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 § 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 (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.
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 4-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hibbs et al. (U.S. PGPub 2002/0014009).
Claim 1: Hobbs discloses a process of making a seal assembly (30 - Fig. 2 and paragraph 1), the process comprising: folding a strip (31) of metal material (paragraph 21) into an alternating sequence of internal folds and external folds (corrugated strip 42 - e.g. paragraph 21 and Figs. 4 and 6); and securing the strip of metal material to a support ring (welded to a ring - paragraph 29) having an annular shape defined around a seal axis (16 - see also Fig. 6), including securing the external folds to the support ring (by welding as cited above) in a manner for the strip to be arranged circumferentially relative the seal axis with the internal folds located radially inwardly relative the external folds (Fig. 6 and paragraph 21).
Claim 4: Said securing includes welding the external folds to the support ring (paragraph 29).
Claim 5: Said folding includes feeding the strip into a spacing defined between an external fold hammer and an internal fold hammer (44 and 46, or individual teeth thereof - see Fig. 4) in a manner for the feeding of the strip to alternatingly engage the internal fold hammer and the external fold hammer (any given tooth on each wheel would alternatingly engage the strip), the internal fold hammer forming the internal folds and the external fold hammer forming the external folds (Fig. 4. And paragraphs 23-24, noting either of the wheels could be considered an “inner” or “outer” hammer depending on their position relative to the formed strip)
Claim 6: Said folding includes moving the external fold hammer and the internal fold hammer into and away from the spacing while feeding the strip (each tooth of each hammer would alternatingly move toward and away from the strip as it is formed).
Claim 7: Said folding includes accumulating a folded portion of the strip in a magazine (50 - Fig. 4 and paragraph 25) having a curved shape corresponding to the annular shape of the support ring (paragraph 29 - the slot 49 in the guide block 50 may be curved to the correct radius for mounting).
Claim 8: The process further comprises engaging a rotor (shaft 12a) within a circular opening concentric to the seal axis and delimited by the internal folds (paragraphs 20-21).
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 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hibbs et al. in view of Inoue (U.S. Patent 9,598,970, cited in IDS).
Claim 2: Hibbs discloses a process substantially as claimed except for forming the strip of metal material including assembling a plurality of wires adjacent one another into a strip arrangement, and applying a holding media to the strip arrangement to hold the plurality of wires in the strip arrangement. However, Inoue teaches that a folded strip of metal material for use in a turbine seal can be formed by assembling a plurality of wires (17) adjacent one another into a strip arrangement, and applying a holding media (adhesive) to the strip arrangement to hold the plurality of wires in the strip arrangement (column 6, line 65 - column 7, line 19). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the strips of Hibbs using wires as taught by Inoue since it would have resulted in reduce wear, for example (column 7, lines 25-40).
Claim 3: Inoue further implies removing the holding media during or subsequently to said securing, in that the fixation is made “tentatively” (as cited above).
Claim 3 is alternatively rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hibbs et al. and Inoue as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Bridges et al. (U.S. Patent 4,678,113, cited in IDS).
Inoue does not explicitly recite removing the holding media during or subsequently to said securing. However, Bridges teaches a similar method of forming a wire-based sealing strip wherein an adhesive is removed after securing the strip to a backing ring (column 5, lines 31-34). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have removed the adhesive so as not to interfere with future use of the seal, for example.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hibbs et al. in view of McMillan (U.S. PGPub 2007/0126187).
Hibbs further discloses using machining to break the strip of metal material at the internal folds, i.e. to fit the seal to the rotor (paragraphs 6, 28, 30-31). The cut line (61), in addition to the aforementioned paragraphs, suggests the inner folds would be removed to result in free ends or individual leaves. Hibbs does not achieve this by rotating the rotor relative the seal assembly, around the seal axis. However, McMillan teaches a process of forming a turbine seal comprising final sizing of the rotor-side of the seal via machining or in-service commissioning (paragraph 42). With “in-service commissioning” being understood to mean actual use of the rotor, i.e. rotating, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used said in-service commissioning to have achieved the result otherwise produced by Hibbs since it is taught by McMillan to be a known alternative to machining, and would have obviated the extra machining step, for example.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. PGPub 2003/0071423 discloses another method of forming a turbine seal by folding a strip (9) of metal material.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW P TRAVERS whose telephone number is (571)272-3218. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00AM-6:30PM.
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/Matthew P Travers/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726