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 4, and 8-15 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 4 recites, “conductor may comprise” which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. For purposes of compact prosecution, Examiner will treat this phrase as required, but notes absent amendment the claim would rejectable the same as claim 1. Claim 5 immediately corrects for this by making the element required.
Claims 8 and 15 recite, the phrase "preferably" which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claims 9, 12, and 14 recite “e.g.,” wherein in e.g is understood to mean "for example" which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 13 recites the phrase "such as" which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claims 9-15 carry the indefiniteness of 8 forward as well as any individual further specific individual rejections as may be listed above.
Claims 14-15 carry the indefiniteness of 13 forward as well as any individual further individual specific rejections as may be listed above.
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) 1 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0220944 to Belmonte de Udaondo et al. (B1) in view of CN 110815860 to Wu et al. (W1).
(Citation to W1 is made to the machine translation provided by the office with the first non-final of record.)
In Re Claim 1:
B1 teaches:
A wind turbine blade, [Title, Fig. 1) comprising:
An aerodynamic shell body extending in a longitudinal direction between a root end(Left side) and a tip end (right side) and in a transverse direction between a leading edge(Fig. 4, 7) and a trailing edge(6), the aerodynamic shell body comprises a suction side shell part(4) and a pressure side shell part(3) and a longitudinally extending bond line between the suction side shell part and the pressure side shell part, and, [Page 2, ¶29 discloses generic blade parts, Page 3, ¶44 notes the bottom and top shells, As these shells are bonded together, this is a bond line to combine the two.]
An electro-thermal system(Fig. 2-3, 8-9, elements 22, 26, 24a, 24b, 28a, 28b) for mitigating ice formation on the wind turbine blade, the electro thermal system comprising: [Page 2, ¶33-35.]
A suction side heating layer(22) forming part of the suction side shell part of the aerodynamic shell body, the suction side heating layer comprising electrically conductive fibers arranged at least in a leading edge section of the suction side shell part, [Fig. 1-7 show the element(22) in the leading edge, Page 2, ¶29-34 notes the radiant heating elements. Page 3, ¶40 in particular notes the radiant elements are resistive biaxial carbon fabrics.]
A pressure side heating layer(26) forming part of the pressure side shell part of the aerodynamic shell body, the suction side heating layer comprising electrically conductive fibers arranged at least in a leading edge section of the suction side shell part, [Fig. 1-7 show the element(26) in the leading edge, Page 2, ¶29-34 notes the radiant heating elements. Page 3, ¶40 in particular notes the radiant elements are resistive biaxial carbon fabrics.]
A power cable(40, 41) configured for supplying power to the suction and pressure side heating layers, and configured for being connected to a power source, wherein the electrically conductive fibers of the heating layers are configured for, upon receiving electrical power from the power cable, supplying resistive heating to the exterior surface of the wind turbine blade; [Page 2, ¶34 notes resistive element for heating, Page 43 notes the power supply cables extending within the core. Per Page 2, ¶33-32 electrical power is supplied to both radiant elements through the first to the second.]
A down conductor(31) having a first end arranged at the root side(Fig. 1, left hand) for being earthed, the down conductor being electrically connected to lightning protection so as to be able to conduct a lightning strike current from the lightning protection to the first end of the down conductors. [Page 2, ¶30 notes the down conductor earths the lightning strikes.]
A leading edge of the suction side heating layer and a leading edge of the pressure side heating layer are arranged adjacent to the bond line and are separated by a distance (D) transverse to the bond line, wherein the electro-thermal system comprises at least one equipotential bonding conductor(35) electrically connecting the electrically conductive fibers of the suction side heating layer and the pressure side heating layer so as to form equipotential bonding of the suction side heating layer and the pressure side heating layer. [Page 2, ¶31-Page 3, ¶38 notes the two mats are at an equipotential, and part of this is achieved through the electrical connection between the two elements as the second radiant element is connected to the equipotential system through the bridging element(35) between the two radiant elements. Further it is expressly noted that the two radiant elements are spaced from each other at the leading edge and facing each other, per ¶33 in particular. As seen in Figs 7-9 show the resistive elements and mats are separated and only electrically connected by the transitive elements, thus are spaced by some distance. It can be seen this distance, at least in the form of the space between 42a and 24b in Figs 8-9 by the interior elements(10) on each side.]
B1 does not teach:
That the pressure and suction sides include metallic lighting protection layers arranged exteriorly to and overlapping the suction side heating layers and being configured to conduct current form a lightning strike.
