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 § 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shibata et al. (Shibata) (Patent/Publication Number US 2023/0332607).
Regarding claim 1, Shibata discloses an air supply device (1) for a fuel cell system (20) having an electrically driven (10) flow compressor with an electric motor (10) driving a shaft (3) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0032]), comprising: a first compressor (4) controllably coupled to the shaft by a first coupling device (161, 163) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0043]); a second compressor (5) controllably coupled to the shaft (3) by a second coupling device (e.g. See Paragraphs [0043]); a feed line supplying ambient air (61, 63) to the first compressor (e.g. See Paragraphs [0045] As shown in FIG. 1, the low-pressure-stage housing 6 has a low-pressure-stage inlet opening 61 for introducing a gas from the outside to the inside of the low-pressure-stage housing 6, and a low-pressure-stage outlet opening 62 for discharging the gas from the inside to the outside of the low-pressure-stage housing 6. Inside the low-pressure-stage housing 6, a supply passage 63 for guiding the gas introduced into the low-pressure-stage housing 6 from the low-pressure-stage inlet opening 61 to the low-pressure-stage impeller 4, ....) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0045, 0052]); a feed bypass line (8, 84, 85) extending from a branch off the feed line to an inlet of the second compressor (e.g. See Paragraphs [0032, 0054, 0057]); a control element (263) arranged to selectively control flow through the branch to the feed bypass line (e.g. See Paragraphs [0052] .... The switching device 263 may be a three-way valve disposed at the connection between the first pipe 261 and the second pipe 262, as shown in FIG. 10, or may be valves (e.g., open/close valve) disposed upstream of the connection between the first pipe 261 and the second pipe 262 and on the second pipe 262. In other embodiments, the pressure inlet line 26 may include a pipe connected at one end to the surge tank 27 and at the other end to the third outer opening and may be configured to introduce pressure from only the surge tank 27 to the third outer opening 952. By introducing pressure from the compressed gas supply line 21 to the third outer opening 952, the capacity of the surge tank 27 can be reduced.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0118]); and a first compressor outlet line extending between an outlet of the first compressor and a collection element, the first compressor outlet line selectively coupled to the feed bypass line by a control unit (27, 28) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0118, 0124-0127]).
Regarding claim 5, Shibata further discloses wherein the first compressor has a lower maximum air mass flow than the second compressor (e.g. See Paragraphs [0045, 0049]).
Regarding claim 6, Shibata further discloses a second compressor outlet line extending between an outlet of the second compressor and the collection element (e.g. See Paragraphs [0055-0056, 0118-0120]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-18 are allowed.
Claims 2-4, and 7-12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims; and also to overcome the claim objections set forth in this Office action, such as to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101, 112 2nd paragraph, and double patenting.
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art fails to disclose or render obvious the claimed combination including an air supply system for a fuel cell vehicle comprising: a first compressor controllably coupled to the shaft by a first electric slip coupling; a second compressor controllably coupled to the shaft by a second electric slip coupling, a feed bypass line extending from a branch off the feed line to an inlet of the second compressor; a first controllable valve flap arranged to selectively control flow through the branch to the feed bypass line; a first compressor outlet line; a second controllable valve flap selectively fluidly coupling the feed bypass to the first compressor outlet line; and a controllable rotary valve disposed within the collection element, the rotary valve having a first position blocking airflow from the first compressor outlet line, a second position blocking airflow from the second compressor outlet line, and a third position allowing airflow from both the first and second compressor outlet lines.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled "Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance."
Since allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant is encouraged to submit Final Formal Drawings (If Needed) in response to this Office action. The early submission of formal drawings will permit the Office to review the drawings for acceptability and to resolve any informalities remaining therein before the application is passed to issue. This will avoid possible delays in the issue process.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and consists of seven patents:
Braun et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 12412911), Coertze et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2025/0389230), Yamada et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 12480503), Hausmann et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2023/0178764), Sato et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2022/0213899), Suzuki et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2019/0074527), and Fernando et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2024/0305107), all discloses an air pump supply system for use with fuel cell system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Primary Examiner Binh Tran whose telephone number is (571) 272-4865. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors, Mark Laurenzi, can be reached on (571) 270-7878. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are (571) 273-8300 for regular communications and for After Final communications.
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Binh Q. Tran
/BINH Q TRAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3748
September 29, 2026
