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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 7, 17, and 19-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention/Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 02/16/2026.
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) 1-4, 6, 8, 21, and 24-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bartholomeus (US Patent No. 2014/0311334).
Bartholomeus teaches:
limitations from claims 1 and 16, a gas-driven compressor system (FIG. 1-4) comprising: a compressor body (1) defining a first piston cavity (1A, 7), a second piston cavity (1C, 8), and a shuttle valve cavity (1B, 7B); a low pressure port (5) in fluid communication with the first piston cavity, via the shuttle valve cavity (via lines 16-17), to vent the first piston cavity (paragraphs 37, 44); a high pressure port (6) in fluid communication with the first piston cavity (via lines 16-17), via the shuttle valve cavity, to provide pressurized inlet flow to the first piston cavity (paragraphs 37, 43); a compressor inlet (4) in fluid communication with the second piston cavity (via F5); a compressor outlet (5) in fluid communication with the second piston cavity (via F4); a shuttle valve (3) movable between a first position and a second position within the shuttle valve cavity (paragraph 34 and 36); and a piston (2) having: a first head portion (wider portion 2c) movable within the first piston cavity by the pressurized inlet flow; and a second head portion ( skinnier portion 2a) movable within the second piston cavity by the movement of the first head portion within the first piston cavity to compress a fluid in the second piston cavity (paragraph 43); the piston fluidly coupling a signal flow from the high pressure inlet selectively to a first side or a second side of the shuttle valve cavity, depending on a position of the piston, to selectively direct the pressurized inlet flow to the first piston cavity on, respectively, a first side or a second side of the first head portion of the piston to power reciprocating movement of the piston due to a pressure differential between the high and low pressure ports (FIG. 1-4 and paragraphs 41-45);
limitations from claim 2, wherein the piston (2) is configured to move in a first direction to draw the fluid into the second piston cavity and in a second direction to compress fluid within the second piston cavity (FIG. 3 and FIG. 4; paragraphs 43-44);
limitations from claim 3, wherein the piston defines a first groove and a second groove (2, 2d/2b) arranged to fluidly couple the signal flow from the high-pressure port selectively to the first side or the second side of the shuttle valve cavity (paragraphs 41-44);
limitations from claim 4, wherein the first groove (2) is aligned with a first shuttle valve signal line (O3) when the first head portion of the piston is in a first position in the first piston cavity (FIG. 4), and wherein the second groove (2d) is aligned with a second shuttle valve signal line (O6) when the first head portion of the piston is in a second position in the first piston cavity (FIG. 3);
limitations from claim 6, wherein the first (2) and second (2d) grooves are included on the second head portion of the piston (see FIG. 1-4);
limitations from claim 8, wherein the first head portion (2c) of the piston separates the first piston cavity (7) into a first volume and a second volume (left and right sides of piston head 2c); wherein the shuttle valve (3) in the first position provides the pressurized inlet flow to the first volume and vents the second volume to the low pressure port, to move the piston in a first direction (FIG. 1-2; paragraphs 41-44); and wherein the shuttle valve in the second position provides the pressurized inlet flow to the second volume and vents the first volume to the low pressure port, to move the piston in a second, opposite direction (FIG. 3-4; paragraphs 41-44);
limitations from claim 21, wherein the first head portion (2c) has a larger diameter than the second head portion (2a; see FIG. 1-4) and wherein the first piston cavity (7) has a larger diameter than the second piston cavity (8; FIG. 1-4);
limitations from claim 24, further comprising a first transfer line and a second transfer line, wherein the first transfer line is configured to direct fluid between the shuttle valve cavity and a first volume of the first piston cavity on a first side of the first head portion, and wherein the second transfer line is configured to direct fluid between the shuttle valve cavity and a second volume of the first piston cavity on a second side of the first head portion.
limitations from claim 25, wherein the shuttle valve is configured to selectively connect the first transfer line (14) to the high-pressure port (6, via the left side of 2c; FIG. 1) and the second transfer line (O2, 16) to the low-pressure port (5) when the shuttle valve is in the first position (FIG. 1), and to selectively connect the second transfer line (16) to the high-pressure port (6) and the first transfer line (14) to the low-pressure port (5) when the shuttle valve is in the second position (from FIG. 3-4);
limitations from claim 26, wherein the first groove and the second groove are circumferential grooves formed in a shaft of the piston (FIG. 1-4; paragraph 38, 41);
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) 22-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bartholomeus (US Patent No. 2014/0311334) as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Maglott (US Patent No. 3,249,289).
Bartholomeus does not teach inlet outlet check valves;
Maglott teaches:
a pump driven via a fluid motor (10), including an inlet (16) and an outlet (22); and
limitations from claim 22, wherein the inlet includes a first check valve (18) to permit one-way flow of fluid into a piston cavity (11), and wherein the compressor outlet includes a second check valve (20) to permit one-way flow of fluid out of the piston cavity (C. 1 Lines 55-66);
limitations from claim 23, wherein the second check valve is configured to permit outlet of compressed fluid when the compressed fluid reaches a predetermined threshold pressure (C. 1 Lines 55-66);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of compressors at the time the invention was filed to provide check valves at the inlet/outlet of Bartholomeus, as taught by Maglott, in order to control the flow/pressure through the compressor and to reduce backflow in the system as is known in the art as a function of check valves.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is 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.
Claim 5 requires connections between the piston grooves and the signal lines of a shuttle valve that are not taught by the closest prior art to Bartholomeus. It would not have been obvious to modify the connections of Bartholomeus to meet the claim limitations because the pump would not function as intended, the pressure connections being delivered connected to different portions and effecting the shuttle valve differently.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 2013/0101440 teaches a shuttle valve-controlled compressor;
EP 316638 teaches a shuttle valve-controlled compressor;
US 4,397,614 teaches a shuttle valve-controlled 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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Essama Omgba can be reached at 469-295-9278. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CHRISTOPHER S BOBISH/Examiner, Art Unit 3746
Prosecution Insights