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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: in the specification page 11, para [0039], lines 11-12, “In some cases, the removal device 122 may be vertically aligned with the removal device, although it need not be in other examples” should be “In some cases, the removal device 122 may be vertically aligned with the removal device 120, although it need not be in other examples”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-9, 11-14 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gaensbauer (US Patent No. 11,182,159).
Regarding claim 1, Gaensbauer teaches a cooling system (i.e. quenching system 124, see figure 1, column 1, lines 62-67, column 4, lines 21-30 and abstract) for a metal processing system (100, see figure 1 and column 4, lines 21-30,also see column 1, lines 61-67) the cooling system comprising: a cooling header (i.e. though not shown however equates to the manifold comprising the assembly of plurality of nozzle 104A and 104B, see figure 1 and column 5, lines 20-55) configured to selectively dispense a coolant onto a metal substrate (see column 2, lines 25-34, column 5, lines 50-56, column 6, lines 4-10, lines 26-38 and lines 47-65); an exhaust system downstream from the cooling header comprising a removal device (138, see figure 1, column 8, lines 28-45 and column 11, lines 50-57) that is configured to remove coolant dispensed by the cooling header (see figures 1, column 8, lines 28-45 and column 11, lines 50-57); a temperature sensor (112, see figure 1-3 and 5, column 8, lines 20-25, also see column 2, lines 25-41 and column 11, lines 56-60) downstream from the cooling header (see figures 1-3 and 5 show the temperature sensor 112, downstream of the arrangement of nozzles 104A and 104B), wherein the temperature sensor is configured to detect a temperature profile of the metal substrate across a width of the metal substrate (see column 8, lines 53-62); and a controller (114, see figures 1-3&5, and column 4, lines 34-43) that communicatively couples to the cooling header and the temperature sensor (see figures 1-3 and 5, column 13, lines 23-42), wherein the controller is configured to control the cooling header based at least on a detected temperature profile (see column 9, lines 12-33, column 9, line 59-column 10, line 15).
Regarding claim 2, Gaensbauer in figures 1-3 and 5 shows a plurality of nozzle (104A and 104B) of a coolant header or manifold arrangement that directs an atomized coolant spray onto the surface of the rolled metal substrate (102); thereby meeting substantially all aspects of the claim.
Regarding claim 3, Gaensbauer in figures 1-3 and 5 shows a plurality of nozzle (104A and 104B) of a coolant header or manifold arrangement, and the removal device (138) of the exhaust system, both being positioned relative to a passline (i.e., processing direction 130, see column 4, lines 60-67) of a metal substrate (102) through the cooling system (124), and wherein the cooling header and the removal device of the exhaust system are on a same side of the passline (see each one of figures 1-3 and 5 shows as such).
Regarding claim 4, Gaensbauer in figures 1-3 and 5 shows a plurality of nozzle (104A and 104B) of a coolant header or manifold arrangement, and the removal device (138) of the exhaust system, both being disposed below the passline (130, see in each one of figures 1-3 and 5 the nozzles (104A,104B) and the removal device (138) are provided both above and below the passline). Gaensbauer, therefore substantially meets all aspect of the claim.
Regarding claim 5, Gaensbauer in figures 1-3 and 5 shows at least a first removal device (138) above the pass lines and a second removal device (138) below the passline (130), both of which are disposed downstream from the plurality of nozzle (104A and 104B) of a coolant header or manifold arrangement. Gaensbauer, therefore meets substantially all aspects of the claim.
Regarding claim 6, Gaensbauer teaches at least two removal devices (138, see figures 1-3 and 5, column 8, lines 28-45 and column 11, lines 50-57). Gaensbauer also teaches that the removal devices could comprise a blower, a wiper, a flexible seal, an air knife and various other coolant removable device (see column 8, lines 30-45). Though a vacuum device is not expressly mentioned, however the flexible seal would read on the vacuum device operationally, and furthermore the broadly mentioned various other coolant removable device, would necessarily encompass the vacuum device. Gaensbauer, therefore meets substantially all aspects of the claim.
