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 and § 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 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.
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) 1-5, 7-16 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 and/or 102/a2 as being anticipated by Sekiguchi (US 5,305,714), which discloses:
1. A fuel system for a prime mover (fuel supply system for an internal combustion engine 10; abstract, fig 3, claim 6, col. 3 line 21), the fuel system comprising:
a first fuel tank including a solid hydrogen fuel convertible to a gaseous hydrogen fuel (first fuel tank 12 in which a metal hydride is stored and heated to produce hydrogen gas; abstract, fig. 3, claim 6, col. 4 lines 3-16), the first fuel tank including a first outlet (first fuel supply conduit 20; abstract, fig. 3, claim 6, col.4 line 52);
a second fuel tank including a gaseous fuel (second fuel tank 88 stores an excess amount of hydrogen gas from the first fuel tank 12; abstract, fig. 3, claim 6, col. 9 lines 14-28), the second fuel tank including a second outlet for supplying the gaseous fuel to the prime mover (second fuel tank 88 is provided with an outlet 88b to 90, for supplying hydrogen gas into the engine 310; abstract, fig. 7, col. 11 lines 45-47); and
wherein the first outlet supplies the converted gaseous hydrogen fuel to the second fuel tank or to the prime mover (first fuel supply conduit 20 supplies hydrogen gas to the internal combustion engine 10; abstract, fig. 3, claim 6, col. 4 lines 52-55).
2. The fuel system of claim 1, wherein the first fuel tank is upstream of the second fuel tank (see FIG 3, where gas is supplied from the first tank to the second tank via 89; fig. 3, col. 9 lines 14-41), and the second fuel tank includes an inlet (88a; fig. 7) for receiving the converted gaseous hydrogen fuel from the first fuel tank.
3. The fuel system of claim 1, wherein the first outlet of the first fuel tank is connected to the prime mover in parallel to the second outlet of the second fuel tank (via conduit 20 and conduit 90; see fig. 3, col. 4 lines 52-55, col. 9 lines 52-54).
4. The fuel system of claim 1, further comprising: a third tank (70) including a conversion agent (water), wherein the conversion agent is delivered to the first fuel tank to convert the solid hydrogen fuel to gaseous hydrogen fuel (via 72, 16A, 16B; col. 8 lines 18-42).
5. The fuel system of claim 4, wherein the conversion agent is water (e.g., col. 8 lines 18-42).
7. The fuel system of claim 4, further comprising: an injector that receives conversion agent from the third tank and injects the conversion agent into the first fuel tank (pump 17 and/or flow control valve 18, which supply water to tank 12).
8. The fuel system of claim 7, further comprising a meter configured to control an amount of conversion agent injected by the injector (18 and/or 26, where flow control/meter valve18 controls the flow rate from pump 72, and controller 26 controls the operation of flow control/meter valve 18).
9. The fuel system of claim 4, further comprising: a pump (72) for pumping the conversion agent from the third tank to the first fuel tank; and a filter (74) for filtering the conversion agent.
10. A method for fueling a hydrogen powered prime mover, the method comprising: converting solid hydrogen fuel stored in a first fuel tank to gaseous hydrogen fuel (metal hydride in tank 12 is heated to produce gaseous hydrogen); and providing the gaseous hydrogen fuel to the prime mover (10) or to a second fuel tank (88) that provides gaseous fuel to the prime mover.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein converting the solid hydrogen fuel stored in the first fuel tank is initiated in response to one or more of: a gaseous hydrogen fuel parameter associated with the second fuel tank falling below a threshold; an availability of gaseous hydrogen fuel to re-fill the second fuel tank; an availability of a conversion agent for conversion of the solid hydrogen fuel to gaseous hydrogen fuel; a relative cost of the solid hydrogen fuel and the gaseous hydrogen fuel; an operating condition of the prime mover; an anticipated output from the prime mover; a route associated with operation of the prime mover; an operator input; a location of the prime mover; a time of day; weather conditions; a pressure in the first fuel tank or the first fuel tank; and a condition of the solid hydrogen fuel (flow control valve 18 controls the amount of heating medium introduced into the heat exchange device 14 so that a desired amount of hydrogen gas is generated from the metal hydride in tank 12; see fig 3, claim 6, col. 6 lines 8-11).
