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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to for the following reasons:
Applicant’s disclosure establishes a “volumizing cassette 50” comprising “hoppers 70”, and a “charging cassette 20” comprising “compartments 52”, wherein items 70 and 52 are “corresponding”. Please see at least pg. 10, lines 3-11 of Applicant’s filed Specification.
However, Examiner notes the following discrepancies:
- Fig. 3 shows both items 52 and 70 as being part of charging cassette 20. Examiner acknowledges what appears to be the correct placement of item 70 at Figs. 12 and 19. However, correction of Fig. 3 is required.
- In Fig. 3, item 18 appears to refer to solely at the component that is also labeled “charging cassette 20”. However, per Applicant’s overall disclosure, item 18 (interpreted by Examiner to be the claimed “portable pellet loading device for loading pellets into the tubes of a chemical reactor”) appears to comprise ALL of the components/item numbers shown in Fig. 3, with the exception of “top tubesheet 12” and “reactor tubes 16”. Please see Examiner’s annotated Fig. 3 below:
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The aggregate of these drawing discrepancies, along with further discrepancies in the Specification and Claims (see the following objections and rejections below) introduce confusion as to what Applicant considers to be “a portable pellet loading device (18) for loading pellets into the tubes of a chemical reactor”, and therefore clouds the scope of the claims.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The Specification assigns different names/nomenclature to the same item numbers. These should be standardized in order to avoid confusion as to the nature and scope of the claimed invention. Specifically,
- Item 18 is identified as “pellet loading device 18”, “loading device 18”, and “device 18” throughout the Specification.
- Item 52 is identified as “compartments 52” throughout most of the Specification. However, item 52 is also identified as “chamber 52” at pg. 9, line 25.
- Item 70 is alternately identified as “hoppers 70”, “volumizing hoppers 70”, and “open-top and open-bottom hoppers 70” throughout the Specification.
- Item 38 is introduced at pg. 6, line 6, as being “Conduits or tubes or a plurality of conduits/tubes 38”. The remainder of this paragraph refers to item 38 as being a “conduit or tube 38”. The remainder of the Specification, however, simply refers to item 38 as being “conduit 38).
However, independent Claims 1 and 9 each require “a plurality of reactor tubes” and “a plurality of tubes”. The dependent claims additionally require “A portable pellet loading device for loading pellets into the tubes of a chemical reactor”.
After a thorough review of the Applicant’s disclosure, Examiner interprets these limitations as being “a plurality of reactor tubes (16)”, “a plurality of tubes (38)”, and “A portable pellet loading device for loading pellets into the tubes (16) of a chemical reactor”. Examiner further interprets, in the current claim set, that while “tubes 38” are a part of the claimed invention and required, “tubes 16” are not, as they are part of an unclaimed chemical reactor.
In the interests of clarity with respect to the nature and scope of Applicant’s claimed invention, the Examiner strongly recommends the following actions/amendments to the Specification and claim language:
- Amend the Specification to only refer to “conduit 38”, thereby removing any confusion as to the nature of items 16 and 38, with specific emphasis on pg. 6, lines 6-19 (third paragraph of the page).
- Amend Claims 1 and 9 to read:
Claim 1 (Recommended Amendment). A portable pellet loading device for loading pellets into
…a plurality of conduits, each of said conduits extending from one of said top plate openings to a corresponding one of said bottom plate openings…
Claim 9 (Recommended Amendment). A portable pellet loading device for loading pellets into
…a plurality of tubes conduits, each of said tubes conduits extending from one of said top plate openings to a corresponding one of said bottom plate openings…
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 9 are objected to for the same reasons as presented above in the objections to the Specification. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-12 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.
Regarding Claims 1-12, and with particular emphasis on Claims 1 and 9:
As noted above, Applicant’s overall disclosure contains several discrepancies that cloud the scope of the claim set as explained in the points below:
The present claim set is drawn (according to the preamble) to a “pellet loading device”. After a thorough review of Applicant’s disclosure, the Examiner acknowledges the presence of a “a chemical reactor having a top tube sheet and a plurality of reactor tubes extending downwardly from the top tube sheet” included in the claim language, but interprets the scope of the claims as not including “tube top sheet 12”, nor “a plurality of reactor tubes 16”, as identified in the Specification.
However, independent Claims 1 and 9 contain the verbiage “with the portable pellet loading device positioned above a top tube sheet…”. Here, the word “with” could be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art as being a conditional requirement, wherein the remainder of the claim limitations are only applicable when the portable pellet loading device is actually in position above the top tube sheet.
In light of Examiner’s interpretation of the claim set as explained above (i.e. tube top sheet 12 is not required), and in further light of the word “with”, it is unclear if a portable pellet loading device not positioned above a top tube sheet 12 (for whatever reason, to include scenarios wherein the top sheet 12 is temporarily absent or just doesn’t exist) would read upon the above claim limitation.
Additionally, it is unknown if “a top tube sheet” of the offending limitation is the same as “a top tube sheet” presented earlier in the claim (see the preamble).
