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.
Claim 3 is 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 3 recites the limitation "the other side impeller" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the other side thrust bearing" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the other side cooling air supply line" in lines 7-8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Perevozchikov et al. (US 2020/0291953; hereinafter Perevozchikov) in view of Ryu (US 10,808,757).
Regarding claim 1, Perevozchikov (Fig. 1-17) discloses a centrifugal compressor (100) comprising: a rotary shaft (104); at least one compressor impeller (116) attached to at least one of one side and the other side of the rotary shaft (104); a thrust disc portion (128) provided in the rotary shaft (104) and extending along a radial direction of the rotary shaft (104); at least one thrust bearing (130), which is disposed on the one side or the other side of the rotary shaft (104) with respect to the thrust disc portion (128), and which faces the thrust disc portion (128) with a gap; a casing (200) accommodating the rotary shaft (104) and the thrust disc portion (128) to be rotatable and supporting the at least one thrust bearing (130); and at least one cooling air supply line (220) configured to supply cooling air from an outside of the casing (200) into the gap from an inside in the radial direction. Refer to Fig. I below.
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Fig. I. Perevozchikov, Fig. 17 (Annotated)
Perevozchikov fails to disclose that the thrust bearing is an air bearing.
Ryu (abstract) teaches a centrifugal impeller that can be supported axially with thrust air bearings. Ryu (Col. 1, lines 36-44) teaches that air bearings have advantages of significantly smaller power loss than rolling element bearings and little abrasion wear caused by friction physical contact in the bearing components. So, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Perevozchikov by using thrust air bearings, as taught by Ryu, in order to decrease power loss that can be caused by rolling element bearings and reduce wear the is caused by physical contact in bearing components.
Regarding claim 2, Perevozchikov, as modified, discloses the centrifugal compressor according to claim 1, wherein Perevozchikov (Fig. 1-17), as modified, further discloses that the at least one compressor impeller (116) includes a one side impeller (116) attached to the one side of the rotary shaft (104), the at least one thrust bearing includes a one side thrust bearing (130) disposed on the one side of the rotary shaft (104) with respect to the thrust disc portion (128) and facing the thrust disc portion (128) with a first gap, and the at least one cooling air supply line (220) includes a one side cooling air supply line (220) configured to supply the cooling air from the outside of the casing (200) into the first gap from the inside in the radial direction. Refer to Fig. I above.
Regarding claim 3, Perevozchikov, as modified, discloses the centrifugal compressor according to Claim 1, wherein Perevozchikov (Fig. 1-17), as modified, further discloses that the at least one compressor impeller (116) includes the other side impeller (106) attached to the other side of the rotary shaft (104), the at least one thrust bearing (130) includes the other side thrust bearing (130) disposed on the one side of the rotary shaft (104) with respect to the thrust disc portion (128) and facing the thrust disc portion (128) with a second gap, and the at least one cooling air supply line (220) includes the other side cooling air supply line configured to supply the cooling air from the outside of the casing (200) into the second gap from the inside in the radial direction. Refer to Fig. I above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9 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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIELLE M CHRISTENSEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3275. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Courtney Heinle can be reached at 571-270-3508. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Danielle M. Christensen/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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