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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 6/17/2026 has been entered.
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) 1-3, 6-15, 18-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bodine Jr (2,807,931) in view of Pandalai et al (5685157). Bodine Jr teaches (1) A gas turbine engine comprising: a compressor section 41 for compressing air flowing therethrough to provide a compressed air flow; a combustor including a combustion chamber 53 that is configured to combust a mixture of a fuel flow and the compressed air flow to generate combustion products; a turbine section 43 having at least one turbine driven by the combustion products; and a damper 72 in fluid communication with the combustion chamber 53 to dampen an instability generated in the combustion chamber 53 by the combustion products, the damper 72 including: a damper body having a first damper body portion 75, a second damper body portion [portion between 52 and 73 is frustroconical, see annotations] extending axially from the first damper body portion, and a third damper body portion 73 extending axially from the second damper body portion, the first damper body portion 75 being cylindrical and defining a first cavity volume that is a quarter wave tube [within 52], the second damper body portion [the portion between 52 and 73 is also frustroconical] being frustoconical and defining a second cavity volume that is a resonator cavity [within 76] that expands in diameter as the second damper body portion extends axially from the first damper body portion, and the third damper body portion 73 being cylindrical and defining a third cavity volume [between 76 and 73]; a damper cavity defined by the first cavity volume, the second cavity volume, and the third cavity volume; and having one or more damper necks [within 75 / 52] for providing fluid communication between the combustion chamber 53 and the damper cavity [of 72], (3) wherein the damper includes a single damper volume [overall volume]. (8) wherein the damper includes a number of damper cavities in series that is from one volume to four volumes. (9) wherein the number of damper cavities is from one volume to two volumes. (10) wherein the damper damps a number of discrete frequencies that is from one frequency to four frequencies. (11) wherein the number of discrete frequencies to be damped is from one frequency to two frequencies. (18) wherein the damper is coupled to an outer liner 52 of the combustor through a single opening [75 through 52] in the outer liner 52. (19) wherein the damper is one of a plurality of dampers disposed circumferentially about the combustor. (20) wherein each of the plurality of dampers 72 is the same [at least two 72 are illustrated in Fig. 2]. (21) wherein the first damper body portion 75 extends through the outer liner and the second damper body portion [see annotations] extends from the first damper body portion 75 at an outer surface of the outer liner. (22) wherein the damper is defined by: the damper defined by: nds∝nfp; ap∝dpn; and ab∝dpv*dpvea, where nds is a number of damper cavities in series, nfp is a number of discrete frequencies to be damped, ap is an acoustic damping potential that is an acoustic attenuation at each frequency to be damped, dpn is a neck open area ratio that is a ratio of a total area of the one or more damper necks to a total area of the orifice plate, ab is an acoustic damping broadness that is a breadth of a frequency range that the damper is effective over, dpv is a damper volume that is a volume of the damper cavity, and dpvea is a damper volume expansion angle that is an angle of the second damper body portion [see annotations] with respect to the first damper body portion. (23) wherein the first damper body portion includes one or more openings [e.g. central opening of 75] extending therethrough.
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Bodine Jr does not teach an orifice plate having one or more damper necks extending through the orifice plate for providing fluid communication between the combustion chamber and the damper cavity, air in the resonator cavity oscillating air in the one or more damper necks. Pandalai et al teach an orifice plate 110 having one or more damper necks 104 extending through the orifice plate for providing fluid communication between the combustion chamber and the damper cavity, air in the resonator cavity oscillating air in the one or more damper necks 114. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to employ an orifice plate having one or more damper necks extending through the orifice plate for providing fluid communication between the combustion chamber and the damper cavity, air in the resonator cavity oscillating air in the one or more damper necks, as taught by Pandalai et al, as a typical arrangement utilized in the art and which facilitates damping of the first damper cavity. As for the first damper body portion having a first cavity volume that is a quarter wave tube, it is noted that Pandalai et al teach the first cavity volume may be part of a quarter wave tube, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to utilize a first cavity volume that is a quarter wave tube, as taught by Pandalai et al, as the typical practice in the art. As for applicant’s other ranges of damping potential, since the claimed range of neck open ratio is well within the ordinary skill in the art of zero to 1, then based on the limited disclosure, the resultant damping potential is well within the ordinary skill in the art. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to employ the claimed ranges of neck open ratio and damping potential, as an obvious matter of using the workable ranges in the art. Bodine Jr do not teach (6) wherein the damper volume is from 0.05 in3 to 50 in3 . Pandalai et al teach (6) wherein the damper volume is from 0.05 in3 to 50 in3 [e.g. 1 in diameter, and 10.7” length, see col. 6, lines 31-45] is a commonly employed range utilized in the art. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to employ a damper volume from 0.05 in3 to 50 in3, as taught by Pandalai et al, as a typical range utilized in the art. As for applicant’s other ranges of damping potential, since the claimed range of neck open ratio is well within the ordinary skill in the art of zero to 1, then based on the limited disclosure, the resultant damping potential is well within the ordinary skill in the art. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to employ the claimed ranges of neck open ratio and damping potential, as an obvious matter of using the workable ranges in the art. As for applicant’s claimed range of damping broadness, applicant’s range covers typical ranges used in the art for acoustic / noise reduction. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to employ the claimed ranges of damping broadness as an obvious matter of using the workable ranges in the art.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6-15, 18-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bothien et al (2015/009682) in view of Pandalai et al (5685157) and Selamet et al “Helmholtz resonator with extended neck”. Bothien et al teach(es) A gas turbine engine comprising: a compressor section [not shown, inherent] for compressing air flowing therethrough to provide a compressed air flow; a combustor including a combustion chamber 5 that is configured to combust a mixture of a fuel flow and the compressed air flow to generate combustion products; a turbine section [gas turbine, e.g. ¶ 0012] having at least one turbine driven by the combustion products; and a damper 11 [Figs. 3 or 7] in fluid communication with the combustion chamber to dampen an instability generated in the combustion chamber by the combustion products, the damper including: a damper body having a first damper body portion 23, a second damper body portion 13, extending axially from the first damper body portion, and a third damper body portion 15 extending axially from the second damper body portion, the first damper body portion being cylindrical and defining a first cavity volume that is a quarter wave tube [inherent as it inherently contains a quarter length resonant frequency], the second damper body portion being frustoconical and defining a second cavity volume that is a resonator cavity of constant diameter [rather than expanding in diameter] as the second damper body portion extends axially from the first damper body portion, and the third damper body portion being cylindrical and defining a third cavity volume; a damper cavity defined by the first cavity volume, the second cavity volume, and the third cavity volume; and an orifice plate 27 [Fig. 4] or 31[Fig. 7] having one or more damper necks extending through the orifice plate for providing fluid communication between the combustion chamber and the damper cavity, air in the resonator cavity oscillating air in the one or more damper necks [inherent]. (3) wherein the damper includes a single damper volume [15. Fig. 1]. (7) wherein the damper has a neck open area ratio that is a ratio of a total area of the one or more damper necks to a total area of the orifice plate, and the neck open area ratio is from 0.01 to one [see Fig. 3 which appears to have the range]. (8) wherein the damper includes a number of damper cavities in series that is from one volume to four volumes. (9) wherein the number of damper cavities is from one volume to two volumes. (10) wherein the damper damps a number of discrete frequencies that is from one frequency to four frequencies. (11) wherein the number of discrete frequencies to be damped is from one frequency to two frequencies. (18) wherein the damper is coupled to an outer liner 7 of the combustor through a single opening 23 in the outer liner.(21) wherein the first damper body portion extends through the outer liner 7 and the second damper body portion 13 extends from the first damper body portion at an outer surface of the outer liner.(22) wherein the damper is defined by: the damper defined by: nds∝nfp; ap∝dpn; and ab∝dpv*dpvea, where nds is a number of damper cavities in series, nfp is a number of discrete frequencies to be damped, ap is an acoustic damping potential that is an acoustic attenuation at each frequency to be damped, dpn is a neck open area ratio that is a ratio of a total area of the one or more damper necks to a total area of the orifice plate, ab is an acoustic damping broadness that is a breadth of a frequency range that the damper is effective over, dpv is a damper volume that is a volume of the damper cavity, and dpvea is a damper volume expansion angle that is an angle of the second damper body portion with respect to the first damper body portion. (23) wherein the first damper body portion includes one or more openings [e.g. central opening or openings in the orifice plate 27] extending therethrough. Bothien et al teach(es) inherently uses a compressor, as a standard component of the gas turbine engine. Alternately, Pandalai et al teach all the claimed components of the gas turbine, including compressor, combustor, turbine are the conventional features utilized in the art. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to employ the claimed components of the gas turbine, including compressor, combustor, turbine, as taught by Pandalai et al, as the standard features utilized in the art. Bothien et al do not teach the second damper body portion being frustoconical and defining a second cavity volume that is a resonator cavity that expands in diameter as the second damper body portion extends axially from the first damper body portion [but rather of constant diameter] as the second damper body portion extends axially from the first damper body portion nor (2) wherein the damper has a damper body that is at least partially conical. Selamet et al teach in [Fig. 1C, 10, 11], that the second damper body portion being frustoconical and defining a second cavity volume that is a resonator cavity that expands in diameter as the second damper body portion extends axially from the first damper body portion, (2) wherein the damper has a damper body that is at least partially conical. [expanding in cross section, see pages 1976, 1982, 1982 Figs. 1C, 10, 11 and see expansion angle of 10% and up]. On page 1983, Selamet et al teach the expansion angle acts to broaden the attenuation band. It would have been obvious to make the second damper portion frustroconical, at least partially conical, in order to broaden the attenuation band. Above, the first damper body portion being cylindrical and defining a first cavity volume that is a quarter wave tube was treated as inherent as it inherently contains a quarter length resonant frequency. Alternately, claim 10 of Bothien et al teach using one or more of the quarter-wave tube in combination with the Helmholtz damper and a quarter-wave tube is the natural resonant frequency of a tube. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to make the first volume a the quarter-wave tube, as a conventional geometry used in the art and suitable for combination with the Helmholtz damper of Bothien. Bothien et al do not teach (19) wherein the damper is one of a plurality of dampers disposed circumferentially about the combustor; (20) wherein each of the plurality of dampers is the same. Pandalai et al teach (19) wherein the damper 110 is one of a plurality of dampers disposed circumferentially about the combustor; (20) wherein each of the plurality of dampers is the same [each of same size ones in Fig. 6, there are sets of A1, A2, A3, with the same dampers]. Bothien et al do not teach (6) wherein the damper volume is from 0.05 in3 to 50 in3 . Pandalai et al teach (6) wherein the damper volume is from 0.05 in3 to 50 in3 [e.g. 1 in diameter, and 10.7” length, see col. 6, lines 31-45] is a commonly employed range utilized in the art. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to employ a damper volume from 0.05 in3 to 50 in3, as taught by Pandalai et al, as a typical range utilized in the art. As for applicant’s other ranges of damping potential, since the claimed range of neck open ratio is well within the ordinary skill in the art of zero to 1, then based on the limited disclosure, the resultant damping potential is well within the ordinary skill in the art. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to employ the claimed ranges of neck open ratio and damping potential, as an obvious matter of using the workable ranges in the art. For an alternate treatment of (23) wherein the first damper body portion includes one or more openings extending therethrough, Pandalai is applied. Pandalai et teach (23) wherein the first damper body portion 168 includes one or more openings 166 extending therethrough, teaching these openings help dampen pressure fluctuations [see ¶ 0034]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to employ (23) wherein the first damper body portion includes one or more openings extending therethrough, as taught by Pandalai, in order to dampen pressure fluctuations.
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over any of the prior art, as applied above Bodine Jr (2,807,931). The prior art do all teach the first and second damper body portion but do not necessarily teach (21) wherein the first damper body portion extends through the outer liner and the second damper body portion extends from the first damper body portion at an outer surface of the outer liner. Bodine Jr teach wherein the first damper body portion 75 extends through the outer liner 52 and the second damper body portion extends from the first damper body portion at an outer surface of the outer liner [below 52 in Fig. 3].
Claim(s) 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over any of the prior art, as applied above, and further in view of art as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Macquisten et al (2006/0123791). The prior art teach at least the combustor liner, the combustor liner defining the combustion chamber, and the damper extends through the combustor liner such that the second damper body portion extends outward of the combustor casing and the first damper body portion extends inward of the combustor casing [see e.g. Fig. 7 of Bothien] but do not necessarily teach the damper [also] extends through the combustor casing and such that the second damper body portion extends outward of the combustor casing and the first damper body portion extends inward of the combustor casing. Macquisten et al teach (24) wherein the combustor includes a combustor casing 18 and a combustor liner 24 disposed inward of the combustor casing 18, the combustor liner 24 defining the combustion chamber, and the damper 38 extends through the combustor casing 18 and the combustor liner 24 such that the second damper body portion 40 extends outward of the combustor casing 18 and the first damper body portion [circa 36] extends inward of the combustor casing 18. Macquisten et al teach the damper location is a typical location used in gas turbine combustors and facilitate a compact arrangement with little added weight for aircraft engines [see ¶ 0005+]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to employ teach the damper extends through the combustor casing and such that the second damper body portion extends outward of the combustor casing and the first damper body portion extends inward of the combustor casing, as taught by Macquisten et al, to utilize a conventional location used in gas turbine combustors for the damper and which facilitate a compact arrangement with little added weight for aircraft engines.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant arguments regarding Bodine are not persuasive, as there were multiple interpretations of the second body portion / second cavity and applicant’s arguments ignored the second interpretation applied.
Regarding Bothien and Selamet, Selamet when combined with Bothien, teach all the limitations of the claims.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to TED KIM whose telephone number is 571-272-4829. The Examiner can be reached on regular business hours before 5:00 pm, Monday to Thursday and every other Friday.
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/Ted Kim/
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Primary Examiner
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July 10, 2026
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