W1 teaches:
When using lightning protection and ice melting, the ice melting resistive/radiant thermal element can be electrically conductive fibers, in particular carbon fibers (Page 3 notes there is a known preference for using carbon fibre material for electric heating films.) further when said heating films are separated from the leading edge bond line region this should be by a set distance such as 5 to 15 cm (they are separated in B1) [Pages 3-4] and further per Pages 5-6, it is known to place the heating element beneath an outer layer of metallic shielding with a connection system as designed such that the copper metallic protective sheet provides enhanced lightning protection but through the teaching of W1 allows this without disrupting the placement and heating effect of the heating cloth mesh.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of B1, to include in each pressure and suction side, metallic lightning protection layers arranged exterior to and overlapping the heating layers and configured for conducting current from a lightning strike, as taught by B1, with the expectation of providing enhanced lightning protection, cooperative with electrically conductive fibers, which would perform with an expectation of success, and manner of providing the lightning protection without disrupting the heating films. [W1, Pages 3-6.] This would yield the limitation of the pressure and suction sides include metallic lighting protection layers arranged exteriorly to and overlapping the suction side heating layers and being configured to conduct current form a lightning strike.
In Re Claim 3:
B1 as modified by W1 teaches:
The wind turbine according to claim 1, wherein:
the at least one equipotential bonding conductor forms part of a plurality of equipotential bonding conductors distributed along the longitudinal direction, the distance along the longitudinal direction between adjacent equipotential bonding conductors of the plurality of equipotential bonding conductor is at most 20 meters. [B1, Fig. 2 shows the bridges(35) spaced at locations C1 and C2, which it can be seen in Fig. 1 are longitudinally spaced. Examiner takes official notice, that as the claim provides no guidance as to the size of the blades, nor does the B1 prior art, that blades of 20 m are known in the art, and such blades, would perforce have the distance between the two conductors less than 20 m. Examiner refers to the Cited Potential prior art at the end of this document of US 2017/0328352 to Kluemper et al. as one such example of the known blade ranges in the art.]
Claim(s) 2, 4-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over B1 and W1 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2015/0204311 to Clements (C1).
In Re Claim 2:
B1 and W1 as applied to claim 1, teaches:
The wind turbine blade according to claim 1, wherein:
The suction side shell part comprises a suction side spar cap(B1, Fig. 4-5, 8) and the pressure side shell part comprises a pressure side spar cap(8), the suction side spar cap and pressure side spar cap comprising electrically conductive fibres. [B1, Page 3, ¶42 notes the spar caps are composed of carbon fibers, examiner noting carbon fibers are electrically conductive.]
B1 as modified in claim 1 does not teach:
The heating layers overlap the spar caps on the pressure and suction sides.
C1 teaches:
It is known that it can be desirable for heating elements to be placed along the pressure and suction sides along the full length in two half shells (See Fig. 4a-c). And by placing the carbon fiber heating elements in particular sub sections they can be used to specifically target desired heating in different regions and different specific by producing specific sized sections and shapes of the carbon fiber wires. [Page 4, ¶55-59 disclose the elements and advantages, Page 5, ¶66-68 note the half shell formation of them and the need to connect in series and parallel between sections.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of B1 such that the heating mats extended from leading to trailing edge, as taught by C1 with the expectation of producing sub sections of specific heating value to tailor heating to the needs of each section [Page 4, ¶55-59, Page 5, ¶66-68.] This would yield the heating layers overlap the spar caps.
In Re Claim 4:
B1 as modified in claim 1 teaches:
The wind turbine blade according to claim 1, wherein:
The at least one equipotential bonding conductor comprises at least one trailing edge equipotential bonding conductor arranged in a leading edge section of the suction pressure side shell parts. [See rejection of claim 1.]
B1 as modified in claim 1 does not teach:
The bonding is arranged in a trailing edge section of the suction and pressure side shell parts.
