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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1-8 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Invention I, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Subsequently elected claims 9-12 are under consideration regarding potential patentability.
Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 10/6/2025. This traversal is considered but is not persuasive. As such, the restriction requirement of record is upheld.
Applicant asserts that the inventions as claimed are not distinct. However, it is reiterated from the restriction that each invention contained features that the other did not, as such they do not overlap in scope. Both of them being used in a greater system as disclosed does not obviate the claimed inventions being operable as standalone products. Invention I is not seen to need a recirculation circuit containing the features of claim 9 to function, and Invention II is not seen to require two regenerators having a forward/reverse operating mode to function. Furthermore, there are no linking limitations in the dependent claims of either group. As these inventions are not obvious variants of each other, are materially different structures having different operation, and do not overlap in scope, the requirement of MPEP 803.05(j) is seen to be met.
Applicant asserts that there is no serious search burden. The examiner reiterates that while there is a disclosed greater system that encompasses both inventions, this greater system is not claimed, and these inventions, being systems that can exist independently, are significantly structurally different due to the components above. This is further evidenced by the prior art rejections of claims 9-12 below, where the reference would likely not read on claim 1.
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.
Claim(s) 9-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fayerweather et al (US 20200317556).
Regarding claim 9, Fayerweather (FIG 1) discloses “A furnace (12) system, comprising:
a preheater (16) for preheating materials to be supplied to a melting tank (18, paragraph 13), the preheater including a fluid inlet (82) and a fluid outlet (84);
a duct system (conduit system including 106, 118, 120, 114, 116, 122, 124) in fluid communication with the preheater (see FIG 1), and including a preheater outlet duct (106) to transmit exhaust fluids from the preheater fluid outlet (84),
a preheater intake duct (120) to transmit a mixture of combustion air (via 104, paragraph 21) and recirculated exhaust fluid (paragraph 21) from the preheater fluid outlet to the preheater fluid inlet (via 116, 108),
a preheater recirculation duct (116) to transmit a portion of the exhaust fluids from the preheater outlet duct to the preheater intake duct (paragraph 21), and
a preheater exhaust duct (114) to transmit another portion of the exhaust fluids from the preheater outlet duct out of the duct system (via 100, paragraph 16);
a recirculation valve (40) to control an amount of flow of exhaust fluids from the preheater outlet duct into the preheater intake duct (106 to 120, via 116) to control the temperature of the mixture of combustion air and recirculated exhaust fluids into the preheater (16);
a temperature sensor (66) to generate a temperature signal indicative of a fluid temperature between the preheater fluid inlet (82) and a junction (passage at 38, 40, 42) of the preheater recirculation duct (116) and the preheater intake duct (120); and
a controller (72, 76, 77) in communication with the temperature sensor and the recirculation valve (see FIG 1) to receive temperature input signals from the temperature sensor indicative of temperature of the mixture of combustion air and recirculated exhaust fluids in the preheater intake duct (66 is on 120), to process the temperature input signals (paragraph 26), and to transmit valve position output signals to the recirculation valve to adjust an opening amount of the recirculation valve to control the temperature of the mixture of combustion air and recirculated exhaust fluids in the preheater intake duct (paragraph 27, 33).”
Regarding claim 10, Fayerweather (FIG 1) discloses “further comprising:
a preheater exhaust valve (34) to control an amount of flow of exhaust fluids away from the preheater outlet duct and the preheater recirculation duct (fluid of 106, 116 is leaving the duct system via 90, read on "away from"),
wherein the controller transmits output signals to the preheater exhaust valve to control an opening amount of the preheater exhaust valve (paragraph 24, 31).”
Regarding claim 11, Fayerweather (FIG 1) discloses “further comprising:
a fan (30) to draw the exhaust fluids from the preheater outlet duct into the preheater recirculation duct (116) and the preheater exhaust duct (114);
wherein the controller transmits fan speed output signals to the fan to control the speed of the fan to control the amount of fluid flow through the preheater recirculation duct (paragraph 27, 28).”
Regarding claim 12, Fayerweather (FIG 1) discloses “further comprising:
furnace regenerator pressure sensors (60, 62, 64; "furnace regenerator" seen to be an intended use of the sensors, where the claim is not seen to require a furnace regenerator),
wherein the controller receives and processes pressure input signals from the furnace regenerator pressure sensors to produce the fan speed output signals (paragraph 28).”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Devices similar to the application are disclosed by Bourdon et al (US 20160334163), Broach (US 5816796), Monro et al (US 5044424), and Williams (US 4655436).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK C WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)431-0767. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PATRICK C WILLIAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753