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 the species shown in Fig.1-2 (claims 1-4 and 7-9) in the reply filed on 6 January 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 5-6 and 10-15 have been withdrawn.
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) 1 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizunoue et al – hereafter Mizunoue – (US 20190249675 A1; US 11,181,113 B2) in view of Sekine et al – hereafter Sekine – (US 20240011890 A1; US 12,152,981 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Mizunoue teaches a compressor system (Fig.1), comprising:
a compressor (1) provided with a rotor (2/3) and a stator (4/6) forming, by covering the rotor, a flow path (11/12/13/14/15/16/17) of a fluid to be compressed (¶42-43). Mizunoue further teaches the disclosed invention applies to a compressor system and also to other rotary machines including gas and steam turbines (¶86), while recognizing potential corrosive operating environments (¶49).
Mizunoue does not explicitly teach a sacrificial member disposed in an accommodation space in communication with the flow path, wherein the sacrificial member includes a portion to be measured disposed in the accommodation space and strained by a pressure of the fluid.
Sekine teaches a rotary machine (Fig.1) provided with a rotor (2) and a stator (4/16/18/20) forming, by covering the rotor, a flow path (22) of a fluid. Sekine further teaches a sacrificial member (Fig.2A, 50) disposed in an accommodation space (Fig.1, 28/30) in communication with the flow path (Fig.1), wherein the sacrificial member includes a portion to be measured (Fig.2A) disposed in the accommodation space and strained by a pressure of the fluid (¶28, note sample box 28 is placed at a position adjacent to the main flow passage 22 through which the high-temperature steam S flows, thereby configuring such that the sample 50 housed in the sample box 28 is placed in the environment same as or close to that of a component (the turbine rotor blade 8 or the stator vane 16) which is exposed to the steam S flowing through the main flow passage; when placing the sample in the same or close environment to a component, the sample will be strained by a pressure of the fluid in said environment). Sekine’s configuration allows providing a stress corrosion cracking evaluation method to estimate a breakage time of a component of the rotary machine (¶8).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the compressor system of Mizunoue by having a sacrificial member disposed in an accommodation space in communication with the flow path, wherein the sacrificial member includes a portion to be measured disposed in the accommodation space and strained by a pressure of the fluid based on the teachings of Sekine because this would allow providing a stress corrosion cracking evaluation method to estimate a breakage time of a rotor or stator component of the system.
Regarding claim 7, Mizunoue and Sekine further teach the accommodation space is open at an outer surface of the stator facing outside (Sekine Fig.1, note accommodating space 30 is open via 32 at an outer surface of stator 20 and facing outside), and
the compressor system further includes an inspection cover (Sekine Fig.1, 32; ¶29, note opening/closing portion) that is attachable to and detachable from the stator and closes an opening of the accommodation space.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizunoue and Sekine as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Mochi et al – hereafter Mochi – (US 20190094167 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Mizunoue and Sekine teach all the limitations of claim 1, see above, and further teach the portion to be measured is formed of a material having a composition identical to a composition of a material forming the rotor (Sekine ¶32, note sample materials constituting the sample include materials constituting an evaluation object material, e.g., rotor, rotor blade). However, Mizunoue and Sekine do not explicitly teach the material being a metal.
Mochi teaches a rotary machine (Fig.1/2) provided with a rotor (Fig.1/2, 4/5/6/21/22) and a stator (Fig.1/2, not labeled but defining 2/23/24) forming, by covering the rotor, a flow path (Fig.1/2, 2/23/24) of a fluid. Mochi further teaches a rotor material being a metal material (¶38) and a corrosion measuring element being made of the same metal material of the rotor (¶38).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to further modify the compressor system of Mizunoue and Sekine by having the rotor and portion to be measured being formed of the same metal material based on the teachings of Mochi because this would require a simple substitution of one known element (rotor and measuring portion material of Mizunoue and Sekine) for another (rotor and measuring portion metal material of Mochi) to obtain predictable results (providing a material that is suitable for use in a rotor component of a rotary machine).
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizunoue and Sekine as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Ito et al – hereafter Ito – (JP H10252688 A).
Regarding claim 3, Mizunoue and Sekine teach all the limitations of claim 1, see above, and further teach the accommodation space is connected to an outlet flow path (Sekine Fig.1, note 28/30/32 is attached to outlet 20), however, do not explicitly teach the fluid is a hydrogen gas.
