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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendment of 1 June 2026 to claims 1 and 22 have overcome the rejections of the previous Office Action.
Applicant’s arguments filed 1 June 2026, regarding the 35 USC 103 rejection of claim 10 have been considered but are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the skilled artisan would not find it obvious to modify the turbine generator of Hines to include the power converter of Delf, as Hines already discloses controlling the power output. While Hines may discloses managing the speed of the rotors, this is a mechanical control. Cho discloses an electrical control of output power. This, at the very least, has the added benefit of being a quicker means of achieving the desired output. Further, in an effort to expedite prosecution, it’s worth pointing out the power converters have been included in motor/generator systems for over 100 years. This renders them very well known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, it would be very difficult to gain patentability with the mere inclusion of a power converter in such a system.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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 10-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hines, in view of Delf (US 2009/0250933).
Regarding claim 10: Hines discloses an apparatus (Fig. 1), comprising:
a gas turbine engine (10) comprising:
a compressor section (18, 20) for compressing incoming air (30), the compressor section comprising a turbine shaft (connecting 18 to 26 and 20 to 24);
a combustion section (22) for receiving the compressed incoming air and igniting fuel and producing high-pressure and high-temperature gases (as this is inherent to combustion sections in turbine engines);
a turbine section (24, 26) having turbine blades supported by the turbine shaft, the turbine blades receiving the high-pressure and high-temperature gases so as to induce rotation to the turbine blades and the turbine shaft thereby extracting energy from the high-pressure and high-temperature gases and converting at least a portion of the high-pressure and high-temperature gases into rotational mechanical energy (as is inherent for turbine engines); and
an exhaust gas housing (housing at arrow 10) defining a turbine exhaust gas outlet downstream of the turbine section (shown by arrows 12); and
an electrical turbine generator (16, shown in detail in Fig. 3) comprising:
a movable shaft (42);
a rotor assembly (40, 54A) surrounding the movable shaft and comprising a plurality of blades (40) coupled to a generator rotor (54A), the rotor assembly being supported by the movable shaft (Fig. 3);
a stator assembly (48) including a plurality of stator windings (48) electro-magnetically coupled to the rotor assembly;
a housing (34, Fig. 1) supporting the rotor assembly and the stator assembly, the housing having an exhaust inlet opening (allowing 12 in) and exhaust outlet opening (shown by arrow 12 leaving 34 in Fig. 1), the exhaust inlet opening and the exhaust outlet opening aligned with the blades of the rotor assembly, the housing fluidly connecting the exhaust gas housing of the gas turbine engine to the exhaust inlet opening of the electrical turbine generator (as shown in Fig. 1).
Hines does not explicitly disclose a power converter in communication with the stator windings to convert electrical energy induced in the stator windings into an output current having at least one of a steady frequency and a steady voltage.
However, Delf discloses a power converter (118, Fig. 1) in communication with the stator windings to convert electrical energy induced in the stator windings into an output current having at least one of a steady frequency and a steady voltage (paragraph 0047).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the generator Hines to include the power converter of Delf in order to control the power output (paragraph 0047).
Regarding claim 11: Hines discloses the exhaust gas housing of the gas turbine engine is mechanically coupled to the housing of the electrical turbine generator (as they are connected in Fig. 1), but does not explicitly disclose the connection by one or more bolt.
However, Delf discloses a gas turbine engine housing (202) and generator housing connected by a bolt (203, paragraph 0036).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the housings of Hines to be connected by bolts, as disclosed by Delf, in order to ensure a secure, yet removeable, connection.
Regarding claim 12: Hines discloses the exhaust inlet is in fluid communication with the turbine exhaust gas outlet of the exhaust gas housing (shown by the arrows 12 in Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 13: Hines discloses the turbine shaft and the movable shaft are not mechanically linked (as they are not linked in Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 14: Hines discloses the plurality of blades of the rotor assembly are operable to receive the high-pressure and high-temperature gases generated by the gas turbine engine and induce rotation in the movable shaft (shown by arrows 12 in Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 15: Hines discloses the electrical turbine generator further comprises at least one bearing (64) disposed between the housing and the movable shaft (via 60), the at least one bearing supporting the movable shaft within the housing and isolating rotation of the movable shaft from the housing (as this is the purpose of a bearing).
Regarding claim 16: Hines discloses the electrical turbine generator further comprises a mechanical interface (circles annotated in Fig. 3 above) extending from the movable shaft, the mechanical interface operable to support the rotor assembly.
Regarding claim 17: Hines discloses the rotor assembly and the stator assembly comprise one of a switch reluctance generator, an induction generator, and a permanent magnet generator (in this case, permanent magnet generator, see N and S magnets in Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 18: Hines discloses the rotor assembly further comprises a blade root mechanically coupling the plurality of turbine blades to the movable shaft (above circled areas in annotated Fig. 3), the blade root constructed of a solid, continuous material impermeable to the high-pressure and high-temperature gases (inherent to be located in that area of the engine).
Regarding claim 19: Hines discloses the plurality of blades of the rotor assembly are disposed longitudinally along the movable shaft (there are 3 rows of blades 40).
Regarding claim 20: Hines discloses the turbine shaft and the movable shaft are axially aligned (along 28, Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 21: Hines discloses the turbine shaft and the movable shaft rotate independently of each other (as they are not connected in Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 5-6, 8-9, and 22-24 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter.
The prior art of record, alone or in combination does not explicitly teach, suggest, or render obvious, at least to the skilled artisan the turbine generator and claim 1, specifically comprising:
plurality of permanent magnets positioned between the first annular retainer and the second annular retainer, the generator rotor having a thermally insulating material between the plurality of blades and the plurality of permanent magnets, in the context of the other components in the claim.
Claim 22 is allowed for reciting a similar limitation.
Claims 2-3, 5-6, 8-9, and 23-24 are allowed due to their dependency on an allowed claim.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/SEAN GUGGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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