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 .
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.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Figs. 1-11 are unclear due to shading. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claim 18 is 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.
Regarding claim 18, claim 18 recites the limitation "the generator gear" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Examiner suggests amending the limitation to recite “the magnetic generator gear” and changing the dependency of claim 18 from claim 1 to claim 17.
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)(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 1-4 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by WO 2022261714 A1 to French et al.
Regarding claim 1, French et al. discloses a system comprising:
a flywheel assembly including a flywheel (Fig. 27: 10b) configured for mechanical storage of energy;
a magnetic planetary gear set (gear set inside 10b) coupled to the flywheel assembly;
a motor (4a) operably connected to a magnetic motor gear (10a), wherein the magnetic motor gear magnetically couples (21) with a ring gear (28) of the magnetic planetary gear set to drive the flywheel and convert electrical energy driving the motor into mechanical energy for storage in the flywheel [0159].
Regarding claim 2, French et al. discloses the magnetic planetary gear set further includes at least one planet gear (outer gears inside 10b) magnetically coupled to the ring gear.
Regarding claim 3, French et al. discloses the magnetic planetary gear set further includes a sun gear (center gear inside 10b) magnetically coupled to the planet gear.
Regarding claim 4, French et al. discloses each of the ring gear, at least one planet gear, and sun gear include two rows of magnets (Fig. 6: two rows of 10b).
Regarding claim 17, French et al. discloses a magnetic generator gear, wherein the magnetic generator gear magnetically couples with one of the ring gear or the motor gear ([0157] and [0161]).
Regarding claim 18, French et al. discloses the generator gear drives the generator to convert mechanical energy stored in the flywheel to electrical energy for application to a load ([0157] and [0161]).
Regarding claim 19, French et al. discloses the planetary gear set includes a plurality of transfer points (Fig. 27: 21/28), wherein each transfer point enables magnetic coupling of the ring gear with the motor gear or a generator gear.
Regarding claim 20, French et al. discloses one or more off the motor gear, planetary gear set, or generator gear are under vacuum, the vacuum reducing windage of each of the gears as they rotate [0139].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-16 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VIET P NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-9457. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12-8.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tulsidas C Patel can be reached at 571-272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VIET P NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834