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 arguments with respect to the amended have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 6,023,134 (“Carl”) in view of U.S. Patent No. 12,378,916 (“Durocher”).
Regarding claim 1, Carl discloses:
An aircraft (col. 1, ll. 46-47), comprising:
a plurality of gas-turbine engines (1A’-1D’; col. 1, ll. 46-47 disclose these as engines on an aircraft; col. 7, ll. 61-63 indicate that these engines are “turbine jet engines” which would be understood by those of ordinary skill to be “gas-turbine engines”) mounted external to a fuselage of the aircraft (inherent; as least some portion of the engines must be located externally on the fuselage as the engines would not function for the intended purpose of enabling flight if they were fully contained within the fuselage), each gas-turbine engine of the plurality of gas-turbine engines including a respective hydraulic pump (9A’-9D’; col. 2, ll. 23-24) of a plurality of hydraulic pumps (Id.);
a hydraulic motor (6’) disposed within the aircraft (inherent; those of ordinary skill would not interpret Carl as placing the CSMG, and thus its associated motor, externally with respect to the aircraft body);
a hydraulic distribution network (10A, 10B, 10C) configured to carry hydraulic fluid between the hydraulic motor and the plurality of hydraulic pumps (col. 2, ll. 18-25), wherein the hydraulic distribution network combine[s] hydraulic fluid from the plurality of hydraulic pumps into a combined stream that drives the hydraulic motor (col. 2, ll. 18-25 provide that energy for driving the hydraulic motor “can be extracted from any one of the three hydraulic systems” and that the hydraulic systems are provided with hydraulic power via the hydraulic pumps 9A’-9D’; moreover, FIG 1 explicitly shows that hydraulic fluid from at least pumps 9B’ and 9C’ is combined before delivery to the hydraulic motor); and
an electric generator (G of CSMG) disposed within the aircraft (inherent; inherent; those of ordinary skill would not interpret Carl as placing the CSMG, and thus its associated generator, externally with respect to the aircraft body) and configured to be driven by the hydraulic motor (as shown).
Carl does not explicitly disclose that the relevant elements of FIG 1 are disposed within a fuselage of the aircraft. Durocher discloses a similar system wherein the hydraulic motor and the electrical generator are disposed specifically within the fuselage of the aircraft (FIG 6). Durocher does not explicitly disclose why the elements are placed within the fuselage, but Examiner notes that FIG 5 of Durocher depicts an alternative embodiment wherein the motor and generator are disposed within a wing of the aircraft. As such, Examiner concludes that the particular placement of the motor and generator is a matter of routine design choice. Thus, the difference between Carl and the instant claims may be reasonably characterized as a rearrangement of parts based on routine design choice.
The courts have previously held that rearrangement of parts is obvious when the rearrangement would not have modified operation of the device. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019 (CCPA 1950). The courts have also held that particular placement of an element is obvious when it is an obvious matter of design choice. In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553 (CCPA 1975). Those of ordinary skill would appreciate that the system of Carl would function identically regardless of whether the CSMG were placed within a wing of the aircraft or within the fuselage of the aircraft. Moreover, Durocher evidences the fact that the particular placement is a matter of design choice.
Thus, Examiner finds that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art (prior to the effective filing date) to modify Carl by placing the motor and generator of the CSMG within the fuselage of the aircraft because the particular placement of these elements would not modify their operation and, moreover, the specific placement of the elements is nothing more than a matter of obvious design choice, evidenced by the differing embodiments of Durocher.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Carl and Durocher (“the first combination”) discloses the limitations as set forth in claim 1 and further discloses the plurality of gas-turbine engines being mounted on the wings of the aircraft (inherent to Carl, as one of ordinary skill would not seek to place four gas-turbine engines on the fuselage of an aircraft; explicitly disclosed by Durocher in FIG 6), and wherein the hydraulic distribution network comprises: hydraulic lines (Carl, 10A’-10C’) configured to transport hydraulic fluid (inherent to a hydraulic system) to and from the fuselage and the plurality of hydraulic pumps on the wings (inherent to the configuration of Carl, as the wing-mounted gas-turbine engines would need to transport hydraulic fluid from the pump connected to each of the turbines into the fuselage where the CSMG is located).
Regarding claim 3, the first combination discloses the limitations as set forth in claim 2 and further discloses the hydraulic lines comprising a separate set of hydraulic lines running from between each hydraulic pump of the plurality of hydraulic pumps to the fuselage (see FIG 1 of Carl, where hydraulic systems 10A’-10C’ represent separate hydraulic lines running from a respective hydraulic pump to the hydraulic motor; while system 10B’ joins two hydraulic pumps together, it is also evident that they have separate portions which run from the hydraulic pump and the combined line).
Regarding claim 4, the first combination discloses the limitations as set forth in claim 2 and further discloses the hydraulic lines comprising shared sets of hydraulic lines running between multiple hydraulic pumps of the plurality of hydraulic pumps to the fuselage (as seen in FIG 1 of Carl, pumps 9B’ and 9C’ share a portion of their hydraulic line connected to the CSMG).
