DETAILED ACTION
Preliminary Amendment
Preliminary Amendment of 20 December 2024 has been entered.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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 1-9 are 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.
Claim 1 recites “it includes”, however, there are plural elements recited prior to “it” and it is not clear to which element of the previously recited plural elements the recitation of “it” refers to, rendering the claim indefinite.
Claim 1 further recites the limitations “the pairs”, “the circumferentially contiguous edges”, “the circumferential ends” and “this contact”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 1 further recites “each protrusion is in axial contact with a notch receiving it”; it is not clear how each of previously introduced protrusions are in axial contact with a singular notch. It appears applicant is trying to establish a relation between one protrusion and one respective notch. The examiner recommends using claim language to reflect said relation if that is the intended purpose of the limitation. Furthermore, the recitation of “it” also renders the claim indefinite since it is not clear to which previously recited element the recitation of “it” refers to.
Claim 1 further recites “notches” and “a notch”; it is not clear if “a notch” refers to one of the previously recited notches or to a different and additional notch.
Claim 1 further recites “carrying them”, however, there are plural elements recited prior to “them” and it is not clear to which elements of the previously recited plural elements the recitation of “them” refers to, rendering the claim indefinite.
Claims 2-9 depend from claim 1 and fail to remedy its deficiencies.
Claim 2 further recites the limitation “the shape”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 3 depends from claim 2 and fails to remedy its deficiencies.
Claim 7 further recites “their roots” and “them”, however, there are plural elements recited prior to “their roots” and “them” and it is not clear to which elements of the previously recited plural elements the recitation of “their” and “them” refer to, rendering the claim indefinite.
Claim 7 further recites the limitation “the disc”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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, 5-6 and 9 (as far as the claim(s) are definite and understood) is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cohin et al – hereafter Cohin – (US 20120195766 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Cohin teaches a bladed turbomachine assembly (Fig.1-4) extending circumferentially about an axis of rotation (Fig.2) and comprising blades (10), wherein each blade extends radially with respect to the axis of rotation up to a heel (50) located at a free end of the blade and including a platform (Fig.1-4), characterised in that:
- it includes, circumferentially arranged about the axis of rotation, an alternation of blades prestressed towards upstream and blades prestressed towards downstream (¶10, note “the blades are prestressed in twisting about longitudinal axes and are held under prestress by mutual engagement via contact zones between the outer platforms of adjacent blades”; when prestressing blades in twisting, the contact zones will include one of the blades being prestressed toward upstream and an adjacent blade being prestressed downstream, at their respective portions of the contact zone), each blade prestressed towards upstream having its heel tending to shift towards upstream, each blade prestressed towards downstream having its heel tending to shift towards downstream (¶10, note “the blades are prestressed in twisting about longitudinal axes and are held under prestress by mutual engagement via contact zones between the outer platforms of adjacent blades”; when prestressing blades in twisting, the contact zones will include one of the blades being prestressed toward upstream and an adjacent blade being prestressed downstream, at their respective portions of the contact zone);
- the pairs of circumferentially adjacent blades have platforms, the circumferentially contiguous edges of the circumferential ends of which include protrusions (52b) and notches (52a) fitting together in one another;
- each protrusion is in axial contact in a notch receiving it, this contact being maintained by the prestresses of the blades that carry them (Fig.1-4; ¶43).
Regarding claim 5, Cohin further teaches each platform includes one circumferential end edge (50a) provided with at least one notch (52a), and another circumferentially opposite circumferential end edge (50b) that is provided with at least one protrusion (52b).
Regarding claim 6, Cohin further teaches the blades are made of ceramic matrix composite material (¶1-2).
Regarding claim 9, Cohin further teaches a turbomachine comprising a bladed assembly (¶1-2) according to claim 1 (see above).
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) 2-3 (as far as the claim(s) are definite and understood) is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cohin as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of JP 3211639 B2 – hereafter JP –.
Regarding claim 2, Cohin teaches all the limitations of claim 1, see above, and further teaches the protrusions and the notches globally each have a V shape or other complementary shapes (¶43), however, does not explicitly teach the shape being a parallelogram.
JP teaches a bladed turbomachine assembly (Fig.1) comprising blades (2) extending radially up to a heel (4) and including a platform (Fig.1). Circumferentially contiguous edges of circumferential ends of which include protrusions (10) and notches (11) fitting together in one another (Fig.1) and having a shape of a parallelogram (Fig.1).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the bladed turbomachine of Cohin by having the shape being a parallelogram based on the teachings of JP because this would require a simple substitution of one known element (protrusion/notch shape of Cohin) for another (protrusion/notch shape of JP) to obtain predictable results (providing complementary and engaging elements which maintain a connection between adjacent blade heels).
Regarding claim 3, Cohin and JP further teach the protrusions and the notches extend according to a direction mainly circumferential with respect to the axis of rotation (JP Fig.1; Cohin Fig.2).
Claim(s) 4 (as far as the claim(s) are definite and understood) is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cohin.
Regarding claim 4, Cohin further teaches all the limitations of claim 1, see above, however, does not explicitly teach each edge of a circumferential end of a platform includes several protrusions or several notches.
However, it has been held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced; in the current instance the application does not disclose any new and unexpected result being produced by having each edge of a circumferential end of a platform includes several protrusions or several notches other than increasing contact surface which is not new or unexpected. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the bladed turbomachine assembly of Cohin by having each edge of a circumferential end of a platform includes several protrusions or several notches as a duplication of parts since no new and unexpected result is produced.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter.
The following claim limitations were not found in the prior art.
the blades are prestressed by offsetting according to the axis of rotation their roots with respect to the disc that carries them (as in the context of claim 7).
the blades are prestressed by being curved towards upstream or towards downstream when viewed in a plane containing the axis of rotation (as in the context of claim 8).
Cohin discloses prestressing the blades by pre-twisting the blades instead of offsetting the roots of the blades of curving the blades as claimed.
Another relevant prior art reference (Stratford – GB 2215407 A) discloses angling blades with respect to a radial direction in opposite circumferential directions (Fig.3).
No other prior art reference was found that would anticipate or allow establishing a prima facie case of obviousness in view of the cited prior art above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUAN G FLORES whose telephone number is (571)272-3486. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 5:30pm Pacific Time.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathan E Wiehe can be reached at (571) 272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUAN G FLORES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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