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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 07/05/2024 and 04/03/2026. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2 and 4-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by ZIJLSTRA et al. (WO 2024242557 A1, hereinafter referred to as “ZIJLSTRA”).
Regarding Claim 1, ZIJLSTRA teaches a detection apparatus (Fig. 1) for detecting a backfire in a combustion chamber (Fig. 1, a combustion area 100) that burns fuel supplied from a supply port, the detection apparatus comprising:
a conduit (Fig. 1, supply line 11) connected to an interior of the combustion chamber through an opening provided in a sidewall of the combustion chamber (At least supply line 11 and the combustion area 100 in Fig. 1 and page 11 teaches a passage disposed to an interior of the combustion area through an opening provided in a sidewall of the combustion area to which mixed fuels are provided);
a sensor (Fig. 1, flashback detection sensor 1) configured to measure a physical quantity in the interior of the combustion chamber via the conduit (At least pages 11-12 teaches a sensor to measure the fluid property to control amount of fluid to control the backfire, “when a sensor 1 can be installed in the fluid supply line 11 , 12, 13 that consistently monitors the fluid property … flashback detection sensor 1 is here of the pressure monitoring type … The measurement values obtained by the sensor 1 are sent to a controller 31 , which registers a time plot of the pressures I pressure differentials, to detect if and when a flashback event occurs … other fluid properties such as radiation emitted by the fluid, fluid temperature, fluid density and many other fluid properties will also be affected by a flashback event taking place in the fluid supply line 11 , 12, 13.”); and
a detector (Fig. 1, a flame detector 103) configured to detect a backfire in the combustion chamber based on a measured value of the physical quantity measured by the sensor (At least page 12, lines 20-29 and Fig. 1 teach a detector to detect a flashback event in the combustion chamber based on the change of fluid characteristics (i.e., a measured value of the physical quantity)), wherein the conduit comprises an opening/closing part configured to open and close an internal space of said conduit between the combustion chamber and the sensor (At least Fig. 1 teaches the supply line 11 including an opening/closing part configured to open and close an internal space of said conduit between the combustion chamber 100 and the sensor 1).
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Annotated Fig. 1 of ZIJLSTRA
Regarding Claim 2, ZIJLSTRA teaches wherein the opening in the sidewall of the combustion chamber through which the conduit is connected to the interior of the combustion chamber is provided at a position that is downstream from the supply port and upstream from a reference flame surface that is produced in a case in which the fuel is burned normally in the combustion chamber (At least Fig. 1 and pages 11-12 teach the combustion chamber 100 having an opening through which conduit 11 is connected to the interior of the combustion chamber is provided at a position that is downstream from the supply port and upstream from a reference flame surface”).
Regarding Claim 4, ZIJLSTRA teaches further comprising a proposal interface (controller) configured to estimate a timing at which maintenance of the sensor will become necessary based on a measured value of the physical quantity measured by the sensor, and notify a user of the estimated timing (At least page 7 teaches “the controller is further configured for counting the number of flashback events. For example it may be useful to know the number of flashback events occurring in a certain time period and/or to schedule a maintenance event after a certain number of flashback events”; At least pages 11-12 teaches a sensor to measure the fluid property to control amount of fluid to control the backfire, “when a sensor 1 can be installed in the fluid supply line 11 , 12, 13 that consistently monitors the fluid property … flashback detection sensor 1 is here of the pressure monitoring type … The measurement values obtained by the sensor 1 are sent to a controller 31”). Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, “notify a suer of the estimated timing” may be indicative of a part of scheduling a maintenance event and “estimate a time” may be taught by a process of counting the number of flashback events.
Regarding Claim 5, ZIJLSTRA teaches wherein the sensor is configured to measure a temperature, a light spectrum, a pressure, or a sound pressure in the interior of the combustion chamber (At least pages 11-12 teaches a sensor to measure the fluid property to control amount of fluid to control the backfire, “when a sensor 1 can be installed in the fluid supply line 11 , 12, 13 that consistently monitors the fluid property … flashback detection sensor 1 is here of the pressure monitoring type … The measurement values obtained by the sensor 1 are sent to a controller 31 , which registers a time plot of the pressures I pressure differentials, to detect if and when a flashback event occurs … other fluid properties such as radiation emitted by the fluid, fluid temperature, fluid density and many other fluid properties will also be affected by a flashback event taking place in the fluid supply line 11 , 12, 13.”).
Regarding Claim 6, ZIJLSTRA teaches wherein the opening/closing part is a gate-type or ball-type valve (Fig. 1, a valve 21) (At least page 12 teaches a valve 21, “the system 200 may be shut down by closing a valve 21 in the gas supply line 12. In the alternative, a valve associated with another one of the fluid supply lines 11, 13 may be closed.”).
