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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of invention I directed to claims 1-10 in the reply filed on 1/07/2025 is acknowledged.
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) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hunter et al. (herein Hunter) (US 2009/0041588).Regarding Claim 1:In Figure 2, Hunter discloses a suction valve control system (active valve system with active valve train 250, suction valve 237 and sensor 257, henceforth referred to as VCS, see paragraph [0029]) of a fluid pump (200) that is configured to discharge fluid during a plurality of steady state discharge cycles (fluid is discharged from the pump during the discharge stroke, see paragraph [0039]), the suction valve control system (VCS) comprising:
a suction valve (237), of the fluid pump (200), that is configured to close during the plurality of steady state discharge cycles (as mentioned in paragraph [0034]: “During the discharge stroke, the suction valve 237 should generally be closed, preventing fluid in the chamber 230 from exiting via the suction valve 237 so that as pressure in the chamber 230 builds (due to compression by the plunger 220).”; and
a controller (259), configured to: cause, responsive to an initiation of a prime mover (engine, motor or other prime mover, see paragraph [0009]) for the fluid pump, the suction valve to be maintained in an open position throughout one or more discharge cycles during a start-up period of the fluid pump (as mentioned in paragraph [0009]: “In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a method for bringing online a reciprocating pump having multiple chambers each with a suction valve and a plunger driven through a suction stroke and a discharge stroke by a common crankshaft, the method comprising actively opening the suction valves of all cylinders and holding the suction valves open; bringing the crankshaft up to operating speed; and releasing the suction valves to bring the pump online.” Furthermore, as mentioned in paragraph [0051]: “Thus, a pump may be brought online using an active valve system by first opening all of the pump's suction valves, and then starting to cycle the pump (through suction strokes and discharge strokes) while the suction valves are actively held open. In other words, the crankshaft is brought up to operating speed (often by starting and engaging an engine or motor for powering the crankshaft) while the suction valves are actively held open (so that the pump experiences no load/resistance). Fluid is sucked into each chamber through the suction valve during its suction stroke, and forced out of each chamber through the suction valve during its discharge stroke (since the suction valve for the chamber is being held open and the discharge valve is closed, since the chamber pressure would be too low to overcome the discharge valve spring while the suction valve is open). Thus, during start-up, fluid would basically slosh back and forth across the suction valve(s). The effect of holding the suction valves open is akin to placing the pump in neutral (since the pump does not have to generate pumping pressure to discharge fluid through the discharge valve). This lowers the resistance that the pump experiences during start-up, allowing the engine and/or pump to be brought up to operating speed. Once at operating speed, the engine is capable of generating sufficient torque to begin actually pumping fluid (overcoming the pressure/resistance), and the suction valve(s) may be released to bring the pump online.” These paragraphs clearly indicate that the suction valve 237 can be actively held open during one or more discharge cycles during a startup period when the pump is being brought up to operating speed),
wherein the open position corresponds to an opening of the suction valve during a plurality of steady state suction cycles of the fluid pump (as mentioned in paragraph [0036], the suction valve 237 is opened during suction strokes that correspond to steady state suction cycles), and
wherein the start-up period includes at least an earliest discharge cycle after the prime mover is activated from a stationary state (as mentioned in paragraph [0051] during startup i.e., when a prime mover is activated from a stationary state, several discharge strokes/cycles are performed until the pump reaches the operating speed);
and cause, during one or more discharge cycles of the plurality of steady state discharge cycles following the start-up period, the suction valve not to be maintained in the open position during any portion of the one or more discharge cycles (as mentioned in paragraph [0052]: “Once the engine reaches an operating speed where it can achieve full torque (or at least sufficient torque to overcome pressure/resistance), the suction valves that are being held open could then be released as their corresponding plungers reach full extension (late in the displacement stroke), and the suction valves would operate as normally (opening for the suction stroke, with the active valve system perhaps providing an opening force, and closing for the displacement stroke, with the active valve system perhaps providing a closing force as well).” This clearly indicates that after startup, the suction valves can be released/closed normally during discharge cycles such that they remain closed during the entire one or more discharge cycles).Regarding Claim 2:In Figure 2, Hunter discloses a suction valve control system (VCS), wherein the controller (259) is further configured to: cause, during one or more subsequent discharge cycles of the start-up period and preceding a steady state operation of the fluid pump, closing of the suction valve to be delayed according to a timing that is based on one or more operating parameters relating to at least one of the prime mover or the fluid pump (as mentioned in paragraphs [0051] and [0052], the closing of the suction valve is delayed based on a time required to allow the pump and/or engine (prime mover) to reach an operating speed).Regarding Claim 3:In Figure 2, Hunter discloses the suction valve control system (VCS), wherein the start-up period includes at least an initial 10 discharge cycles after the prime mover is activated from the stationary state (as mentioned in paragraphs [0049]-[0050], the disclosed pump can be difficult to bring online at low engine speeds to bring the pump up to operating speed. One of ordinary skill in the art would know that this could take several discharge cycles well more than an initial 10 discharge cycles after prime mover activation).Regarding Claim 4:In Figure 2, Hunter discloses the suction valve control system (VCS), wherein the open position is a full open position that corresponds to a maximum flow area of the suction valve (as mentioned in paragraph [0036]: “Use of the active valve train 250 provides greater opening force upon the suction valve 237 (instead of relying solely on passive activation by the chamber pressure (in this case, the pressure