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 § 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) 1–5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burkart et al. (USPN 11661827 B2) in view of Donovan (USPN 6142186).
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Figure 1 - Burkart Annotated Fig. 6
Regarding Claim 1, Burkart discloses a gas lift valve, comprising: a gas chamber (50); a bore (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) including a first end in fluid communication with the gas chamber (50) and a second end in fluid communication with an ambient atmosphere outside the gas lift valve (22); and a removable tail plug (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) for sealing at least a portion of the bore (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) but does not disclose the details of the tail plug.
Donovan teaches the tail plug (10) is removable via a threaded connection (Fig. 2) with the bore in order to provide a pressure tight fluid seal (Col. 2, Lines 47–18).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the tail plug of Burkart with a tail plug as taught by Donovan in order to ensure pressure tight fluid seal.
Per the Burkart–Donovan combination, Burkart’s tail plug includes Donovan’s threading, ring and grooves.
The Burkart–Donovan combination teaches wherein the threaded connection (Donovan Fig. 2) comprises a first set of threads (Donovan 15) on an upper end of the tail plug (Donovan 10) and a corresponding second set of threads (Donovan 30) on an upper end of the gas lift valve (Burkart 22).
Regarding Claim 2, the Burkart–Donovan combination teaches the tail plug (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) seals at least a portion of the bore (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) to substantially prevent a gas in the gas chamber (Burkart 50) from leaking through the bore (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) to the ambient atmosphere outside the gas lift valve (Burkart 22).
Regarding Claim 3, the Burkart–Donovan combination teaches the removable tail plug (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) includes an O-ring groove (Donovan Col. 5, Lines 7–8 discusses the groove).
Regarding Claim 4, the Burkart–Donovan combination teaches the O-ring groove (Donovan Col. 5, Lines 7–8 discusses the groove) is located below the first set of threads (Donovan 15 and Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 5, the Burkart–Donovan combination teaches the removable tail plug (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) includes an O-ring (Donovan 22/24/26) in the O-ring groove (Donovan Col. 5, Lines 7–8 discusses the groove), and wherein the O-ring (Donovan 22/24/26) assists in substantially preventing a gas in the gas chamber (Burkart 50) from leaking through the bore (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) to the ambient atmosphere outside the gas lift valve (Burkart 22).
Claim(s) 6–19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burkart et al. (USPN 11661827 B2) in view of Donovan (USPN 6142186), in further view of Lopes (WO 2010025476 A1).
Regarding Claim 6, the Burkart–Donovan combination teaches the removable tail plug (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) including multiple O–ring grooves (Donovan Col. 5, Lines 7–8 discusses the groove) but does not teach the removable tail plug specifically including a crush washer groove.
Lopes teaches crush washers and O–rings being used interchangeably (Pg. 2, 6th Para. “the sealing means is a crush washer or an O-ring”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify one of the O-ring grooves with a crush washer groove, since O-rings and crush washers are known equivalents for their use in the fluid sealing art and the selection of any of these known equivalents to seal the tail plug would be within the level of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the removable tail plug (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) includes a crush washer groove (Lopes 30/Donovan Col. 5, Lines 7–8 discusses the groove).
Regarding Claim 7, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the crush washer groove (Donovan Col. 5, Lines 7–8 discusses the groove) is located below the first set of threads (Donovan 15 and Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 8, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the removable tail plug (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) includes a crush washer (Lopes 16) in the crush washer groove (Lopes 50/Donovan Col. 5, Lines 7–8 discusses the groove), and wherein the crush washer (Lopes 16) assists in substantially preventing a gas in the gas chamber (Burkart 50) from leaking through the bore (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) to the ambient atmosphere outside the gas lift valve (Burkart 22).
Regarding Claim 9, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the O-ring groove (Donovan Col. 5, Lines 7–8 discusses the groove) and the crush washer groove (Lopes 50/Donovan Col. 5, Lines 7–8 discusses the groove) but does not disclose their location as related to one another.
Since the O-ring and the crush washer are known equivalents as discussed above, they can be used interchangeably (Lopes Pg. 2, 6th Para. “the sealing means is a crush washer or an O-ring”). Therefore the location of the O-ring and the crush washer and their respective grooves are a matter of design choice. Donovan teaches three grooves in which rings 22/24/26 are located. As a result any one of these three grooves can be used as the crush washer groove. Because of this, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination is capable of having the O-ring groove located below the crush washer groove.
Regarding Claim 10, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches a gas injection valve core (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) mounted in the bore (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 11, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the gas injection valve core (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) is mounted in the bore (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) between the gas chamber (Burkart 50) and the tail plug (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 12, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the first set of threads (Donovan 15) are male threads (Donovan Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 13, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the second set of threads (Donovan 30) are female threads (Donovan Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 14, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the threaded connection is an NPT connection (Donovan Col. 3, Lines 42–43).
Regarding Claim 15, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination does not explicitly teach the threaded connection is a brass to stainless steel connection.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the threaded connection is a brass to stainless steel connection with the invention of the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination, 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 a matter of obvious design choice. MPEP §2144.07. Here, Burkart discloses utilizing steel for the casing of the gas lift valve (Col. 1, Lines 5–6). One having ordinary skill in the art would choose a complimentary material for the tail plug based upon design choice. Taking into consideration the conditions and restraints of the area etc. Therefore, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the threaded connection is a brass to stainless steel connection.
Regarding Claim 16, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the bore is a bore (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) in a dome cap (Burkart 52).
Regarding Claim 17, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the dome cap (Burkart 52) is detachable (Burkart Col. 4, Lines 39–42) from the gas lift valve (Burkart 22).
Regarding Claim 18, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the crush washer (Lopes 16) is made from copper (Lopes Pg. 2, 6th Para.).
Regarding Claim 19, the Burkart–Donovan–Lopes combination teaches the tail plug (Burkart Annotated Fig. 6) includes a head (Donovan 11) located above the first set of threads (Donovan 15 and Fig. 2).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Robertson et al. (US PGPub 20140000877 A1), Murski (US PGPub 20240271510 A1) and Elliott et al. (USPN 3646953) disclose a gas lift valve with a tail plug. Otsubo et al. (US PGPub 20080111322 A1) and Ceroke (USPN 4986502) disclose a plug with O-rings.
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/Angelisa L. Hicks/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3753
Prosecution Insights