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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KR101751188 to Shin (Shin).
Regarding claim 1, Shin teaches a boiler body having a combustion chamber (15, Figure 2}; a burner for supplying flames to the combustion chamber of the boiler body (18, Figure 2); a heat exchanger for discharging superheated steam through heat exchange with saturated steam supplied from the boiler body (24, Figure 2 is capable of superheating steam dependent on the incoming conditions of the steam); a diaphragm for dividing the heat exchanger (shown in 24, Figure 2); a heating passage arranged on one side of the diaphragm to generate superheated steam through heat exchange between the saturated steam of the heat exchanger and exhaust gases from the combustion chamber (right side of 24, Figure 2); and a cooling passage arranged on the other side of the diaphragm to lower the temperature of the superheated steam generated by the heating passage through heat exchange with air (left side of 24, Figure 2).
Regarding claim 2, Shin teaches wherein the air preheated through heat exchange with the heat exchanger while passing through the cooling passage is supplied to the burner for using the air as combustion air (flowpath shown at 11b, Figure 2).
Regarding claim 3, Shin teaches a damper for controlling the volume of air supplied to the cooling passage to adjust the temperature of the superheated steam (21, Figure 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.
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) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin in view of U.S. PGPUB 20250137637 to Dagostini (Dagostini).
Regarding claim 4, Shin is silent on a bypass passage which bypasses some of the air supplied by the damper to supply the air to the burner.
Dagostini teaches a bypass passage which bypasses some of the air supplied by the damper to supply the air to the burner (50, Figure 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Shin with the teachings of Dagostini to provide a bypass passage which bypasses some of the air supplied by the damper to supply the air to the burner. Doing so would allow the temperature of the air to be controlled so that combustion can be controlled as desired.
Regarding claim 5, Shin teaches a blower capable of rotational speed control by an inverter to control the total volume of the air supplied to the damper (22, Figure 2).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The prior art cited provides the general state of the art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN S ANDERSON II whose telephone number is (571)272-2055. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Hoang can be reached at 574-272-6460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STEVEN S ANDERSON II/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