In the interests of compact prosecution, Examiner interprets the independent Claims 1 and 9 in the following manner:
1 (as interpreted by Examiner). A portable pellet loading device for loading pellets into
the portable pellet loading device comprising:
a bottom plate configured to be disposed proximate and opposite the top tube sheet at a second elevation above and spaced from the first elevation,
said bottom plate defining a plurality of bottom plate openings arranged to lie above the top tube sheet and the plurality of reactor tubes;
a top plate configured to be disposed above said bottom plate at a third elevation above said second elevation,
wherein said top plate defines a plurality of top plate openings corresponding to said bottom plate openings;
a plurality of conduits, each of said conduits extending from one of said top plate openings to a corresponding one of said bottom plate openings;
a reciprocating plate mounted on top of said top plate,
said reciprocating plate defining a plurality of reciprocating plate openings corresponding to said top plate openings;
a reciprocating actuator connected to said reciprocating plate for moving said reciprocating plate back and forth across said top plate; and
a charging cassette resting atop said reciprocating plate for movement with said reciprocating plate, said charging cassette defining a plurality of compartments,
wherein the portable pellet loading device is supported atop the top tube sheet at a first elevation.
9 (as interpreted by Examiner). A portable pellet loading device for loading pellets into
a bottom plate disposed above and proximate the top tube sheet,
said bottom plate defining a plurality of bottom plate openings arranged to lie above the top tube sheet and the plurality of reactor tubes;
a top plate disposed above said bottom plate,
wherein said top plate defines a plurality of top plate openings corresponding to said bottom plate openings;
a plurality of conduits, each of said conduits extending from one of said top plate openings to a corresponding one of said bottom plate openings;
a reciprocating plate mounted on top of said top plate, said reciprocating plate defining a plurality of reciprocating plate openings corresponding to said top plate openings;
a reciprocating actuator connected to said reciprocating plate for moving said reciprocating plate back and forth across said top plate; and
a charging cassette resting atop said reciprocating plate for movement with said reciprocating plate,
wherein said reciprocating plate moves openings back and forth under the charging cassette to mete out pelletsand
wherein the portable pellet loading device is supported atop the top tube sheet at a first elevation.
Further regarding Claims 1 and 9, Examiner treats the present claim set in accordance with the above interpretation in the interests of compact prosecution. However, the sum aggregate of the issues identified in the above paragraphs render the scope of the claims unclear. Correction/amendment is required.
Further regarding Claims 2-8 and 10-12, these claims depend upon Claims 1-9, and therefore suffer the same deficiencies.
Allowable Subject Matter
Examiner reserves final comments on patentability pending resolution of the objections and rejections as identified above.
However, the Examiner concludes that the subject matter, as interpreted above for the independent claims, would be novel over the prior art.
Red, Jr. (US 3,913,806 A) is the closest prior art of record. However, Red, Jr. is silent on these above recited features. Furthermore, it would not have been obvious to modify Red, Jr. to arrive at these above recited features without improper hindsight reasoning. In addition, amending Red, Jr. to include the above recited features would improperly change the principle of operation of Red, Jr.
Specifically, the Red, Jr. reference teaches a portable pellet loading device (“apparatus A”) for loading pellets into a chemical reactor having a top tube sheet and a plurality of reactor tubes extending downwardly from the top tube sheet (See Fig 1 and at least Col 1, line 63-Col 2, line 17: “The apparatus A is preferably employed in loading a plurality of vertical tubes T of process reactor vessels (not illustrated) having an upper substantially horizontal tubesheet S”), the portable pellet loading device comprising:
- a bottom plate (base number 11) disposed above and proximate the top tube sheet (tubesheet S),
said bottom plate defining (11) a plurality of bottom plate openings (Figs. 2-3, “discharge openings or outlets 64”) arranged to lie above the top tube sheet and the plurality of reactor tubes (see at least Fig. 1);
- a top plate (moveable loading tray 18) disposed above said bottom plate,
wherein said top plate (18) defines a plurality of top plate openings (Fig 4, bore 13) corresponding to said bottom plate openings (64);
- a plurality of conduits (tubular members 12, 12a, 12b, etc.), each of said conduits extending from one of said top plate openings (13) to a corresponding one of said bottom plate openings (64);
- wherein the portable pellet loading device (A) is supported atop the top tube sheet at a first elevation (see at least Fig 1).
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However, the Red, Jr. reference is silent on the remaining requirements of the independent claims, namely a reciprocating plate mounted on top of said top plate, said reciprocating plate defining a plurality of reciprocating plate openings corresponding to said top plate openings; a reciprocating actuator connected to said reciprocating plate for moving said reciprocating plate back and forth across said top plate; and a charging cassette resting atop said reciprocating plate for movement with said reciprocating plate, wherein said reciprocating plate moves openings back and forth under the charging cassette to mete out pellets.
Examiner concludes that modifying Red Jr. to arrive at the claimed configuration would amount to impermissible hindsight, there being no apparent reason to modify the apparatus of Red, Jr.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
- US 2011/0283666 A, assigned to Applicant, teaches a pellet loading device featuring a top plate (tray 26) and a plurality of tubes (16), but does not teach the other components of the claimed invention. The Examiner recognizes that the present application could be an improvement upon or designed to work with the apparatus of ‘3666A and/or other similar disclosures of Applicant.
- US 2016/0220974 A1 teaches a pellet loading device featuring a top plate (storage trough 2), bottom plate (8) and loading columns (4), but does not teach the other components of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER M AFFUL whose telephone number is (571)272-8421. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday: 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
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, Craig Schneider can be reached at 5712723607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER M AFFUL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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