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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 8/7/2026 is acknowledged. Claim 20 is withdrawn from further consideration as being drawn to a nonelected invention.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 8/7/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over USPAP 2013/0276623 to Moore in view of USPAP 2013/0153583 to Kleschinski, USPN 5,591,933 to Li, USPAP 2018/0251612 to Fujita, USPN 9,279,641 to Springsteen, and/or USPAP 2003/0124930 to Horrocks.
Claims 1, 14 and 17-19, Moore discloses a fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite, comprising: a core layer comprising a polymeric material; an outer layer comprising a plurality of plies; wherein the plurality of plies comprises at least one aramid fabric layer and at least one glass fabric layer; wherein at least one of the plies of the plurality of plies comprises fibers substantially oriented in an on-axis direction; wherein at least one of the plies of the plurality of plies comprises fibers substantially oriented in an off-axis direction, and wherein the layers are impregnated and bonded with a thermosetting resin (see entire document including [0003], [0011]-[0022], [0028] and [0032]).
Moore does not appear to specifically mention using the FRP composite as a jacket for a container but Kleschinski discloses that it is known in the art to construct a container jacket with plies of aramid fabric and glass fabric to provide the container with improved shock protection (see entire document including [0002], [0006]-[0009] and [0019]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to contact the outer surface of a container with a jacket of the FRP composite of Moore to provide the container with improved shock protection.
Moore does not appear to specifically mention stitching the layers together by a plurality of stitch lines but Li discloses that it is known in the art to stitch FRP layers together by a plurality of fiber stitch lines to provide the FRP composite with improved delamination resistance (see entire document including column 1, lines 12-50, column 2, lines 46-64, column 3, lines 49-58, column 5, lines 5-55, column 6, lines 27-35, and column 10, lines 18-55). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to stitch the FRP layers of Moore together by a plurality of fiber stitch lines to provide the FRP composite with improved delamination resistance.
Moore does not appear to specifically mention shaping the FRP composite by a VARTM process (i.e. dry fiber reinforcements are stacked, sealed with a flexible vacuum bag, and infused with liquid resin using vacuum pressure) but Fujita discloses that it is known in the art to use a VARTM process to produce an FRP composite railroad body and/or pressure container shape (see entire document including [0001], [0002], [0013] and [0073]-[0076]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use a VARTM process to compress and bond the FRP composite to produce a new or retro-fit railroad tank or pressure container wrapped in an FRP composite jacket.
Claim 2, Kleschinski teaches that the container outer surface is curvilinear (see at least Figure 1). Plus, the examiner takes official notice that it is conventional and thus obvious to form a pressure container with curvilinear surfaces for a structurally safe uniform pressure distribution.
Claim 3, Moore discloses that the polymeric material comprises a polystyrene material, a polyurethane material, an elastomeric material, or combinations thereof [0018].
Claim 4, Li discloses that the plurality of stitch lines are substantially parallel (column 4, lines 45-62).
Claim 5, Li does not appear to mention the specific stitch lines spacing but Springsteen discloses that it is known in the art to space stitch lines by about 0.25 to 1.0 inches apart (see entire document including column 1, lines 6-8, column 5, lines 6-35, and column 9, lines 21-36). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to space the stitch lines as claimed, because it is within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a stitch spacing on the basis of its suitability and desired characteristics.
Claim 6, Li discloses that the plurality of stitch lines comprises aramid thread ranging between about two (2) to eight (8) denier (column 5, lines 24-55 and column 6, lines 27-36). Plus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to vary the stitch material and/or denier such as claimed, based on the intended use and desired/required stitch strength.
Claims 7, 11-13 and 17, Moore does not appear to specifically mention how many plies may be included in the FRP composite but Li and Springsteen teach that the claimed large number of plies is common (column 5, lines 5-15 of Li and column 5, lines 6-17 of Springsteen). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to vary the material of each plie, the number of plies, and the orientation of each ply, such as claimed, based on the intended use and desired/required FRP composite properties.
Claim 8, Moore discloses a finishing layer (e.g. outer layer 104) in contact with an outer surface of the outer jacket ([0011]-[0022]).
Claim 9, Moore does not appear to mention an intumescent material in contact with the outer surface of the outer jacket but Horrocks discloses that it is known in the FRP composite art to include an outer layer of intumescent material to provide fire/heat protection (see entire document including [0002]-[0004] and [0055]-[0062]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art in include an outer layer of intumescent material, as claimed, to provide fire/heat protection.
Claim 10, Moore discloses that the inner surface of the outer jacket may comprise an aramid fabric layer and an outer surface of the outer jacket may comprise a glass fabric layer ([0011]-[0022]). Plus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to vary the material of each ply, such as claimed, based on the intended use and desired/required FRP composite properties.
Claim 15, Moore does not appear to specifically mention the thermosetting resin being an epoxy resin comprising epichlorohydrin, polyoxypropylenediamine, or combinations thereof but Fujita discloses that it is known in the art to construct an FRP composite with the claimed epoxy for good resin impregnation and/or to result in a composite with high-strength ([0001] and [0032]-[0038]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use the claimed epoxy resin to construct the FRP composite with good resin impregnation and/or to result in a composite with high-strength
Claim 16, Moore does not appear to specifically mention a core layer that is about 0.55-in thick but Springsteen discloses that it is known in the art to include an approximately 0.55-inch thick structural portion under a ballistic portion to resist compression and shear loads (column 2, lines 29-65). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include the claimed core layer, with the claimed thickness, to resist compression and shear loads.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW T PIZIALI whose telephone number is (571)272-1541. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marla McConnell can be reached at 571-270-7692. 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.
/ANDREW T PIZIALI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789
