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 traversal, arguments, and claim amendments in the reply dated 03/06/2026 are found convincing. All pending claims are being examined.
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, 4-7, 12-18, 20, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Richardson (US 8931252 B2). Richardson discloses:
1. (Original) An aircraft structure (41) configured to be exposed to an ambient airflow (9) which flows over the structure in an airflow direction, the aircraft structure comprising:
a first exhaust vent (58B in Fig. 7 and 8; 64B in Fig. 9, 64F in Fig. 10) configured to exhaust a first stream of gas into the ambient airflow;
and a second exhaust vent (58A , 64A, 64E) configured to exhaust a second stream of gas into the ambient airflow,
wherein the first exhaust vent is positioned downstream (see arrow 9 in Figs. 7-9) of the second exhaust vent in the airflow direction, the first exhaust vent is positioned in line (best shown in Fig. 9, see series of openings at bottom) with the second exhaust vent relative to the airflow direction, and the first exhaust vent has a larger area (See relative size of 64A and 64B in Fig. 9) than the second exhaust vent.
2. (Original) The aircraft structure according to claim 1, wherein the first exhaust vent (58B in Fig. 7 and 8; 64B in Fig. 9) is configured to exhaust the first stream of gas so that the first stream of gas attaches (“near to the surface 66, 28”; Col 7 Line 55) to a surface (68) of the aircraft structure; and
the second exhaust vent is configured to exhaust the second stream of gas so that the second stream of gas disrupts the ambient airflow (“secondary vortices persist downstream”; Col 9 Line 40) over the aircraft structure to generate a disrupted ambient airflow which mixes with the first stream of gas before the first stream of gas attaches (“separation suppression”; Col 90 Line 43) to the surface of the aircraft structure.
Regarding Claims 4-7, Richardson discloses:
4. (Original) The aircraft structure according to claim 1, wherein the aircraft structure comprises a leading edge (24), and the second exhaust vent is positioned between the leading edge and the first exhaust vent (Since 62B, 58B, and 64B are down stream).
5. (Original) The aircraft structure according to claim 1, wherein the aircraft structure comprises an engine nacelle (21).
6. (Original) The aircraft structure according to claim 1, further comprising an engine (13/10) arranged to generate engine bleed air, wherein the first stream of gas and the second stream of gas each comprise engine bleed air from the engine (as indicated by “minimise the use of parasitic bleed from a compressor”; Col 8 Line 49).
7. (Original) The aircraft structure according to claim 6, wherein the engine comprises:
a gas turbine (16+18) with a compressor stage (13+14) configured to generate compressed air; and
a combustion stage (15) configured to receive the compressed air from the compressor stage, wherein the engine bleed air is taken (via 31) from the compressor stage.
Regarding Claims 12-15, Richardson discloses:
12. (Original) The aircraft structure according to claim 1, further comprising a cavity (49), wherein the first exhaust vent and the second exhaust vent are both configured (at least in Fig. 7) to exhaust gas from the cavity.
13. (Original) The aircraft structure according to claim 1, wherein the structure comprises a skin (41), and the first exhaust vent and the second exhaust vent are holes in the skin.
14. (Original) The aircraft structure according to claim 13, wherein a ratio between the areas of the first exhaust vent (64F) and the second exhaust vent (64E) is greater than 2:1 (64F is a slot that is much larger than any 64E).
15. (Original) The aircraft (“aircraft and environmental conditions”; Col 5 Line 13) comprising an aircraft structure according to claim 1.
Regarding Claims 16-18, 20, and 21, all of the elements and reasoning used above for the apparatus claims are applied to the method steps and Richardson further discloses the mass flow rate “modulating the mass flow rate” (Col 9 Line 36) and “any desired quantity or temperature” (col 6 Line 14).
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.
Claims 3, 8-11, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Richardson as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Iarocci (US 10549863 B2).
Richardson discloses the aircraft structure as described above but is silent on a material, triangular shape, and diamond shape.
Iarocci teaches a cooling structure for an aircraft having fiber reinforced composite (“carbon fiber composite material”; Col 12 Line 24), tapered downstream triangular shape (178), and a diamond shape (190). At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the material and exhaust vents of Richardson:
wherein the structure comprises a fiber-reinforced composite material which is positioned downstream of the first exhaust vent relative to the airflow direction so that the first stream of gas heats the fiber- reinforced composite material;
wherein the first exhaust vent has a shape which tapers inwardly in the airflow direction, so that an upstream half of the first exhaust vent has a larger area than a downstream half of the first exhaust vent;
wherein the first exhaust vent has a triangular shape which tapers inwardly in the airflow direction;
wherein the second exhaust vent is diamond shaped;
wherein the diamond shape of the second exhaust vent has a long axis and a short axis, and the long axis is perpendicular to the airflow direction; and
the exhaust vent has a triangular shape which tapers inwardly in the airflow direction in view of the teaching of Iarocci.
The motivation for doing so would have been to reduce a thermal footprint as taught by Iarocci in Col 1 Line 49.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chelin (US 8434724 B2) discloses a similar vent system, however the vents are staggered instead of in-line.
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/BRIAN M O'HARA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642
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