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 .
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.
(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.
Claims 1-8, 11-12, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Pub. 2020/0064203 (“Ferry”).
Claim 1
Ferry discloses a connector for attaching to a boss, the connector comprising: a connector body configured to be secured to the boss (connector body 740 with boss portions 778); and a temperature sensing element inserted through a through-hole of the connector body (temperature sensor 900 with groove 767), a first end of the temperature sensing element configured to attach to a data line and a second end of the temperature sensing element configured for insertion into an orifice of the boss to sense a temperature of the boss (paragraph [0038], wire 901); wherein the temperature sensing element is configured to move relative to the connector body (paragraph [0038], wire 901 with temperature sensor 900 is not welded).
Claim 2
Ferry discloses the connector of claim 1, comprising a flange attached to the temperature sensing element, the connector body configured to restrict movement of the flange to limit movement of the temperature sensing element relative to the connector body (Fig. 7, outer flanging edges of connector body 740).
Claim 3
Ferry discloses the connector of claim 2, wherein the connector body is configured to retain the flange within a cavity of the connector body to hold the temperature sensing element in the orifice (Fig. 5).
Claim 4
Ferry discloses the connector of claim 3, wherein the connector body comprises a first housing portion and a second housing portion releasably coupled together to form the cavity (paragraph [0006], spring loaded clamp without welding).
Claim 5
Ferry discloses the connector of claim 1, comprising one or more resilient elements configured to bias the temperature sensing element towards a bottom of the orifice (Fig. 5, paragraph [0006], force F).
Claim 6
Ferry discloses the connector of claim 5, wherein the connector body is configured to retain the flange within a cavity of the connector body to hold the temperature sensing element in the orifice, and wherein the one or more resilient elements are positioned in the cavity (Fig. 5, paragraph [0006], force F).
Claim 7
Ferry discloses the connector of claim 1, wherein at least one of the through-hole or the orifice is sized to substantially prevent lateral movement of the temperature sensing element (Fig. 7).
Claim 8
Ferry discloses an assembly comprising the connector of claim 1 and the boss protruding from an outer wall of a fluid container, wherein the temperature sensing element is inserted into the orifice of the boss and configured to sense the temperature of the boss to determine a temperature of a fluid in the fluid container (Fig. 1, paragraphs [0021-0023], temperature system on vessel wall).
Claim 11
Ferry discloses the assembly of claim 8, wherein a thickness of the boss extending perpendicularly from a wall of the orifice is substantially constant (Fig. 7, thickness for even distribution).
Claim 12
Ferry discloses the assembly of claim 8, wherein the connector is releasably coupled to the boss (paragraph [0006], spring loaded clamp without welding).
Claim 15
Ferry discloses the assembly of claim 8, wherein the fluid container is a fuel tank (paragraph [0006], gas turbine).
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.
Claims 9, 10, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Pub. 2020/0064203 (“Ferry”) in view of U.S. Patent Pub. 2023/0296450 (“Nakamura”).
Claim 9
Ferry discloses the assembly of claim 8.
Ferry does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the boss comprises a thermally conductive material surrounding the orifice, wherein the thermally conductive material forms a thermal path between the orifice and the fluid container.
Nakamura discloses a temperature sensor including a housing and components made of metal (paragraph [0015]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated metal components of the housing, as disclosed by Nakamura, into the device of Ferry, such that the boss comprises a thermally conductive material surrounding the orifice, wherein the thermally conductive material forms a thermal path between the orifice and the fluid container, for the purpose of quickly conducting temperature for high speed sensing of temperature (Nakamura, paragraph [0015]).
Claim 10
Ferry in view of Nakamura discloses the assembly of claim 9, wherein the thermally conductive material is a metal (Nakamura, paragraph [0015], metal).
Claim 16
Ferry discloses the assembly of claim 8.
Ferry does not appear to explicitly disclose the assembly within an aircraft.
Nakamura discloses a temperature sensor included in aircraft (paragraph [0002]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the assembly within an aircraft, as disclosed by Nakamura, into the device of Ferry, for the purpose of providing cooling information of a pipe (Nakamura, paragraph [0002]).
