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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 10/17/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's remarks filed 10/17/2025 have been fully considered.
Regarding the prior drawing objections, claim objections, 112(b) rejections, Applicant’s amendments overcome all prior objections/rejections.
Applicant’s arguments regarding the prior art rejections have been previously presented in at least the previous set of submitted arguments (see, for example, para 5 of page 11 of Applicant’s instant arguments and para 2 of page 12 of Applicant’s arguments filed 3/18/2025) and have been previously addressed and identified as not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
Near the bottom of page 11 of Applicant’s remarks, Applicant’s argument is directed toward that Isotani discloses a turbocharger and does not disclose an expander as required by claim 10. The argument is not persuasive because, as one having ordinary skill in the art would understand, a turbine of a turbocharger operates by extracting energy from expanding fluid to spin the turbine, thus the turbine portion of a turbocharger is configured as an expander.
At the bottom of page 11 and the top of page 12 of Applicant’s remarks, Applicant presents arguments directed toward claim 17 which has been cancelled thus the arguments are moot.
Regarding the new claims, please see the action below for any relevant details.
Claim Interpretation
Examiner’s note: The previous claim interpretation(s) (identified in the office action mailed on 12/18/2024) regarding the term(s) “diamond like carbon coating” is/are maintained, wherein the term throughout the claim set is interpreted to refer to a coating comprising diamond like carbon as identified in the original specification page 3 lines 11-31.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION. - The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 7 recites the limitation “said at least one of the one or more of the guide vanes” which lacks proper antecedent basis and thus renders the claim indefinite.
In view of the 112(b) rejections set forth above, the claims are rejected below as best understood.
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) 1-7, 9-10, 12-16, 19, 21-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2015222032 A (Isotani) in view of US 20060110246 A1 (Bruce) and US 20210363896 A1 (hereinafter Stoyanov) and US 6116027 A (Smith), as evidenced by US 20180010690 A1 (hereinafter Itadani).
Examiner’s note: All mapping below (references made to reference characters, figures, paragraphs, etc.) is with regard to the base reference (the first reference identified above) unless otherwise noted.
Examiner's note: For the purposes of examining this patent application, the examiner's submitted English translation of Isotani, submitted with the office action mailed on 12/18/2024, is referenced hereinafter.
Regarding claim 1, Isotani discloses:
A turbo machine (Fig 1) comprising:
a shaft (11; Fig 1),
an impeller (10; Fig 1) arranged on said shaft,
and one or more guide vanes (31 combined with 32; Fig 1) configured to guide operating fluid to or from said impeller,
wherein each guide vane is movably arranged in the turbo machine and arranged in relation to a component (plate 26; Fig 1, 2) of said turbo machine such that each guide vane is in contact with the component (Figs 1 and 2 show this) and that each guide vane is movable relative to the component (Figs 1 and 2 show this),
a contact surface of each guide vane and/or a contact surface of the component (Fig 1 shows at least one such contact surface)
a diamond like carbon coating (70; line 59) is used within the variable guide vane system
Isotani may not explicitly disclose:
the contact surfaces comprise a coating
However, Bruce, in the same field of endeavor, turbomachines, teaches:
In Fig 3 a movable vane 355 with a wear coating 360 applied onto an airfoil portion of the vane, as well as a trunnion portion of the vane, which rubs against structure 330/340 as vane 355 rotates.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Isotani to include Bruce’s teachings as described above, having Isotani’s contact surfaces comprise a coating in the locations Bruce teaches, in order to reduce wear on each vane (paragraph 0012-0013).
Isotani as, modified above, may not explicitly disclose:
The coating comprises a diamond like carbon coating.
