DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a reply to the amendment dated May 29, 2026.
Claims 1, 3, 7, 15, 17 and 19 have been amended; and, claims 7-14 have been withdrawn due to a restriction requirement.
Claims 1-6 and 15-20 remain 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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4-6, 15, 16 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Channing (US 5,887,572), in view of Duerrwaechater et al. (US 2017/0218893 A1), hereafter Duerrwaechater.
Regarding claims 1 and 15, Channing discloses a fuel delivery system (10, Fig. 1) for a work vehicle, the fuel deliver system comprising: a fuel tank (12) operable to store fuel therein; a primary fuel pump (16); a fuel regulator device (70) operatively connected with the primary fuel pump by a primary fuel deliver line (32); and a fuel cooler device (28) operatively coupled with the fuel regulator device by a fuel bypass line (98) and with the fuel tank by a fuel return line (46), wherein the fuel regulator device is operable to: receive unregulated supply fuel delivered to the fuel regulator device from the primary fuel pump via the primary fuel delivery line (shown in Figs. 2-6; unregulated fuel port 64) ; control a property of a portion of the unregulated supply fuel received from the primary fuel pump for output from the fuel regulator device as regulated fuel (column 4, line 32-53); deliver the regulated fuel via a regulated fuel delivery line to a secondary fuel pump of the work vehicle (22); and deliver to the fuel cooler device as bypass fuel via the fuel bypass line remaining portions of the unregulated supply fuel received by the fuel regulator device that are not delivered to the secondary fuel pump, wherein the fuel cooler device is operable to: receive the bypass fuel delivered to the fuel cooler device from the fuel regulator device via the fuel bypass line (Figs. 3 depicts excess fuel from port 34 passing through pressure regulator via port 76 with open passage toward port 98); cool the bypass fuel received by the fuel cooler device to generate cooled bypass fuel; and deliver the cooled bypass fuel to the fuel tank via the fuel return line (column 4, line 57-66).
Channing does not disclose a primary fuel pump disposed in the fuel tank. Duerrwaechater discloses a fuel delivery system for a vehicle wherein a primary fuel pump (12) is disposed in the fuel tank (Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the primary fuel pump inside the fuel tank of Channing as taught by Duerrwaechater in order to protect the pump and provide a compact system.
Regarding claims 2 and 16, Channing discloses the method wherein: the cooling by the fuel cooler device of the bypass fuel received by the fuel cooler device provides a sole source (line 46) of cooling to any fuel returned to the fuel tank from the fuel delivery system and the work vehicle.
Regarding claims 4 and 18, Channing discloses the method wherein: the delivering the regulated fuel comprises delivering the regulated fuel by the fuel regulator device operable to deliver the regulated fuel via the regulated fuel delivery line to the secondary fuel pump of the work vehicle adapted to pressurize the regulated fuel to a working pressure adapted for use by a spark ignited internal combustion engine of the work vehicle (Fig. 1; column 3, line 59-61).
Regarding claims 5 and 19, Channing discloses the method further comprising: controlling a pressure of the unregulated supply fuel by the fuel regulator device to control a pressure of the unregulated supply fuel received from the primary fuel pump for output from the fuel regulator device to the secondary fuel pump of the work vehicle via the regulated fuel delivery line as the regulated fuel (column 1, line 5-8; Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).
Regarding claims 6 and 20, Channing discloses the method further comprising: controlling a flow rate of the unregulated supply fuel by the fuel regulator device to control a flow rate of the unregulated supply fuel received from the primary fuel pump for output from the fuel regulator device to the secondary fuel pump of the work vehicle via the regulated fuel delivery line as the regulated fuel (column 5, line 45-63).
Claim(s) 3 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Channing (US 5,887,572), in view of Duerrwaechater et al. (US 2017/0218893 A1), and in further view of Tuschl et al. (DE 19619934), hereafter Tuschl.
Regarding claims 3 and 17, Channing as modified with Duerrwaechater is silent to a method wherein: the cooling by the bypass fuel comprises cooling the bypass fuel using an external flow of air passing over a portion of the fuel cooler device.
Tuschl discloses a fuel cooler (16, Fig. 3) using an external flow of air passing over a portion of the fuel cooler device. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the fuel cooler of Tuschl in the system of Channing in order to cool the fuel through the bypass line.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed May 29, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that “Channing is directed to a fuel delivery system that conditions fuel such as by filtering the fuel before delivering the filtered fuel to an injector pump or the like of a vehicle.” And, “Channing fails to disclose the combination of features as set out in claim 1 including and without limitation the features of a fuel regulator device operable to deliver to a fuel cooler device as bypass fuel via a fuel bypass line remaining portions of unregulated supply fuel received by the fuel regulator device that are not delivered to a secondary fuel pump, and a fuel cooler device operable to receive the bypass fuel delivered to the fuel cooler device from the fuel regulator device via the fuel bypass line, cool the bypass fuel received by the fuel cooler device to generate cooled bypass fuel, and deliver the cooled bypass fuel to a fuel tank of a work vehicle via a fuel return line.” Pages 13-14.
In response to applicant's argument that Channing is nonanalogous art, it has been held that a prior art reference must either be in the field of the inventor’s endeavor or, if not, then be reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the inventor was concerned, in order to be relied upon as a basis for rejection of the claimed invention. See In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 24 USPQ2d 1443 (Fed. Cir. 1992).
In this instance, and further explained in the rejection above, Channing discloses a fuel regulator device 70 that received unregulated fuel through port 34 and further through passage 76 and through the open ports 98 and 48. Channing further discloses: “It should be noted that cooler inlet port 98 may be formed in housing 60, which communicates with port 96 and return outlet port 48, should a cooler be used in system 10.” (Column 4, line 63-66).
Conclusion
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.
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/TEUTA HOLBROOK/
Examiner
Art Unit 3747
/GEORGE C JIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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