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 Objections
Claims 1, 3-5, and 7-10 are objected to because of the following informalities: the informalities are too numerous to name and corrections are suggested below. Furthermore, there seems to be some confusion regarding the holding position, start position, activation position, retracted activation position, balance point position, and rear holding positions and how they differ, which must be cleared up in the spec and claims.
1. A pressurized liquid driven downhole drilling machine with a device for soft start from flush position, which downhole drilling machine comprises:
a machine housing with a differential pressure area balanced impact piston configured with a holding position in the machine housing,
a valve housing with a differential pressure area balanced valve slide configured with a holding position in the valve housing,
a slide control interface into which a slide tube protrudes into, wherein the slide control interface [[and]] has a sliding fit against a flush channel section in a rear end portion of the impact piston,
a plurality of slide control ports which are active in the slide control interface and with which the position of the valve slide in the valve housing is controlled by the pressurization [[respectively]] and pressure relief of a control pressure surface of the valve slide, wherein said control pressure surface is pressurized and pressure relieved respectively via a slide control channel provided in the slide tube, wherein a drive surface on the impact piston is alternately pressurized [[respectively]] and pressure relieved[[,]] depending on [[the]] a position of the valve slide in the valve housing,
wherein the pressurized liquid driven downhole drilling machine includes a pressure relief port which is provided, in [[the]] a flush position, to open a pressure relief channel between a for the impact piston and the slide control channel, which pressure relief port is further configured to, under a progressively increasing throttling effect, allow the impact piston to be returned to an activation position retracted at some distance from the flush position by diverting a pressure flow from the [[valve]] drive chamber [[of the impact piston]] to the control pressure surface of the valve slide via the slide control channel [[and]] thereby triggering the valve slide to move away from its holding position until the impact piston during its movement reaches a balance point at which the pressure relief port is closed.
3. The pressurized liquid driven downhole drilling machine according to claim 1, wherein
4. The pressurized liquid driven downhole drilling machine according to claim 1, wherein the distance over which the impact piston is returned from the flush position to the balance point is less than a nominal distance between the flush position and [[the]] a start position of the impact piston along a central axis of the downhole drilling machine.
5. The pressurized liquid driven downhole drilling machine according to claim 1, wherein a ratio between [[the]] an activation distance for restarting the downhole drilling machine from the [[retracted]] activation position in which the balance point is reached [[is the highest]] and a nominal distance between the flush position and [[the]] a start position is in a range of 1:2 to 1:10, wherein a most preferred ratio is in a range of 1:5 to 1:10.
7. The pressurized liquid driven downhole drilling machine according to claim 6, wherein the pressure relief port and the slide control port provided on the slide tube are configured to be placed opposite each other in the flush position when the pressure relief channel is open in an initial position and the impact piston is in [[its]] an advanced position in the machine housing.
8. The pressurized liquid driven downhole drilling machine according to claim 1, wherein the pressure relief port comprises a groove-shaped radially directed recess in an inner surface of the impact piston in the slide control interface whose defined port opening is [[cut]] controlled by a slide part of an outer surface of the slide tube.
9. The pressurized liquid driven downhole drilling machine according to claim 1, wherein the pressure relief channel comprises more boreholes which open into a driving surface making part of the impact piston.
10. An impact piston intended to be part of a downhole drilling machine according to claim 1, [[comprising a]] wherein the pressure relief port [[with]] and the pressure relief channel [[which]], in flush position, [[makes]] make it possible to transfer a pressure flow from [[a]] the drive chamber [[provided for the impact piston]] to [[a]] the control pressure surface of [[a]] the valve slide which triggers the valve slide to move away from [[a]] the holding position [[for the valve slide in the valve housing]].
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-4, 6, 9, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Gustafsson (US 5715897 A), hereinafter Gus.
With respect to claim 1, Gus discloses a pressurized liquid driven downhole drilling machine with a device for soft start from flush position, which downhole drilling machine comprises: a machine housing (12) with a differential pressure area balanced impact piston (24) configured with a holding position in the machine housing, a valve housing (20) with a differential pressure area balanced valve slide (40) configured with a holding position in the valve housing, a slide control interface (portion of tool between upper end of 26 and lower end of 27) into which a slide tube (portion of 20 with ports 60, 53, 55, 56) protrudes into and has a sliding fit against a flush channel section in a rear end portion (27) of the impact piston, a plurality of slide control ports (53, 56) which are active in the slide control interface and with which the position of the valve slide in the valve housing is controlled by the pressurization respectively pressure relief of a control pressure surface (a1, a2, or a3) of the valve slide (col. 8 ll. 50-67, col. 9 ll. 30-40) wherein said control pressure surface is pressurized and pressure relieved respectively via a slide control channel (54) provided in the slide tube, wherein a drive surface (37) on the impact piston is alternately pressurized respectively pressure relieved, depending on the position of the valve slide in the valve housing (col. 9 l. 57 – col. 10 l. 10), wherein the pressurized liquid driven downhole drilling machine includes a pressure relief port (50) which is provided, in the flush position, to open a pressure relief channel (channel between port 55 and channel 54) between a for the impact piston provided drive chamber (26) and the slide control channel (54, shown in fig. 3), which pressure relief port is further configured to, under a progressively increasing throttling effect, allow the impact piston to be returned to an activation position retracted at some distance from the flush position by diverting a pressure flow from the valve chamber of the impact piston to the control pressure surface of the valve slide via the slide control channel and thereby triggering the valve slide to move away from its holding position until the impact piston during its movement reaches a balance point at which the pressure relief port is closed (col. 11 ll. 14-22, col. 10 ll. 60-68).
With respect to claim 2, Gus further discloses wherein the pressure relief port is provided in the slide control interface (shown in fig. 3).
With respect to claim 3, Gus further discloses wherein the impact piston has a rear holding position (at rearward limit of travel) in the machine housing and the impact piston is returned to the retracted activation position (near the rearward limit of travel) in direction of said rear holding position.
With respect to claim 4, Gus further discloses wherein the distance over which the impact piston is returned from the flush position (fully extended position) to the balance point (where 55 is barely covered) is less than a nominal distance between the flush position and the start position (fully rearward position) of the impact piston along a central axis of the downhole drilling machine.
With respect to claim 6, Gus further discloses wherein the pressure relief port is configured to open the pressure relief channel in pressure flow transmitting cooperation with a slide control port (60) provided on the slide tube.
With respect to claim 9, Gus further discloses wherein the pressure relief channel comprises one or a plurality of axial cavities (a port is an axial cavity) which may consist of one or a plurality of boreholes which open into a driving surface making part of the impact piston (when 37 crosses 55, 55 will open into the driving surface).
With respect to claim 10, Gus further discloses a pressure relief port (55) with associated pressure relief channel which (between 55 and 54), in flush position, makes it possible to transfer a pressure flow from a drive chamber provided for the impact piston to a control pressure surface of a valve slide which triggers the valve slide to move away from a holding position for the valve slide in the valve housing (col. 11 ll. 14-21).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 7, and 8 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20040188146 A1 discloses a similar arrangement of parts to that claimed. US 4694911 A, US 8640794 B2, US 4917194 A, and US 4509606 A discloses ports and passages through the piston which could potentially be applied to the claims.
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/KIPP C WALLACE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3674 04/09/2026
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