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 . Claims 1-9 of the amended claim set received 12/11/2024 are pending.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1-5 and 9 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention or species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/05/2025.
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 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Becker (US 2002/0050237).
Regarding Claim 6, Becker discloses in Fig. 1, a combustor of a gas turbine, the combustor comprising:
a shell 3 surrounding a combustion chamber 2;
a liner 9 located inside the shell 3 and facing the combustion chamber 2;
a cooling space 19 into which compressed air S flows and which is located between the shell 3 and the liner 9; and
a fixture by which the liner is attached to the shell, the fixture including
a support 11 including a shaft portion (shaft of 11) and a head portion (trapezoid portion of 11), the shaft portion penetrating the shell 3, the head portion being connected to the shaft portion and supporting the liner 9 from an inside (represented by the combustion chamber 2) of the shell in a radial direction,
a spacer 7 interposed between the shell 3 and the liner 9,
a fixing structure 13 attached to the shaft portion of the support 11 at an outside of the shell in the radial direction, and
a biasing structure 15 that is located outside the shell 3 in the radial direction and located inside the fixing structure 13 in the radial direction and biases the fixing structure 13 toward the outside in the radial direction such that the liner 9 approaches the shell in the radial direction against the compressed air S flowing into the cooling space 19.
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.
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Becker (US 2002/0050237) in view of Liebe (US 2004/0250549).
Regarding Claim 7, Becker discloses the claimed invention as discussed above. Becker additionally discloses the biasing structure 15 includes and elastic body 15 (see Fig. 1) but does not disclose wherein the biasing structure includes: an upper seat located outside the elastic body in the radial direction and a lower seat located inside the elastic body in the radial direction.
Liebe also discloses a combustor of a gas turbine (see Figs. 2 and 6), the combustor comprising a shell 3 and a liner 4, a fixing structure 107, a support 101, and an elastic body 105, similar to that disclosed by Becker. Liebe teaches in Fig. 6, the biasing structure including the elastic body 105, an upper seat 103+106 located outside the elastic body in the radial direction and a lower seat 102 located inside the elastic body in the radial direction as well as a friction damping element 108.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified Becker such that the biasing structure additionally includes the upper seat, lower seat, and friction damping element taught by Liebe in order to damp relative movement between the liner and the shell and corresponding vibrations (Liebe para. 0062).
Regarding Claim 8, Becker in view of Liebe teaches the claimed invention as discussed above. Liebe teaches the upper seat and lower seat of the biasing structure of the combination as discussed above which further includes, as shown in Fig. 6, wherein: the upper seat 103+106 and the lower seat 102 include respective opposing surfaces (see annotation of Fig. 6 below) which bypass the elastic body 105 (are spaced from the elastic body such that the elastic body is not positioned between the opposing surfaces) and are opposed to each other in the radial direction; and there is a gap between the opposing surface of the upper seat and the opposing surface of the lower seat (see figure).
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Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure can be found in the attached Notice of References Cited.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RENE D FORD whose telephone number is (571)272-8140. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Phutthiwat Wongwian can be reached on (571) 270-5426. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/R.D.F/Examiner, Art Unit 3741
/PHUTTHIWAT WONGWIAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3741