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.
Claims 2-3, 16-20 are 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites the limitation " the surface of the housing to which the elastomeric member " . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 3 recites the limitation " the surface of the housing to which the elastomeric member is attached" . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 16 recites the limitation " the plate of the housing" . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 17 recites the limitation " the plate of the housing" . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 18 recites the limitation " the plate of the rotor" . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 19 recites the limitation " the plate of the housing" . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 20 recites the limitation " the plate " . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
The remaining claims are rejected based on their dependency from a claim that has been rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-2, 5-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lux US 2024/0066460 Al in view of Stark US 2022/0146208 Al.
Re claim 1, Lux teach a rotary machine, comprising: a rotor (110) comprising a plurality of plates defining openings therebetween (fig 3), wherein the rotor is configured to rotate to move the plurality of plates (paras 46-47); a housing (101) enclosing the rotor.
Lux fail to teach an elastomeric member is curved.
Stark teach and an elastomeric member (555) attached to a surface of the housing (directly or indirectly),
wherein the elastomeric member extends from the surface of the housing (fig 6a, noting all three dimensional objects extend in all directions and directionally “extend from”) toward the rotor and is curved to form a convex shape with an apex (fig 6a) configured to intermittently and sequentially engage with the plurality of plates to form a seal with the rotor during rotation of the rotor to support the upper bearing.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include an elastomeric member is curved as taught by Stark in the Lux invention in order to advantageously allow to transfer axial and/or torsional loads from the upper bearing and/or seal assembly to the lower section.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to form the member out of a elastomeric material for increased sealing and flexibility, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as matter of obvious design choice. See MPEP 2144.07.
Re claim 2, Stark teach wherein the rotary machine comprises a plurality of zones (figs, FA zones and non flow zones and zones with structure), each zone of the plurality of zones is configured to receive a different fluid flow, the housing comprises a sector plate (103) extending along a surface of the rotor between adjacent zones of the plurality of zones, and the surface of the housing to which the elastomeric member is attached is of the sector plate (noting all items are unitary and attached to each other in a single final unit) to support the upper bearing.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include zone details is curved as taught by Stark in the Lux, as modified, invention in order to advantageously allow to transfer axial and/or torsional loads from the upper bearing and/or seal assembly to the lower section.
Re claim 5, Stark teach wherein the elastomeric member comprises a U-shaped configuration (fig 6a) capturing a segment of the housing to attach to the surface of the housing (30 or 50) to form a seal with the rotor during rotation of the rotor to support the upper bearing.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include an elastomeric member is curved as taught by Stark in the Lux, as modified, invention in order to advantageously allow to transfer axial and/or torsional loads from the upper bearing and/or seal assembly to the lower section.
Re claim 6, Lux teach comprising adsorbent material disposed in the openings defined between the plurality of plates (para 25-28).
Re claim 7, Lux teach wherein the rotary machine comprises a rotary heat exchanger (noting broadly the housing can act as a heat exchanger with air external to housing).
Re claim 8, Lux teach a sealing arrangement for a rotary machine, the sealing arrangement comprising: a housing (101) segment extending along a rotor (110) of the rotary machine, the rotor comprising a plurality of radial plates (fig 3), and the rotor being configured to rotate the plurality of radial plates (paras 25-28, 46-47);
Lux fail to teach an elastomeric member is curved.
Stark teach an elastomeric member (555) comprising side ends configured to attach to opposite walls (30, 50) of the housing segment to capture the housing segment between the side ends (fig 6a, noting all three dimensional objects extend in all directions and directionally “extend from”), wherein the elastomeric member extends from the housing segment toward the rotor to intermittently and sequentially engage with the plurality of radial plates of the rotor as the rotor rotates the plurality of radial plates to form a seal with the rotor during rotation of the rotor to support the upper bearing.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include an elastomeric member is curved as taught by Stark in the Lux invention in order to advantageously allow to transfer axial and/or torsional loads from the upper bearing and/or seal assembly to the lower section.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to form the member out of a elastomeric material for increased sealing and flexibility, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as matter of obvious design choice. See MPEP 2144.07.
Re claim 9, Stark teach wherein the elastomeric member comprises a U- shaped configuration defining an apex configured to intermittently and sequentially engage with the plurality of radial plates of the rotor as the rotor rotates the plurality of radial plates (fig 6a).
Re claim 10, Lux teach a fastener (107) extending through a side end to couple the side end to the housing segment.
