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 .
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 12 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.
Claim 12 recites the limitation "the instrumentation" in lines 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is believed that the instrumentation is intended to be the same element as the instrumentation arm introduced in line 9 of claim 9. The claim elements should have the same name throughout the claim set. A possible correction would read - - the instrumentation arm - - . This is the interpretation that will be used in the following rejections.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 4-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liang et al. (CN 112556978 A).
As to claim 1, Liang et al. teaches a rake assembly (figures 1-2) configured for measuring fluid flow parameters in a fluid flow rig (paragraph [0002]), the rake assembly comprising:
a rake assembly support frame (2, 3, 11 in figures 1 and 5);
a housing (1) mounted on the rake assembly support frame (figure 1), the housing (1) comprising a wall which defines a flow passage (paragraph [0036]), having a flow inlet and a flow outlet (through 2 and 3), the flow passage extending from the flow inlet to the flow outlet, wherein the housing is cylindrical and is centered on a longitudinal axis (figures 1 and 2 and paragraph [0037]); and
an instrumentation arm (6), wherein the instrumentation arm extends from a leading edge end thereof to a trailing edge end thereof (figures 1 and 3), the instrumentation arm extending from the housing wall to at least partway across the flow passage (figure 2), the leading edge end being located in an Aerodynamic Instrument Plane (AIP) (paragraph [0039]);
the housing (1) being rotatably mounted to the rake assembly support frame (2, 3, 11), such that the housing and instrumentation arm are operable to rotate at least partway around the longitudinal axis (rotating pipe 1 being rotated by driving mechanism 4, paragraphs [0036]-[0038]).
As to claim 2, Liang et al. teaches wherein:
the housing (1) comprises a bearing land (10) on its external surface that is configured to engage with the rake assembly support frame (2, 3, 11); and
the support assembly (11 of 2, 3, 11) comprises a first bracket (8) and a second bracket (9) which define a support interface (figure 5), the support interface extending around the housing the support interface being configured to rotatably support the bearing land such that the housing bearing land is rotatable relative to the support interface (paragraphs [0037]-[0038]).
As to claim 4, Liang et al. teaches wherein the support interface comprises a low friction surface configured for direct contact with the housing bearing land (lubricating grease in paragraph [0038]).
As to claim 5, Liang et al. teaches wherein the rake assembly further comprises an actuator (4) that is coupled to the housing and operable to drive the housing around the longitudinal axis (figure 1 and paragraphs [0049] and [0051]).
As to claim 6, Liang et al. teaches wherein the rake assembly further comprises a control system (control system of paragraph [0051]) that is configured to direct the actuator (4) to control a rotational speed of the housing (1) and/or control an angular location of the instrumentation arm (6; paragraph [0051]).
As to claim 7, Liang et al. teaches wherein the control system (see paragraph [0051]) is configured to direct the actuator (4) to drive the housing (1) at least partway around the longitudinal axis at a constant angular speed (paragraphs [0051]-[0052] and [0060]).
As to claim 8, Liang et al. teaches wherein the control system (see paragraph [0051]) is configured to direct the actuator (4) to drive the housing (1) around the longitudinal axis between a first angular position (P1) and a second angular position (P2) (paragraphs [0051]-[0052] and [0060]).
As to claim 9, Liang et al. teaches a method of operating a rake assembly (figures 1-2) that is configured for measuring fluid flow parameters in a fluid flow rig (paragraphs [0002] and [0053]-[0062]), the method comprising:
providing a rake assembly (figures 1-2), the rake assembly comprising:
a rake assembly support frame (2, 3, 11 in figures 1 and 5);
a housing (1) mounted on the rake assembly support frame (figure 1), the housing (1) comprising a wall which defines a flow passage (paragraph [0036]), having a flow inlet and a flow outlet (through 2 and 3), the flow passage extending from the flow inlet to the flow outlet, the housing being cylindrical and being centered on a longitudinal axis (figures 1 and 2 and paragraph [0037]); and
an instrumentation arm (6) extending from the housing wall at least partway across the flow passage (figures 1 and 3 and paragraph [0039]);
the housing (1) being rotatably mounted to the rake assembly support frame (2, 3, 11), such that the housing and instrumentation arm are operable to rotate at least partway around the longitudinal axis (rotating pipe 1 being rotated by driving mechanism 4, paragraphs [0036]-[0038]); and
rotating the housing at least partway around the longitudinal axis (paragraph [0060]).
As to claim 10, Liang et al. teaches wherein:
the rake assembly (figure 1) further comprises:
an actuator (4) coupled to the housing (1) and operable to drive the housing around the longitudinal axis (figure 1 and paragraphs [0049] and [0051]); and
a control system (control system of paragraph [0051]) configured to direct the actuator (4) to control a rotational speed of the housing (1) and/or an angular location of the instrumentation arm (6; paragraph [0051]); and
the method further comprises causing the control system to direct the actuator to rotate the rake assembly support frame partway around the longitudinal axis between a first angular position (P1) and a second angular position (P2) (paragraphs [0051]-[0052] and [0060]).
As to claim 11, Liang et al. teaches wherein rotating the housing (1) at least partway around the longitudinal axis comprises the steps of:
positioning the housing (1), and hence the instrumentation arm (6), at the first angular position (P1) (the housing has a position in steps 1-6, paragraphs [0053]-[0059]);
delivering a fluid flow to the flow inlet of the flow passage (paragraph [0058]);
rotating the housing at least partway around the longitudinal axis, such that the instrumentation arm is at the second angular position (P2) (paragraph [0060]); and
measuring properties of the fluid flow using the instrumentation arm at the second angular position (P2) (paragraph [0060]).
As to claim 12, Liang et al. teaches further comprising-positioning the housing (1), and hence the instrumentation, without delivering any fluid flow to the flow inlet of the flow passage (paragraphs [0054]-[0062] where it is considered that the initial positioning occurs before the flow is started and the different wind speeds of step 9 could comprise no fluid flow).
As to claim 13, Liang et al. teaches further comprising delivering a fluid flow to the flow inlet of the flow passage while the housing (1) is being rotated around the longitudinal axis (paragraphs [0059]-[0060], where the flow is continued from step 6 to step 7).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang et al. (CN 112556978 A) in view of Bahadur et al. (US PGPub 2021/0102824 A1).
As to claim 3, Liang et al. teaches all of the limitations of the claimed invention as noted above for claim 2, except wherein the support interface comprises a rotatable bearing.
Bahadur et al. teaches wherein the support interface (figure 4) comprises a rotatable bearing (78; paragraph [0027]).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date to modify Liang et al. to have wherein the support interface comprises a rotatable bearing as taught by Bahadur et al. because it is a well known arrangement to reduce friction further reducing wear (paragraph [0027]) with predictable results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Stults et al. (US PGPub 2021/0278192 A1) and Pickl et al. (US PGPub 2019/0234830 A1) teach systems with similarities to the disclosed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNIFER E S BAHLS whose telephone number is (571)270-7807. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9:00 am-3:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephen Meier can be reached at (571) 272-2149. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JENNIFER BAHLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
