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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/12/26 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because of the new ground of rejection set forth below.
Claim Status
Claims 1-20 are pending. Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s amendments to claims 1, 4 and 12.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Worrall et al U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0183468 A1 in view of Carson et al U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0039047 A1.
With regard to claim 1, and as shown in Figure 5A, Worrall et al disclose a system for coupling pipes comprising:
a first pipe (at 502) having a tapered, spigot end (paragraph 32, line 10), wherein a portion of an external surface of the tapered, spigot end of the first pipe is bonded to a first thermoplastic material (at 510, paragraph 28, lines 3-4) forming a first localized interlayer that covers only the portion of the external surface (as shown in Fig 5A); and
a second pipe (at 504) having a tapered, socket end (paragraph 32, line 11) adapted to internally receive the tapered, spigot end of the first pipe (as shown in Fig 5A), wherein a portion of an internal surface of the tapered, socket end of the second pipe is bonded to a second thermoplastic material (at 508, paragraph 28, lines 3-4) forming a second localized interlayer that covers only the portion of the external surface (as shown in Fig 5A);
wherein the first pipe and the second pipe are made from a reinforced thermosetting resin (RTR) material (paragraph 32, lines 9-11),
wherein, when the first pipe (at 502) is internally received by the second pipe (at 504), the portion of the external surface of the tapered, spigot end of the first pipe (at 510) is positioned to align with the portion of the internal surface of the tapered, socket end of the second pipe (at 508), thereby forming a sealing area defined by contact between the first localized interlayer and the second localized interlayer (paragraph 32, lines 15-18), and
wherein, upon application of a thermal joining process to the first thermoplastic material and the second thermoplastic material, an amount of heat of the thermal joining process is sufficient to melt the first thermoplastic material and the second thermoplastic material such that, when the heat is removed, a hardened thermoplastic material seals the first pipe to the second pipe (paragraph 6, lines 16-24).
While Worrall et al do disclose that the thermoplastic material can be a variety of different materials with higher mechanical/thermal/barrier properties to provide the benefits of reliability and maintenance (paragraph 37, lines 9-11), Worrall et al do not expressly disclose that the thermoplastic material is glass fiber reinforced Carson et al teach reinforcing thermoplastic material with glass fiber to improve short term and long term mechanical properties such as heat resistance, dimensional stability and rigidity and fatigue endurance (paragraph 79, lines 1-8).
As Worrall et al disclose that the thermoplastic material can be a variety of different materials with higher mechanical/thermal/barrier properties to provide the benefits of reliability and maintenance, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the thermoplastic material be glass fiber reinforced with a reasonable expectation of success to improve short term and long term mechanical properties such as heat resistance, dimensional stability and rigidity and fatigue endurance as taught by Carson et al.
With regard to claim 2, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose wherein the first glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and the second glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material each comprise a thermoplastic polymer and a susceptor (paragraph 25, lines 1-4 and paragraph 26, lines 1-2).
With regard to claim 3, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose the claimed invention but do not disclose that the first glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and the second glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material each comprise a thermoplastic polymer comprising 30% weight glass fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the first glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and the second glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material each comprise a thermoplastic polymer comprising 30% weight glass fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) with a reasonable expectation of success as the percentage of reinforcement within the thermoplastic material may be optimized to the desired operational parameters of the intended use of the material through the use of routine experimentation. A person of ordinary skill in the art undertaking such experimentation would have had a reasonable expectation of success and the results would have been predictable.
With regard to claim 4, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose wherein the thermoplastic polymer comprises polyolefins, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene of raised temperature (PE-RT), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyaryletherketone (PAEK), polyetherketoneketone (PEKK), polyetherketone (PEK), polyketone (POK), polyetherimide (PEI), and combinations thereof (paragraph 25, lines 5-12).
With regard to claim 5, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose wherein the first glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and the second glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material comprise a same thermoplastic polymer (where the first and second thermoplastic materials can be a same polymer).
With regard to claim 6, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al et al disclose wherein the susceptor is deposited by thermal spraying on a to-be-joined RTR surface (paragraph 26, lines 11-12).
With regard to claim 7, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al and further in view of Worrall et al disclose wherein the thermoplastic polymer is deposited by friction welding (paragraph 28, lines 8-10).
With regard to claim 8, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose the claimed invention but do not disclose that the first glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and the second glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material each comprise glass, carbon, metal, or polymer material comprising a volume range of 5% to 50%.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the first glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and the second glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material each comprise glass, carbon, metal, or polymer material comprising a volume range of 5% to 50% with a reasonable expectation of success as the volume range within the thermoplastic material may be optimized to the desired operational parameters of the intended use of the material through the use of routine experimentation. A person of ordinary skill in the art undertaking such experimentation would have had a reasonable expectation of success and the results would have been predictable.
With regard to claim 9, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al and further in view of Worrall et al disclose the claimed invention but do not disclose that the thermoplastic polymer comprises a fiber reinforced polymer comprising a plurality of fibers with a length ranging from 50um to 500um, 500um to 5mm, 5mm to 5cm, and any combinations thereof.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the thermoplastic polymer comprise a fiber reinforced polymer comprising a plurality of fibers with a length ranging from 50um to 500um, 500um to 5mm, 5mm to 5cm, and any combinations thereof with a reasonable expectation of success as the number of fibers within the thermoplastic polymer may be optimized to the desired operational parameters of the intended use of the material through the use of routine experimentation. A person of ordinary skill in the art undertaking such experimentation would have had a reasonable expectation of success and the results would have been predictable.