12. The method of claim 10, wherein providing the gaseous hydrogen fuel includes providing the gaseous hydrogen fuel to the second fuel tank in response to a pressure in the first fuel tank being greater than a pressure in the second fuel tank (via relief valve 89, note that flow always occurs from high to low pressure areas; col. 9 lines 14-61, claim 6).
13. The method of claim 10, wherein converting the solid hydrogen fuel stored in the first fuel tank includes controlling a pressure or temperature of the first fuel tank to produce gaseous hydrogen fuel from the solid hydrogen fuel (control valve 18 controls the amount of heating medium introduced to tank 12 so that the desired amount of hydrogen gas is produced).
14. The method of claim 10, wherein converting the solid hydrogen fuel stored in the first fuel tank includes injecting a conversion agent into the first fuel tank that produces gaseous hydrogen fuel from the solid hydrogen fuel (control valve 18 controls the amount of heating medium introduced to tank 12 so that the desired amount of hydrogen gas is produced).
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising heating the conversion agent prior to injecting the conversion agent (water conduit 16 is connected to an engine water conduit in such a manner that the engine cooling water is made to bypass a radiator for heating before it is introduced into the heat exchange device 14; fig. 3, col 4 lines 42-45).
16. The method of claim 15, wherein a temperature of the conversion agent is controlled in response to a pressure of the first fuel tank (it is heated or cooled via a radiator or cooling jacket; col. 4 lines 42-46).
19. The method of claim 10, further comprising: selecting one of the first fuel tank and the second fuel tank to provide the gaseous hydrogen fuel to the prime mover; and providing gaseous hydrogen fuel to the prime mover in response to the selection (gaseous hydrogen is provided from tank 12 or tank 88 via Sekiguchi’s system, which is seen to include a “selection” via design and/or operation of the system).
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 and/or 102a2 as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Sekiguchi.
Regarding claim 18, Sekiguchi disclsoes the method of claim 10, wherein converting the solid hydrogen fuel stored in the first fuel tank includes feeding the solid hydrogen fuel to a reactor and converting the solid hydrogen fuel with a conversion agent in the reactor (for purposes of this claim only, tank 30 is instead read as the claimed reactor which uses water as a conversion agent, and the inherent tank from which the pellets are taken before being placed into tank 30 is instead read as the claimed first fuel tank). Alternatively, should it be determined that a tank holding the pellets before being placed into tank 30 is not inherent, then because it was well-known in the art before the effective filing date to store such pellets in a tank (official notice), it would have been obvious to store Sekiguchi’s pellets in such a first tank before loading them into tank 30, so that they’re not just laying around loose.
Claim(s) 6, 17 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sekiguchi.
Regarding claims 6 and 17, Sekiguchi does not disclose water in the third tank to be collected from a condensate collector for collecting condensate produced by the prime mover as claimed. However this arrangement as claimed was well-known in the art before the effective filing date (official notice), and it would have been obvious to use such an arrangement with Sekiguchi’s system in order to replenish the third tank.
Regarding claim 20, Sekiguchi does not disclose determining the quantity of fuel remaining, the availability of fuel for refueling, and prioritizing usage of the fuel in response to such determinations as claimed. However it was well-known in the art before the effective filing date to perform these steps when operating a prime mover as claimed (official notice; e.g., to watch the fuel gage in a vehicle and get to a gas station before running out of fuel), and it would have been obvious to do the same with Sekiguchi’s solid and gaseous fuel, in order to avoid running out of fuel in Sekiguchi’s vehicle.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 10,221,816, US 6,155,21 and US 8,985,065 disclose similar hydrogen fuel system for vehicles.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM M MCCALISTER whose telephone number is (571)270-1869. The examiner can normally be reached M-F from 7am to 6pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CRAIG SCHNEIDER, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-3607, or Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIAM M MCCALISTER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
9/2/26
