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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/25/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 3-7, 11, 13-17, and 21-22 are examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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.
Claims 1 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Young 6530227.
Regarding Claim 1, Young teaches a combustor assembly (seen in Fig. 2) of a combustor 16 in a combustion section 16 of a turbine engine 10, the combustor assembly comprising (Fig. 2):
an inner liner 42 (Fig. 2);
an outer liner 40 spaced radially from the inner liner 42, the inner liner 42 and the outer liner 40 defining a combustion chamber 46 between the inner liner 42 and the outer liner 40 (Fig. 2);
a dome assembly 70 coupled (via element 74) to the inner liner 42 and the outer liner 40 (Col. 2, ll. 20-29, 35-42, and 51-67; Fig. 2);
a mixer assembly 80, 90 placed within the dome assembly 70 and defining at least a portion 164, 166 of a first separable portion 110, 164, 166 (Col. 3, ll. 1-18, 32-47, and 56-67; Figs. 2-3);
and a deflector assembly 75,76,78 disposed downstream (seen in Fig. 3) of the dome assembly 220 (portion 220, 222 of element 74 of dome assembly 70) to thermally insulate (portion 76 prevents hot combustion gasses … from impinging upon the combustor dome plate 74, Col. 4, ll. 52-62) the dome assembly 70 and defining at least a portion 200 of a second separable portion 200, 78 (Col. 2, ll. 57-67, Col. 4, ll. 1-12 and 27-62; Figs. 2-3),
the first separable portion 110, 164, 166 and the second separable portion 200, 78 are coupled together at a fitted interface (interface is where elements 166 and 200 are in contact, and 164 in contact with element 200 at a stop surface 185, seen in Fig. 3) at to fasten the mixer assembly 80, 90 and the deflector assembly 75,76,78 together, such that the first separable portion 110, 164, 166 and the second separable portion 200, 78 are (a) removably coupled at the fitted interface by a plurality of threads or one or more of a press fit (press fit, described in Col. 4, ll. 27-47 and seen in Fig. 3), a tight fit, or an interface fit and (b) free from welds and brazes (described in Col. 4, ll. 27-47, seen in Fig. 3) so that the mixer assembly 80, 90 or the deflector assembly can be replaced without significantly damaging or destroying the mixer assembly 80, 90 (“uncouples air swirler 90 from deflector-flare cone assembly 75 without risk of damage to other components”, Col. 5, ll. 59-62) or the deflector assembly (Col. 5, ll. 50-62; Col. 4, ll. 27-47teaches that the first separable portion 110, 164, 166 of the mixer assembly presses against the second separable portion 200, 78 of deflector assembly 75,76,78. Therefore, it is inherent that the mixer assembly 80, 90 is removable and is free from welds and brazes as claimed.).
Regarding Claim 11, Young teaches a gas turbine engine 10 comprising:
a core engine (seen in Fig. 1) including a compressor section 14, a combustion section 16, and a turbine section 18, 20 in serial flow relationship, the combustion section 16 comprising a combustor assembly (seen in Fig. 2),
the combustor assembly including (Fig. 2):
an inner liner 42 (Fig. 2);
an outer liner 40 spaced radially from the inner liner 42, the inner liner 42 and the outer liner 40 defining a combustion chamber 46 between the inner liner 42 and the outer liner 40 (Fig. 2);
a dome assembly 70 coupled (via element 74) to the inner liner 42 and the outer liner 40 (Col. 2, ll. 20-29, 35-42, and 51-67; Fig. 2);
a mixer assembly 80, 90 placed within the dome assembly 70 and defining at least a portion 164, 166 of a first separable portion 110, 164, 166 (Col. 3, ll. 1-18, 32-47, and 56-67; Figs. 2-3);
and a deflector assembly 75,76,78 disposed downstream (seen in Fig. 3) of the dome assembly 220 (portion 220, 222 of element 74 of dome assembly 70) to thermally insulate (portion 76 prevents hot combustion gasses … from impinging upon the combustor dome plate 74, Col. 4, ll. 52-62) the dome assembly 70 and defining at least a portion 200 of a second separable portion 200, 78 (Col. 2, ll. 57-67, Col. 4, ll. 1-12 and 27-62; Figs. 2-3),
the first separable portion 110, 164, 166 and the second separable portion 200, 78 are coupled together at a fitted interface (interface is where elements 166 and 200 are in contact, and 164 in contact with element 200 at a stop surface 185, seen in Fig. 3) at to fasten the mixer assembly 80, 90 and the deflector assembly 75,76,78 together, such that the first separable portion 110, 164, 166 and the second separable portion 200, 78 are (a) removably coupled at the fitted interface by a plurality of threads or one or more of a press fit (press fit, described in Col. 4, ll. 27-47 and seen in Fig. 3), a tight fit, or an interface fit and (b) free from welds and brazes (described in Col. 4, ll. 27-47, seen in Fig. 3) so that the mixer assembly 80, 90 or the deflector assembly can be replaced without significantly damaging or destroying the mixer assembly 80, 90 (“uncouples air swirler 90 from deflector-flare cone assembly 75 without risk of damage to other components”, Col. 5, ll. 59-62) or the deflector assembly (Col. 5, ll. 50-62; Col. 4, ll. 27-47teaches that the first separable portion 110, 164, 166 of the mixer assembly presses against the second separable portion 200, 78 of deflector assembly 75,76,78. Therefore, it is inherent that the mixer assembly 80, 90 is removable and is free from welds and brazes as claimed.).
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Young in view of Drake 2016/0169521.
Regarding Claims 22, Young teaches the invention as claimed and as discussed above for claim 1. However, Young does not teach a plurality of the mixer assemblies placed circumferentially within the dome assembly.
Drake further teaches
a plurality (multiple of swirlers 90) of the mixer assemblies 90 placed circumferentially within the dome assembly 80 ([0042]; Figs. 1-2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combustion section 16 of Young to include Drake’s plurality (multiple of swirlers 90) of the mixer assemblies 90 placed circumferentially within the dome assembly 80, in order to “generate intimately blended fuel-air mixture that supports combustion in the chamber” (Drake, [0044], ll. 4-7).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 and 13-14 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.
Claims 5-7 and 15-17 are objected to as being dependent on dependent claims 3 & 13 respectively.
Claim 21 is 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.
17. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
18. Prior art does not teach or fairly suggest, either by itself or in combination with other prior art, and in combination with the other limitations of the dependent claims 3-4 and 13-14, the following recitations:
Claim 3 & 13: recitation, “the plurality of threads includes a male threaded interface and a female threaded interface.”
Support for the above recitations is disclosed in the specification, [0008, 0014, and 0061] and Fig. 12.
Prior art of
Bunel 20130283803 and Hernandez 7673460 teach similar arrangement of a dome assembly, mixer assembly and deflector assembly. However, neither Bunel or Hernandez teach the recitations of claims 3-4 and 13-14 recited above.
Therefore, prior art of Young, Drake, Bunel or Hernandez does not teach or fairly suggest, either by itself or in combination with other prior art, and in combination with the other limitations of the dependent claims 3-4, and 13-14, the recitations cited above.
Response to Argument
Applicant's arguments, filed on 06/25/2026, with respect to 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections of claims 1, 3-7, 11, 13-17, and 21-22 have been considered, but are moot because the arguments do not apply to new combination of references used in the current rejection, necessitated by Applicant’s amendment. However, to the extent possible, Applicant’s arguments have been addressed in the body of the rejections at the appropriate locations.
Conclusion
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/JACEK LISOWSKI/Examiner, Art Unit 3741
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