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
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shimizu (EP 4 253 748 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Shimizu discloses an ammonia mixed combustion engine that operates by burning ammonia and a hydrocarbon liquid fuel [0001],
the ammonia mixed combustion engine implementing at least one of: a decrease or increase in an air excess ratio in fuel, an advance or retard in injection timing of a liquid fuel, and a decrease or increase in injection pressure of the liquid fuel, in accordance with an increase or decrease in a mixed fuel burning ratio of ammonia in the fuel [as shown in Figure 2, a decrease in the air excess ratio λ occurs when transitioning from any of Examples 1-3 to any of Examples 4-6, Examples 7-9, Examples 10-12 or Examples 13-15 or when transitioning from any of Examples 4-6 to Examples 7-9, Examples 10-12 or Examples 13-15, etc.; in accordance with these transitions the NH3 mixing ratio in the heavy oil increases].
Regarding claim 2, Shimizu further discloses wherein the air excess ratio is decreased by 0.1 to 0.5 while the mixed fuel burning ratio increases by 10% [as shown in Figure 2, the fuel burning ratio increases by 10% when transitioning from any of Examples 4-5 to Examples 7-9, Examples 7-9 to Examples 10-12 and Examples 10-12 to Examples 13-15 where each of these transitions involve decreasing the air excess ratio λ by an amount between 0.1 to 0.5].
Regarding claim 3, Shimizu further discloses wherein the injection timing is advanced by 0.1 to 5.0 deg while the mixed fuel burning ratio increases by 10% [0037-0038, as shown in Figure 2, the injection timing of the liquid fuel oil is advanced between 0.1 to 5.0 degrees before top dead center when transitioning between Examples 5-6 to Example 8 which occurs while the fuel burning ratio increases by 10% from 50% to 60%].
Regarding claim 5, Shimizu further discloses wherein at least two of the air excess ratio, the injection timing, and the injection pressure are simultaneously controlled in accordance with the increase or decrease in the mixed fuel burning ratio [as shown in Figure 2, the air excess ratio λ and the injection timing are simultaneously altered during transitions between Examples increasing or decreasing the NH3 mixing ratio].
Claim(s) 1 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Michikawauchi (US Patent Application Publication 2011/0259290).
Regarding claim 1, Michikawauchi discloses an ammonia mixed combustion engine that operates by burning ammonia and a hydrocarbon liquid fuel [0009, 0036],
the ammonia mixed combustion engine implementing at least one of: a decrease or increase in an air excess ratio in fuel, an advance or retard in injection timing of a liquid fuel, and a decrease or increase in injection pressure of the liquid fuel, in accordance with an increase or decrease in a mixed fuel burning ratio of ammonia in the fuel [0071, 0161, where the injection pressure of the liquid fuel is decreased as the amount of ammonia fed to the combustion chamber decreases] [0164-0165, 0294, where the air excess ratio is decreased to bring the air-fuel mixture fed into the combustion chamber closer to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio as the amount of ammonia fed to the combustion chamber increases].
Regarding claim 6, Michikawauchi discloses an ammonia mixed combustion engine that operates by burning ammonia and a hydrocarbon liquid fuel [0009, 0036], the ammonia mixed combustion engine implementing at least one of:
an increase in an intake air temperature [0120],
an increase in the number of times of injection of the liquid fuel in one combustion cycle,
a change in a closing timing of an intake valve toward a bottom dead center timing direction,
an increase in an intake bypass amount,
a change in opening of a waste gate valve of a turbocharger toward a valve opening direction, and
an increase in a passage area by adjusting a variable nozzle of the turbocharger,
in accordance with an increase in a mixed fuel burning ratio of the ammonia in fuel [0120].
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) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Michikawauchi (US Patent Application Publication 2011/0259290).
Regarding claim 4, Michikawauchi discloses the engine of claim 1 wherein the injection pressure is decreased while the mixed fuel burning ratio is increased as discussed above, but does not disclose the ratio of the decreased amount to the increased amount.
Michikawauchi teaches that by controlling the feed amount and injection pressure of the highly combustible liquid fuel, deterioration in combustibility of the fuel mixture can be suppressed [0161].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to determine the optimum ranges for the ratio of the decreased amount to the increased amount since it has been held that determination of the optimum or workable ranges of a result-effective variable involve only routine experimentation. See MPEP 2144.05.
Conclusion
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/JOSHUA CAMPBELL/
Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/LOGAN M KRAFT/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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