DETAILED ACTION
Continuation Reissue Application
The instant reissue application is a continuation reissue of earlier reissue Application No. 17/465,676 and, thus, is a second application for reissue of US Patent No. 10,400,635 B2. See MPEP 1451, 35 USC 251(b), and 37 CFR 1.177.
Prosecution of earlier reissue Application No. 17/465,676 concluded with the issuance of US Reissued Patent No. RE50,731 E on January 6, 2026.
Maintenance Fees
MPEP 2504 explains that, for maintenance fees due on or after January 16, 2018, separate maintenance fees must be paid in:
Each reissued patent in force on (i.e., issued before) the maintenance fee due date. This includes all reissued patents that replace the same original patent.
An original patent that is not surrendered because one or more applications for reissue of that original patent are still pending on the maintenance fee due date.
USPTO records show that the four-year maintenance fee has been timely filed and, thus, maintenance fee payments are up to date for original US Patent No. 10,400,635 B2. No maintenance fee is yet due for US Reissued Patent No. RE50,731 E.
Status of Submission
This Office action is responsive to the amendment filed on January 5, 2026, which has been entered.
Claims Subject to Examination
New reissue claims 18-28 are subject to examination. Patent claims 1-17 are canceled.
Filing Receipt
The Filing Receipt issued on January 9, 2026 identifies incomplete domestic benefit data because it fails to list Provisional Application No. 61/817,862. Applicant is encouraged to file a request for a corrected filing receipt in order to have the Office of Patent Application Processing (OPAP) correct the domestic benefit data as shown below:
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Objections to Amendments – Formalities
The amendments to the specification filed on January 5, 2026 are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.173(b)(1),(d) and (g). Changes to the specification must be made by submission of the entire text of any added or rewritten paragraph. The precise point in the specification where any added or rewritten paragraph is located must be identified. Each added or rewritten paragraph must show all changes made relative to the patent specification in effect as of the filing date of the reissue application, with matter to be omitted by reissue enclosed in single brackets, and with matter to be added by reissue underlined.
The amendments to the specification are improper because:
They fail to identify the precise point in the specification where the rewritten paragraph is located (i.e., col. 1, lines 7-20).
They include brackets that are improperly underlined. Brackets are for omitted text. Underlining is for added text.
They omit and re-add the same text (i.e., “Aug. 4, 2015”).
The amendments to the specification filed on January 5, 2026 are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.177(a). If applicant files more than one application for the reissue of a single patent, each such application must contain or be amended to contain in the first sentence of the specification a notice stating that more than one reissue application has been filed and identifying each of the reissue applications by relationship, application number and filing date.
The amendments to the specification are improper because the notice required by 37 CFR 1.177(a) appears at the end of the first paragraph of the specification rather than as the first sentence of the specification.
Applicant is required to place the amendments into compliance with 37 CFR 1.173(a)-(g) and 37 CFR 1.177(a) in response to this Office action.
Original Disclosure – Definition
The instant application seeks reissue of US Patent No. 10,400,635 B2, which issued from US Application No. 15/658,705, which was a continuation of US Application No. 14/765,735, which was the national stage of International Application No. PCT/US2014/014965. The “original disclosure” is the disclosure of International Application No. PCT/US2014/014965 as filed on February 5, 2014. Any subject matter added to the disclosure (including the claims) during the examination of the instant reissue application or during the earlier-concluded examination of any one of US Application No. 15/658,705, US Application No. 14/765,735 and International Application No. PCT/US2014/014965 does not constitute a part of the “original disclosure”.
Prohibition of New Matter
35 USC 132(a) states, in part, that “No amendment shall introduce new matter into the disclosure of the invention.”
35 USC 251(a) states, in part, that “No new matter shall be introduced into the application for reissue.”
PCT Article 19(2) states that “The amendments shall not go beyond the disclosure in the international application as filed”.
Objections to Amendments – New Matter
The amendment filed in the instant application on January 5, 2026 is objected to under 35 USC 132(a) and 35 USC 251(a) because it improperly introduces new matter for the following reasons.
