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 5 and 14-20 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the crankcase" in lines 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 14 recites the limitation "the entire cycle" in the second to last line. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 16 recites the limitation "the piston ring" in the second line. Note, since there are two piston rings in claim 14, namely “a top piston ring” and “a second piston ring”, it is unclear as to which of the piston rings the Applicant is referring to. For compact prosecution, the recitation “piston ring” in claim 16 is interpreted as the already recited “second piston ring” in claim 14. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the entire cycle" in the fourth to last line. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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, 3-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 & 102a2 as being clearly anticipated by Davison, Jr. (US 4,111,104).
Davison, Jr. ‘104 teaches the claims as follows:
A piston assembly 22 (fig. 1-2; col. 2, lines 24-30) for a combustion chamber 15 of an internal combustion engine 10, the piston assembly comprising:
a piston 22 including:
a top 23 for orientation toward the combustion chamber 15;
an outer surface (skirt 24) extending downwardly from the top 23 of the piston 22; and
an annular groove (i.e., second ring groove 28; fig. 1, col. 2, lines 48-57) in the outer surface 24;
a piston ring (i.e., second compression ring 34; fig. 1, col. 2, lines 58-68) in the annular groove 28 of the piston 22; and
one or more passages (46, 47; fig. 1-2, col. 3, line 57 thru col. 4, line 3) that are configured to permit blow-by gas from the combustion chamber 15 to bypass the piston ring 34 in the annular groove 28 (see specifically col. 4, lines 19-38).
3. The piston assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more passages (46, 47) extend from the outer surface 24 and through the piston 22 from above the annular groove 28 to below the annular groove 28 and completely bypass the annular groove 28 (see fig. 1).
4. The piston assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more passages (46, 47) extend from the outer surface 24 of the piston along top and bottom sides of the annular groove 28 (fig. 1).
5. The piston assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more passages (47) extend from the outer surface 24 of the piston 22 at a location above the annular groove 28 to an outlet (i.e., bearing pads 44; see specifically col. 4, lines 19-68) vented directly to a crankcase.
Note, Davison ‘104 also explicitly teaches the following: “At the same time, on the major thrust side of the piston the clearance between the piston skirt and cylinder wall allows leak-off of the blowby gas supplied to that bearing and thus little or no pressure is developed at this point to offset the bearing pad pressure on the minor thrust side.”.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 6-9, 11, 13-14 & 16-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 & 102a2 as being clearly anticipated by RABUTE (WO 2012/113417 A1).
RABUTE ‘417 teaches the claims as follows:
1. A piston assembly (i.e., piston-piston ring system 30; fig. 1-6; pg. 5; 2nd-3rd para.) for a combustion chamber (not shown but implicit) of an internal combustion engine (pg. 1; 1st par.), the piston assembly 30 comprising:
a piston 10 including:
a top 13 for orientation toward the combustion chamber;
an outer surface 11 extending downwardly from the top 13 of the piston 10; and
an annular groove 17 (fig. 1, pg. 5; 1st para.) in the outer surface 11;
a piston ring (i.e., scraper ring 20; fig. 1 & 6) in the annular groove 17 of the piston 10; and
one or more passages (e.g., passages 33 as defined by upper ring flank 28, upper groove flank 34 & groove bottom 36; fig. 2-3 & 6; pg. 6-7) that are configured to permit blow-by gas from the combustion chamber to bypass the piston ring 20 in the annular groove 17 (pg. 6-7).
2. The piston assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more passages 33 extend through the piston from the outer surface 11 to the annular groove 17 (fig. 6).
4. The piston assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more passages (33) extend from the outer surface 11 of the piston along top and bottom sides of the annular groove 17 (fig. 6).
6. A piston assembly 30 (fig. 1-6; pg. 5; 2nd-3rd para.) for a combustion chamber (not shown but implicit) of an internal combustion engine (pg. 1; 1st par.), the piston assembly 30 comprising:
a piston 10 including:
a top 13 for orientation toward the combustion chamber;
an outer surface 11 extending downwardly from the top 13 of the piston 10;
an annular groove 17 in the outer surface 11, the annular groove 17 including a top side (i.e., upper groove flank 34; see fig. 6; pg. 7; 2nd par.), a bottom side (i.e., lower groove flank 35) that faces the top side 34, and a back side (i.e., groove bottom 36) extending between the top side 34 and the bottom side 35;
a first passage 33 (fig. 6) is located along the top side 34 of the annular groove 17 that extends from the outer surface 11 toward the back side 36 of the annular groove 17;
a second passage (e.g., bottom portion of 33 as defined by lower ring flank 29 and lower groove flank 35; see fig. 6) is located along the bottom side 35 of the annular groove 17 that extends from the outer surface 11 toward the back side 36 of the annular groove 17; and
a piston ring (i.e., scraper ring 20; fig. 1 & 6) in the annular groove 17 of the piston 10, wherein,
the first and second passages (33, 33; fig. 6) are configured to permit blow-by gas from the combustion chamber to flow around the piston ring 20 in the annular groove 17 (pg. 6-7).