With regard to claim 10, and as shown in Figure 5A, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose wherein the sealing area (between 510 and 508) is adjacent to a mechanical coupling area (at 506) of the first pipe and the second pipe (at 502, 504).
With regard to claim 11, and as shown in Figure 5A, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose wherein the mechanical coupling area comprises a mechanical joint consisting of threaded joints (at 506).
With regard to claim 12, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose wherein the thermal joining process is an induction welding process (paragraph 33, lines 1-6).
With regard to claim 13, and as shown in Figure 5A, Worrall et al disclose a method of coupling a first pipe and a second pipe, the method comprising:
providing a first pipe (at 502) having a tapered, spigot end (paragraph 32, line 10) and a second pipe (at 504) having a tapered, socket end (paragraph 32, line 11) adapted to internally receive the tapered, spigot end of the first pipe (as shown in Fig 5A), wherein the first pipe (at 502) and the second pipe (at 504) are made from a reinforced thermosetting resin (RTR) material (paragraph 32, lines 9-11),
wherein a portion of an external surface of the tapered, spigot end of the first pipe is bonded to a first thermoplastic material (at 510, paragraph 28, lines 3-4) forming a first localized interlayer that covers only a portion of the external surface (as shown in Fig 5A) and a portion of an internal surface of the tapered, socket end of the second pipe is bonded to a second thermoplastic material (at 508, paragraph 28, lines 3-4) forming a second localized interlayer that covers only a portion of the internal surface (as shown in Fig 5A),
inserting the first pipe into the second pipe (s shown in Fig 5A);
coupling the first pipe to the second pipe via a mechanical joint (at 506) such that the portion of the external surface of the first pipe (at 510) aligns with the portion of the internal surface of the second pipe (at 508) to form a sealing area defined by contact between the first localized interlayer and the second localized interlayer (paragraph 32, lines 15-18); and
employing a thermal joining process to bond the first thermoplastic material to the second thermoplastic material by heating the first and second thermoplastic materials to melt the first and second glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic materials such that, when the heat is removed, a hardened glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material seals the first pipe to the second pipe at the sealing area (paragraph 6, lines 16-24).
While Worrall et al do disclose that the thermoplastic material can be a variety of different materials with higher mechanical/thermal/barrier properties to provide the benefits of reliability and maintenance (paragraph 37, lines 9-11), Worrall et al do not expressly disclose that the thermoplastic material is glass fiber reinforced Carson et al teach reinforcing thermoplastic material with glass fiber to improve short term and long term mechanical properties such as heat resistance, dimensional stability and rigidity and fatigue endurance (paragraph 79, lines 1-8).
As Worrall et al disclose that the thermoplastic material can be a variety of different materials with higher mechanical/thermal/barrier properties to provide the benefits of reliability and maintenance, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the thermoplastic material be glass fiber reinforced with a reasonable expectation of success to improve short term and long term mechanical properties such as heat resistance, dimensional stability and rigidity and fatigue endurance as taught by Carson et al.
With regard to claim 14, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose wherein the thermal joining process is an induction welding process (paragraph 33, lines 1-6).
With regard to claim 15, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose wherein the first glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and the second glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material each comprise a thermoplastic polymer and a susceptor, wherein the thermoplastic polymer comprises polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) (paragraph 25, lines 1-4 and 9-10 and paragraph 26, lines 1-2).
With regard to claim 16, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose the claimed invention but do not disclose that the first glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and the second glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material each comprise a thermoplastic polymer comprising 30% weight glass fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the first glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and the second glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material each comprise a thermoplastic polymer comprising 30% weight glass fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) with a reasonable expectation of success as the percentage of reinforcement within the thermoplastic material may be optimized to the desired operational parameters of the intended use of the material through the use of routine experimentation. A person of ordinary skill in the art undertaking such experimentation would have had a reasonable expectation of success and the results would have been predictable.
With regard to claim 17, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose wherein the mechanical joint is selected from the group consisting of threaded joints (at 506).
With regard to claim 18, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose wherein the sealing area (between 510 and 508) is adjacent to the mechanical joint (at 506).
With regard to claim 19, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose the claimed invention but do not disclose that the first glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and the second glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material each comprise glass, carbon, metal, or polymer material comprising a volume range of 5% to 50%.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the first glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and the second glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic material each comprise glass, carbon, metal, or polymer material comprising a volume range of 5% to 50% with a reasonable expectation of success as the volume range within the thermoplastic material may be optimized to the desired operational parameters of the intended use of the material through the use of routine experimentation. A person of ordinary skill in the art undertaking such experimentation would have had a reasonable expectation of success and the results would have been predictable.
With regard to claim 20, Worrall et al in view of Carson et al disclose the claimed invention but do not disclose that the thermoplastic polymer comprises a fiber reinforced polymer comprising a plurality of fibers ranging from 50um to 500um, 500um to 5mm, 5mm to 5cm, and any combinations thereof.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the thermoplastic polymer comprise a fiber reinforced polymer comprising a plurality of fibers ranging from 50um to 500um, 500um to 5mm, 5mm to 5cm, and any combinations thereof with a reasonable expectation of success as the number of fibers within the thermoplastic polymer may be optimized to the desired operational parameters of the intended use of the material through the use of routine experimentation. A person of ordinary skill in the art undertaking such experimentation would have had a reasonable expectation of success and the results would have been predictable.
Conclusion
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/F.K./Examiner, Art Unit 3679
/Matthew Troutman/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3679
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