New claim 18 requires “wherein the organic refrigerant is heated from a liquid phase to at least one of a gaseous phase or a superheated vapor in the high-pressure zone” (ll. 4-6). Further, both new claims 18 and 21 refer to “the at least one of the gaseous phase or the superheated vapor” (claim 18, ll. 16-17; claim 21, l. 3). The original disclosure states that the high-pressure zone contains a first portion of the organic refrigerant in at least a gaseous phase (col. 4, ll. 3-5) and further states that the high-pressure vapor enhancer ensures that the organic refrigerant is flashed to a superheated vapor (col. 7, ll. 59-61). However, the original disclosure fails to provide support for the organic refrigerant being heated to at least one of a gaseous phase or a superheated vapor, which encompasses heating of the refrigerant to both a gaseous phase and a superheated vapor, and which distinguishes between (rather than equating) a gaseous phase and a superheated vapor.
For these reasons, the amendment filed in the instant application on January 5, 2026 violates the prohibition of new matter under both 35 USC 132(a) and 35 USC 251(a).
Applicant is required to cancel the new matter in response to this Office action.
Reissue Oath/Declaration
The reissue declaration filed on January 5, 2026 is defective because it fails to specifically and properly identify at least one error which is relied upon to support the reissue application. See 37 CFR 1.175 and MPEP 1414-1414.01.
As required by 37 CFR 1.175(a), the reissue oath/declaration must specifically identify at least one error pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 251 being relied upon as the basis for reissue. In identifying the error, it is sufficient that the reissue oath/declaration identify a single word, phrase, or expression in the specification or in an original claim, and how it renders the original patent wholly or partly inoperative or invalid. It is not sufficient to merely state that applicant seeks to broaden or narrow the scope of a patent claim. Further, a statement in the reissue oath/declaration of “…failure to include a claim directed to…” and then reciting all the limitations of a newly added claim would not be considered a sufficient error statement because applicant has not pointed out what the other claims lacked that the newly added claim has, or vice versa.
The reissue declaration (i.e., Form PTO/AIA /05) filed in the instant application on January 5, 2026 is defective because:
It cites the same errors in patent claim 1 that were cited in the reissue declaration filed in earlier reissue Application No. 17/465,676 and, thus, corrected by earlier Reissued Patent No. RE50,731 E. If the same error corrected in the parent reissue application is also being corrected in the continuation reissue application, but the error is being corrected in a different way, a statement is needed to explain compliance with 37 CFR 1.175(f)(2). See MPEP 1414, subsection II(D).
It cites specific limitations in patent claim 1 and refers to “similar elements in claim 10”. However, patent claim 10 does not recite such similar elements. It appears that this is intended to be a reference to patent claim 12.
It twice refers to new independent claims 18 and 21 of the instant application. However, the instant application does not include a new independent claim 21. Only new claim 18 is independent.
It states that claims 18-26 of earlier reissue Application No. 17/465,676 recited a high-pressure vapor enhancer. However, claim 26 of the earlier application did not recite a high-pressure vapor enhancer.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 251
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 251:
(a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any patent is, through error, deemed wholly or partly inoperative or invalid, by reason of a defective specification or drawing, or by reason of the patentee claiming more or less than he had a right to claim in the patent, the Director shall, on the surrender of such patent and the payment of the fee required by law, reissue the patent for the invention disclosed in the original patent, and in accordance with a new and amended application, for the unexpired part of the term of the original patent. No new matter shall be introduced into the application for reissue.
(b) MULTIPLE REISSUED PATENTS.—The Director may issue several reissued patents for distinct and separate parts of the thing patented, upon demand of the applicant, and upon payment of the required fee for a reissue for each of such reissued patents.
(c) APPLICABILITY OF THIS TITLE.—The provisions of this title relating to applications for patent shall be applicable to applications for reissue of a patent, except that application for reissue may be made and sworn to by the assignee of the entire interest if the application does not seek to enlarge the scope of the claims of the original patent or the application for the original patent was filed by the assignee of the entire interest.
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(d) REISSUE PATENT ENLARGING SCOPE OF CLAIMS. No reissued patent shall be granted enlarging the scope of the claims of the original patent unless applied for within two years from the grant of the original patent.
GROUND 1: Claims 18-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 251 as being based upon a defective reissue oath/declaration. See 37 CFR 1.175. The nature of the defect(s) in the reissue oath/declaration is explained above.
GROUND 2: Claims 18-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 251 as being based upon new matter added to the patent for which reissue is sought. See the explanation above. Claims 19, 20 and 22-28 are included in the rejection because of their dependencies.
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.
GROUND 3: Claims 18-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement because these claims recite new matter. See the explanation above. Claims 19, 20 and 22-28 are included in the rejection because of their dependencies.
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.
