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 .
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 1 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nomura et al, US 9892875 [Nomura] in view of Cernat et al, US 10685798 [Cernat].
Regarding claim 1, Nomura discloses (figs.1-5) a gas circuit breaker comprising:
an airtight container (1) that is filled with an arc-quenching gas [col.3, lines 1-2];
a first arc contact (14) and a second arc contact (51) provided to be able to come in contact with or be separated from each other in the airtight container (1) to be in contact with each other in a pole-closed state and to be separated from each other for opening in a pole-open state;
an operation mechanism (2) configured to separate the first arc contact (14) from the second arc contact (51) for opening from the pole-closed state to the pole-open state; and
a spray unit (31) configured to spray the arc-quenching gas accumulated under pressure to an arc discharge firing between the first arc contact (14) and the second arc contact (51) in the pole-open state after a state transitions from the pole-closed state to the pole-open state,
where a discharge channel (41) that allows a space (between 14, 51) between the first arc contact (14) and the second arc contact (51) in the pole-open state to communicate with an exhaust port (42) formed at a position away from the space between the first arc contact (14) and the second arc contact (51) is formed, the discharge channel (41), toward the exhaust port (42).
Nomura fails to explicitly disclose wherein the discharge channel includes an accelerated taper in which a channel cross-sectional area widens in a slope shape from a position at which the first arc contact comes in contact with the second arc contact in the pole-closed state and a start point corner part and an end point corner part of a channel forming surface forming the discharge channel are rounded, the start point corner part and the end point corner part being located at a start point and an end point of the accelerated taper.
Cernat discloses (figs.1-2) an interrupter unit (100) where a discharge channel (labeled in fig.2, below) includes an accelerated taper (labeled in fig.2, below) in which a channel cross-sectional area widens in a slope shape from a position at which a first arc contact (5) comes in contact with a second arc contact (6) in the pole-closed state, and a start point corner part (labeled in fig.2, below) and an end point corner part (labeled in fig.2, below) of a channel forming surface (labeled in fig.2, below) forming the discharge channel (labeled in fig.2, below), the start point corner part (labeled in fig.2, below) and the end point corner part (labeled in fig.2, below) being located at a start point and an end point of the accelerated taper (labeled in fig.2, below).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the arcing contact of Nomura with the teaching of the arcing contact of Cernat, thereby providing a discharge channel configured, such that the flow downstream of the minimum cross-sectional part becomes supersonic, and thus high-speed flow can be formed.
PNG
media_image1.png
630
776
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 6, Nomura discloses (figs.1-5) a gas circuit breaker comprising:
an airtight container (1) that is filled with an arc-quenching gas [col.3, lines 1-2];
a first arc contact (14) and a second arc contact (51) provided to be able to come in contact with or be separated from each other in the airtight container (1) to be in contact with each other in a pole-closed state and to be separated from each other for opening in a pole-open state;
an operation mechanism (2) configured to separate the first arc contact (14) from the second arc contact (51) for opening from the pole-closed state to the pole-open state; and
a spray unit (31) configured to spray the arc-quenching gas accumulated under pressure to an arc discharge firing between the first arc contact (14) and the second arc contact (51) in the pole-open state after a state transitions from the pole-closed state to the pole-open state,
where a discharge channel (41) that allows a space (between 14, 51) between the first arc contact (14) and the second arc contact (51) in the pole-open state to communicate with an exhaust port (42) formed at a position away from the space between the first arc contact (14) and the second arc contact (51) is formed.
Nomura fails to disclose the discharge channel include an accelerated widening part in which a channel cross-sectional area of the discharge channel widens in a stepped shape from a position at which the first arc contact comes in contact with the second arc contact in the pole-closed state toward the exhaust port.
Cernat discloses (figs.1-2) an interrupter unit (100) where a discharge channel (labeled in fig.2, above) include an accelerated widening part in which a channel cross-sectional area of the discharge channel (labeled in fig.2, above) widens in a stepped shape from a position at which a first arc contact (5) comes in contact with a second arc contact (6) in the pole-closed state toward an exhaust port (implicitly disclose).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the arcing contact of Nomura with the teaching of the arcing contact of Cernat, thereby providing a discharge channel configured, such that the flow downstream of the minimum cross-sectional part becomes supersonic, and thus high-speed flow can be formed.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nomura and Cernat and further in view of Nakamura et al, US 10115548 [Nakamura].
Regarding claim 7, Nomura and Cernat fail to disclose, wherein an insulating member is disposed in at least a part of the exhaust port side on the channel forming surface forming the discharge channel from a space between the first arc contact and the second arc contact in the pole-open state.
Nakamura discloses (figs.1-7) a gas circuit breaker (1) where an insulating member (40) is disposed in at least a part of an exhaust port side [see fig.6] on a channel forming surface forming a discharge channel (12) from a space between a first arc contact (5) and a second arc contact (3) in a pole-open state.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the channel forming surface of the discharge channel of Nomura with the inclusion of the insulating member of Nakamura, thereby providing an internal surface having an ablation material generating a vaporization gas, readily flows into the heat puffer chamber, raising the gas pressure in the puffer chamber, further improving the current interruption performance.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2, the prior art fails to teach or show, alone or in combination, the claimed gas circuit breaker, where a curvature radius of the start point corner part is greater than a radius of a minimum cross-sectional area portion in the discharge channel, and a curvature radius of the end point corner part is greater than the curvature radius of the start point corner part.
Regarding claim 3, the prior art fails to teach or show, alone or in combination, the claimed gas circuit breaker, where a cross-sectional area ratio of a cross-sectional area of the start point corner part and a cross-sectional area of the end point corner part is less than 13.2.
Regarding claim 4, the prior art fails to teach or show, alone or in combination, the claimed gas circuit breaker, where a spread angle of the accelerated taper is lower than 34.4
Regarding claim 5, the prior art fails to teach or show, alone or in combination, the claimed gas circuit breaker, where unevenness is formed on the channel forming surface.
The prior art, either alone or in combination cannot reasonably be construed as adequately teaching the above limitations in combination with the remaining claim elements.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Majima et al, Sakuyama et al, Jimbo et al, Stoller et al, Drews et al, Yoshida et al, Yamada et al, Imamura et al, Lehmann et al and Maier are examples of gas circuit breakers configured similar to the present invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM A BOLTON whose telephone number is (571)270-5887. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 7:30AM - 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, Renee S Luebke can be reached at 571-272-2009. 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.
/WILLIAM A BOLTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
Prosecution Insights