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 .
Response to Arguments
Upon consideration of the IDS filed 3/26/2026, the objection of claims 26-27 and 35-42 for including allowable subjected matter has been withdrawn. Claims 26-27 and 35-42 has been rejected under 35 USC 103 as being unpatentable over Knauer et al. (US 10,975,837) in view of Ambekar et al. (EP 2940296 A1).
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) 26-27 and 35-42 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Knauer et al. (US 10,975,837; hereinafter Knauer) in view of Ambekar et al. (EP 2940296 A1; hereinafter Ambekar).
Regarding claim 26, Knauer (Fig. 2-11) discloses a method of controlling diffusion of a wake generated by a horizontal axis wind turbine (Col. 1, lines 4-6), wherein the wind turbine comprises a rotor (Col. 4, lines 60-63) having a hub (Col. 4, lines 60-63) and a plurality of rotor blades (20) mounted to the hub (Col. 4, lines 60-63), wherein each rotor blade (20) has a radially-outer, energy-extraction portion (38) and a radially-inner, ventilation portion (34), and wherein the radially-inner ventilation portion (34) is capable, in use, of ventilating a central area of the wake by extracting reduced levels of kinetic energy from the wind compared to the radially-outer energy extraction portion (Col. 8, lines 12-19).
Knauer fails to disclose adjusting the tip speed ratio of the rotor so as to modify turbulent mixing within the wake.
Ambekar (Paragraph 0036) teaches that different combinations of control settings, which can include the tip speed ratio set point, can be used to control the settings for one or more wind turbines in a wind farm to achieve performance goals. Ambekar (Paragraph 0048) teaches that the adjustment of control settings can impact the wake parameters. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Knauer by including a controller which modifies different combinations of control settings, which can include the tip speed ratio set point, as taught by Ambekar, in order to impact the wake parameters of the wind turbine (which would in turn modify the turbulent mixing).
Regarding claim 27, Knauer, as modified, discloses the method according to claim 26, wherein Knauer (Fig. 2, 4a-b), as modified, further discloses that the radially-inner portion (34) of each blade (20) and the radially-outer portion (38) of each blade (20) have an aerofoil shape (Fig. 2, 4a-b).
Regarding claim 35, Knauer, as modified, discloses a horizontal-axis wind turbine (Col. 1, lines 4-6) comprising: a tower (Col. 1, lines 7-8); a rotor (Col. 1, lines 7-8) mounted at the top of the tower, wherein the rotor comprises a hub (Col. 4, lines 60-63) and a plurality of rotor blades (20) mounted to the hub, each rotor blade (20) having a radially-outer, energy-extraction portion (38) and a radially-inner, ventilation portion (34), wherein the radially-inner ventilation portion (34) is shaped to, in use, ventilate a central area of the wake by extracting reduced levels of kinetic energy from the wind compared to the radially-outer energy extraction portion (Col. 8, lines 12-19); and a controller (Ambekar: Paragraph 0024) configured to control the wind turbine in accordance with the method of claim 26.
Regarding claim 36, Knauer, as modified, discloses the wind turbine according to claim 35, wherein Knauer (Ambekar: Paragraph 0039), as modified, further discloses a memory for storing data relating to the location of other wind turbines relative to the location of the wind turbine.
Regarding claim 37, Knauer, as modified, discloses the wind turbine according to claim 35, wherein Knauer (Ambekar: 0082), as modified, further discloses one or more sensors for measuring the direction and/or velocity of the wind at the wind turbine.
Regarding claim 38, Knauer, as modified, discloses the wind turbine according to claim 35, wherein Knauer (Fig. 2-11), as modified, further discloses that the rotor blades are shaped so as to produce a more uniform power coefficient over the total swept area of the rotor when the rotor is operated at its design tip speed ratio compared to when the rotor is operated at tip speed ratios away from its design tip speed ratio; and/or wherein each blade (20) comprises a transition portion (Col. 10, lines 4-8) between the radially-inner portion (34) and the radially-outer portion (38), the transition portion (Col. 10, lines 4-8) transitioning smoothly from a local blade twist angle (Col. 10, lines 4-8) and/or aerodynamic shape of the radially-outer portion (38) to a local blade twist angle (Col. 10, lines 4-8) and/or aerodynamic shape of the radially-inner portion (34).
Regarding claim 39, Knauer, as modified, discloses the wind turbine according to claim 35, wherein Knauer, as modified, further discloses the wind turbine comprises an offshore wind turbine (Col. 4, lines 44-45).
Regarding claim 40, Knauer (Col. 1, lines 28-32), as modified, discloses the wind farm comprising an array of horizontal-axis wind turbines, at least one of the wind turbines being a wind turbine in accordance with claim 35.
Regarding claim 41, Knauer (Fig. 2-11) discloses a method of optimizing power production of a wind farm comprising a plurality of horizontal axis wind turbines (Col. 1, lines 28-32), the wind turbines comprising a rotor (Col. 4, lines 60-63) having a plurality of rotor blades (20), each rotor blade (20) having a radially-outer, energy-extraction portion (38) and a radially-inner, ventilation portion (34), wherein the radially-inner ventilation portion (34) is shaped to, in use, ventilate a central area of the wake by extracting reduced levels of kinetic energy from the wind compared to the radially-outer energy extraction portion (Col. 8, lines 12-19).
Knauer fails to disclose determining the effect that the wake of each wind turbine has on the efficiency of the wind farm; and adjusting the tip speed ratio of the rotor of at least one of the wind turbines to modify turbulent mixing within its wake and increase the efficiency of the wind farm.
Ambekar (Paragraph 0036) teaches that different combinations of control settings, which can include the tip speed ratio set point, can be used to control the settings for one or more wind turbines in a wind farm to achieve performance goals. Ambekar (Paragraph 0043) teaches that the control settings for individual wind turbines are taken into account when determining what impacts the operational efficiency of the individual wind turbine and overall windfarm. Ambekar (Paragraph 0048) teaches that the adjustment of control settings can impact the wake parameters. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Knauer by including a controller which modifies different combinations of control settings, which can include the tip speed ratio set point, and takes into account the control settings for the individual wind turbines as taught by Ambekar, in order to impact the wake parameters of the wind turbine (which would in turn modify the turbulent mixing).
Regarding claim 42, Knauer, as modified, discloses the method according to claim 41, wherein Knauer (Ambekar: Paragraph 0048), as modified, further discloses determining the effect of the wakes comprises using properties of the wind and the relative positions of the wind turbines to determine the effect that the wake produced by each wind turbine has on other wind turbines in the wind farm.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 28-34 and 43-45 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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIELLE M CHRISTENSEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3275. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5 PM.
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/Danielle M. Christensen/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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