However, Stoyanov, in the same field of endeavor, turbomachines, teaches:
A rotatable vane 60 which, with trunnion 68, rotates within bushing 70 along interface 74 (Fig 3; paragraph 0043) wherein the interface 74 comprises a coating 82 (Fig 5; para 0048) of amorphous carbon comprising sp3 content and sp2 content (paragraphs 0005-0012) (wherein diamond like coating “material is amorphous, and its carbon-carbon bonding form includes both the diamond structure (sp3 bonding) and graphite bonding (sp2 bonding).” as identified by Itadani paragraph 0065, which connects Stoyanov’s “a coating of amorphous carbon comprising sp3 content and sp2 content” to a “diamond like carbon coating”, thus it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art to consider a diamond like coating while considering Stoyanov’s disclosure of amorphous carbon comprising sp3 content and sp2 content).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Isotani as modified above to include Stoyanov’s teachings as described above, having the coating comprise a diamond like carbon coating, in order to reduce friction and heat at the interface (Stoyanov paragraph 0005).
Note that Stoyanov also teaches that the it may be desirable to apply the coating 82 to both the trunnion 68 and bushing 70 (0058: “it may be desirable to apply surface modification 82 to bushing 70… in addition to trunnion 68”). Armed with this disclosure, one having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to apply a coating to both the vane and the adjacent component in order to ensure both components are fully protected by and afforded the benefits of the coating.
Isotani as modified above may not explicitly disclose:
and wherein said turbo machine is configured as a cryogenic turbo machine.
However, Smith, in the same field of endeavor, turbomachines, teaches:
A turbomachine (13 combined with 17 and 19 in Fig 1) having adjustable guide vanes (column 6 lines 22-23) of a cryogenic air separation system (claim 7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Isotani to include Smith’s teachings as described above, having the turbo machine configured as a cryogenic turbo machine, in order to perform cryogenic distillation (column 1 lines 14-24). Note that Stoyanov’s disclosure does not criticize, discredit, or otherwise discourage the use of his diamond like carbon coating in a cryogenic turbo machine.
Regarding claim 2, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
said contact surface of each guide vane comprises the diamond like carbon coating (claim 1 rejection teaches this, see claim 1 rejection).
Regarding claim 3, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
said contact surface of the component comprises the diamond like carbon coating (claim 1 rejection teaches this, see claim 1 rejection).
Regarding claim 4, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
said diamond like carbon coating comprises at least one of:
(a) diamond like carbon coating with hydrogen and tungsten fillers,
(b) diamond like carbon coating with hydrogen and tungsten fillers and a layer of diamond like carbon coating with hydrogen filler,
(c) a chromium nitride layer and a diamond like carbon coating with hydrogen filler,
(d) diamond like carbon coating with hydrogen filler, a chromium layer, and a diamond like carbon coating with hydrogen and tungsten fillers,
(e) a chromium layer, a diamond like carbon coating with hydrogen and tungsten fillers, and a diamond like carbon coating with hydrogen filler,
(f) a chromium layer, a chromium nitride layer, and a diamond like carbon coating with hydrogen filler, or
(g) a chromium layer, and a diamond like carbon coating with hydrogen filler.
(Stoyanov paragraph 0049 identifies the coating comprises hydrogen, claim 11 identifies the coating additionally comprises tungsten)
Regarding claim 5, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
said component is statically fixed within the turbo machine (Fig 1 combined with Fig 2 show this as one having ordinary skill in the art would understand).
Regarding claim 6, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
said component is configured as a support ring (Figs 1 and 2 show this).
Regarding claim 7, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
The turbo machine is configured to move said [one or more] guide vanes automatically (Fig 1 shows an actuator 61 which automates the opening and closing of the nozzle vanes).
Regarding claim 9, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
The turbo machine is configured as a radial turbo machine (Fig 1 shows this).
Regarding claim 10, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
The turbo machine is configured as an expander (Fig 1 shows this) (as one having ordinary skill in the art would understand, a turbine of a turbocharger operates by extracting energy from expanding fluid to spin the turbine, thus the turbine portion of a turbocharger is configured as an expander).
Regarding claim 12, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
A method for manufacturing the turbo machine of claim 1, comprising:
providing said at least one contact surface with said diamond like carbon coating (see claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 13, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
said diamond like carbon coating is applied to the contact surface of each guide vane and/or the contact surface of the component by chemical vapor deposition and/or physical vapor deposition (Isotani lines 47-49: “The protective layer can be formed by, for example, diamond-like carbon or chemical vapor deposition such as thermal CVD or plasma CVD, as well as physical vapor deposition such as vacuum deposition, ion plating, sputtering, or ion implantation”).
