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 Objections
Claims 13-21 are objected to because of the following informalities: Each of the claims is dependent on an incorrect claim. Claim 13-14, 16, and 21 should be dependent on Claim 12. Claims 15 should depend on Claim 14. Claim 17 should depend on Claim 16. Claim 18 should depend on Claim 17. Claims 19-20 should depend on Claim 18. The Claims are being examined as if their dependency was stated as above. Appropriate correction is required.
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 14-15 and 18-20 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.
For Claim 14, “a plurality of air intake pipes” and “a plurality of flow guide members” are claimed but “an air intake pipe” and “a flow guide member” are already defined in Claim 12 which it depends on. It is unclear if “an air intake pipe” and “a flow guide member” are part of the plurality of air intake pipes and flow guide members or if these are in addition to. As such the claim is indefinite. Claim 15 is indefinite as it depends on Claim 14.
For Claim 18, “the air hole corresponds to the inner wall” is indefinite as the air hole is the channel that goes through the wall surface whereas the inner wall is the wall of the front cavity facing the inlet of the engine. Claims 19-20 are indefinite as being dependent on Claim 18.
For Claim 119, “a plurality of air holes” and “a plurality of exhaust ports” are claimed but “an air hole” and “an exhaust port” are already defined in Claims 17-18 which it depends on. It is unclear if “an air hole” and “an exhaust port” are part of the plurality of air holes and exhaust ports or if these are in addition to. As such the claim is indefinite.
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)(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) 12-15 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Schulze (US Patent #5088277).
For Claim 12, the figures of Schulze ‘277 disclose a flow dividing ring, an annular cavity (20) being provided in the flow diving ring, and an air intake pipe (28) being connected to the flow dividing ring and supplying gas to the annular cavity, the flow dividing ring further comprising a flow guide member (24 and 26), wherein the flow guide member is arranged in the annular cavity, such that one end of the flow guide member in a flow guide direction of the gas faces a circumferential direction of the annular cavity, and the other end of the flow guide member in the flow guide direction of the gas corresponds to a position where the air intake pipe is in communication with the annular cavity.
For Claim 13, the figures of Schulze ‘277 disclose that the flow guide member (24 and 26) is connected to an inner wall of the annular cavity.
For Claim 14, the figures of Schulze ‘277 disclose a plurality of air intake pipes are provided in a circumferential direction of the flow dividing ring, and a plurality of flow guide members (24 and 26) are provided in the annular cavity corresponding to the plurality of air intake pipes.
For Claim 15, the figures of Schulze ‘277 disclose that the plurality of flow guide members are arranged in a circumferential direction of a middle part of the annular cavity.
For Claim 21, the figures of Schulze ‘277 disclose an aero engine, comprising a flow dividing ring according to claim 1.
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) 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schulze (US Patent #5088277) as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Wadia (US Patent #6561760).
For Claims 16-18, while Schulze ‘277 discloses an exhaust port (30) provided in an inner wall of the front, it is silent about a wall surface in the annular cavity, figures 2-3 of Wadia ‘760 teach a wall surface is provided in the annular cavity, is arranged away from the air intake pipe, and separates the annular cavity to form a front cavity and a rear cavity (36), a channel (38) is provided in the wall surface, and the air intake pipe supplies (44) the gas to the front cavity through the channel, the front cavity has a tapered cross section, the rear cavity is in communication with the exhaust port (42) via the channel, the channel is an air hole arranged in an axial direction of the flow dividing ring, the air hole corresponds to the inner wall of the front cavity, and the exhaust port (42) and the air hole (38) are located in different directions. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Schulze ‘277 with the wall structure of Wadia ‘760. The motivation to do so would be to specifically control the airflow through the exhaust port to provide a desired flow rate.
For Claim 19, the figures of Schulze ‘277 disclose that a plurality of air holes are provided, and the exhaust port is arranged in a vertical direction and located on a bottom inner wall of the front cavity, and a plurality of exhaust ports are provided corresponding to the air holes.
For Claim 20, the figures of Schulze ‘277 disclose that the exhaust port is a through slot running through the inner wall of the front cavity, and the through slot is an annular through slot around a circumference of the flow dividing ring.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 which shows similar flow dividing rings with flow guide members.
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/PHILIP J BONZELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642 9/18/2026
