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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 5-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ortmayer (EP0233971A1) in view of Lee (KR 100232603 B1) and Juan (US 20150300630 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ortmayer teaches a method (the operation of the assembly shown in FIG. 1) for controlling preheating of a heating apparatus (FIG. 1 the assembly of burner 14 and burner nozzle 8.1.1), in which a fuel injection part is provided in a first passage (FIG. 1, the line along which fuel 8 moves) that provides a moving path (the path inside the fuel line), a fuel injection part (FIG. 1, burner nozzle 8.1.1), which injects the supplied fuel, before ignition.
Ortmayer fails to teach that a fuel tank is provided in the first passage, and fuel remaining in the first passage moves in a second direction opposite to a first direction while preheating the fuel injection part; the method comprising: a passage opening process of allowing the first passage to communicate with the outside through a discharge valve provided in the first passage; and a preheating process of heating at least a portion of the fuel injection part before the fuel injected from the fuel injection part is ignited.
However, Lee teaches that a fuel tank (FIG. 1, fuel tank 51) is provided in the first passage; the method comprising: a passage opening process (the process of FIG. 1) of allowing the first passage to communicate with the outside through a discharge valve (FIG. 3b, the air bleed nipple 52’ of the fuel filter 52, which allows the passage to communicate with the outside by bleeding air caught in the fuel) provided in the first passage.
At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Ortmayer by including a fuel tank, pump apparatus, and an air bleed valve in the fuel line, as taught by Lee, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Ortmayer with these aforementioned teachings of Lee with the motivation of effectively storing the fuel and ridding it of air bubbles.
Lee fails to teach fuel remaining in the first passage moves in a second direction opposite to a first direction while preheating the fuel injection part; and a preheating process of heating at least a portion of the fuel injection part before the fuel injected from the fuel injection part is ignited.
However, Juan teaches fuel remaining in the first passage moves in a second direction opposite to a first direction (paragraph 58, uncombusted fuel backflows toward a preheat chamber) while preheating the fuel injection part (the backflowing uncombusted fuel transfers heat to surrounding parts, including the nozzle it entered through); and a preheating process of heating at least a portion of the fuel injection part before the fuel injected from the fuel injection part is ignited (FIG. 1, the preheat chamber preheats before the combustion process).
At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Ortmayer by having backflowing fuel preheat the injection parts, as taught by Juan, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Ortmayer with these aforementioned teachings of Juan with the motivation of preventing shock from quick temperature changes.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Ortmayer, Lee, and Juan teaches that the passage opening process and the preheating process are performed at the same time or at different times (Lee, the bleed process and the preheating process must necessarily happen either at overlapping or non-overlapping times).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Ortmayer, Lee, and Juan teaches that the heating apparatus comprises: a fuel pump (Lee, FIG. 1, pump 53); a fuel inflow part (Lee, FIG. 1, fuel hose 54) provided downstream of the first passage from the fuel pump to allow the fuel tank and the fuel pump to communicate with each other; and a fuel discharge part (FIG. 1, fuel filter 52) provided upstream of the first passage to guide discharge of the fuel of the fuel pump, wherein the discharge valve is provided in the fuel discharge part (FIG. 8).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Ortmayer, Lee, and Juan teaches while the passage opening process and the preheating process are performed, an igniter operation process of operating an igniter configured to ignite the fuel injected from the fuel injection part (Ortmayer, FIG 1, the burner is preheated as the fuel is ignited. Lee, FIG. 1, the air is bled while the burner ignites.).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Ortmayer, Lee, and Juan teaches a passage closing process of closing the discharge valve to prevent the first passage from communicating with the outside (FIG. 5, the assembly includes an air bleed valve to control whether or not air is bled.).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Ortmayer, Lee, and Juan teaches that the igniter operation process and the passage closing process are performed at the same time or at different times (Lee, the ignition process and the passage closing process must necessarily happen either at overlapping or non-overlapping times).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Ortmayer, Lee, and Juan teaches a fuel supply process of operating a fuel pump provided downstream of the first passage from the discharge valve to allow the fuel to move to the fuel injection part after the passage closing process (Lee, FIG. 7, the pump 53 pumps even when the valve 27 is closed).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ortmayer, Lee, and Juan as applied to claims 1-3 and 5-8 above, and further in view of Ma (CN 113108303 A).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Ortmayer, Lee, and Juan teaches that the heating apparatus further comprises: a hot air discharge part (Ortmayer, FIG. 1, the assembly leading from the burner to the fan 114) configured to accommodate the fuel injection part and guide hot air generated by igniting the fuel injected from the fuel injection part to the outside (FIG. 1, the path of the flue gas 17).
The combination of Ortmayer, Lee, and Juan fails to teach a blowing fan configured to introduce external air so as to move to the hot air discharge part, wherein, while the passage opening process and the preheating process are performed, the method further comprises an external air supply process of supplying the external air by the blowing fan to a second passage provided so that the air moves from the blowing fan to the outside through the hot air discharge part.
However, Ma teaches a blowing fan (FIG. 1, air supply fan 53) configured to introduce external air so as to move to the hot air discharge part (FIG. 1, the fan 53 introduces outside air to help cool exhaust gas), wherein, while the passage opening process and the preheating process are performed, the method further comprises an external air supply process of supplying the external air by the blowing fan to a second passage (FIG. 1, the passage at the top of the assembly through which air exits) provided so that the air moves from the blowing fan to the outside through the hot air discharge part (FIG. 1).
At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Ortmayer by employing a fan to pump in outside air into the system, as taught by Ma, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Ortmayer with these aforementioned teachings of Ma with the motivation of assisting in cooling down and diffusing the flue gas in an efficient manner.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM C. WEINERT whose telephone number is (571)272-6988. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-5:00 ET.
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/WILLIAM C WEINERT/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/Allen R. B. Schult/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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