7. The piston assembly of claim 6, further comprising: a top annular groove 16 (fig. 1; pg. 5, 1st par.) in the outer surface 11, the top annular groove 16 located between the annular groove 17 and the top 13 of the piston 10; and a top piston ring 19 in the top annular groove 16.
8. The piston assembly of claim 7, further comprising: a bottom annular groove 18 (fig. 1) in the outer surface 11 of the piston 10, the bottom annular groove 18 being located below the annular groove 17; and an oil control ring 21 (see pg. 5; 1st par.) in the bottom annular groove 18.
9. The piston assembly of claim 6, wherein: the first passage includes a plurality of first passages 33 (see fig. 2 & 3) positioned circumferentially around the annular groove 17; and the second passage (i.e., the bottom portion of 33 as defined by lower ring flank 29 and lower groove flank 35; see fig. 6) includes a plurality of second passages (as indicated by hashed lines showing one of the plurality of second passages) positioned circumferentially around the annular groove 17.
11. The piston assembly of claim 6, wherein: the first passage (the top of 33 as shown in fig. 6) is a channel that extends from the outer surface 11 of the piston 10 to the top side of the annular groove 17; and the second passage (the bottom of 33 as shown in fig. 6) is a channel that extends from the outer surface 11 of the piston 10 to the bottom side 35 of the annular groove 17.
13. The piston assembly of claim 6, wherein the piston ring 20 (Note, the entire structural limitations of this claim reads on the “gap” provided by piston ring 20 as explicitly shown in figure 2) includes:
a first side (fig. 2 & 6) that faces the top side 34 of the annular groove 17;
a second side 29 opposite the first side, the second side 29 facing the bottom side 35 of the annular groove 17; and
the first side and the second side 29 of the piston ring 20 extend from a first end surface (i.e., one of the end surfaces of the ring 20 defined by the “gap” in figure 2) to a second end surface (i.e., the other end of this same “gap” of the piston ring 20), and wherein the first end surface is spaced from the second end surface by a gap (see the “gap” on piston ring 20) that is configured to permit exit of blow-by gas from the first annular groove 17.
14. A piston assembly 30 for a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, the piston assembly comprising: a piston 10 including:
a top 13 (fig. 1) for orientation toward the combustion chamber;
an outer surface 11 extending downwardly from the top 13 of the piston 10;
a top annular groove 16 in the outer surface 11; and
a second annular groove 17 in the outer surface 11 below the top annular groove 16;
a top piston ring 19 (fig. 1) in the top annular groove 16; and
a second piston ring 20 (fig. 1 & 6) in the second annular groove 17 of the piston 10, the second piston ring 20 including a gap (see fig. 2) between a first end surface (see claim 13 above) and a second end surface (see claim 13 above), wherein the gap is sized for substantially all gas from the combustion chamber that flows past the top piston ring into a space between the top piston ring and the second piston ring to pass through the gap to minimize pressure buildup between the piston rings over the entire cycle under substantially all operating conditions of the internal combustion engine.
The recitation underlined above is considered as functional language. RABUTE ‘417 discloses all the structural components of a piston assembly, which are read on those of the instant invention. Therefore, the RABUTE piston assembly is capable of performing the same desired functions as the instant invention having been claimed in claim 14.
16. The piston assembly of claim 14, wherein the piston ring 20 (see fig. 2 and 3) includes a top side and an oppositely facing bottom side; the top and bottom sides extend from an outer side of the piston ring to an inner side of the piston ring; and the top and bottom sides and the outer and the inner sides of the piston ring all extend from the first end surface to the second end surface.
17. The piston assembly of claim 14, further comprising: a bottom annular groove 18 (fig. 1) in the outer surface 11 of the piston 10, wherein the second annular groove 17 is located between the top annular groove 16 and the bottom annular groove 18; and an oil control ring 21 (see fig. 1; pg. 6; 1st par.) housed in the bottom annular groove 18, wherein the oil control ring 21 includes a gap (implicitly taught as all pistons rings have a gap for installation purposes).