differential between the high pressure in the suction/fluid header and the low pressure in the chamber)), overcoming the suction valve spring's 235 closing force and compressing the suction valve spring 235 more easily, thereby allowing the suction valve 237 to open more quickly and/or fully.” This indicates that VCS is capable of fully opening the valve wherein it is known that a fully open valve corresponds to a maximum flow area of the valve).Regarding Claim 5:In Figure 2, Hunter discloses the suction valve control system (VCS), wherein the controller (259) is further configured to: receive an initiation indication indicating the initiation of the prime mover (as mentioned in paragraph [0029]: “a sensor 257 for detecting pump stroke position (and/or velocity) possibly based on the location of a timing marker 258 (typically attached to the crankshaft 210 of the pump 200, but shown for purposes of illustration in FIG. 2 as a radial marker on the crankshaft 210), and a controller 259 that uses the sensed pump stroke information to determine when to activate/deactivate the active valve train 250.” This indicates that the controller is capable of receiving indication that the prime mover has been initiated since this would be detected by the sensor 257 and transmitted to the controller 259).Regarding Claim 6:In Figure 2, Hunter discloses the suction valve control system (VCS), further comprising a valve control component (cylinder 253 with rod 2550 configured to control actuation of the suction valve (as mentioned in paragraph [0031]: “In FIG. 2, the active valve train 250 comprises a cylinder 253 with a rod 255 interacting with the suction valve 237 of the pump 200. The cylinder 253 that drives the rod 255 to operate the suction valve 237”) and one or more additional valve control components configured to control actuation of one or more additional suction valves of the fluid pump (as mentioned in paragraphs [0050]-[0051], the pump comprises a plurality of suction valves wherein each suction valve would have a corresponding respective valve control component to hold it open), wherein a plurality of valve control components includes the valve control component and the one or more additional valve control components (as mentioned in paragraphs [0050]-[0051]), and a plurality of suction valves includes the suction valve and the one or more additional suction valves (as mentioned in paragraphs [0050]-[0051]).Regarding Claim 7:In Figure 2, Hunter discloses the suction valve control system (VCS), wherein the controller, to cause the suction valve to be maintained in the open position, is configured to: cause the plurality of valve control components to maintain the plurality of suction valves in open positions (as mentioned in paragraphs [0050]-[0051], during startup all the suction valves can be held open wherein this would be accomplished by the controller).Regarding Claim 8:In Figure 2, Hunter discloses the suction valve control system (VCS), wherein the controller is further configured to: cause, during one or more subsequent discharge cycles of the start-up period and preceding a steady state operation of the fluid pump, the plurality of valve control component to delay closing of the plurality of suction valves according to a timing that is based on one or more operating parameters relating to at least one of the prime mover or the fluid pump (as mentioned in paragraphs [0051] and [0052], the closing of the suction valves is delayed based on a time required to allow the pump and/or engine (prime mover) to reach an operating speed).Regarding Claim 9:In Figure 2, Hunter discloses the suction valve control system (VCS), wherein the controller is further configured to: cause, during one or more subsequent discharge cycles of the start-up period and preceding a steady state operation of the fluid pump, a first set of the plurality of valve control components to maintain a first set of the plurality of suction valves in open positions; and cause, during the one or more subsequent discharge cycles of the start-up period and preceding the steady state operation of the fluid pump, a second set of the plurality of valve control components to delay closing of a second set of the plurality of suction valves according to a timing that is based on one or more operating parameters relating to at least one of the prime mover or the fluid pump (as mentioned in paragraph [0052], the suction valves may be sequentially released to be closed after startup. In the sequence, two or more valves can be treated as a first set while two or more subsequent valves can be considered as the second set. The closing of these sets of valves is sequential indicating that each set of valves is independently released to be closed during discharge cycles preceding the steady state operation of the pump, i.e., before the pump reaches the operating speed).Regarding Claim 10:In Figure 2, Hunter discloses the suction valve control system (VCS), wherein the controller is further configured to: deactivate, during one or more subsequent discharge cycles of the start-up period and preceding a steady state operation of the fluid pump, a first set of the plurality of valve control components to enable unrestricted operation of a first set of the plurality of suction valves; and cause, during the one or more subsequent discharge cycles of the start-up period and preceding the steady state operation of the fluid pump, a second set of the plurality of valve control components to delay closing of a second set of the plurality of suction valves according to a timing that is based on one or more operating parameters relating to at least one of the prime mover or the fluid pump (as mentioned in paragraph [0052], the suction valves may be sequentially released to be closed after startup. In the sequence, two or more valves can be treated as a first set while two or more subsequent valves can be considered as the second set. The closing of these sets of valves is sequential indicating that each set of valves is independently released/deactivated to be closed during discharge cycles preceding the steady state operation of the pump, i.e., before the pump reaches the operating speed. The second set of suction valves is only closed/deactivated based on a timing to reach the operating speed of the pump when their respective corresponding plungers reach full extension. It is well known in the art that two corresponding plungers in these pumps can have nearly the same timing to reach full extension).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See appended PTO-892 for relevant prior art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DOMINICK L PLAKKOOTTAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7571. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 12 pm -8 pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Essama Omgba can be reached at 469-295-9278. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DOMINICK L PLAKKOOTTAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746