C1 teaches:
It is known that it can be desirable for heating elements to be placed along the pressure and suction sides along the full length in two half shells (See Fig. 4a-c). And by placing the carbon fiber heating elements in particular sub sections they can be used to specifically target desired heating in different regions and different specific by producing specific sized sections and shapes of the carbon fiber wires. It further teaches that even with half shells, they should be connected at both ends in a circle, thus at leading and trailing regions. [Page 4, ¶55-59 disclose the elements and advantages, Page 5, ¶66-68 note the half shell formation of them and the need to connect in series and parallel between sections, in particular it notes that while the elements should be formed in two half shells such as 4B, their connection can appear as it is in 4A, wherein once assembled they are fully connected.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of B1 such that the heating mats extended from leading to trailing edge, as taught by C1 with the expectation of producing sub sections of specific heating value to tailor heating to the needs of each section using the half shells joined after formation at the leading and trailing edge as taught by C1, using the already established connection method of B1, which places a connection across the close tips of the two elements, which given the new shape of the blades would be suitable at LE and TE edges, this would also reduce the relative close range gap in the trailing edge region wherein a localized resistance can impact the voltage due to its distance from the connecting point. [Page 4, ¶55-59, Page 5, ¶66-68.] This would yield the bridge connection at leading and trailing edge as required in claim 4.
In Re Claims 5-7:
B1, W1, and C1 as applied to claim 4 t4eaches:
The wind turbine blade according to claim 5, wherein:
(Claim 5) the at least one TE EB conductor comprises a suction side conductor, a pressure side conductor, and a bridging device, wherein a leading portion of the suction side conductor is electrically connected to the electrically conductive fibers of the suction side heating layer and wherein a leading portion of pressure side conductor is electrically connected to the electrically conductive fibers of the pressure side heating layer, wherein the bridging device forms an electrical contact between a trailing portion of the suction side conductor and a trailing portion of the pressure side conductor. [B1, Fig. 8 shows that one end of the heating matt(22) along its side contacts a connecting device(24a) and that said bridging element(35) is closest to the edge the device bridges across. Therefore at a TE, an downstream most end of the connecting element would be touching the bridging device and any point upstream of it would be an upstream end that is connected to the heating pad.]
(Claim 6) claim 5, the TE-EB conductor comprises suction and pressure side connector parts arranged in electrical contact with the respective conductor wherein the bridging device forms the electrical contact via the suction side connector part and the pressure side connector part. [As noted under claim 5, each of the suction and pressure side conductors are terminals. Per Page 3, ¶35-37 note the terminals are attached to the resistive elements by fixing and then to the bridging device. Page 5, ¶69-70 note various methods of fixing are known, examiner takes notice that mechanical fastening such as screws are another known method of connection, such physical connectors would serve as the side connector parts.]
(Claim 7) claim 5, the suction side conductor is embedded in the suction side shell and the pressure side conductor is embedded in the pressure side shell. {B1, Fig. 8 and 9 show the connectors(24a and 28a are embedded at least partially in the skin of the structures.]
Claim(s) 8, 10-11, 13, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over B1, W1, and C1, as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of US 2017/0045037to Lipka et al. (L1) and US 2010/0296940 to Zuteck (Z1).
In Re Claim 8:
B1 as modified in claim 4 teaches:
The wind turbine blade according to claim 5, wherein:
The bridging device comprises a bridging conductor(B1, 35) extending from the suction side conductor(24a) to the pressure side conductor(28a) wherein the bridging conductor is affixed.
B1 is modified is silent as to:
Any slack in the connection.
L1 teaches:
Known in the art common methods of forming electrical connection between elements in a wind turbine blade, include rigid electric conductors, flexible cables, or screwed connections. [Page 1, ¶12.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of B1 to include a flexible cable connection as the bridge as a known in the art and by L1, which would perform with an expectation of success. This would yield a flexible connection.
Z1 teaches:
When joining pressure and suction side shells, the shells must accommodate bending moments that vary from root region to tip region of the blade, and that to accommodate this it is known some portions of the leading and trailing edge in a bridging region should include thickened regions of low modulus joining material, (Abstract, Figure 6, 315 and Fig. 8, 515, Page 3, ¶34-39.] Thus the root regions of the blade may have an enlarged gap between the pressure and suction side in the leading edge to accommodate the low stiffness shear near the root, this also means there may be shifting/movement in this region due to the twisting and relative pressure of the attached pressure and suction sides. [Page 3, ¶34-38 and Page 1, ¶4.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of B1, to include low shear stiffness in the low root side portions of the blade leading edge as taught by Z1, which would increase the distance between pressure and suction leading edge bond portions (and the B1 mats) providing a way to accommodate the twist such that some sliding can interact in the region or bending to improve the sweet response of the blades, and require the connecting region to accommodate some shift/twisting/movement [Page 3, ¶34-38 and Page 4, ¶4], thus the connector already being flexible will be in slack in some times and stretched at others when twisting during operation.