Claims 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Pub. 2020/0064203 (“Ferry”) in view of U.S. Patent Pub. 2023/0296450 (“Nakamura”), further in view of U.S. Patent No. 4,828,401 (“Sawyer”).
Claim 13
Ferry discloses the assembly of claim 8.
Ferry discloses the vessel contains high temperature gas or fluid but does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the fluid is liquid hydrogen fuel or gaseous hydrogen fuel.
Watts discloses a high temperature fluid vessel for aircraft including liquid hydrogen fuel (paragraphs [0001, 0012]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated wherein the fluid is liquid hydrogen fuel or gaseous hydrogen fuel, as disclosed by Watts, into the device of Ferry, for the purpose of determining an amount of available fuel (Watts, paragraph [0016]).
Claim 14
Ferry in view of Watts discloses the assembly of claim 13, wherein the fluid container is a double-walled pipe which comprises an inner pipe and an outer pipe surrounding the inner pipe, and the boss protrudes from the outer wall of the outer pipe (Ferry, Fig. 1, paragraph [0023], inner and outer walls).
Claims 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Pub. 2020/0064203 (“Ferry”) in view of U.S. Patent Pub. 2010/0005812 (“Watts”).
Claim 17
Ferry in view of Nakamura discloses the aircraft of claim 16.
Ferry in view of Nakamura does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the assembly is located on a wing of the aircraft.
Sawyer discloses a temperature assembly positioned on a wing of an aircraft (col. 3, lns 7-14).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated wherein the assembly is located on a wing of the aircraft, as disclosed by Sawyer, into the device of Ferry in view of Nakamura, for the purpose of determining temperature of an aircraft component (Sawyer, col. 3, lns 7-14).
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Pub. 2020/0064203 (“Ferry”) in view of U.S. Patent Pub. 2023/0296450 (“Nakamura”), further in view of U.S. Patent Pub. 2010/0005812 (“Watts”).
Claim 18
Ferry discloses a hydrogen fuel container with a boss protruding from an outer wall of the container for releasably attaching to a connector (connector body 740 with boss portions 778); the boss comprising an orifice for slidably receiving a sensing element of the connector (temperature sensor 900 with groove 767), and the orifice having a constant cross-section and a closed end of the orifice (Fig. 5).
Ferry does not appear to explicitly disclose the boss formed by a thermally conductive material configured to form a thermal path to an inner wall of the hydrogen fuel container.
Nakamura discloses an aircraft and temperature sensor including a housing and components made of metal (paragraph [0002, 0015]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated metal components of the housing, as disclosed by Nakamura, into the device of Ferry, such that the boss formed by a thermally conductive material configured to form a thermal path to an inner wall of the hydrogen fuel container, for the purpose of quickly conducting temperature for high speed sensing of temperature (Nakamura, paragraph [0015]).
Ferry in view of Nakamura does not appear to explicitly disclose the container is a hydrogen fuel container with the connector and boss.
Watts discloses a high temperature fluid vessel for aircraft including liquid hydrogen fuel (paragraphs [0001, 0012]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated wherein the fluid is liquid hydrogen fuel or gaseous hydrogen fuel, as disclosed by Watts, into the device of Ferry in view of Nakamura, for the purpose of determining an amount of available fuel (Watts, paragraph [0016]).
Claim 19
Ferry in view of Nakamura, further in view of Watts discloses the aircraft of claim 18, wherein the container is a double-walled hydrogen fuel pipe comprising an inner pipe and an outer pipe surrounding the inner pipe, and the boss protrudes from the outer wall of the outer pipe (Ferry, Fig. 1, paragraph [0023], inner and outer walls).
Claim 20
Ferry in view of Nakamura, further in view of Watts discloses the aircraft of claim 18, wherein a thickness of the boss extending perpendicularly from a wall of the orifice is substantially constant (Ferry, Fig. 7, thickness for even distribution).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERICA S Y LIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7911. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4, TW M,W.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERICA S LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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