Regarding Claim 7, ZIJLSTRA teaches further comprising a signal output interface (flame detector) configured to output, in response to detection of a backfire in the combustion chamber by the detector, a signal indicating occurrence of the backfire to a control system (a burner control system) that controls supply of the fuel to the supply port (At least page 6 and 8 teach the controller configured to communicate with, and receive measured signals from, the flame detector (i.e., a signal output interface) , “a burner control system comprising a gas burner arranged in a combustion area, a fluid inlet line arranged in between a fluid source and the combustion area, for guiding the fluid in a transport direction towards the combustion area, a valve associated with the fluid inlet line and configured for opening and closing an inlet of said line, … a controller arranged in communication with the flashback detection sensor and the valve, the controller configured for closing the valve in response to a flashback event being detected by the sensor”, “the controller is configured for evaluating measurement signals generated by the flame detector and the flashback detection sensor simultaneously, in particular using a logical AND-port” ).
Regarding Claim 8, it is a system type claim having similar limitations as of claim 1 above. Therefore, it is rejected under the same rationale as of claim 1 above.
Regarding Claim 9, ZIJLSTRA teaches wherein the combustion chamber is supplied with fuel from discharge ports of a plurality of fuel nozzles (Fig. 1, valve) as the supply port for the fuel (At least page 6 teach “Providing a valve in the fluid line would allow the closing of the valve after a flashback event has been detected, to stop the supply of fluid and kill the flame. In such cases, the valve is preferably associated with the gas supply line, so that no gas is built up in the system while it is switched off”).
Regarding Claim 10, ZIJLSTRA teaches wherein supply of the fuel to the supply port is controlled in response to detection of a backfire by the detection apparatus (At least pages 7 and 8 teach “wherein the valve is only closed upon the pressure in the fluid inlet line, as measured by the flashback detection sensor, exceeding the threshold pressure. … the controller configured for closing the valve in response to a flashback event being detected by the sensor; and a flame detector in the combustion area, the flame detector arranged in communication with the controller and configured for detecting gas burner flame out events” ).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZIJLSTRA in view of Garnier et al. (US 20190376412 A1, hereinafter referred to as “Garnier”).
Regarding Claim 3, ZIJLSTRA teaches further comprising a proposal interface (the controller) configured to determine a need for maintenance of the sensor based on a comparison between an average of measured values of the physical quantity measured by the sensor and a predetermined threshold, and notify a user that maintenance of the sensor is necessary in a case in which it is determined that maintenance of the sensor is necessary (At least page 7 teaches the controller is further configured for counting the number of flashback events. For example it may be useful to know the number of flashback events occurring in a certain time period and/or to schedule a maintenance event after a certain number of flashback events … the controller is further configured for comparing a pressure in the fluid inlet line to a predetermined threshold pressure, wherein the valve is only closed upon the pressure in the fluid inlet line, as measured by the flashback detection sensor, exceeding the threshold pressure).
With respect to the claimed limitation of notify a user that maintenance of the sensor is necessary in a case in which it is determined that maintenance of the sensor is necessary, ZIJLSTRA fails to explicitly disclose the claimed feature of notifying needs of the maintenance, but Garnier teaches sending/notifying a message for a maintenance need (Para 0125, “issued (step E8) to the warning means 9 (e.g. using means that are audible and/or visible). Likewise, messages for sending to maintenance, or for making available to maintenance, may be triggered when issuing the alarm”).
ZIJLSTRA and Garnier are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of a gas turbine. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified ZIJLSTRA to incorporate the teachings of Garnier by providing operations for sending/notifying a message for a maintenance need, as taught by Garnier at least at paragraph 0125.
Citation of Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
KIM YOUNG SOO (KR 20010018413 A) teaches a backfire sensor of a gas combustor comprises a supporter(60); a gas injector(61) combined to the supporter; and a tube assembly(62) fixed to the supporter to place the gas injector inside. The tube assembly is in a cap shape and plural injecting holes(62a) are formed on one side of the tube assembly. An ignition plug(63) is placed in the side of the injecting hole to ignite gas and a thermocouple(70) is installed in the side of the ignition plug. Thus, when flame backfires, a backfire sensing thermocouple(71) senses the backfire in the tube assembly. The backfire sensing thermocouple transmits a backfire signal to a microcomputer through a flame sensing circuit and a gas combustor stops injecting gas to prevent an accident.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BYUNG RO LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-3707. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lee Rodak can be reached on (571) 270-5628. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-2555.
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/BYUNG RO LEE/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/LEE E RODAK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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