Ito teaches a compressor rotary machine (Fig.1) provided with a rotor (Fig.1, 21) and a stator (Fig.1, 26) forming, by covering the rotor, a flow path (Fig.1, 22/23/24/25) of a fluid. Ito further teaches the compressor rotary machine fluid is a hydrogen gas which is known to be a corrosive fluid (machine translation ¶22, note corrosion … hydrogen gas) but also a versatile and useful industrial fluid.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to further modify the compressor rotor system of Mizunoue and Sekine by having the fluid being a hydrogen gas based on the teachings of Ito because this would place the compressor system to produce hydrogen gas which is a versatile and useful industrial gas.
Regarding claim 4, Mizunoue, Sekine and Ito further teach the outlet flow path is, in the flow path, a flow path through which the fluid compressed and having the highest pressure flows (Mizunoue Fig.1, note compressor system is modified to include the accommodation space at the outlet flow path which would be located between the last diffuser flow path 13 and discharge volute 16; the fluid compressed would have the highest pressure at said location after all the compression stages).
Claim(s) 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizunoue and Sekine as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zeng et al – hereafter Zeng – (CN 210513920 U).
Regarding claim 8, Mizunoue and Sekine teach all the limitations of claim 1, see above, however, do not explicitly teach a strain gauge attached to the portion to be measured and configured to detect a strain amount of the portion to be measured.
Zeng teaches a constant strain stress corrosion test device capable of simulating an on-site corrosion environment (¶9) including a sample (Fig.1, 16) with a portion to be measured (Fig.2, at 23). Zeng further teaches a strain gauge (Fig.2, 23) attached to the portion to be measured and configured to detect a strain amount of the portion to be measured (¶37, note monitor the strain changes of the data strain gauge 23). Zeng further teaches constant strain test methods are part of the most commonly used stress corrosion test methods (¶5).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to further modify the compressor system of Mizunoue and Sekine by having a strain gauge attached to the portion to be measured and configured to detect a strain amount of the portion to be measured based on the teachings of Zeng because this would require a simple substitution of one known element (portion to be measured configuration of Mizunoue and Sekine) for another (portion to be measured configuration of Zeng) to obtain predictable results (implement one of the most commonly used stress corrosion test methods).
Regarding claim 9, Mizunoue and Sekine teach all the limitations of claim 1, see above, however, do not explicitly teach the sacrificial member includes a plate-like C-ring portion that is convexly curved, disposed in a C shape, and has a plate shape and a pressing and retaining portion that retains the C-ring portion with both ends of the C-ring portion being pressed to be made close to each other, a convex portion of the C-ring portion is the portion to be measured, and
the pressing and retaining portion presses the C-ring portion to apply a higher stress to the portion to be measured than a maximum stress acting on the rotor during a rated operation of the compressor with the portion to be measured being disposed therebetween.
Zeng teaches a constant strain stress corrosion test device capable of simulating an on-site corrosion environment (¶9) including a sample with a plate-like C-ring portion that is convexly curved, disposed in a C shape, and has a plate shape and a pressing and retaining portion that retains the C-ring portion with both ends of the C-ring portion being pressed to be made close to each other, a convex portion of the C-ring portion is the portion to be measured (Fig.1/2, note C-ring portion 16 and pressing and retaining portion 19). Zeng further teaches constant strain test methods are part of the most commonly used stress corrosion test methods (¶5).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to further modify the compressor system of Mizunoue and Sekine by having the sacrificial member includes a plate-like C-ring portion that is convexly curved, disposed in a C shape, and has a plate shape and a pressing and retaining portion that retains the C-ring portion with both ends of the C-ring portion being pressed to be made close to each other, a convex portion of the C-ring portion is the portion to be measured based on the teachings of Zeng because this would require a simple substitution of one known element (portion to be measured configuration of Mizunoue and Sekine) for another (portion to be measured configuration of Zeng) to obtain predictable results (implement one of the most commonly used stress corrosion test methods).
Furthermore, It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to further modify the compressor system of Mizunoue, Sekine and Zeng by having the pressing and retaining portion presses the C-ring portion to apply a higher stress to the portion to be measured than a maximum stress acting on the rotor during a rated operation of the compressor with the portion to be measured being disposed therebetween because a person of ordinary skills in the art would recognize that the C-ring portion should be exposed to higher stress conditions so the C-ring portion potentially degrades and/or fails prior to the rotor part of interest degrading and/or failing. Otherwise, the desired rotor part of interest could degrade and/or fail while the C-ring portion did not show any potential failure and more importantly did not fulfill its intended purpose.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANIEL EDWARD WIEHE whose telephone number is (571)272-8648. The examiner can normally be reached M-F approx. 7-4:30 EST.
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/NATHANIEL E WIEHE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3745