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 § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
(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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by United States Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0135792 to Halim et al. (Halim).
With regard to claim 1, Halim discloses a wellbore pipe protection device (Halim, title, abstract – 30 or 80, figs. 2 and 4, paragraph 39 and 43) for protecting a wellbore pipe end (24/26, figs. 2 and 4), wherein the protection device comprises
a circumferential protection wall around a central axis of the protection device (the cap 32 has a skirt that provides a circumferential protection wall around a central axis), said circumferential protection wall having two mutually opposite inner and outer circumferential protection wall surfaces around said central axis, respectively (shown in the cross section view of fig. 2, the wall has inner and outer wall surfaces), and
wherein the protection device has mutually opposite mounting and demounting directions along said central axis, and wherein a protection device inner radius is defined as the smallest radius of the inner circumferential protection wall surface as measured in radial direction relative to the central axis, so that said protection device inner radius limits a maximum outer radius of a wellbore pipe end to which the protection device is mountable (shown in the figures), and
wherein the protection device is manually operable to interchange its condition between: "a mounted condition in which the circumferential protection wall of the protection device has been coaxially slid over the wellbore pipe end in said mounting direction in such manner that the circumferential protection wall with its inner circumferential protection wall surface is facing the wellbore pipe end, and "a de-mounted condition in which the circumferential protection wall of the protection device has been coaxially slid-off from the wellbore pipe end in said demounting direction, and wherein the protection device in said mounted condition is manually operable to interchange its condition between: "a locked mounted condition in which the protection device has been fixed to the wellbore pipe end in a manner so as to prevent the protection device from becoming detached from the wellbore pipe end due to certain accidental external impacts, and "an unlocked mounted condition, in which the protection device has been fixed to the wellbore pipe end less firmly than in the locked mounted condition, and in which the protection device is manually removable from the wellbore pipe end by coaxially sliding the protection device off from the wellbore pipe end in said de-mounting direction in order to bring the protection device in the de-mounted condition, wherein said interchangeability between the mounted condition and the de-mounted condition and said interchangeability between the locked mounted condition and the unlocked mounted condition are realized in that: the inner circumferential protection wall surface is forming a circumferential inner recess of the circumferential protection wall, said circumferential inner recess extending around said central axis and having a radial recess depth, which is defined as being measured in radial direction relative to the central axis and starting from a radial position that corresponds to said protection device inner radius, said circumferential inner recess comprises a shallowing circumferential recess portion in an axial shallowing range along the central axis, wherein in the shallowing circumferential recess portion the radial recess depth is decreasing as seen in the mounting direction (the device of Halim can be placed on and then removed from the end of a pipe as described in paragraphs 39-44),
the protection device further comprises a solid elastic ring (38, fig. 2, paragraph 0039) and a hollow elastic ring (34, fig. 2, paragraph 0039, “Wedge 34 is of C-ring design”), each of which is extending around said central axis, and each of which is received in the circumferential inner recess (shown in the figures),
wherein the solid elastic ring is located further in the mounting direction than the hollow elastic ring (shown in fig. 2), and wherein in the locked mounted condition at least part of the solid elastic ring is extending in said axial shallowing range (shown in fig. 2), said solid elastic ring has a solid elastic ring inner radius which is defined as being measured in said radial direction (shown in fig. 2),
the protection device further comprises an annular release tool (36, fig. 2, paragraph 0040), which is extending around said central axis and which is assembled to the circumferential protection wall in a manually operable reciprocally slidable manner relative to the circumferential protection wall in said mounting and demounting directions along said central axis for realizing said interchangeability between the locked mounted condition and the unlocked mounted condition in that the release tool is reciprocally slidable from an activated release tool condition into an inactivated release tool condition, and vice versa, wherein: " in said activated release tool condition the release tool has been slided, relative to the circumferential protection wall, in the de-mounting direction in such manner that:
- the annular release tool is pushing the solid elastic ring in the de-mounting direction against the hollow elastic ring,
- so that, by said pushing, the hollow elastic ring has been deformed and has given way to the solid elastic ring to move, within the shallowing circumferential recess portion, into the de-mounting direction which is a direction of increasing radial recess depth, and
- so that, by said pushing, the solid elastic ring has been deformed, whereby said solid elastic ring inner radius has become larger than, or equal to, the protection device inner radius, and "in said inactivated release tool condition the release tool has been slided, relative to the circumferential protection wall, in the mounting direction in such manner that:
- the annular release tool is not anymore pushing the solid elastic ring in the de-mounting direction against the hollow elastic ring,
- so that in a combined condition of the de-mounted condition and the inactivated release tool condition at least part of the solid elastic ring is extending in said axial shallowing range, and
-so that in said combined condition said solid elastic ring inner radius is smaller than the protection device inner radius (paragraph 0042).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references are considered relevant to applicant’s disclosure: 622376, 638117, 8813790 and 2012/0312411.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID R DEAL whose telephone number is (469)295-9216. The examiner can normally be reached M-F generally 8-4 pm CST.
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/DAVID R DEAL/ Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3753
