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.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 12-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by SCHIBSBYE (EP 2368685).
Regarding claims 1-4 and 12-19, SCHIBSBYE discloses a method of making a
hollow product (120) by curing a polymer matrix composite material and reinforcing fibers, comprising the following steps:
providing a hollow mandrel (100) comprising epoxy [0015] (thermosetting
polymeric material having a glass transition temperature greater than or equal to 50ºC), to be rigid at a room temperature with an original form [0015], wherein the hollow mandrel (100) further has an air inlet (104) for pressurizing (claim 3) and an air outlet (103) (claim 2) (further has a connector for pressurizing/depressurizing the hollow mandrel through a fluid);
male mold (101) laminates a layer of the polymer matrix composite material on the hollow mandrel [0015];
heating the hollow mandrel (100) to a curing temperature between 80º to 120ºC [0015];
pressurizing the hollow mandrel (100) to maintain the original form during the heating [0015], [0040]; and
depressurizing the hollow mandrel (100) at a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature wherein the hollow mandrel is more flexible than an ambient temperature [0041], a depressurization causes a collapse or a contraction of the transversal dimension of the hollow mandrel to thus favor an extraction of the hollow mandrel (100) from a product (120) (Fig.2) obtained with the curing of the polymer matrix composite material and a reuse of the hollow mandrel and the hollow mandrel after the depressurization has a three-dimensional shape substantially equal to the original form (Figs.1-2).
Claim(s) 1-4 and 12-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by KYSAR et al. (WO 2012/064440-of record).
Regarding claims 1-4 and 12-19, HUFENBACH et al. discloses a method of
making a hollow fiber composite components by curing a polymer matrix composite material and reinforcing fibers (claim 1), comprising the following steps:
providing a hollow mandrel (12, [0037], [0038]) of a thermosetting
polymeric material [0039] having a glass transition temperature greater than or equal to 50ºC) [0043], to be rigid at a room temperature with an original form, wherein the hollow mandrel further has a connector for pressurizing/depressurizing the hollow mandrel through a fluid [0076];
male mold laminating one or more layers of the composite material on the rigid mandrel (claim 1);
heating the mandrel (claim 14);
pressurizing the mandrel so as to maintain said original shape during the heating step (claim 25); and
depressurizing the mandrel at a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature wherein the hollow mandrel is more flexible than an ambient temperature, a depressurization causes a collapse or a contraction of the transversal dimension of the hollow mandrel to thus favor an extraction of the hollow mandrel from a product obtained with the curing of the polymer matrix composite material and a reuse of the hollow mandrel and the hollow mandrel after the depressurization has a three-dimensional shape substantially equal to the original form (claim 27, [0054]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-11 and 20 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:
a) HUFENBACH et al. (DE 102013226018) discloses a reusable collapsible core.
b) GOODNO (5,262,121) discloses a method of making and using flexible mandrel.
c) BOGARDUS, JR. et al. (4,462,787) discloses cantilevered mandrel assembly.
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STELLA YI
Examiner
Art Unit 1742
/STELLA K YI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742
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