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 .
Response to Arguments
Regarding the status of the claims, Claims 1-22 are pending. Claims 21-22 are newly added. Claims 5-6 and 19-20 have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendments, filed 04/29/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of independent claim 1 under 102(a)(1) rejection as being anticipated by Pointon et al. (US 20140093391) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been overcome. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Liang (US 20090068021).
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.
Claims 1-4, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liang (US 20090068021).
In reference to Claim 1
Liang discloses:
A turbine blade (10), comprising:
a platform (26);
an airfoil (12) extending radially outward from the platform;
a root (14) extending radially inward from the platform;
an outer cooling channel (channel 30a) within an interior of the turbine blade,
one or more inner cooling channels (30b, 30c, 38d) within the interior of the turbine blade, wherein the one or more inner cooling channels are positioned aft of at least a portion of the outer cooling channel;
an aft cooling channel (66) that is aft of the one or more inner cooling channels; and
a merge channel (48), located radially inward of the outer cooling channel and between the outer cooling channel and the aft cooling channel, configured to receive flow from the outer cooling channel and the one or more inner cooling channels and to direct the flow to the aft cooling channel, wherein the merge channel is a channel structure separate from the outer cooling channel and the one or more inner cooling channels.[0017-0025] (Fig. 1-4).
In reference to Claim 2
Liang discloses:
The turbine blade of claim 1, wherein the one or more inner cooling channels are two inner cooling channels (30b, 30c, 38d), wherein one (channel 30b) of the two inner cooling channels is positioned on a pressure side (18) of the turbine blade, and another (38d) one of the two inner cooling channels is positioned on a suction side (20) of the turbine blade. (Fig. 2-4).
In reference to Claim 3
Liang discloses:
The turbine blade of claim 2, wherein at least a portion of a first inner cooling channel (channel 30b) of the two inner cooling channels is separated from at least a portion of a second inner cooling channel (38d) of the two inner cooling channels by a central spar (32) between a pressure-side wall (18) and a suction-side wall (20) of the airfoil. [0018-0020] (Fig. 1-4).
In reference to Claim 4
Liang discloses:
The turbine blade of claim 3, wherein the central spar (32) separates at least a portion of the first inner cooling channel (channel 30b) from of at least a portion of the second inner cooling channel (38d). [0018-0020] (Fig. 1-4).
In reference to Claim 8
Liang discloses:
The turbine blade of claim 1, wherein the aft cooling channel (66) comprises an aft inlet (68; [0024]) that supplies coolant to the aft cooling channel, wherein at least one inner cooling channel (38d) of the one or more inner cooling channels comprises an inner inlet (52; [0020]) that supplies coolant to the at least one inner cooling channel, and wherein the aft inlet is separate from the inner inlet. (Fig. 2-4).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 21-22 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.
Claims 9-18 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Liang is silent on each of the two inner cooling channels is in fluid communication with a respective inlet that supplies coolant to the two inner cooling channels (as claimed in Claim 7) and each of the one or more inner cooling channels including the inner second portion which extends axially between a radially outer end of the inner first portion and a radially outer end of the inner third portion (as claimed in Claims 21).
Regarding Claim 9, Pazder (US 4474532) discloses a turbine blade (10), comprising: a platform (14); an airfoil (16) extending radially outward from the platform; a root (12) extending radially inward from the platform; an outer cooling channel (86) within an interior of the turbine blade,
wherein the outer cooling channel includes an outer first portion (portion in which 90p is located along 86), an outer second portion (44), and an outer third portion (portion of 91), wherein the outer first portion extends radially along a leading edge of the airfoil from the platform towards a tip of the airfoil, wherein the outer second portion extends axially between a radially outer end of the outer first portion and a radially outer end of the outer third portion, and wherein the outer third portion extends radially inward from an aft end of the outer second portion; one or more inner cooling channels (channel within 78) within the interior of the turbine blade, wherein each of the one or more inner cooling channels includes an inner first portion (first portion located approximate to reference 90s), an inner second portion (cavity 78), and an inner third portion (portion between the radially outward 98 and channel rib which divides 86 and 88), wherein the inner second portion extends axially between a radially outer end of the inner first portion and a radially outer end of the inner third portion, and wherein the inner third portion is forward of the outer third portion and extends radially inward from an aft end of the inner second portion;
an aft cooling channel (114) that is aft of the one or more inner cooling channels; and a merge channel (88, 106) located radially inward of the outer second portion and between the outer cooling channel and the aft cooling channel, wherein the outer third portion of the outer cooling channel and the inner third portion of each of the one or more inner cooling channels are in fluid communication with the merge channel and the aft cooling channel. (Fig. 1)
Pazder is silent on the inner first portion is aft of the outer first portion and extends radially from the platform to a position that is radially inward from the outer second portion.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Liang (US 20060153678), Tibbott et al. (US 20140086724), Zhang et al. (US 20170292386), Liang (US 8562295), Liang (US 7413407), Lee et al. (US 5967752), Tibbott et al. (US 7600973), and Shizuya et al. (US 4786233) disclose cooling channels of an airfoil that is relevant to the Applicant’s invention.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AYE SU MON HTAY whose telephone number is (571)270-5958. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9:00am-3:00pm PST.
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/AYE S HTAY/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
/NATHANIEL E WIEHE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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