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 .
Status of the claims
Claim(s) 1, 6, 7, 9, 14, 15 is/are amended, claim(s) 13 is/are cancelled and claim(s) 21 is/are added. Currently claims 1-12, 14-21 are pending in this application.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Richard et al (5213414) in view of Geberth (4728213).
Regarding claim 1, Richard, Fig. 1-3, discloses pipe system for oilfield operations (col 1 line 5-20), the pipe system comprising: a pipe 22 having an inlet (right side end of 22 in fig 1 and left side end in fig 2 with end cap having inlet opening for actuation shaft of 24 connecting to 26) and an outlet (covered by end cap 32 with outlet opening for shaft of 24 connecting to bearing 33) and an interior wall defining an inside dimeter, the pipe 22 defining a cavity between the inlet and the outlet configured to receive a flow of fluid containing a proppant (sand/water); a fluid outlet 34 fluidly coupled to the cavity and located between the inlet and the outlet of the pipe; an auger assembly 24 installed within the cavity and comprising: a helical blade (of 24) extending at least partially between the inlet and the outlet of the pipe, the helical blade configured to direct a portion of the proppant through the fluid outlet 34; and a first end support (shaft opening in end cap of pipe adjacent to 26) coupled to a first end of the auger assembly and a second end support (shaft opening in end cap 32) coupled to a second end of the auger assembly, the first and second end supports engaging the pipe to maintain a proper position of the helical blade within the cavity.
Richard fails to disclose first end support (shaft opening in end cap of pipe adjacent to 26) and second end support (shaft opening in end cap 32) engaging the interior wall of the pipe 22. Gerberth teaches an auger assembly with end supports 36,38 engaging the interior wall of the pipe 50.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the system disclosed by Richard with end supports engaging the interior wall of the pipe as taught by Gerberth in order to a compact auger end support within the pipe structure.
As to claim 2, outlet is sealed or covered by an end cap 32.
As to claim 3, the helical blade extends along substantially an entire length of the cavity of the pipe 22,
As to claim 4, the fluid outlet 34 includes a plurality of fluid outlets 34 disposed along a length of a side of the pipe, each of the plurality of fluid outlets coupled to a conduit 40 configured to draw fluid from the cavity; and the auger assembly is configured to increase a uniformity (sand mixture, col 4 line 65-69)) of an amount of the proppant directed through each of the plurality of fluid outlets.
As to claim 8, Richard discloses a frac iron system comprising the pipe system of claim 1, the frac iron system including: a low-pressure manifold 16-22 comprising the pipe 22; a high-pressure manifold P,58 downstream of the fluid outlet 40 and configured to receive a pressurized flow of fluid containing the proppant; and a skid 60 coupling the low-pressure manifold to the high-pressure manifold via a mounting feature (frame shown in fig 2).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Richard et al (5213414) in view of Geberth (4728213) further in view of Dunne (5124035).
Richard as modified discloses auger assembly further comprising: a support (shaft of 24) coupled to the helical blade and extending along a longitudinal axis thereof, the hollow support having a first end coupled to the first end support (shaft opening in end cap of pipe adjacent to 26) and a second end coupled to the second end support (shaft opening in end cap 32).
Rischard fails to disclose shaft as hollow. Dunne teaches an auger assembly with a hollow shaft 50.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the system disclosed by Richard as modified with hollow auger shaft as taught by Dunne in order to provide lightweight shaft and to reduce structural material consumption.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 9-12, 14-20 is/are allowed. Claim(s) 6, 7, 21 is/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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendment has overcome the rejection of record. However, a new ground of rejection is applied to the amended claims. Geberth is cited to show prior art teaching/incorporation of end supports engaging pipe interior wall.
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 Atif Chaudry at phone number 571-270-3768. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (9:30AM-6:00PM EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881, or Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ATIF H CHAUDRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
Prosecution Insights