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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “similar” in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “similar” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The claim requires that the first set of through holes and second set of through holes are similar, however, it is unclear in what way the holes are similar (i.e similar in size (diameter/length), shape, angle, etc.).
Claim 10 recites the limitation "the third set of through-holes of the second pipe" in lines 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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) 1, 3, and 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reich (US 4,141,505) in view of Kopp-Vaughan et. al (US 10,228,137 B2).
With respect to claim 1 Reich discloses a fuel-burning lance for burners, comprising a main tubular assembly [reference character 65], a pilot ignition assembly [reference character 50], and a tubular housing assembly [reference character 45], in which the main tubular assembly-comprises: a compressed air pipe [reference character 15], the compressed air pipe having two ends, a first end of the compressed air pipe having a compressed air inlet [the upstream end of 15] and the second end of the compressed air pipe having a compressed air nozzle [reference character 69], the compressed air nozzle being frustoconical with a cylindrical end and having a first set of through-holes [reference character 30] through which the compressed air is discharged under pressure, a first fuel pipe [reference character 5], which is arranged coaxially outside the compressed air pipe, forming a first flow space [reference character 8] for a first fuel, the first fuel pipe having two ends in which there is a first-fuel inlet [the upstream end of 5] close to a first end of the first fuel pipe and a second end of the first fuel pipe has a fuel nozzle [reference character 25] that fits together externally with the compressed air nozzle of the compressed air pipe [see Figs. 3-5], and in which the fuel nozzle has a second set of through-holes [reference character 38] through which the first fuel is discharged under pressure and in which the pilot ignition assembly is a substantially tubular lance for conveying fuel ignition means [see Fig. 2], and in which the tubular housing assembly houses the main tubular assembly and the pilot ignition assembly [see Fig. 2] and in which the first set of through-holes in the fuel nozzle is similar to the second set of through-holes in the compressed air nozzle and the first and second sets of through-holes are aligned with each other [see Figs. 3-5].
Reich does not disclose a second fuel pipe, which is arranged coaxially with and outside the first fuel pipe, forming a second flow space for a second fuel.
Kopp-Vaughan discloses a dual fuel nozzle having an annular liquid fuel space [reference characters 110 and 132] surrounded externally by a secondary fuel annulus [reference characters 116 and 130] where the secondary fuel annulus “…operates as a heat shield to minimize or prevent coking of the liquid…” [column 4 lines 65-66].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the lance taught by Reich by including a second fuel pipe, which is arranged coaxially with and outside the first fuel pipe, forming a second flow space for a second fuel, as taught by Kopp-Vaughan, in order to operate “…as a heat shield to minimize or prevent coking of the liquid…” [column 4 lines 65-66 of Kopp-Vaughan].
With respect to claim 3 Reich discloses that the first set of through-holes comprises eight holes arranged circumferentially [see Fig. 4, the cross section shows 5 apertures, the opposite cross section of the nozzle would include three more apertures not shown in the cross-section, where the sectioned apertures would be shared between cross sections, resulting in 8 apertures].
With respect to claim 8 Reich discloses that the pipes that make up the main tubular assembly are fastened to each other by at least one of the following: threading [threaded nozzle retainer 125 fastens the pipes of the main tubular assembly to each other].
With respect to claim 9 Reich discloses that the tubular housing assembly has two ends and an external combustion air inlet [reference character 36], with a flange [see annotated Fig. below] at one end that positions and fastens the main tubular assembly and the pilot ignition assembly inside the tubular housing assembly [see Fig. 2].
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VIVEK K SHIRSAT whose telephone number is (571)272-3722. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:20AM.
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/VIVEK K SHIRSAT/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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