Regarding claim 14, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
chemical vapour deposition comprises at least one of:
plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition, plasma enhance chemical vapour deposition (lines 47-49).
Regarding claim 15, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
physical vapour deposition comprises at least one of:
arc, sputter, and laser vapour deposition methods (lines 47-49).
Regarding claim 16, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
said contact surface of each guide vane and said contact surface of the component comprise a diamond like carbon coating (claim 1 rejection teaches this, see claim 1 rejection)
Regarding claim 19, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
A method of compressing or expanding a process gas at a cryogenic temperature, comprising expanding or compressing the process gas at a cryogenic temperature in a turbo machine (inherent to a cryogenic turbo machine as disclosed in claim 1 above) according to claim 1 (see claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 21, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
the component is a support ring (Fig 1 shows this) and each of the guide vanes is mounted on the support ring by means of a pin (32; Fig 1) such that each of the guide vanes is movable relative to the support ring (evident from Fig 1).
Regarding claim 22, Isotani, as modified above, further discloses:
an additional support ring (Annotated Fig 1a) and each guide vane is in contact with the additional support ring (Fig 1 shows this) and each guide vane is movable relative to the additional support ring (Fig 1 shows this).
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Annotated Fig 1a
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isotani in view of Bruce and Stoyanov and Smith, as evidenced Itadani, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 20160010488 A1 (Albers).
Regarding claim 11, Isotani, as modified above, discloses all claim limitations (see above) except:
The turbo machine is configured as a compressor
However, Albers, in the same field of endeavor, turbomachines, teaches:
A nozzle guide ring (Fig 7) with adjustable vanes (paragraph 0005) which is part of a compressor for a turbomachine (abstract).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Isotani to include Albers’s teachings as described above, having the turbo machine configured as a compressor, in order to control the volume flow rate (paragraph 0005).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isotani in view of Bruce and Stoyanov and Smith, as evidenced Itadani, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of non-patent literature HefUSA.
Regarding claim 20, Isotani, as modified above, discloses all claim limitations (see above) except:
said diamond like carbon coating comprises:
(a) amorphous carbon with hydrogen and tungsten fillers (a-C:H:W),
(b) a layer of amorphous carbon with hydrogen and tungsten fillers and a layer of amorphous carbon with hydrogen filler (a-C:H:W+a-C:H),
(c) a chromium nitride layer and a layer of amorphous carbon with hydrogen filler (CrN+a-C:H),
(d) a chromium layer and a layer of amorphous carbon with hydrogen and tungsten fillers (Cr+a-C:H:W),
(e) a chromium layer, a layer of amorphous carbon with hydrogen filler, and a layer of amorphous carbon with tungsten filler (Cr+a-C:H:W+a-C:H),
(f) a chromium layer, a chrome nitride layer, and a layer of amorphous carbon with hydrogen filler (Cr+CrN+a-C:H), or
(g) a chromium layer and a layer of amorphous carbon with hydrogen filler (Cr+a- C:H).
While Stoyanov in paragraph 0049 does disclose that his coating can comprise a-C:H, he does not appear to explicitly disclose any of the specific coating compositions above.
However, HefUSA, in the same field of endeavor, coatings, teaches:
A family of DLC Diamond like coatings appropriate for industrial applications (page 2) including the composition of a-C:H:W (page 3) which offers specific properties (table on page 3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have Isotani’s as modified above diamond like coating have HefUSA’s composition of a-C:H:W in order to have a coating with specific desirable properties (table on page 3).
Regarding claim 23, Isotani discloses:
A turbo machine (Fig 1) comprising:
a shaft (11; Fig 1),
an impeller (10; Fig 1) arranged on said shaft,
and one or more guide vanes (31 combined with 32; Fig 1) configured to guide operating fluid to or from said impeller,
wherein each guide vane is movably arranged in the turbo machine and arranged in relation to a first component (plate 26; Figs 1, 2) and a second component (“additional support ring” in Annotated Fig 1a) of said turbo machine such that each guide vane is in contact with the first component and the second component (Figs 1, 2 show this),
and that each guide vane is movable relative to the first component and the second component (Figs 1, 2 show this),
a diamond like carbon coating (70; line 59) is used within the variable guide vane system.
