DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the request for continued examination filed on 11/04/2025 and the amendment filed on 10/06/2025. Claims 1-21 are currently pending and being examined.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/04/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendment and remarks with respect to claims 1-16, 18 and 21 have been considered and the previous rejection has been withdrawn. However, the previously indicated allowability of claims 17, 19 and 20 is withdrawn in view of the rejections below.
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)(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 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Helmick et al. (US 8,607,569).
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In regards to Independent Claim 17, and with particular reference to Figures 1 and 5 with marked-up figure 5 shown immediately above, Helmick discloses a turbine engine 10 comprising:
an engine core comprising at least a compressor section 14 and a combustion section 16 in serial flow arrangement, wherein the combustion section comprises at least one fuel-air mixing assembly 26 comprising:
a center body (notice the claim does not provide structural characteristics or details or a frame of reference of what can or cannot be interpreted as a center body; thus arbitrarily selected as shown in marked-up figure 5 above);
an outer wall (as shown in marked-up figure 5) spaced from and in annular arrangement about the center body;
air passage (volume/space between what has been interpreted as the center body and the outer wall) defined between the center body and the outer wall, the air passage exhausting at an outlet (either outlet shown in marked-up figure 5); and
a first fuel orifice (any fuel orifice as labeled in marked-up figure 5; col. 3 lines 7-10 teaches the coolant can be fuel) extending through the outer wall (fuel orifices passes through the outer wall inner surface 144) and exhausting to the air passage; and
an aperture (the aperture as labeled in marked-up figure 5; notice the claim does not recite what fluid passes through this aperture) extending through the outer wall and fluidly coupled to the air passage, aperture-to-orifice distance (D1 or D2 or D3) is defined as a distance between the aperture and the first fuel orifice, and wherein the aperture-to-orifice distance is between or equal to 10%- 95% of a length of the center body (any of the distances D1, D2 or D3 are within the claimed range for the aperture-to-orifice distance, as shown in marked-up figure 5).
Claims 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Matsuyama et al. (US 2018/0372319).
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In regards to Independent Claim 19, and with particular reference to Figures 1 and 5 with marked-up figure 5 shown immediately above, Matsuyama discloses a turbine engine (par. 2) comprising:
an engine core comprising at least a compressor section and a combustion section in serial flow arrangement (refer to figure 1; pars. 31, 34), wherein the combustion section comprises at least one fuel-air mixing assembly (100 in figure 1) comprising:
a center body (notice the claim does not provide structural characteristics or details or a frame of reference of what can or cannot be interpreted as a center body; thus arbitrarily selected as shown in marked-up figure 5 above);
an outer wall (as shown in marked-up figure 5) spaced from and in annular arrangement about the center body;
air passage (volume/space between what has been interpreted as the center body and the outer wall) defined between the center body and the outer wall, the air passage exhausting at an outlet;
a first fuel orifice (the fuel orifice as labeled in marked-up figure 5) extending through the outer wall and exhausting to the air passage; and
an aperture (the aperture as labeled in marked-up figure 5; notice the claim does not recite what fluid passes through this aperture) extending through the outer wall and fluidly coupled to the air passage, wherein the air passage includes a constant cross-sectional area (as shown in marked-up figure 5) extending forward from the outlet and a converging cross-sectional area (as shown in marked-up figure 5) extending from the aperture to the constant cross-sectional area.
Regarding dependent Claim 20, Matsuyama discloses wherein the first fuel orifice is arranged at the converging cross-sectional area (marked-up figure 5 above shows the fuel orifice located at a converging cross-sectional area).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-16, 18 and 21 are allowed in view of the amendments to the claims filed on 10/06/2025.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM H RODRIGUEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-4831. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:30-6:30.
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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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/William H Rodriguez/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3741