Regarding claims 7 and 8, Gaensbauer in figures 1-3 and 5 shows a plurality of nozzle (104A and 104B) of a coolant header or manifold arrangement, a first or a top removal device (138), and a second or a bottom removal device (138) are positioned relative to a passline (130) of a metal substrate (102) passing through the cooling system (i.e., quenching 124), wherein the plurality of nozzle (104A and 104B) of the coolant header and the first removal device (138) are on the same side of the passline, and wherein the second removal device (138) is on an opposite side relative to passline (130). Gaensbauer, therefore meets substantially all aspects of the claim.
Regarding claim 9, Gaensbauer teaches a plurality of nozzle (104A and 104B) of a coolant header with each nozzle of the plurality of nozzles being independently controlled by the controller (114, see column 4, lines 21-43, column 5, lines 50-66 and column 6, lines 26-65).
Regarding claim 11, Gaensbauer teaches a cooling system (124) in which the controller (114, see figures 1-3 and 5 and column 4, lines 34-43) is further configured to determine a desired exit temperature profile of metal substrate (see column 8, lines 53-62); receive the detected temperature profile from the temperature sensor(112, see figure 1, column 8, lines 20-25, also see column 2, lines 25-41 and column 11, lines 56-60); determine a cooling profile for the coolant at a predetermined line speed based on the desired exit temperature profile and the detected temperature profile (see column 8, lines 53-62); and control the cooling header (i.e., a plurality of nozzle (104A and 104B)
of a coolant header or manifold arrangement) to dispense coolant pursuant to the cooling profile (see column 4, lines 21-44).
Regarding claim 12, Gaensbauer teaches a cooling system (124) that comprises controlling the cooling header to dispense a spray pattern (i.e. coolant profile or coolant distribution) across the width of the metal substrate (102, see figures 1-3&5, column 8, line 57-column 9, line 11 and column 9, line 48 – column 10, line 15).
Regarding claim 13, Gaensbauer in figures 1-3 and 5 shows a plurality of nozzle (104A and 104B) of a coolant header, and the removal device (138) of the exhaust system, with at least one of each device being provided both above and below the passline (130) of a metal substrate passing through the cooling system. This system arrangement of Gaensbauer meets substantially all aspects of the claim because one can pair for example the top cooling header (i.e., nozzle 104A header) and the bottom removal device (138) of the exhaust system to form a unit, and said unit clearly meets the claim.
Regarding claim 14, Gaensbauer in figures 1-3 and 5 shows metal processing system (100) comprising: an exit stand (116) of a rolling mill (126) in which the rolling mill is a cold rolling mill (see column 4, line 60-column 5, line 16); and the cooling (124) system is downstream from the exit stand (116); wherein
Regarding claim 16, Gaensbauer teaches a cold rolling mill (126, see figures 1-3 and 5 and column 4, line 60-column 5, line 16) comprising: an exit stand (116, see figure 1-3 and 5); and a cooling system (124, see figures 1-3 and 5) downstream from
the exit stand (116), the cooling system comprising a cooling header (i.e. equates to the assembly of plurality of nozzle 104A and 104B, see figure 1 and column 5, lines 20-55) configured to selectively (see column 4, lines 21-43, column 5, lines 50-66 and column 6, lines 26-65) dispense a coolant onto a metal substrate exiting the exit stand (116).
Regarding claim 17, Gaensbauer teaches a cold rolling mill (126, see figures 1-3 and 5 and column 4, line 60-column 5, line 16) that comprises a cooling header (i.e. equates to the manifold comprising the assembly of the plurality of nozzle 104A and 104B, see figure 1 and column 5, lines 20-55) and exhaust system comprises a removal device (138, see figure 1, column 8, lines 28-45 and column 11, lines 50-57) that is configured to remove coolant dispensed by the cooling header (see figure 1, column 8, lines 28-45 and column 11, lines 50-57) of the cooling system (124, see figures 1-3 and 5).
