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) submitted on 9/4/24 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 2, 5, 8-9, 11, 14-16, 20, 25, and 39 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by US Patent Application Publication 2021/0076481.
Regarding claim 1, ‘481 discloses an article comprising a first layer comprising lithium (Fig. 5, Item 110) and a support structure (Fig. 5 Item 120) comprising one or more channels (122) defining a continuous fluid channel therein with an inlet and outlet (204, 208) the one or more channels comprising non-planar (Note 3D aspect of channels in Fig. 4-5) following curved paths (Note the curved paths defined by the channels in Fig. 4).
Regarding claims 2 and 15, ‘481 shows in Fig. 4 that the one or more channels are continuously curving and fluidly coupled.
Regarding claim 5, ‘481 does not show blaze or weld joints and shows a monolithic support structure in Fig. 4.
Regarding claim 8, ‘481 teaches a support structure coupled to water inlet and outlets 204,208.
Regarding claim 9, ‘481 teaches a lithium layer bonded to a support structure by an interlayer which supports intermaterial diffusion [0043].
Regarding claim 11, the article of ‘481 is a neutron generating target (Abstract).
Regarding claims 14 and 16, ‘481 discloses a support structure composed of copper which has a thermal conductivity of about 400 W/(mK).
Regarding claim 20, ‘481 discloses using a first layer comprising lithium and discloses that the lithium to be relied on is 7Li [0005-0006].
Regarding claim 25, the support structure of claim 1 functions as a heat transfer unit and comprises substantially similar claimed structure as disclosed in ‘481.
Regarding claim 39, in addition to the article of claim 1 noted above, ‘481 teaches an ion source (22) and a tandem accelerator (40).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3, 10, 12, 13, 17-18, and 21-22 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art fails to teach or suggest the article of claim 1 wherein the support structure comprises a monolithic structure that is formed in an additive manufacturing operation.
The prior art fails to teach or suggest the article of claim 1 wherein the article has a rectangular shape, and a length of the article is from 5 centimeters (cm) to 20 cm.
The prior art fails to teach or suggest the article of claim 1 wherein a weight of the article is from 500 grams to 1,000 grams.
The prior art fails to teach or suggest the article of claim 1 wherein the article has a circular shape and the diameter of the article is from 5 centimeters (cm) to 20 cm.
The prior art fails to teach or suggest the article of claim 1 wherein: a thickness of the plate is from 1 millimeter (mm) to 8 mm, and the plate is 2 times, 5 times, 10 times, 20 times, 50 times, 60 times, 70 times, 80 times, 90 times, or 100 times thicker than the first layer.
The prior art fails to teach or suggest the article of claim 1 wherein the thickness of the plate is selected from 2 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm, or 7 mm.
The prior art fails to teach or suggest the article of claim 1 wherein: a thickness of the first layer is from 15 micrometers (pm) to 180 pm, and a thickness of the support structure is from 10 mm to 50 mm.
The prior art fails to teach or suggest the article of claim 1 wherein the thickness of the first layer is from 90 pm to 100 pm.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID A VANORE whose telephone number is (571)272-2483. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 7AM to 6 PM.
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DAVID A. VANORE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2881
/DAVID A VANORE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878
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