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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Noh et al. (US 20240393040 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Noh teaches a boil-off gas reliquefaction system for ships (abstract), comprising: a compression part (element 30) comprising a first compressor (element 30a) receiving and compressing boil-off gas generated from liquefied gas in a cargo tank (element 10) provided to a ship and a second compressor (30b) further compressing the boil-off gas compressed in the first compressor (30a), and performing multistage compression of the boil-off gas (Figure 1); an intercooler (elements 60) supplying the boil-off gas compressed in the first compressor to the second compressor after cooling the compressed boil-off gas received from the first compressor (Figure 1); a condenser (element 40) cooling the boil-off gas compressed through the compression part (Figure 1); a reliquefied gas recovery line (Figure 1 elements l20, l21, l10) delivering liquefied gas cooled and condensed in the condenser to the cargo tank after recovery of cold heat from the liquefied gas through the intercooler (Figure 1); and a first temperature regulation line (element l21a) branching the liquefied gas from the reliquefied gas recovery line and spraying the liquefied gas onto the top of the intercooler (Figure 1, ¶ [0035-0054]).
Regarding claim 6, Noh teaches the invention in claim 1, further comprising: a reliquefied gas receiver (element 50) disposed upstream of the intercooler in the reliquefied gas recovery line (Figure 1) to receive the reliquefied gas cooled in the condenser (intended use), wherein a gas is separated in the reliquefied gas receiver to be discharged to a vent line ( ¶ [0051-0053, 0055-0058]).
Regarding claim 7, Noh teaches the invention in claim 6, wherein the liquefied gas comprises liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (¶ [0019]) and the compression part is a three-stage centrifugal compressor or a three-stage reciprocating compressor (Figure 1, ¶ [0031]).
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) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Noh et al. (US 20240393040 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Noh teaches the invention in claim 1, further comprising: a first temperature sensor (¶ [0022]) and a first temperature regulation valve regulating a flow rate of the liquefied gas to be branched into the first temperature regulation line (Figure 1, unlabeled valves along line l30). Noh fails to specifically teach the temperature sensor sensing a temperature of the boil-off gas to be delivered to the second compressor after being cooled in the intercooler; and wherein the first temperature regulation valve is controlled according to the temperature of the boil-off gas sensed by the first temperature sensor to regulate the temperature of the boil-off gas delivered to the second compressor. However, Noh specifically teaches that pressure and temperature sensors may be used in operation with the configurations taught (¶ [0022]). It would have been obvious to incorporate the sensors in conjunction with the apparatuses responsible for heating and cooling, in addition to the valves responsible for transporting the heated or cooled gas, in order to maintain safety of the system and prevent excess heating and cooling.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN MICHAEL HESTON whose telephone number is (571)272-3099. The examiner can normally be reached Mondays and Wednesdays: 0500-1300, Tuesdays 0500-1400, Thursdays and Fridays by appointment only..
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/JUSTIN MICHAEL HESTON/Examiner, Art Unit 3644
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