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 the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 17 describes a “porous element” between the top and bottom which is not described or detailed within the original claims nor the specification in any way. This “porous element” is therefore not described in a way to convey to one of ordinary skill in the art that the inventor had possession of the claimed invention. It is noted that the disclosure shows a “thermal regenerator 5”, however the device is never described or specifically shown as “porous” which involves a very specific type of structure that includes pores or small holes.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 13-16 and 18-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kopke (EP 0247223 A1).
Regarding claim 13, discloses a pendulum-piston machine (Fig. 26, shown) for production of mechanical work or cooling using a working fluid, the machine comprising:
a main shaft 375 defining a main axis thereof (Fig. 26, shown);
a piston 373 connected to the main shaft and having a reciprocating movement around the main axis (Fig. 26 shown piston reciprocating around axis of main shaft 375); the piston having a plate connecting to the main shaft and extending in a plane generally parallel to the main axis (Fig. 26, the piston 373 also having a plate 372 that extends across the axis 375 to the other side of the piston 373), the plate having sides edges being opposite to one another relative to the main axis (Fig. 26, shown plate having opposite sides);
a casing 358 receiving the piston therein and the main shaft extending therethrough, the casing having a side wall generally extending around the main axis and defining two side wall surfaces thereof opposite one another relative to the main axis (Fig. 26, the sidewall surfaces 357 358), the two side wall surfaces 357 358 having a generally concave revolution shape centered about the main axis (Fig. 26, the surfaces being curved), each said side edge being adapted to be adjacent and slide along a respective said side wall surface during the reciprocating movement of the piston (Fig. 26, the plate 372 373 having edges that slide along the walls 357 358);
wherein the piston and the casing defining at least one working chamber 353 365 there between on one side of the piston and fillable with the working fluid (Fig. 26, the chambers 353 365 being fillable to exhausts/intakes), the machine having a geometric asymmetry to allow a volume of the working chamber to vary during the reciprocating movement of the piston within the casing (Fig. 26, the chambers being asymmetric in size with regards to each other and also in size when the piston alters their size in its oscillation).
Regarding claim 15, Kopke discloses the pendulum-piston machine of claim 14, wherein the main axis extends within the plane defined by the plate of the piston (Fig. 26, the piston portion 372 forms a central plane which coincides with the main axis of the shaft 375).
Regarding claim 16, Kopke discloses the pendulum-piston machine of claim 14, wherein one of the side wall surfaces being connected to a hot thermal source and the other one of the side wall surfaces being connected to a cold thermal source (¶ [0078], the system is for a combustion engine, the engine will have a hot thermal source in its exhaust from combustion and a colder one from intake which colder than the combustion side).
Regarding claim 18, Kopke discloses the pendulum-piston machine of claim 13, wherein the casing includes lateral walls generally facing each other with the side wall extending between and connected thereto, the main axis extending through the lateral walls, the side wall and the lateral walls defining and enclosing a room containing the at least one working chamber (Fig. 26, the objecting having lateral walls shown where the piston does not contact)..
Regarding claim 19, Kopke discloses the pendulum-piston machine of claim 13, further comprising a piston damper to reduce and stop a piston angular speed before the piston restart in an opposite angular direction (Fig. 26, the piston shown stopped against the wall around opening 356 which indicates a device to stop the piston, such as a wall, before it restarts in the opposite direction).
Regarding claim 20, Kopke discloses the pendulum-piston machine of claim 19, wherein the piston damper includes a protrusion, extending from one of the piston and the casing in a circumferential direction about the main axis, selectively engaging a corresponding cavity extending into the other one of the piston and the casing (Fig. 26, the piston side 373 includes protruding corners that move up into space allotted for them in the sidewalls 373) .
Regarding claim 21, Kopke discloses the pendulum-piston machine of claim 13, wherein the concave revolution shape of at least one of the two side wall surfaces is a concave cylindrical shape (Fig. 26, the shape is at least part of a cylindrical shape).
Regarding claim 22, Kopke discloses the pendulum-piston machine of claim 13, wherein the piston and the casing defining two working chambers there between on either side of the plate of the piston (Fig. 26, shown).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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 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) 14 and 26-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kopke.
Regarding claims 14 and 28-30, Kopke discloses pendulum-piston machine of claims 13 and 21-22, wherein the main axis is closer to one of the sides edges relative to the other one of the sides edges, and further wherein the piston has a center of gravity located on the main axis.
However, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to alter the distances between pars and the particular center of gravity since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955) and In Gardner v. TEC Syst., Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984). Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have had good reason to experiment with changes in shape to achieve the best performance in the engine through routine and known experimental design, wherein the particular shape of a device is an obvious design element found through routine experimentation. In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966)
Regarding claims 26-27, Kopke discloses the pendulum-piston machine of claim 13, but fails to disclose the system further including a hydraulic, mechanical, or electrical phase shifter system connecting to the main shaft to control an angular amplitude of the reciprocating movement of the piston within the casing.
However, phase shifter for engines are old and well-known in the art sufficient for examiner to take official notice that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify the device of Kopke to include a type of phase-shift to alter the engine’s operational phases to modify its compression ratios and engine characteristics.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 23-25 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art fails to disclose or make obvious a piston-engine which includes two working chambers, one divided into two sub-chambers, wherein the first chamber’s first sub-chamber is a mixing chamber, the second sub-chamber is an exhaust chamber, and the second chamber is a combustion chamber.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN A LATHERS whose telephone number is (571)272-1050. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10a-6p.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lindsay Low can be reached at 5712721196. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN A LATHERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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