With respect to the rewind coiler disposed downstream of the cooling system, Gaensbauer does not particularly shows that, however as evidenced by Niitani et al. (US Patent No. 11,701,697, figure 10 shows a rewind coiler 18, downstream of the cooling system 15, 16 & 17, also see column 9, lines column 8, lines 8-19 and lines 30-50), the presence of a rewind coiler arranged in the manner as claimed in the assembly of Gaensbauer would have been inherent since said device is required for rewinding the metal substrate or strip after cooling for the purpose of storage and further processing. Also see MPEP 2112.
Regarding claim 18, Gaensbauer teaches a cold rolling mill (126, see figures 1-3 and 5 and column 4, line 60-column 5, line 16) that further comprises: a temperature sensor (112, see figure 1, column 8, lines 20-25, also see column 2, lines 25-41 and column 11, lines 56-60) downstream (see figures 1-3 and 5) from the cooling header (equates to the manifold that comprising the assembly of plurality of nozzle 104A and 104B, see figures 1-3&5 and column 5, lines 20-55), wherein the temperature sensor is configured to detect a temperature profile of the metal substrate across a width of the metal substrate (see column 8, lines 53-62); and a controller (114, see figures 1-3 and 5) communicatively coupled to the cooling header and the temperature sensor, wherein the controller is configured to control the cooling header based at least on a detected temperature profile (see in figures 1-3 and 5 communicatively coupled to the cooling header and the temperature sensor for the same function as claimed; also see and column 4, lines 34-43 and column 13, lines 23-42).
Regarding claim 19, Gaensbauer teaches a cold rolling mill (126, see figures 1-3 and 5 and column 4, line 60-column 5, line 16) comprising: an exit stand (116, see figure 1-3 and 5); and a cooling system (124, see figures 1-3 and 5) downstream from the exit stand (see figures 1-3 and 5), the cooling system comprising: a cooling header comprising a plurality of nozzles (equates to the manifold that comprises the assemble of plurality of nozzle 104A and 104B, see figures 1-3&5 and column 5, lines 20-55), each nozzle of the plurality of nozzles (104A and 104B) configured to selectively dispense a coolant onto a metal substrate exiting the exit stand (see column 4, lines 21-43, column 5, lines 50-66 and column 6, lines 26-65); and a controller (114, see figures 1-3 and 5) communicatively coupled with the cooling header and configured to individually control each nozzle of the plurality of nozzles (see figures 1-3 and 5 and column 4, lines 34-43 and column 13, lines 23-42).
Regarding claim 20, Gaensbauer teaches a cold rolling mill (126, see figures 1-3 and 5), further comprising: a temperature sensor (112, see figure 1, column 8, lines 20-25), configured to detect a temperature profile across a width of the metal substrate (see column 8, lines 53-62), wherein the controller (114, see figures 1-3 and 5) is communicatively coupled with the temperature sensor (see figures 1-3 and 5) and configured to control each nozzle of the plurality of nozzles (104A and 104B) based on a detected temperature profile from the temperature sensor (112) (see column 4, lines 34-43 and column 13, lines 23-42).
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.
Claims 10 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gaensbauer (US Patent No. 11,182,159) as applied to claim 1 or claim 16 above and view of Niitani et al. (US Patent No. 11,701,697)
Regarding claim 10, Gaensbauer in figures 1-3 and 5, shows a first temperature sensor (112, also see column 8, lines 20-25) disposed downstream of the cooling system (124) but fails to expressly teach a second temperature sensor upstream from the cooling header.
