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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 6, lines 18-20, filed June 17, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 USC 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of WO 2012/060187 to Yoshida. Yoshida teaches a turbine comprising first and second scroll flow paths where there are not vanes between the first and second scroll flow paths and the impeller.
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, 2, 4, and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2012/060187 to Yoshida (a machine translation will be referred to herein) in view of US 2017/0292381 to Ishii.
In Reference to Claims 1 and 5
Yoshida teaches:
A turbine (100) comprising:
an impeller (112); and
a housing (102) that accommodates the impeller, the housing including:
a housing outlet (118) that is spaced apart from the impeller in a central axis direction (left to right in Figure 3) of the impeller and that discharges fluid that has passed through the impeller;
a first scroll flow path (106) that is located outside the impeller in a radial direction (up and down in Figure 3) of the impeller and that leads fluid to the impeller; and
a second scroll flow path (108) that is located outside the impeller in the radial direction and closer to the housing outlet with respect to the first scroll flow path in the central axis direction and that leads fluid to the impeller,
the second scroll flow path being inclined with respect to the radial direction in a cross-section that is parallel to and includes a central axis (axis of rotation) of the impeller so that the second scroll flow path is spaced apart from the housing outlet in the central axis direction as the second scroll flow path approaches the impeller in the radial direction,
an area that includes an outlet of the second scroll flow path including, in the cross-section, a first portion (not numbered, see annotated portion of Figure 3 below) that has a linear shape, and a second portion (not numbered, see annotated portion of Figure 3 below) that is formed continuously with a radially outer part of the first portion,
wherein, in the cross-section, a distance (see annotated Figure 3 below) from the central axis of the impeller to a radially outermost end of the second scroll flow path is shorter than a distance (see annotated Figure 3 below) from the central axis of the impeller to a radially outermost end of the first scroll flow path,
wherein the second scroll flow path faces radially outermost ends of blades of the impeller in the radial direction (see Figure 3),
wherein the second scroll flow path includes a portion (region where first and second scroll flow paths intersect, radially outward of blade radially outermost part of the blades) overlapping with the first flow path in the central axis direction, and
wherein the first scroll flow path and the second scroll flow path are directly connected to a space (region where impeller 112 is located) that accommodates the impeller without vanes, and
each of the first scroll flow path and the second scroll flow path directly faces the impeller in the radial direction without vanes (see page 2, lines 9-16 and annotated Figure 3).
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Yoshida fails to teach:
The first portion has a linear shape parallel to the radial direction, and the second portion has a round shape or an arc shape.
Ishii teaches:
A turbine (4) comprising a first scroll flow path (19a) and a second scroll flow path (19b), wherein an area that includes an outlet of the second scroll flow path includes a first portion (see annotated Figure 3 below) which has a linear shape parallel to the radial direction, and a second portion (see annotated Figure 3 below) which has an arc shape (see paragraph 27 and Figure 3).
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It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the turbine of Yoshida by re-shaping the first portion to include a portion which is parallel to the radial direction and re-shaping the second portion to be an arc shape as taught by Ishii which would yield predictable results. In this case, the predictable result would be an scroll path outlet having the desired shape which causes the fluid to have the desired pressure and flow rate.
In Reference to Claim 2#
Examiner’s comment: the limitation “the first portion and the second portion have cast surfaces” is considered a product-by-process limitation. From MPEP §2113, "even though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process.”
In the instant case, the claim requires the first and second portions to have surfaces. Forming the surfaces by casting does not define the structure of the first and second portions.
Yoshida as modified by Ishii teaches:
The turbine according to claim 1, wherein the first portion and the second portion have surfaces (see Figure 3 of Yoshida).
In Reference to Claim 4#
Yoshida as modified by Ishii teaches:
The turbine according to claim 1, wherein each of the first scroll flow path and the second scroll flow path directly faces the impeller in the radial direction (see Figure 3 of Yoshida).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON GREGORY DAVIS whose telephone number is (571)270-3289. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th: 8:00-5:00, F: 8:00-12:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathan Wiehe can be reached at (571) 272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON G DAVIS/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
/NATHANIEL E WIEHE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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