Isotani may not explicitly disclose:
and wherein a contact surface of each guide vane, a contact surface of the first component, and/or a contact surface of the second component comprises a coating,
However, Bruce, in the same field of endeavor, turbomachines, teaches:
In Fig 3 a movable vane 355 with a wear coating 360 applied to all portions of the vane which have contact and relative motion with any adjacent components, e.g., structure 330/340.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Isotani to include Bruce’s teachings as described above, having Isotani’s contact surfaces of each guide vane, which have contact and relative motion with any adjacent components, comprise a coating, in order to reduce wear on each vane (paragraph 0012-0013).
Isotani as, modified above, may not explicitly disclose:
The coating comprises a diamond like carbon coating.
However, Stoyanov, in the same field of endeavor, turbomachines, teaches:
A rotatable vane 60 which, with trunnion 68, rotates within bushing 70 along interface 74 (Fig 3; paragraph 0043) wherein the interface 74 comprises a coating 82 (Fig 5; para 0048) of amorphous carbon comprising sp3 content and sp2 content (paragraphs 0005-0012) (wherein diamond like coating “material is amorphous, and its carbon-carbon bonding form includes both the diamond structure (sp3 bonding) and graphite bonding (sp2 bonding).” as identified by Itadani paragraph 0065, which connects Stoyanov’s “a coating of amorphous carbon comprising sp3 content and sp2 content” to a “diamond like carbon coating”, thus it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art to consider a diamond like coating while considering Stoyanov’s disclosure of amorphous carbon comprising sp3 content and sp2 content).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Isotani as modified above to include Stoyanov’s teachings as described above, having the coating comprise a diamond like carbon coating, in order to reduce friction and heat at the interface (Stoyanov paragraph 0005).
Note that Stoyanov also teaches that the it may be desirable to apply the coating 82 to both the trunnion 68 and bushing 70 (0058: “it may be desirable to apply surface modification 82 to bushing 70… in addition to trunnion 68”). Armed with this disclosure, one having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to apply a coating to both the vane and the adjacent component in order to ensure both components are fully protected by and afforded the benefits of the coating.
Isotani as modified above may not explicitly disclose:
and wherein said turbo machine is configured as a cryogenic turbo machine.
However, Smith, in the same field of endeavor, turbomachines, teaches:
A turbomachine (13 combined with 17 and 19 in Fig 1) having adjustable guide vanes (column 6 lines 22-23) of a cryogenic air separation system (claim 7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Isotani to include Smith’s teachings as described above, having the turbo machine configured as a cryogenic turbo machine, in order to perform cryogenic distillation (column 1 lines 14-24). Note that Stoyanov’s disclosure does not criticize, discredit, or otherwise discourage the use of his diamond like carbon coating in a cryogenic turbo machine.
Regarding claim 24, Isotani, as modified above, discloses:
said first component comprises a first support ring (Figs 1 and 2 show this) and second component comprises a second support ring (Figs 1 and 2 show this) and each of the guide vanes are in contact with the first and second support rings and are movable relative to the first and second support rings (Figs 1 and 2 show all this),
and wherein said each of the plurality of guide vanes has a first contact surface (Annotated Fig 1b) and a second contact surface (Annotated Fig 1b), the first contact surfaces are in contact with a contact surface of the first support ring and the second contact surface is in contact with a contact surface of the second support ring (Fig 1 shows all this),
and wherein the first and second contact surfaces of the guide vanes have the diamond like carbon coating (claim 23 rejection teaches this, see claim 23 rejection).
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Annotated Fig 1b
Regarding claim 25, Isotani, as modified above, discloses:
the contact surfaces of the first and second support rings also have the diamond like carbon coating (claim 23 and 24 rejections teaches this, see claim 23 and 24 rejections).
Conclusion
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/Art Golik/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
/NATHANIEL E WIEHE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3745