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 claim(s) 1-4 and 18-25 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. The prior art of Fripp teaches the claimed valve member and sealing pilot chamber as discussed below.
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, 2, 4, 20, 21, 23, and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fripp (WO 2025053862).
Regarding claims 1, 2, 4, 20, 21, 23, and 24, Fripp teaches, including the method steps (claims 1 and 24) a body 115, 200 (fig. 1,fig. 2) locatable within a wall of a tubular 110, and defining a primary inlet 221 and a primary outlet, wherein a primary flow path is defined between the primary inlet and primary outlet; a valve member 225 disposed within the body, the valve member being moveable in reverse first and second directions to selectively vary a flow area of the primary flow path (depending on the position of the bellows 223; and a sealed pilot pressure chamber 223 defining a pilot pressure inlet (inlet of passage 217) for receiving a pilot pressure, the valve member being in pressure communication with the sealed pilot pressure chamber such that pilot pressure may act to bias the valve member in one of the first and second directions (pilot pressure moves the valve towards the closed second position), wherein the pilot pressure is provided as a function of a property of fluid flowing through the primary flow path (same fluid flows through 221 and 217); wherein the secondary flow path 217 is configured to provide a pressure variation of the fluid flowing through the secondary flow path based upon a variation of at least one characteristic of said flowing fluid (pressure difference/variation); and communicating a pressure from the secondary flow path to a sealed pilot pressure chamber (chamber of bellows 223), said pressure providing a biasing force on the valve member to vary the flow area of the primary flow path (biasing the valve toward the seat); wherein the flow rate through the flow control device is varied based upon one or more properties of a fluid flowing along the primary flow path (flow property being seen as the compressibility); pilot pressure system 217, 223, wherein the pilot pressure is provided from the pilot pressure system; wherein biasing the valve member in the second direction moves the valve member towards a fully closed position, decreasing the flow area (see fig. 3) wherein the valve member is biased in the second direction by fluid pressure within the sealed pilot pressure chamber (when the pressure in the bellows 223 seats the valve 225); a sealing arrangement disposed between the valve member and the body of the flow control device (the piston is sealed to the bellows to form the chamber), wherein the sealing arrangement provides a biasing force biasing the valve member in one of the first or second directions (second direction towards the seat).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6-19, 22, and 25 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: Fripp fails to disclose (claim 3)the valve member and size flow area is determined by a pressure differential between the inlet of the primary flow path and within the sealed pilot pressure chamber; (claim 6) a secondary flow path; (claims 22 and 25) the pilot pressure is function of viscosity and density of the fluid flowing through the primary path.
Conclusion
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/P. MACADE NICHOLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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