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 Objections
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities “wherein comprising” is grammatically incorrect. Appropriate correction is required.
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, 7, 11, 12 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Goetze et al (US PG Pub 2014/0331978).
Claim 1
A system, comprising: an internal combustion engine, comprising at least three piston-cylinder-units configured to combust an air-fuel mixture in a combustion chamber, wherein each of the at least three piston-cylinder-units comprises an intake port and an exhaust port (paragraph [0015]);
an intake system fluidically connected to each intake port of the at least three piston-cylinder-units, wherein the intake system is configured to supply air or air-fuel mixture (paragraph [0020]); and
an exhaust system configured to discharge exhaust gases of combustion of the air-fuel mixture (paragraphs [0015] and [0047]),
wherein the exhaust ports of at least two piston-cylinder-units are fluidically connected to the intake system to recirculate an exhaust gas into the combustion chamber of the at least three piston-cylinder-units and the exhaust system is configured to entirely discharge exhaust gas from one or more remaining piston cylinder-units of the at least three piston-cylinder-units (paragraphs [0017] and [0021], donor cylinders recirculate, non-donor cylinders discharge gas without recirculation)
.
Claim 2
The system of claim 1, wherein the internal combustion engine comprises at least two cylinder banks, wherein the exhaust ports of all piston-cylinder-units of one cylinder bank are fluidically connected to the intake system (paragraph [0043]).
Claim 3
The system of claim 2, wherein the exhaust ports of the piston-cylinder-units of each of the at least two cylinder bank are connected to an exhaust manifold, wherein in each exhaust manifold the exhaust gases of the respective cylinder bank of the corresponding piston-cylinder-units are merged (Paragraph [0021]).
Claim 4
The system of claim 3, wherein one of the exhaust manifolds of the cylinder banks is fluidically connected to the intake system to feed an entire exhaust gas of one cylinder bank to the intake system (paragraph [0043]).
Claim 5
The system of claim 1, wherein a fluid connection between the exhaust ports and the intake system is provided by an exhaust gas recirculation line (EGR passageways 70 and 74, see paragraphs [0026]-[0027]).
Claim 7
The system of claim 5, wherein an exhaust gas recirculation valve is coupled to the exhaust gas recirculation line, wherein a controller is configured to control the exhaust gas recirculation valve to control an amount of exhaust gas fed into the intake system (paragraph [0034]).
Claim 11
The system of claim 1, wherein the exhaust ports of the one or more remaining piston-cylinder-units of the at least three piston-cylinder-units are fluidically connected via an exhaust line to a turbine of a turbocharger unit (paragraph [0021]).
Claim 12
The system of claim 1, wherein the intake system comprises a compressor of a turbocharger unit configured to charge the air or the air-fuel mixture being feed to the at least three piston-cylinder-units (paragraph [0019]).
Claim 17
A system, comprising: an internal combustion engine, comprising a plurality of combustion chambers, wherein each combustion chamber has a piston configured to reciprocate within a cylinder (paragraph [0015]);
an intake system coupled to each of the plurality of combustion chambers (paragraph [0020]);
an exhaust system coupled to each of the plurality of combustion chambers, wherein the exhaust system is configured to: discharge exhaust gas from at least one first combustion chamber of the plurality of combustion chambers; and recirculate exhaust gas from at least one second combustion chamber of the plurality of combustion chambers into one or more of the plurality of combustion chambers via the intake system (paragraph [0021]).
Claim 18
The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one first combustion chamber comprises a first plurality of combustion chambers of a first cylinder bank, and the at least one second combustion chamber comprises a second plurality of combustion chambers of a second cylinder bank (paragraph [0017]).
Claim 19
A method, comprising: discharging an exhaust gas from at least one first combustion chamber of a plurality of combustion chambers via an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine, wherein each combustion chamber has a piston configured to reciprocate within a cylinder; and recirculating the exhaust gas from at least one second combustion chamber of the plurality of combustion chambers into one or more of the plurality of combustion chambers via an intake system (paragraphs [0015] and [0021]).
Claim 20
The method of claim 19, wherein the at least one first combustion chamber comprises a first plurality of combustion chambers of a first cylinder bank, and the at least one second combustion chamber comprises a second plurality of combustion chambers of a second cylinder bank (paragraph [0017]).
Rejection #2
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-14 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zielinski et al. (US 2016/0069286).
Claim 1
A system, comprising: an internal combustion engine, comprising at least three piston-cylinder-units configured to combust an air-fuel mixture in a combustion chamber, wherein each of the at least three piston-cylinder-units comprises an intake port and an exhaust port (paragraphs [0015] and [0017]);
an intake system fluidically connected to each intake port of the at least three piston-cylinder-units, wherein the intake system is configured to supply air or air-fuel mixture (paragraph [0014]);
and an exhaust system configured to discharge exhaust gases of combustion of the air-fuel mixture, wherein the exhaust ports of at least two piston-cylinder-units are fluidically connected to the intake system to recirculate an exhaust gas into the combustion chamber of the at least three piston-cylinder-units and the exhaust system is configured to entirely discharge exhaust gas from one or more remaining piston cylinder-units of the at least three piston-cylinder-units (paragraph [0014], [0017], [0018] and [0031]).
Claim 2
The system of claim 1, wherein the internal combustion engine comprises at least two cylinder banks, wherein the exhaust ports of all piston-cylinder-units of one cylinder bank are fluidically connected to the intake system (paragraph [0017]).