In Re Claims 10-11, 13, and 15:
B1 as modified in claim 8 teaches:
The wind turbine blade according to claim 8, wherein:
(Claim 10) the at least one equipotential bonding conductor comprises at least one leading edge equipotential bonding conductor arranged in the leading edge section of the suction and pressure shell parts. [Per claim 1 rejection and B1 citations within it the connector(35) is in the leading edge.]
(Claim 11) the distance between the leading edges of the suction and pressure side heating layers varies along the longitudinal direction from a first distance at a root edge of the heating layers to a second distance at a tip edge of the heating layers, the first distance being greater than the second distance. [See rejection of claim 8 modification citations to Z1 above, in particular note per Page 3, ¶34-39, the root region can have the enlarged gat between leading and pressure side edges of specially inserted low modulus material, lacking from the tip, thus the tip will have a shorter distance than the root region.]
(Claim 13) a method of manufacture of the wind turbine blade according to claim 8, wherein, there is provided:
A suction side shell part comprising a suction side heating layer and a suction side metallic lightning protection layer, the suction side heating layer having electrically conductive fibers arranged at least in a lading edge section of the suction side shell part, wherein the suction side metallic lightning protection layer is arranged exteriorly to and overlapping the suction side heating layer and is configured for conducting current from a lightning strike, and
A pressure side shell part comprising a pressure side heating layer and a suction side metallic lightning protection layer, the pressure side heating layer having electrically conductive fibers arranged at least in a leading edge section of the pressure side shell part, wherein the pressure side metallic lightning protection layer is arranged exteriorly to and overlapping the pressure side heating layer and is configured for conducting current from a lightning strike, and
Connecting a power cable to the suction and pressure side heating layers, the power cable being configured for being connected to a power source, wherein the electrically conductive fibers of the heating layers are configured for upon receiving electrical power from the power cable, supplying resistive heat5ing to the exterior surface of the wind turbine blade so as to mitigate ice formation on the wind turbine blade;
Connecting a down conductor to the suction and pressure side metallic lighting protection layers so as to be able to conduct a lightning strike current from the suction and pressure side metallic lightning protection layers to a first end of the down conductor arranged at a root of the wind turbine blade;
Closing the suction and pressure side shell parts along a bond line thereby forming an aerodynamic shell body, wherein a leading edge of the suction side heating layer and a leading edge of the pressure side heating layer are arranged adjacent to the bond line and are separated by a distance d transverse to the bond line; and
Electrically connecting the electrically conductive fibres of the suction side heating layer and the electrically conductive fibers of the pressure side heating layer via at least one equipotential bonding conductor so as to form equipotential bonding of the suction side heating lay and the pressure side heating layer. [See rejection of claim 1 and all citations to B1 and W1 for the above features already laid out in that claim, noting additionally Page 4, ¶51-69 note the connecting of the bridging and attaching of the mold parts to form a blade bonded.]
(Claim 15) wherein at least one equipotential bonding conductor comprises at least one leading edge equipotential bonding conductor and wherein step of electrically connecting the electrically conductive fibers of the suction side heating layer rand the electrically conductive fibers of the pressure side heating layer comprises: [See citations of claim 1 to B1 and W
1, in particular B1 and element(35).]
Forming at least one depression at the leading edge of the aerodynamic shell body, the depression extending between the leading edge section of the suction side shell and the leading edge section of the pressure side shell part; [Per B1 Page 4, ¶51-68 it is noted that elements 55 and 65 form an impression(depression) region around the leading edge that the bridge element can be placed inside.]
Arranging the leading edge equipotential bonding conductor in the depression;
Electrically connecting a suction side portion of the leading edge equipotential bonding conductor to the electrically conductive fibers of the suction side heating layer,
Electrically connecting a pressure side portion of the leading edge equipotential bonding conductor to the electrically conductive fibers of the pressure side heating layer. [Per the citations of B1 above the equipotential is established so that the charge is bridged by the fastener(35) as noted.]
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over B1, W1, C1, L1, and Z1 as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of CN 2018/05143 to Shen et al. (S1).
(Citation to S1 is made to the machine translation provided by the office with the first non-final of record.)
In Re Claim 9:
B1 as modified in claim 8 teaches:
The wind turbine blade according to claim 8, wherein:
The bridging device is present. [See claim 8.]
