DETAILED ACTION
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-11 and 20-22 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.
It is further noted that many of these claims require 112 corrections in their claim tree and that potential allowability is contingent on such corrections.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art does not appear to teach or fairly suggest maintaining a consistent cross-sectional flow area across regions of different grain sizes in solid state particulate thermal storage systems. While the overall void volume between such regions may be constant (see, e.g. ‘556 pg. 36:9-10) the cross-sectional area is reduced (see ‘556 Fig. 9a). As the increased particle surface area per unit volume directly causes the reduction in the length of the thermocline (‘556 pg. 36:11-15) and also causes the reduction in cross-sectional area, it would not have been obvious to match the cross-sectional areas between the regions as this would destroy the desired thermocline steepening effects.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2-8, 11, 13-14, and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The material recited in claims 2-3, 7-8, 13-14, and 18-19 state that a structural choice determines the thermal outcome of the use of the device. In fact, the structure merely creates a condition in which the recited outcomes are possible (i.e. the mere existence of two layers means that the device may be operated such that the thermocline is located in one layer or the other). The location of a thermocline within the device will be determined based on operating parameters of the device such as temperature drop, pressure and flow rate, stopping and starting conditions for charging and for discharging, etc.
As such, it is not clear what the scope of these claims might be as they recite conditions insufficient to guarantee their required outcomes. It is further noted that these are all apparatus claims that purely recite structure and do not include methods of operation or use.
Therefore, these claims have been treated as recitations of intended use.
Claim 4 begins with the word “the” which lacks antecedent basis.
Claims 5-8 and 11 are also rejected for depending from claim 4.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2011/104556 (‘556).
Regarding claims 1 and 12, ‘556 teaches a thermal energy storage tank storing heat by causing heat held by a fluid (flowing between 705’ and 706’) to be absorbed by a first to n-th solid sensible heat storage material (732’, 734’, 736) where n is an integer greater than 1 during a thermal energy storage operation and that dissipates heat by causing heat held by the first to nth solid sensible heat storage materials to be absorbed by the fluid during thermal dissipation operation, wherein: the first solid sensible heat storage material is incorporated into a first area (either 732’ or 736, depending on charging or discharging flow direction) nearest to an outlet of the fluid during the thermal energy storage operation, and has a smaller particle size than the nth solid sensible heat storage material (734’; see Fig. 11).
Regarding claims 2 and 13, the incorporated amount of the first solid sensible heat storage material is set so that a thermocline created inside the thermal energy storage tank is only present in the first area at an end of a thermal energy storage operation (see the reduced thermoclines associated with decreased particle size in comparison in Fig. 10; this is also determined by the use of the device and the device of ‘556 is capable of such use).
Regarding claims 3 and 14, the amount of the first solid sensible heat storage material may be set so that a temperature area that is not a thermocline is not present in the first area at an end of a thermal energy storage operation (this is determined by the use of the device, not its structure and the device of ‘556 is capable of such use).
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) 4-8 and 15-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘556 in view of Morgan (US 2013/0240171).
Regarding claims 4 and 15, ‘556 teaches a thermal energy storage tank storing heat by causing heat held by a fluid (flowing between 705’ and 706’) to be absorbed by a first to n-th solid sensible heat storage material (732’, 734’, 736) where n is an integer greater than 1 during a thermal energy storage operation and that dissipates heat by causing heat held by the first to nth solid sensible heat storage materials to be absorbed by the fluid during thermal dissipation operation, wherein: the first solid sensible heat storage material is incorporated into a first area (either 732’ or 736, depending on charging or discharging flow direction) nearest to an outlet of the fluid during the thermal energy storage operation, and has a smaller particle size than the nth solid sensible heat storage material (734’; see Fig. 11).
‘556 does not specify the use of first to mth divided tanks.
Morgan teaches the use of m number of storage tanks connected in series (Fig. 8a-c).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to utilize the device of ‘556 as a series of storage tanks, as taught by Morgan, in order to increase the capacity of the system.
Claim 15 merely labels the same device in discharging mode.
Morgan further teaches: a low temperature side bypass flow path (Figs. 8; the central bypass line) configured to bypass the first divided thermal energy storage tank (100) and one or more low temperature side bypass valves (valve on the central bypass line) configured to switch between the first thermal energy storage tank and the low temperature side bypass flow path (Figs. 8), per claim 5; a high temperature side bypass flow path (Figs. 8; right-most bypass) configured to bypass the second to mth divided thermal energy storage tanks (120/130) and one or more high temperature side bypass valves (the two right-most valves in Figs. 8) configured to switch between a flow of the fluid to a side of the second to mth divided thermal energy storage tanks and the bypass (to the bypass by closing the lower and opening the upper), per claim 6.
Claims 16 and 17 recited the same structures as claims 5 and 6, respectively, with “high” and “low” temperature labels reversed as the device is described during discharging as opposed to charging mode.
Regarding claims 7 and 18, the incorporated amount of the first solid sensible heat storage material is set so that a thermocline created inside the thermal energy storage tank is only present in the first area at an end of a thermal energy storage operation (see the reduced thermoclines associated with decreased particle size in comparison in Fig. 10; this is also determined by the use of the device and the device of ‘556 is capable of such use).
Regarding claims 8 and 19, the amount of the first solid sensible heat storage material may be set so that a temperature area that is not a thermocline is not present in the first area at an end of a thermal energy storage operation (this is determined by the use of the device, not its structure and the device of ‘556 is capable of such use).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Devon Lane whose telephone number is (571)270-1858. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, 9-4.
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/DEVON LANE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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