Claim 3
The system of claim 2, wherein the exhaust ports of the piston-cylinder-units of each of the at least two cylinder bank are connected to an exhaust manifold, wherein in each exhaust manifold the exhaust gases of the respective cylinder bank of the corresponding piston-cylinder-units are merged (Paragraph [0017]).
Claim 4
The system of claim 3, wherein one of the exhaust manifolds of the cylinder banks is fluidically connected to the intake system to feed an entire exhaust gas of one cylinder bank to the intake system (paragraph [0017]).
Claim 5
The system of claim 1, wherein a fluid connection between the exhaust ports and the intake system is provided by an exhaust gas recirculation line (EGR passage 162, paragraph [0018]).
Claim 7
The system of claim 5, wherein an exhaust gas recirculation valve is coupled to the exhaust gas recirculation line, wherein a controller is configured to control the exhaust gas recirculation valve to control an amount of exhaust gas fed into the intake system (paragraphs [0020]-[0022]).
Claim 8
The system of claim 7, comprising a connecting line, wherein the exhaust gas recirculation valve is configured to control a surplus amount of exhaust gas via the connecting line into an exhaust line of the exhaust ports of the one or more remaining piston cylinder-units of the at least three piston-cylinder-units (paragraph [0020]).
Claim 9
The system of claim 1, wherein the intake system comprises one central intake manifold fluidically connected via the intake ports to all piston-cylinder-units (paragraph [0014]).
Claim 10
The system of claim 1, wherein intake system comprises an EGR-mixer configured to mix the air or the air-fuel mixture with the recirculated exhaust gas (paragraph [0024]).
Claim 11
The system of claim 1, wherein the exhaust ports of the one or more remaining piston-cylinder-units of the at least three piston-cylinder-units are fluidically connected via an exhaust line to a turbine of a turbocharger unit (paragraph [0018]).
Claim 12
The system of claim 1, wherein the intake system comprises a compressor of a turbocharger unit configured to charge the air or the air-fuel mixture being feed to the at least three piston-cylinder-units (paragraph [0025]).
Claim 13
The system of claim 12, wherein, in a flow direction of the air or the air-fuel mixture, the compressor is arranged upstream of a fluid connection of the exhaust ports of the at least two piston-cylinder-units and the intake system (high pressure EGR gas is routed to a location downstream of the turbochargers in the intake passage, the compressors are upstream of the EGR connection point, paragraphs [0019] and [0024]).
Claim 14
The system of claim 1, wherein comprising a high pressure exhaust gas recirculation system coupled to the internal combustion engine (paragraph [0024]).
Claim 16
The system of claim 1, wherein the internal combustion engine is a stationary internal combustion engine drivingly coupled to a generator to generate electricity (paragraphs [0013] and [0016]).
Claim 17
A system, comprising: an internal combustion engine, comprising a plurality of combustion chambers, wherein each combustion chamber has a piston configured to reciprocate within a cylinder (paragraphs [0015] and [0017]);
an intake system coupled to each of the plurality of combustion chambers (paragraph [0014]);
an exhaust system coupled to each of the plurality of combustion chambers, wherein the exhaust system is configured to: discharge exhaust gas from at least one first combustion chamber of the plurality of combustion chambers; and recirculate exhaust gas from at least one second combustion chamber of the plurality of combustion chambers into one or more of the plurality of combustion chambers via the intake system units (paragraphs [0017], [0018] and [0031]).
Claim 18
The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one first combustion chamber comprises a first plurality of combustion chambers of a first cylinder bank, and the at least one second combustion chamber comprises a second plurality of combustion chambers of a second cylinder bank (paragraph [0031]).
Claim 19
A method, comprising: discharging an exhaust gas from at least one first combustion chamber of a plurality of combustion chambers via an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine, wherein each combustion chamber has a piston configured to reciprocate within a cylinder; and recirculating the exhaust gas from at least one second combustion chamber of the plurality of combustion chambers into one or more of the plurality of combustion chambers via an intake system (paragraph [0031]).
Claim 20
The method of claim 19, wherein the at least one first combustion chamber comprises a first plurality of combustion chambers of a first cylinder bank, and the at least one second combustion chamber comprises a second plurality of combustion chambers of a second cylinder bank (paragraph [0031]).
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) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zielinski as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gingrich (US 2014/0196702).
In re Claims 6, Zielinski does not disclose a hydrogen injector coupled to the exhaust gas recirculation line.
However Gingrich discloses a hydrogen injector coupled to an exhaust gas recirculation line (paragraphs [0030] and [0031]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to modify the system disclosed by Zielinski with the hydrogen injector disclosed by Gingrich in order to improve ignitability (Gingrich, paragraphs [0017]-[0019])
Claim(s) 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zielinski as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Klingbeil et al. (US 2023/0184181).
Zielinski discloses direct injection to each cylinder
a system of claim 1, wherein at least one fuel injector is arranged in each of the piston-cylinder-units (paragraph [0057]), wherein an air-fuel mixture in the combustion chambers is provided by supplying air via the intake system
Zielinski does not disclose supplying a fuel comprising hydrogen via the fuel injectors.
However Klingbeil discloses an engine with an EGR system wherein hydrogen is supplied via direct injection to each cylinder (paragraph [0011])
Therefore it would have been obvious to modify the system disclosed by Zielinski with the hydrogen direct injection disclosed by Klingbeil in order to optimize ignitability of the combustion fuel mixture.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIZO BINDA VILAKAZI whose telephone number is (571)270-3926. The examiner can normally be reached 10am-6pm.
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/SIZO B VILAKAZI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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