B1 as modified in claim 8 does not teach:
A retaining member arranged between the interior sides of the suction side shell part and the pressure side shell part, wherein the bridging conductor extends through and is arranged with slack in a cavity of the retaining member, wherein the retaining member comprises a resilient material configured to allow suction and pressure sides of the aerodynamic shell body at the trailing edge to flex in a thickness direction t varying air pressure.
S1 teaches:
A known in the art method of connecting potentials between sides (Fig. 1) includes a retaining member(Fig. 3, 2 and 5) forming a resilient channel, and placing a bridging conductor in the form of for example a cable (7 8) in the channel formed by the connector. This system permits the rapid placement and instigation of electrical potential connections internally using the elastic element to accommodate renovating various systems with this connection and further permit the system with the elastic steel element and the cables. [Page 3, ¶10-18.] Whereby the elements are sealed after with glue.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of B1, to utilize an interior connection to bridge the elements as taught by S1, for the method of applying connections to blades being fitted with the heating matts and metal shells of B1 and W1, with the expectation of successfully providing a known alternative method of connecting the charge which can be formed internally using small space, having high safety and widely application to different blade shapes. [Page 3, ¶10-18.] This would yield A retaining member arranged between the interior sides of the suction side shell part and the pressure side shell part, wherein the bridging conductor extends through and is arranged with slack in a cavity of the retaining member, wherein the retaining member comprises a resilient material configured to allow suction and pressure sides of the aerodynamic shell body at the trailing edge to flex in a thickness direction varying air pressure. As noted in the rejection of claim 8 L1 citations the connector can be a slack flexible cable, and the citations of Z1 wherein the connection allows flexing between the pressure and suction sides during twisting, which would work with the flexible connection and elastic retaining member of S1.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over B1, W1, C1, L1, and Z1 as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of US 2014/0199170 to Madsen et al. (M1)
In Re Claim 14:
B1 as modified in claim 8 teaches:
The wind turbine blade according to claim 8, wherein:
The at least one equipotential bonding conductor comprises at least one trailing edge equipotential bonding conductor including a suction side conductor electrically connected to the electrically conductive fibers of the suction side heating layer a pressure side conductor electrically connected to the electrically conductive fibers of the pressure side heating layer and wherein step of electrically connecting the electrically conductive fibers of the suction side heating layer and the electrically conductive fibers of the pressure side heating layer comprises: [See rejection of claim 5 above.]
Electrically connecting the bridging device with the suction side connector part and the pressure side connector part so as to establish equipotential bonding between the electrically conductive fibers of the suction side heating layer and the electrically conductive fibers of the pressure side heating layer. [See citations to element B1, 35 in claim 1.]
B1 as modified in claim 8 does not teach:
Forming a hole through a suction side connector part of the suction side conductor and a pressure side connector part of the pressure side conductor,
B1 further teaches:
Alternative methods of fixing conducting means to adhesive are possible.
M1 teaches:
One known method of connecting and establishing electric connection along a heating matt region(Fig. 2, 10) using screws(12) affixed through holes, to bind connection between portions such as (element 10) and (element (130), which can help secure elements and affix them during attachment as a known alternative to the method of affixing of B1. [Page 3, ¶34-40]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of B1, to utilize the connection method of M1, as a known in the art alternative for connecting the leading edge pressure and suction heating mats as known in the art which would perform with an expectation of success, [Page 3, ¶34-40]. This would yield the limitation of forming a hole through the connecting parts to affix a bridging region.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 12 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Claim 12 requires an insulating material above and below the heating film with an intermediate insulating portion between them. The closest art to that is CN 107084100 to Deng et al. disclose an insulation layer between a metal shield layer and a heating film layer, but there is no teaching for adding portion below the electric film in said leading edge to include an intermediate portion in the heating film interspace region, suitable for modification to the arts required to meet the claims from which 12 depends.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 2017/0328352 to Kluemper et al. as one such example of the known blade ranges in the art. for example, notes known industry wind turbine blades from about 15m to 91m on Page 4, ¶33. US 2022/0243704 to March Nomen teaches heating films (Fig. 6, 211, 212) that are separated by a space across a leading edge(3) for equipotential to a ground, and a lightning down conductor(13) and power cables (26, 27).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSHUA R BEEBE whose telephone number is (571)272-9968. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathaniel Wiehe can be reached at 571-272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSHUA R BEEBE/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
/NATHANIEL E WIEHE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3745