18. A cylinder 26 (fig. 1) for an internal combustion engine, the cylinder 26 comprising:
a bore wall 26 that extends around a combustion chamber;
a piston 10 housed in the combustion chamber, the piston including:
a top 13 (fig. 1) oriented toward the combustion chamber;
an outer surface 11 extending downwardly from the top 13 of the piston 10 along the bore wall 26 of the combustion chamber;
a top annular groove 16 in the outer surface 11; and
a second annular groove 17 in the outer surface 11 below the top annular groove 16;
a top piston ring 19 in the top annular groove 16 of the piston 10;
a second piston ring 20 in the second annular groove 17 of the piston 10; and
a flow path (e.g., created by the gap of piston ring 20 as shown in fig. 2) sized for substantially all gas from the combustion chamber that flows past the top piston ring 19 into a space (see fig. 6) between the top piston ring and the second piston ring to pass through the flow path to minimize pressure buildup between the piston rings over the entire cycle under substantially all operating conditions of the internal combustion engine, the flow path being formed between adjacent ends (of the gap) of the second piston ring 20 and between the bore wall 26 of the combustion chamber and the outer surface 11 of the piston 11.
The recitation underlined above is considered as functional language. RABUTE ‘417 discloses all the structural components of a piston assembly, which are read on those of the instant invention. Therefore, the RABUTE piston assembly is capable of performing the same desired functions as the instant invention having been claimed in claim 18.
19. The cylinder of claim 18, wherein the flow path has a first dimension formed by a spacing (created by the gap of piston ring 20 as shown in fig. 2) between the adjacent ends of the second piston ring 20 and a second dimension (see the angle Y as shown in figure 6) formed by a spacing between the outer surface 11 of the piston 10 and the bore wall 26 of the combustion chamber.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 10 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RABUTE ‘417 in view of (JP S60194147 U).
Re claims 10 and 12, RABUTE ‘147 discloses the invention but is silent regarding the design as claimed for the semi-cylindrical shape of the top and bottom sides of the first and second passages, respectively, and the difference in angular spacing between the first angular spacing and the second angular spacing of the first and second passages, respectively.
However, the patent application to ‘147 shows that it is convention in the art of piston ring assemblies to provide the passages 7 & 8 of the first and second passages defined within the annular piston ring grooves to be of semi-cylindrical shape (see fig. 1 & 3), and at the same time providing a difference in angular spacing between the first angular spacing and the second angular spacing of the first and second passages (7, 8), respectively. JP ‘147 also explicitly teaches the following: “the seal performance of piston ring 5 can be improved by slot 7.8, using combustion gas pressure positively, and the effect that reduction of blow-by gas and reduction of oil consumption can be aimed at is acquired”.
In view of this, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the first and second passages of RABUTE ‘147, such that the top and bottom sides of the first and second passages is a semi-cylindrical shape, and wherein there is a difference in angular spacing between the first angular spacing and the second angular spacing of the first and second passages, respectively, as clearly suggested and taught by JP ‘147, in order to allow for better seal performance of the piston rings and the reduction of the blow-by gas and oil consumption.
Claim(s) 12, 15 & 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RABUTE ‘417.
Re claim 12, RABUTE ‘417 discloses the invention but is silent regarding the design as claimed for the semi-cylindrical shape of the top and bottom sides of the first and second passages, respectively. However, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to provide the semi-cylindrical shape for both the top and bottom sides of the first and second passages as claimed because it has been held that a change in shape or configuration, without any criticality, is nothing more than one of numerous shapes that one of ordinary skill in the art will find obvious to provide based on the suitability for the intended final applications.
Re claim 15, RABUTE ‘417 discloses the invention except for wherein the gap between the first end surface and the second end surface of the second piston ring 20 is at least 3 millimeters. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the gap dimension for the first and second end surfaces of the piston ring as claimed since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Re claim 20, RABUTE ‘417 discloses the invention except for wherein an area formed by the first dimension and the second dimension is at least 2.5 square millimeters. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the area dimension for the first and second dimensions as claimed since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The cited prior arts all teach very similar piston ring assemblies wherein the middle/second piston ring assembly comprises grooves/passages allow for blowby to pass through the piston ring.
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HUNG Q. NGUYEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3747
/HUNG Q NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747