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 .
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.
Claim Objections
The following Claims are objected for the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “Method for …” and should recite “A method for …”
Claim 9 recites “Aircraft turbomachine …” and should recite “An aircraft turbomachine …”
Claim 15 recites “Aircraft …” and should recite “An aircraft …”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 3-7 & 10-12 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.
Regarding Claim 3 (similarly in Claim 10), the applicant recites “wherein the load is a dissipative load, the method further comprising adjustment by the control system of a resistance of the dissipative load for drawing electrical power from the electric generator to the dissipative load”. The dissipative load fails to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter. How does the load “dissipate” or what type of dissipative load is?
Claims 4-7 & 11-12 are rejected based on the dependency from Claim 3 & 10.
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 1-2, 8-9 & 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Noderer (US 2019/0052205).
Regarding Claim 1, Noderer discloses method for managing the torque of an aircraft turbomachine including a variable-pitch fan or propeller connected to a turbine by means of a shaft and a reduction gear, and an electric generator connected to the shaft (FIG. 1, Claim 1; a gas turbine operable at a rated constant speed to rotate an output shaft, ¶ [0012-0013]; The engine 102 may include any source of mechanical power that can drive the generator 106. Examples of the engine 102 may include a gas turbine engine, an internal combustion engine, a gas engine, a reciprocating engine, a diesel engine, a turbo fan, any other type of engine, propeller(s) of a wind turbine, and any other source of mechanical power. The engine 102 represented in FIG. 1 is a gas turbine engine), the method comprising the following steps:
measuring the torque on the shaft [gas turbine control scenario] with a torque sensor [If a mechanism for reducing the step change transient load based on sensing the torque measurement is applied, the turbine controller 202] (¶ [0071-0072]);
when the occurrence of a torque peak is measured by the torque sensor, calculating a turbine braking command by a control system as a function of the measured torque [The controller 224 may apply the constraint based on the transient load control signal to maintain the variable torque of the gas turbine 102 below a predetermined threshold as a load ramp rate of the DC to DC converter changes on the power source bus 108 thereby affecting the load of the generator 106] (¶ [0077]); and
in response to the braking command, drawing and transferring electrical power from the electrical generator to a load [excessive torque may be placed on the gas turbine 102 if the application of load to the generator 106 is of sufficient magnitude, duration and/or rate. For a given level of load, relatively short-duration transient step change loads do not necessarily present an issue for the response of the turbine controller 202 and the gas turbine 102 since the step change load is removed quickly enough to minimize impactful operation] (¶ [0072-0077]).
Regarding Claim 2, Noderer discloses the method according to claim 1 [see rejected Claim 1],
wherein the braking command is calculated as a function of the difference between the measured torque and a maximum torque command (¶ [0061]; In addition, or alternatively, minimum and maximum set point values may be used, so as to avoid driving the actual speed of the gas turbine 102 above or below a desired speed range (i.e. can this function drive the load to zero?)).
Regarding Claim 8, Noderer discloses the method according to claim 1 [see rejected Claim 1],
comprising drawing and transferring electrical power from the electric generator [106] to an electrical storage device [220] (FIG. 2) OR.
Regarding Claim 9, Noderer discloses an aircraft turbomachine including a variable-pitch fan or propeller connected to a turbine by a shaft and a reduction gear, and an electrical generator connected to the shaft (FIG. 1, Claim 1; a gas turbine operable at a rated constant speed to rotate an output shaft, ¶ [0012-0013]; The engine 102 may include any source of mechanical power that can drive the generator 106. Examples of the engine 102 may include a gas turbine engine, an internal combustion engine, a gas engine, a reciprocating engine, a diesel engine, a turbo fan, any other type of engine, propeller(s) of a wind turbine, and any other source of mechanical power. The engine 102 represented in FIG. 1 is a gas turbine engine),
the turbomachine comprising:
a torque sensor configured to measure the torque on the shaft [If a mechanism for reducing the step change transient load based on sensing the torque measurement is applied, the turbine controller 202] (¶ [0071-0072]);
a control system configured to calculate a braking command of the turbine when the occurrence of a torque peak is measured by the torque sensor [The controller 224 may apply the constraint based on the transient load control signal to maintain the variable torque of the gas turbine 102 below a predetermined threshold as a load ramp rate of the DC to DC converter changes on the power source bus 108 thereby affecting the load of the generator 106] (¶ [0077]), and
configured to draw and transfer electric power from the electric generator to a load in response to the braking command [excessive torque may be placed on the gas turbine 102 if the application of load to the generator 106 is of sufficient magnitude, duration and/or rate. For a given level of load, relatively short-duration transient step change loads do not necessarily present an issue for the response of the turbine controller 202 and the gas turbine 102 since the step change load is removed quickly enough to minimize impactful operation] (¶ [0072-0077]).
Regarding Claim 13, Noderer discloses the turbomachine according to claim 12 [see rejected Claim 12],
wherein the control system includes a calculator of the electric generator configured to calculate the braking command and adjust the internal resistance of the electric generator in response to the braking command (FIG. 2, ¶ [0030]; The turbine controller 202 may include a memory and one or more processors and/or other devices capable of performing logic to control the operation of the gas turbine 200).
Regarding Claim 14, Noderer discloses the turbomachine according to claim 9 [see rejected Claim 9],
wherein the control system is configured to draw and transfer electric power from the electric generator [106] to an electrical storage device [220] (FIG. 2) OR.
Regarding Claim 15, Noderer discloses aircraft comprising at least one turbomachine according to claim 9 [see rejected Claim 9].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7 & 10-12 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH ORTEGA whose telephone number is (469)295-9083. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 AM - 5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, TULSIDAS C. PATEL can be reached at (571)272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH ORTEGA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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