Regarding claim 5, the first combination discloses the limitations as set forth in claim 1 and further discloses the hydraulic distribution network further comprising one or both of:
a hydraulic reservoir that stores hydraulic fluid receive [sic] un-pressurized hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic motor and returns un-pressurized hydraulic fluid to the plurality of hydraulic pumps (Carl, col. 8, ll. 11-18; “hydraulic source 9…sucks hydraulic fluid out of a storage tank or a return flow system, and pressurizes and pumps the fluid into the hydraulic supply lines).
Regarding claim 6, the first combination discloses the limitations as set forth in claim 1 and further discloses an AC electrical bus (Carl, FIG 1:3E’) and wherein the electrical generator is configured to output AC electrical energy onto the AC electrical bus (col. 2, ll. 9-13).
Regarding claim 7, the first combination discloses the limitations as set forth in claim 6 and further discloses a load configured to operate using electrical energy sourced from the AC electrical bus (col. 2, ll. 9-13).
Regarding claim 8, the first combination discloses the limitations as set forth in claim 7, but does not specifically disclose the amount of power generated by the generator or the amount of power sourced by the load.
Those of ordinary skill in the art would immediately recognize and appreciate that the amount of power which may be output by the generator is a function of the dimensioning of the generator. Moreover, as generators are heavy components of an aircraft, those of ordinary skill would seek to provide a generator that is dimensioned to provide the necessary power output without being too large. Thus, the dimensioning and design of the generator (and thus its designed power output) are transparently a matter of routine optimization.
"[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). Here, the prior art unambiguously discloses the general conditions of the claim. Carl discloses the provision of a generator configured to output power to AC loads of the aircraft, which may include the propulsion systems of the aircraft, presenting a very broad range of power required to be output by the generator and utilized by one or more loads of the aircraft. Thus, the sole difference between the first combination and claim 8 is the specific wattage output by the generator.
In view of the above, Examiner finds that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art (prior to the effective filing date) to modify Carl to utilize a generator dimensioned to provide an output of 150 kw for the purposes of satisfying an aircraft having electrical loads of 150 kw or less.
Regarding claim 9, the first combination discloses the limitations as set forth in claim 1 and further discloses each hydraulic pump being configured to operate utilizing mechanical energy sourced via rotation of a host gas-turbine engine of the plurality of gas-turbine engines (Carl, FIG 1; col. 2, ll. 43-48).
Regarding claim 10, the first combination discloses the limitations as set forth in claim 1 and Carl further discloses, in an alternative embodiment (FIG 8A), that the hydraulic motor and associated electrical generator may comprise a plurality of hydraulic motors and a plurality of electrical generators, respectively (40A-40C). As indicated in FIGS 7A-C, each of the power conversion systems 40 includes a hydraulic motor 15 and an electric machine 20, which is operable as a generator, as discussed in col. 19, ll. 17-24. Carl elaborates on the benefits of this configuration in col. 19, ll. 49-67. Thus, Examiner finds that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art (prior to the effective filing date) to modify the embodiment of FIGS 1-3 in the manner taught by Carl, for the purposes and benefits explicitly disclosed by Carl.
Regarding claims 11-17, Applicant merely adjusts the scope of the subject matter recited by claims 1, 5-8, and 10 (as elaborated upon in the previous Office Action). As shown above, the first combination discloses the limitations of claims 1, 5-8, and 10. Examiner therefore finds that the rejections of claims 1, 5-8, and 10 apply, mutatis mutandis, to the subject matter of claims 11-17.
Regarding claims 18-20, Applicant recites: isolation or mitigation of electromagnetic interference without the need for external shielded electrical cables (claim 18); isolation of electromagnetic interference to which the wings are exposed (claim 19); and isolation of electromagnetic interference in general (claim 20). These effects are obtained from transferring the “energy…as pressurized hydraulic fluid” from the wings to the fuselage (claim 18) or “transferring the hydraulic fluid from the plurality of engines” (claims 19 and 20). Turning to the Specification as filed, paragraph [0023] appears to suggest that electromagnetic isolate is an inherent result of “utilizing hydraulic pumps 110 to extract the mechanical energy from gas-turbine engines 106 outside of the fuselage 102, and converting the energy…into electrical energy within the fuselage 102….”
The result of the combined references, as discussed in the rejection of claim 2 above, results in the gas-turbine engines being mounted on the wings of an aircraft and utilizing associated hydraulic pumps driven by the engines to pressurize hydraulic fluid before delivering it to the fuselage of the aircraft for conversion into electrical power. As the isolation of electromagnetic interference is an inherent result of this configuration, Examiner finds that the first combination inherently discloses the limitations of claims 18-20.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS K QUIGLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-4050. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM EST.
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/THOMAS K QUIGLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/TULSIDAS C PATEL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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