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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's remarks filed 5/20/2026 have been fully considered.
Regarding the prior art rejection of claims 1 and 2, in paragraphs 4-7 of page 5 of Applicant’s Remarks, Applicant’s arguments are directed to that the prior art fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the amended limitations of amended claims 1 and 2.
Applicant’s arguments are persuasive insofar as the amendments do overcome the previously formulated rejections of the previous office action. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made for the amended claims, as identified below; please see the action below for details.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20210102499 A1 (hereinafter Leque).
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Leque Fig 2
Regarding claim 1, Leque discloses:
A gas turbine engine comprising:
a low pressure spool (30; Fig 2) that connects a low pressure compressor (44; Fig 2) to a low pressure turbine (46; Fig 2);
a high pressure spool (32; Fig 2) that connects a high pressure compressor (52; Fig 2) to a high pressure turbine (54; Fig 2);
a high pressure geartrain (e.g., 84 combined with 78, 94, 96, 98, 100, sun gear 102; Fig 2) coupled in gear with the high pressure spool;
a low pressure geartrain (e.g., 82 combined with 76, 86, 88, 90, 92; Fig 2) coupled in gear with the low pressure spool;
and an accessory gearbox (66 combined with 68; Fig 2) having an accessory drive gear (a gear within gearbox 68; para 0052: “gearbox 68 includes another gear system or plurality of gears as is required to the drive accessory components schematically illustrated at 72 and 74”) that is selectively drivingly coupled to at least one of the high pressure geartrain and the low pressure geartrain (e.g., 0053-0055),
wherein a portion of the high pressure geartrain and a portion of the low pressure geartrain are disposed at a common axial location relative to a centerline axis (A; Fig 2) of the gas turbine engine (Fig 2 clearly shows this, e.g. at least a portion of each of 78 and 76 are each located at the exact same axial location).
Regarding claim 5, Leque discloses:
the low pressure spool and the high pressure spool are counter rotating (Fig 3 shows this at 120 and 122),
and wherein the gas turbine engine further comprises a reversing gear disposed between the accessory drive gear and one of the low pressure geartrain or the high pressure geartrain (Fig 3 indicates this by showing that shafts 76 and 78 are rotating in opposite directions, and then that shafts 92 and 100 are rotating in same directions).
Regarding claim 6, Leque discloses:
the high pressure geartrain includes a high pressure output gear (e.g., 84; Fig 2),
and wherein the low pressure geartrain includes a low pressure output gear (e.g., 82; Fig 2).
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) 2-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leque in view of US 20180023470 A1 (Lefebvre).
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.
Regarding claim 2, Leque discloses:
the accessory drive gear is selectively drivingly coupled to both of the high pressure geartrain and the low pressure geartrain (e.g., Fig 2 shows this; 0053-0055),
Leque may not explicitly disclose any oil system structure or sump for directly providing oil to various components of his high pressure geartrain and low pressure geartrain (e.g. components at 96, 88, 98, 90).
However, Lefebvre, in the same field of endeavor, gas turbine engines, teaches:
An oil sump (Fig 3; e.g. para 0035) which encompasses a plurality of gear trains in close proximity to one another (e.g. structure generally at 54, 66; Fig 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 modify Leque to include Lefebvre’s teachings as described above, having an oil sump which encompasses components of Leque’s plurality of gear trains in close proximity to one another, in order to at all provide oil directly to components of his plurality of gear trains in close proximity to one another.
This modification results in teaching the limitation “and wherein the high pressure geartrain and the low pressure geartrain are disposed to share an oil sump”.
Regarding claim 3, Leque as modified above discloses:
the high pressure geartrain includes a high pressure clutch (116; Fig 3) for selectively decoupling the high pressure geartrain from the accessory gearbox (e.g., 0053-0054),
and wherein the low pressure geartrain includes a low pressure clutch (114; Fig 3) for selectively decoupling the low pressure geartrain from the accessory gearbox (e.g., 0053-0054).
Regarding claim 4, Leque as modified above discloses:
the accessory drive gear is selectively driven by one of the high pressure geartrain in a first operating condition and the low pressure geartrain in a second operating condition (e.g., 0052-0056, particularly in 0055: “the clutch assemblies 114, 116 are automatically engaged and disengaged depending on the speed and direction of torque input. The selective actuation of the mechanical clutches 114, 116 enables both the low speed spool 30 and the high speed spool 32 to provide torque input to drive the lay shaft 110”),
wherein in the first operating condition the high pressure clutch is in an engaged position and the low pressure clutch is in a disengaged position such that the accessory drive gear is powered by the high pressure geartrain (e.g., 0052-0056, particularly in 0054: “through a selective coupling of the first clutch assembly 114 and the second clutch assembly 116 different inputs from the high speed spool 32 and the low speed spool 30 can be input through the superposition gearbox 66 to drive the lay shaft 110”)
and wherein in the second operating condition the high pressure clutch is in the disengaged position and the low pressure clutch is in the engaged position such that the accessory drive gear is powered by the low pressure geartrain (e.g., 0056).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Art Golik whose telephone number is (571)272-6211. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Courtney Heinle can be reached at 571-270-3508. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Art Golik/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
/COURTNEY D HEINLE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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