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 2-3 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.
Claims 2-3 recites the limitation "the uphole end" and “the downhole end” in lines 1 and 1-2 respectively. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Further, there is no “hole” previously claimed, and therefore it is not clear what end of what component is being referred to.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5-9, 11-13, and 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mohn (US Patent 5,417,544).
Mohn teaches:
limitations from claim 1, a system for pumping well fluids, comprising: an electric submersible pumping system (C. 4 Lines 34-50) having: an external pump housing (225); a pair of contra rotating shafts (201, 202) located within the external pump housing (FIG. 6) and comprising a first shaft (201) rotatable within a hollow interior of a second shaft (202; see FIG. 6 in which the plates 203 of shaft 201 are within the shelves 204 of shaft 202); an impeller section comprising. a first impeller (203, 205, 207) mounted to the first shaft; and a second impeller (204, 206, 208) mounted to the second shaft, the first impeller and the second impeller being rotatable in contra directions to move a well fluid through the external pump housing for production to a desired location (C. 6 Lines 1-6); a first motor (221) driving the first shaft; and a second motor (222) driving the second shaft (FIG. 8; C. 6 Lines 1-3 and 25-28);
limitations from claim 5, wherein the first motor and the second motor are both on opposite ends of the impeller section (see FIG. 8);
limitations from claim 6, wherein the impeller section comprises a plurality of pump stages (see FIG. 6 wherein multiple stages 203-204 are in-line);
limitations from claim 7, wherein the first motor comprises a first motor shaft being in an axially firm connection with the first shaft and the second motor comprises a second motor shaft being in an axially firm connection with the second shaft (C. 6 Lines 1-3 and 25-28; also FIG. 9 showing a motor with an output shaft 62);
limitations from claim 8, wherein the well fluid comprises wet gas (C. 2 Lines 36-40);
limitations from claim 9, wherein the first motor and the second motor are induction motors (see 4-pole electric motor in FIG. 9);
limitations from claim 11, a system, comprising: an electric submersible pumping system sized for deployment in a borehole (230; C. 6 Lines 30-31), the electric submersible pumping system having an external pump housing (225) containing contra rotating impellers (~203-204) mounted on contra rotating shafts (201, 202), the contra rotating shafts comprising a first shaft (202) and a second shaft (202), the first shaft being rotatably disposed within a hollow interior of the second shaft (202; see FIG. 6 in which the plates 203 of shaft 201 are within the shelves 204 of shaft 202);
limitations from claim 12, wherein the first shaft (201) is coupled with and driven by a first motor (221; FIG. 8);
limitations from claim 13, wherein the second shaft (202) is coupled with and driven by a second motor (222);
limitations from claim 16, wherein the well fluid comprises wet gas (C. 2 Lines 36-40);
limitations from claim 17, a method for pumping fluid from a cased wellbore (C. 4 Lines 34-50), comprising: providing an electric submersible pumping system (FIG. 6-8) sized for deployment in a borehole (C. 4 Lines 34-50), the electric submersible pumping system having an external pump housing (225) containing contra rotating impellers (~203-204) mounted on contra rotating shafts (201, 202), the contra rotating shafts comprising a first shaft (201) and a second shaft (202), the first shaft being rotatably disposed within a hollow interior of the second shaft (see FIG. 6 in which the plates 203 of shaft 201 are within the shelves 204 of shaft 202); deploying the electric submersible pumping system downhole in the cased wellbore (FIG. 6-8; C. 4 Lines 34-50); and using at least one motor (221, 222) to rotate the first shaft and the second shaft in a contra rotating direction so as to pump well fluid comprising wet gas (C. 2 Lines 36-40) along the interior of the external pump housing via the contra rotating impellers (C. 6 Lines 1-6);
limitations from claim 18, wherein using comprises using two motors with a first motor (221) of the two motors connected to the first shaft (201) and a second motor (222) of the two motors connected to the second shaft (202; C. 6 Lines 1-3 and 25-28; also FIG. 9 showing a motor with an output shaft 62);
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) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mohn (US Patent 5,417,544) as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Radev (US Patent No. 7,466,053).
Mohn teaches multiple pumping stages (~203-204), but does not teach at least 10 stages;
However, it has been held that the mere duplication of parts does not hold patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced (MPEP 2144.04 Section VI.B). In this case, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of pumps at the time the invention was filed to choose a number of pumping stages based upon the output pressures and flow that were desired for a particular application. The applicant’s disclosure does not describe unexpected results for a particular number of stages.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mohn (US Patent 5,417,544) as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Radev (US Patent No. 7,466,053).
Mohn teaches an electric motor (221, 222; FIG. 8), but does not teach a dual-rotor stator-less motor;
Radev teaches a motor (FIG. 1) embodied as a stator-less (C. 1 Lines 6-8) dual rotor (21-22) motor for driving multiple output shafts (26, 40);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of pumps at the time the invention was filed to substitute one known motor type for another, such as the dual rotor electric motor of Radev for the generic electric motor of Mohn, as a matter of design choice in order to reach an expected result (i.e. the driving of multiple shafts). Further, Radev teaches dual rotor motors can produce additional torque compared to that of standard motors (C. 2 Lines 7-12);
Claim(s) 2-4, 14, and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mohn (US Patent 5,417,544) as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of WO 03/031823 (herein Beyer).
Mohn teaches dual motors (221, 222) on opposite sides (uphole/downhole) of the impeller section. rather than positioning the motors on the same side;
However, Beyer teaches a (pump 1; see FIG. 1-7) having dual motors (21, 33) for driving separate shafts (17, 27) of concentric impellers (18, 28); and wherein the motors (21, 33) are alternatively located at opposing (FIG. 1) and same (FIG. 2-7) ends of the impellers;
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of pumps at the time the invention was filed to locate the motors of the pump of Mohn at various locations in the pump housing, such as at a same side of the impellers as taught by Beyer, as a matter of design choice in order to configure the components of the pump in various in various arrangements while still achieving the expected result of rotating the impellers. Further, the rearrangement of parts has been held to be an obvious matter of design choice, where the operation of the device is otherwise as expected (see MPEP 2144.04 Section VI.C);
2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the first motor and the second motor are both on the same end of the impeller section.
3. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein the same end is the up-hole end.
4. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein the same end is the downhole end.
14. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the first motor and the second motor are positioned at the same end of the first and second shafts.
19. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising positioning the two motors at an up-hole end of the external pump housing.
20. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising positioning the two motors at a downhole end of the external pump housing
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
WO8605557 teaches a multi-motor concentric impeller pump;
US 20200072229 teaches a multi-motor contra-rotating compressor;
US 2017/0130730 teaches a multi-motor contra-rotating compressor
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER S BOBISH whose telephone number is (571)270-5289. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5.
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/CHRISTOPHER S BOBISH/Examiner, Art Unit 3746
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