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 .
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.
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 Tiemann (US 2007/0068165).
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Regarding claim 1, Tiemann teaches an intermediate shaft cover (Annotated Fig. A) of a gas turbine (1, Fig. 3) including a gas turbine rotor 5 that is rotatable about an axis, and a gas turbine casing (Fig. 3) that covers an outer periphery of the gas turbine rotor (Fig. 3), in which the gas turbine rotor includes a gas turbine rotor shaft (Fig. 3) that extends in an axial direction, a plurality of compressor rotor blade rows that are provided in a portion of the gas turbine rotor shaft on an axial upstream side among the axial upstream side and an axial downstream side in the axial direction (Fig. 3), and a plurality of turbine rotor blade rows that are provided in a portion of the gas turbine rotor shaft on the axial downstream side with an interval from the plurality of compressor rotor blade rows to the axial downstream side (Fig. 3), the intermediate shaft cover comprising: a diffuser (15, 45, Annotated Fig. A) through which compressed air that has passed through the plurality of compressor rotor blade rows can flow and which forms an annular diffuser space centered on the axis (Annotated Fig. A); a tubular inner cover that covers an intermediate rotor shaft between the plurality of compressor rotor blade rows and the plurality of turbine rotor blade rows in the gas turbine rotor shaft, on the axial downstream side with respect to the diffuser (Annotated Fig. A); an annular outer cover 35 that covers an outer peripheral side of the diffuser space and that is connected to the gas turbine casing (Annotated Fig. A); and a strut 55 that extends from an outer periphery of the inner cover to a radial outer side with respect to the axis and that is directly or indirectly connected to the outer cover (Strut is coupled to outer cover 35,wherein the strut includes a thick wall portion having a large thickness in a circumferential direction with respect to the axis (Annotated Fig. A) and a thin wall portion having a smaller thickness in the circumferential direction than the thickness of the thick wall portion (Annotated Fig. A),the thick wall portion is formed in a region including an outer connecting portion that includes an end on the radial outer side and that is directly or indirectly connected to the outer cover (Annotated Fig. A), in the strut, and the thin wall portion is formed in a region including an inner connecting portion that includes an end on a radial inner side with respect to the axis and that is connected to the inner cover, in the strut (Annotated Fig. A).
Regarding claim 2, Tiemann teaches the invention as discussed above and Tiemann further teaches the strut includes a gradual wall thickness change portion in which the thickness in the circumferential direction gradually decreases from the thick wall portion toward the thin wall portion, between the thick wall portion and the thin wall portion (Annotated Fig. A, there is a gradual wall thickness change between the thin and the thick portions).
Regarding claim 4, Tiemann teaches the invention as discussed above and Tiemann further teaches the diffuser includes an outer diffuser 37 that defines an outer peripheral edge of the diffuser space and an inner diffuser 31 that defines an inner peripheral edge of the diffuser space, and the outer cover is the outer diffuser (37 is part of 35, which is defined as the outer cover, Annotated Fig. A).
Regarding claim 7, Tiemann teaches the invention as discussed above and Tiemann further teaches the intermediate shaft cover according to claim 1;the gas turbine rotor (Fig. 3); the gas turbine casing (Fig. 3); and a combustor 9 that is attached to the gas turbine casing and that generates combustion gas by combusting fuel in compressed air that has passed into the diffuser space (¶35), wherein the combustor is formed such that the combustion gas is guided to the plurality of turbine rotor blade rows (Fig. 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 5 and 6 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 DAVID OLYNICK whose telephone number is (571)272-2355. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 7:30 am-5 pm (ET).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Phuttiwat Wongwian can be reached at (571) 270-5426. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID P. OLYNICK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3741
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