition of US Energy reference provides the teaching or suggestion of "at least 10 reciprocating generators, wherein each of the at least 10 reciprocating generators is configured to be powered exclusively by natural gas" (Applicant’s remarks of 2/12/26, p. 7) that Applicant argued that the combination of Jing and Williams lacked.
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 of this title, 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 11 and 15-18 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hinderliter (US 2020/0300073), Jiang (CN 11011353) (using English translation submitted by Applicant on 4/30/25) and U.S. Energy Information Administration (“Natural gas-fired reciprocating engines are being deployed more to balance renewables”, February 19, 2019, hereafter “US Energy”).
With respect Claim 11, Hinderliter teaches a microgrid system comprising: a plurality of reciprocating (¶[0058, ll. 8-9) generators (fig. 3, 204A-204C), wherein each of the reciprocating generators is configured to be powered exclusively by natural gas (¶[0058, ll. 8-9) and interchangeable (see ¶[0058], l. 14, the generators are of the same type) with the others of the reciprocating generators; and a switchgear trailer comprising: a plurality of input breaker assemblies (fig. 5, MAIN BREAKERS 1-3 and ¶[0024], ll. 1-2) in a parallel arrangement (see fig, 14), each of the input breaker assemblies comprising: an input breaker (fig. 14, CB M1 or CB M2) having a load capacity of no more than 1200 amps (¶[0024], ll. 6 and 10-12, small turbines generate 10 MW and below, which 13.8 kV is 725 Amp or below, therefore a breaker rated at 1200 amps is sufficient to handle maximum of 725 amps); and an input connector (fig, 14, upper connection of CB M1 or CB M2) configured to connect the input breaker to one of the reciprocating generators; and a common bus (1402) connected to each of the plurality ofgenerators configured to be powered exclusively by natural gas, at least 10 input breaker assemblies, and an input breaker having a load capacity of no more than 1200 amps. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to duplicate the input breaker assemblies of Hinderliter so that there are at least 10 input breaker assemblies (including an input breaker and an input connector) to provide a means to attach and protection of the switchgear trailer for each of the generators intended to be coupled to the switchgear trailer, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8. While Hinderliter fails to specifically disclose an input breaker having a load capacity of no more than 1200 amps, Hinderliter does disclose small turbines generate 10 MW and below (¶[0024], ll. 6 and 10-12), which is 13.8 kV (¶[0073], l. 2) is 725 Amp or below, therefore a breaker rated at 1200 amps is sufficient to handle maximum load of 725 amps. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hinderliter with an 1200 amp input breaker for the purpose of sizing the input breaker for the size of the generator to minimize cost of the input breaker. Jiang teaches at least 10 input breaker assemblies (G1-AH1 To G1-AH13) in a parallel arrangement (see fig. 1), each of the at least 10 input breaker assemblies comprising: an input breaker (each breaker of G1-AH1 To G1-AH13); and an input connector (fig. 1, generator side of 2) connection configured to connect the input breaker to an input; and a common bus (YJ-A1) connected to each of the at least 10 input breakers, and having power density sufficient to operate the microgrid with all of the at least 10 generators providing power simultaneously (¶[0035], “the thirteen generator sets start simultaneously. After each generator set starts, the corresponding generator outlet circuit breaker is automatically switched on. Once the units are running stably and in synchronization, the parallel control system automatically switches on the parallel input circuit breakers on the parallel busbars (G1-AH1 to G1-AH13 . . .) in sequence for paralleling”); wherein each of the at least 10 generators is connected to an input connector of one (see fig. 1, 1 to 1 correspondence between breakers and generators) of the at least 10 input breaker assemblies. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made substitute the input breakers of Jiang for the input breakers of Hinderliter so that each of the input breakers protects the microgrid system from overcurrent conditions of a respective one of the generators. US Energy teaches at least 10 reciprocating generators configured to be powered exclusively by natural gas (see p. 2, Pearsall Power Plant having 24 natural gas-fired reciprocating engines, each providing 8.4 MW of capacity). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made substitute the natural gas generators of US Energy for the generators of Hinderliter for the benefit of “[t]he recent increase in natural gas . . . capable reciprocating internal combustion engine units has been driven in part by advancements in engine technology that increase operational flexibility and by changes in natural gas markets that have generally provided ample supply and relatively stable fuel prices” (1st paragraph). While, US Energy discloses 24 natural gas reciprocating generators, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to limit the operation to less than 24 (i.e., 10) natural gas reciprocating generators so that the common bus is not overloaded, since it has been held that omission of an element (i. e, some of the natural gas reciprocating generators) and its function (i. e, the power generated by the omitted generator(s)) in a combination where the remaining elements perform the same functions as before involves only routine skill in the art. In re Karlson, 136 USPQ 184.
With respect to Claims 15-18, Hinderliter further teaches the switchgear trailer comprises a single mobile platform (see fig. 5) (claim 15), an energy storage system (¶[0036], l. 4) (claim 16), the switchgear trailer further comprises an energy storage system input breaker (whether a generator or a battery bank is connected to the main circuit breaker determines whether the breaker is input breaker or an energy storage system input breaker) configured to connect to the energy storage system (claim 17) and the switchgear trailer further comprises a utility input breaker configured to connect to a utility source (¶[0036, l. 5) (claim 18).
Claims 12 and 20 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hinderliter (US 2020/0300073), Jiang (CN 11011353), U.S. Energy Information Administration (“Natural gas-fired reciprocating engines are being deployed more to balance renewables”, February 19, 2019, hereafter “US Energy”), and Oehring (US 2020/0109617).
With respect to Claim 12, Hinderliter, Jiang and US Energy disclose the claimed invention except for each input connector is interchangeable with all others of the other input connectors. Oehring teaches each input connector is interchangeable ([0058], Il. 8-9, “multiple different power sources may be coupled to a single switchgear part 202, 204”, see ¶[0054]-[0055] disclosing different combinations of generator types and capacities) with each of the other input connectors. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hinderliter, Jiang and US Energy with the input connectors of Oehring for the purpose of enabling the system to be modular and use smaller compact trailers that enable easier moving between worksites and to use a universal input connector to reduce the number of input connectors that need to be inventoried to manufacture the switchgear trailer.
With respect to Claim 20, Hinderliter, Jiang and US Energy disclose the claimed invention except for each of the at least 10 reciprocating generators is housed on a trailer. Oehring teaches each of the at least 2 natural gas reciprocating generators (¶[0051], l. 9) is housed on a trailer (fig. 2, 200 and ¶[0004], I. 8). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hinderliter, Jiang and US Energy with the mobile generators of Oehring for the purpose of enabling the system to be moved between worksites. Hinderliter and Oehring fail to disclose at least 10 reciprocating generators, and interchangeable with the others of the at least 10 reciprocating generators. US Energy discloses at least 10 natural gas reciprocating generators (see p. 2, Pearsall Power Plant having 24 natural gas-fired reciprocating engines, each providing 8.4 MW of capacity). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to duplicate the reciprocating generators of Oehring so that there are at least 10 interchangeable natural gas reciprocating generators to provide the total power required by the microgrid system, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 11,732,561 and 2021/0131410 (fig. 4) discloses a natural gas reciprocating generator mounted on a trailer.
US 2019/0316447 discloses multiple generators (¶[0024], l. 13) and a natural gas reciprocating generators (¶[0026], l. 27) coupled to a switchgear trailer (¶[0024], ll. 10-11).
CN 115333142 discloses a common bus connected to five natural gas generators.
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RJH 3/7/2026
/ROBERT J HOFFBERG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2835