Re claim 11, Stark teach wherein the elastomeric member extends from the housing segment toward the rotor to form a gap between the elastomeric member and the housing segment (fig 6a, 254M).
Re claim 12, Stark teach comprising an additional elastomeric member (254 R) disposed in the gap.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to form the additional elastomeric member out of a elastomeric material for increased sealing and flexibility, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as matter of obvious design choice. See MPEP 2144.07.
Re claim 13, It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to form the additional elastomeric member is softer than the elastomeric member for a desired mix of sealing and flexibility, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as matter of obvious design choice. See MPEP 2144.07.
Re claim 14, Stark teach the additional elastomeric member is in contact with the elastomeric member and the housing segment (fig 6a noting the “the elastomeric member and the housing segment” are together and thus the additional elastomeric member is in contact with the elastomeric member and the housing segment, ie all in contact with each other).
Re claim 15, Stark comprising a plurality of additional elastomeric (254r, r’) members disposed in the gap and arranged side by side along the housing segment (fig 6a) within the gap.
Re claim 16, Lux teach a rotary machine, comprising: a rotor comprising a plurality of radial plates, wherein the rotor is configured to rotate to move the plurality of radial plates; a housing enclosing the rotor, wherein the housing comprises a segment extending along the rotor (see the rejections of claims 1 and 8).
Lux fail to teach an elastomeric member details .
Stark teach and an elastomeric member (555) attached to the plate of the housing, wherein the elastomeric member extends from the segment to sealingly engage with the rotor and form a gap between the elastomeric member and the segment (fig 6a noting multiple gaps and extending in all directions “from”) to form a seal with the rotor during rotation of the rotor to support the upper bearing.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include an elastomeric member details as taught by Stark in the Lux invention in order to advantageously allow to transfer axial and/or torsional loads from the upper bearing and/or seal assembly to the lower section.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to form the member out of a elastomeric material for increased sealing and flexibility, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as matter of obvious design choice. See MPEP 2144.07.
Re claim 17, Lux teach wherein the rotor is configured to receive a fluid flow directed from a first side of the rotor to a second side, opposite the first side, of the rotor, and the plate of the housing extends along one of the first side or the second side (figs).
Re claim 18, Lux teach wherein the plate of the rotor is positioned radially outward of the rotor (figs).
Re claim 19, Lux fail to teach an elastomeric member is curved.
Stark teach the elastomeric member comprises a U-shaped configuration with side ends attached to the plate of the housing (fig 6a) to form a seal with the rotor during rotation of the rotor to support the upper bearing.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include an elastomeric member is curved as taught by Stark in the Lux invention in order to advantageously allow to transfer axial and/or torsional loads from the upper bearing and/or seal assembly to the lower section.
Re claim 19, Lux fail to teach an elastomeric member is curved.
Stark teach wherein the elastomeric member comprises a curved portion between the side ends, and the elastomeric member forms a gap between the curved portion and the plate (fig 6a) to form a seal with the rotor during rotation of the rotor to support the upper bearing.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include an elastomeric member is curved as taught by Stark in the Lux invention in order to advantageously allow to transfer axial and/or torsional loads from the upper bearing and/or seal assembly to the lower section.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lux US 2024/0066460 Al in view of Stark US 2022/0146208 Al and EP’112 EP3171112A1.
Re claim 3, Lux, as modified, fail to teach an axial plate.
EP’112 teach wherein the housing comprises an axial plate (5, 8) extending along a circumference of an outer shell of the rotor, and the surface of the housing to which the elastomeric member is attached is of the axial plate (fig 3) to permit different adjustment distances of the sealing unit with respect to the rotor.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include an axial plate as taught by EP’112 in the Lux, as modified, invention in order to advantageously allow to simplify the maintenance process of the regenerative heat exchanger.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lux US 2024/0066460 Al in view of Stark US 2022/0146208 Al and Ritz US 2,925,254.
Re claim 4, Stark teach wherein each plate of the plurality of plates (60) comprises an end surface configured to engage with the elastomeric member (figs).
Lux, as modified, fail to teach a lubricious coating.
Ritz teach and the end surface is curved, is chamfered, comprises a lubricious coating, or any combination thereof (col 8 last two para) to lubricate moving parts.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include a lubricious coating as taught by Ritz in the Lux, as modified, invention in order to advantageously allow for reduction in friction as is known in the art.
Conclusion
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/GORDON A JONES/ Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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