However, Niitani et al. teaches a cooling system for a metal processing system or a rolling mill (12,13 & 14, see Niitani et al., abstract and figures 1 and 2), the cooling system (16, see figure 2 and column 8, lines 4-19) comprising: a cooling header (26, see figure 2 and column 9, lines 34-42) configured to selectively dispense a coolant onto a metal substrate (hot rolled sheet 2, see figures 1 and 2, and column 8, lines 4-19); and a first temperature sensor (29, see figure 2 and column 9, lines 34-42 and column 17, lines 5-60) disposed downstream of cooling header (26) of the cooling system (16) and a second temperature sensor (28, see figure 2, column 9, lines 34-42 and column 17, lines 5-60) disposed upstream from the cooling header (26) of the cooling system (16) so as to measure the temperature of the metal substrate or strip (2) upstream of or before the cooling system (16), and to measure the temperature of the metal substrate or strip (2) downstream of or after the cooling system (16).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the cooling system of Gaensbauer to provide a second temperature sensor upstream from the cooling header of the cooling system as exemplified by Niitani et al., and that would provide the function and advantage of obtaining the temperature of the metal substrate or strip prior to traversing the cooling
header of the cooling system and thereby allowing a much more efficient use or
application of the coolant during cooling of the metal strip to achieve a desired or a target temperature and consequently achieving a desired metal substrate or strip microstructure or metallurgical quality.
Regarding claim 15, Gaensbauer in figures 1-3 and 5, shows a first temperature sensor (112, also see column 8, lines 20-25) disposed downstream of the cooling system (124) and but fails to expressly teach a second temperature sensor upstream from the cooling header, and controller (114, see figures 1-3 and 5 and column 4, lines 34-43) is further configured to: determine a desired exit temperature profile of metal substrate (see column 8, lines 53-62); receive the detected temperature profile from the temperature sensor(112, see figure 1, column 8, lines 20-25, also see column 2, lines 25-41 and column 11, lines 56-60); determine a cooling profile for the coolant at a predetermined line speed based on the desired exit temperature profile and the detected temperature profile (see column 8, lines 53-62); and control the cooling header such that the cooling header (i.e., a plurality of nozzle (104A and 104B) of a coolant header or manifold arrangement) dispenses the coolant pursuant to the cooling profile (see column 4, lines 21-44).
Gaensbauer, however fails to expressly teach a second temperature sensor upstream from the cooling header.
Niitani et al. teaches a cooling system for a metal processing system or a rolling mill (12,13 & 14, see Niitani et al., abstract and figures 1 and 2), the cooling system (16, see figure 2 and column 8, lines 4-19) comprising: a cooling header (26, see figure 2 and column 9, lines 34-42) configured to selectively dispense a coolant onto a metal substrate (hot rolled sheet 2, see figures 1 and 2, and column 8, lines 4-19); and a first temperature sensor (29, see figure 2 and column 9, lines 34-42 and column 17, lines 5-60) disposed downstream of cooling header (26) of the cooling system (16) and a second temperature sensor (28, see figure 2, column 9, lines 34-42 and column 17, lines 5-60) disposed upstream from the cooling header (26) of the cooling system (16) so as to measure the temperature of the metal substrate or strip (2) upstream of or before the cooling system (16), and to measure the temperature of the metal substrate or strip (2) downstream of or after the cooling system (16).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the cooling system of Gaensbauer to provide a second temperature sensor upstream from the cooling header of the cooling system as exemplified by Niitani et al., and that would provide the function and advantage of obtaining the temperature of the metal substrate or strip prior to traversing the cooling
header of the cooling system and thereby allowing a much more efficient use or
application of the coolant during cooling of the metal strip to achieve a desired or a target temperature and consequently achieving a desired metal substrate or strip microstructure or metallurgical quality.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Sivilotti et al. (US 5,701,775), Serizawa et al. (US 7,718,018) and Kush et al. (US 4,477,287) are also cited in PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL ABOAGYE whose telephone number is (571)272-8165. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM-5:00PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith Hendricks can be reached at 571-272-1401. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be
obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/M.A/Examiner, Art Unit 1733
/JESSEE R ROE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
Prosecution Insights