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.
(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.
Claims 1-2, 4, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sung et al. (Sung) (Patent/Publication Number WO2021/257549).
Regarding claim 1, Sung discloses an engine power generation system (22) control device for an engine power generation system (30) that is capable of performing co-combustion when supplying a hydrocarbon-based fuel (24) and hydrogen (26) and performs power generation by an engine (22) including an engine warmed-up state detecting unit which detects whether the engine is in a warmed-up state (e.g. See Paragraphs [0074] ..... In some embodiments, the emission treatment system performance is improved by intermittent combustion of hydrogen fuel in the dual fuel engine, particularly combustion of hydrogen fuel during periods of low exhaust temperature (e.g., during cold-start periods). When hydrogen is combusted as fuel (H2 + O2 [Wingdings font/0xE0] H2O) during the cold-start period, the combustion heat can serve to increase exhaust gas temperatures without significant emission of pollutants. In some alternative embodiments, the oxidation catalyst is replaced with a TWC catalyst.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0074-0077]), the engine power generation system control device comprising: a catalyst (32, 34, 36) which is provided in an exhaust passage (28) of the engine and purifies an exhaust gas (e.g. See Paragraphs [0076-0077]); and a catalyst active state detecting unit that detects whether the catalyst is in an active state (e.g. See Paragraphs [0074-0075, 0077]), wherein a hydrocarbon-based fuel supply amount or a hydrogen supply amount to the engine is controlled based on a catalyst active state detected by the catalyst active state detecting unit and a warmed-up state of the engine detected by the engine warmed-up state detecting unit (e.g. See Paragraphs [00161] The method of controlling hydrogen combustion can vary. In certain embodiments, an onboard controller may simply switch the engine to hydrogen combustion during a defined time period at engine start-up, such as the first 200 seconds or the first 300 seconds (i.e., a cold-start period). Alternatively, the controller will receive certain data from the treatment system that is used to determine the timing of hydrogen combustion. For example, one control system embodiment can receive oxidation catalyst unit inlet and outlet temperature data and control hydrogen combustion based on the temperature data. In some embodiments, hydrogen combustion will occur when the oxidation catalyst unit inlet temperature (i.e., the engine out exhaust gas temperature) is less than about 300°C (e.g, less than about 275°C, less than about 250°C, or less than about 200 °C), and hydrogen combustion will stop when the oxidation catalyst unit outlet temperature is above about 300°C.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0076-0077, 00161]).
Regarding claim 2, Sung further discloses wherein proportions of supply amounts of a hydrocarbon- based fuel and hydrogen to the engine are controlled based on the catalyst active state detected by the catalyst active state detecting unit and the warmed-up state of the engine detected by the engine warmed-up state detecting unit (e.g. See Paragraphs [00161] The method of controlling hydrogen combustion can vary. In certain embodiments, an onboard controller may simply switch the engine to hydrogen combustion during a defined time period at engine start-up, such as the first 200 seconds or the first 300 seconds (i.e., a cold-start period). Alternatively, the controller will receive certain data from the treatment system that is used to determine the timing of hydrogen combustion. For example, one control system embodiment can receive oxidation catalyst unit inlet and outlet temperature data and control hydrogen combustion based on the temperature data. In some embodiments, hydrogen combustion will occur when the oxidation catalyst unit inlet temperature (i.e., the engine out exhaust gas temperature) is less than about 300°C (e.g, less than about 275°C, less than about 250°C, or less than about 200 °C), and hydrogen combustion will stop when the oxidation catalyst unit outlet temperature is above about 300°C.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0076-0077, 00161]).
Regarding claim 4, Sung further discloses wherein when the catalyst active state detecting unit detects that the catalyst is active, a hydrocarbon-based fuel and hydrogen are supplied to the engine, and hydrogen co-combustion is performed (e.g. See Paragraphs [0073-0077]).
Regarding claim 7, Sung further discloses wherein the catalyst active state detecting unit detects a catalyst inflow gas temperature which is a temperature of gas flowing into the catalyst, and determines that the catalyst is in an active state when the catalyst inflow gas temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined value (e.g. See Paragraphs [0077] In operation, the dual fuel engine is configured for intermittent combustion of hydrogen. For example, the engine can be configured to combust hydrogen during a cold- start period. A cold-start period is defined as the period of time from engine ignition/start-up until the exhaust gas emitted from the engine reaches a temperature conducive to catalyst activity, such as, e.g., about 200°C. In certain cases, the cold-start period is up to about 300 seconds after engine start-up (e.g., up to about 275 seconds, or up to about 250 seconds, or up to about 200 seconds, or up to about 150 seconds, or up to about 120 seconds).) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0076-0077, 00161]), and/or the engine warmed-up state detecting unit detects a cooling water temperature of the engine, and determines that the engine is in the warmed-up state when the cooling water temperature of the engine is equal to or higher than a predetermined value (e.g. See Paragraphs [0076-0077, 00161]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 5-6, and 8-15 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; and also to overcome the claim objections set forth in this Office action, such as to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101, and 112 2nd paragraph.
Since allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant is encouraged to submit Final Formal Drawings (If Needed) in response to this Office action. The early submission of formal drawings will permit the Office to review the drawings for acceptability and to resolve any informalities remaining therein before the application is passed to issue. This will avoid possible delays in the issue process.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and consists of seven patents:
Kobayashi et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2005/0155344), Suzuki et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2008/0223344), Fulton et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2008/0167791), Miyagawa et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2012/0167840), Morita (Pat./Pub. No. US 2013/0226436), Tanaka et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2018/0258815), and Lavertu et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 11598249), all discloses an exhaust gas purification for use with an internal combustion engine.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Primary Examiner Binh Tran whose telephone number is (571) 272-4865. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors, Mark Laurenzi, can be reach on (571) 270-7878. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are (571) 273-8300 for regular communications and for After Final communications.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
Binh Q. Tran
/BINH Q TRAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3748
February 20, 2026