GROUND 4: Claims 18-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 18 requires “wherein the organic refrigerant is heated from a liquid phase to at least one of a gaseous phase or a superheated vapor in the high-pressure zone” (ll. 4-6). However, claim 18 fails to recite the structure necessary for heating the organic refrigerant. As a result, claim 18 is incomplete for omitting an essential element, such omission amounting to a gap between the elements. See MPEP 2172.01.
Claims 19-28 are included in the rejection because of their dependencies.
Suggested Amendments
In order to overcome GROUNDS 2-4 above, the examiner suggests the following amendments:
In claim 18, change “zone, wherein the organic” (l. 4) to “zone;”
In claim 18, replace lines 5-6 with an indented limitation reading “a heat exchanger in the high-pressure zone for heating the organic refrigerant from a liquid phase to a superheated vapor;”
In claim 18, change “the at least one of the gaseous phase or the superheated vapor” (ll. 16-17) to “the superheated vapor”.
In claim 21, change “the at least one of the gaseous phase or the superheated vapor” (l. 3) to “the superheated vapor”.
Effective Filing Date
The present application claims priority to US Application No. 14/765,735 and International Application No. PCT/US2014/014965. With the exception of the new matter identified above, this application is entitled to such priority because US Application No. 14/765,735 and International Application No. PCT/US2014/014965 provide support for the invention claimed in this application in the manner required by 35 U.S.C. 112(a).
The present application claims priority to US Provisional Application Nos. 61/761,115, 61/817,862 and 61/841,610. However, this application is not entitled to such priority because the prior provisional applications do not provide support for the invention claimed in this application in the manner required by 35 U.S.C. 112(a).
Accordingly, the effective filing date of claims 18-28 of this application is February 5, 2014, i.e., the filing date of International Application No. PCT/US2014/014965.
Claim Construction
During examination, the pending claims are normally interpreted according to the broadest reasonable interpretation standard (hereinafter, the “BRI standard”). That is, claims are given their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification, and limitations in the specification are not read into the claims. See MPEP 2111 et seq.
An exception to the BRI standard occurs when the applicant acts as their own lexicographer. For this exception to apply, the applicant must clearly set forth a special definition of a claim term in the specification that differs from the plain and ordinary meaning it would otherwise possess. See MPEP 2111.01, subsection IV.
Another exception or special case occurs when a claim recites a means-plus-function limitation that must be interpreted in accordance with 35 USC 112 ¶ 6, or 35 USC 112(f). See MPEP 2181. According to the guidance provided by Williamson v. Citrix Online, LLC, 792 F.3d 1339 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (en banc), 35 USC 112 ¶ 6 applies when the claim term fails to recite (i) sufficiently definite structure, and/or (ii) sufficient structure for performing the claimed function.
The current claim limitations are construed under the BRI standard. No explicit claim construction is deemed to be necessary.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
GROUND 5: Claims 18-28 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 18-24 of US Reissued Patent No. RE50,731 E.
Claims 18-28 of the instant application are broader versions of claims 18-28 of US Reissued Patent No. RE50,731 E because claim 18-28 of the instant application recite many of the same limitations found in claims 18-28 of US Reissued Patent No. RE50,731 E, but:
Claims 18, 19 and 21-28 of the instant application are not limited to heating the organic refrigerant to a superheated vapor but more broadly require that it be heated to at least gaseous phase.
Claims 18-20 and 23-28 of the instant application do not require a high-pressure vapor enhancer for heating the organic refrigerant.
Claims 18-21 and 23-28 of the instant application do not require that the refrigerant holding tank is positioned between the high-pressure vapor enhancer and the positive-displacement pump.
The omission of one or more limitations (i.e., the additional limitations required by claims 18-24 of US Reissued Patent No. RE50,731 E) with the consequent loss of their function is recognized to be within the level of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, claims 18-28 of the instant application are not patentably distinct from claims 18-24 of US Reissued Patent No. RE50,731 E.
Listing of Prior Art
The following is a listing of the prior art cited in this Office action together with the shorthand reference used for each document (listed alphabetically):
“Adachi et al.”
JP Publication No. 2012-225177 A (with translation)
“Ast et al.”
US Publication No. 2010/0034684 A1
“Carter”
US Publication No. 2010/0058755 A1
“Hanna et al.”
US Publication No. 2003/0029169 A1
“Hirano et al.”
JP Publication No. 2012-202369 A (with translation)
“Inaba et al.”
US Publication No. 2006/0080985 A1
“Langson”
US Publication No. 2006/0236698 A1
“Matsuo et al.”
JP Publication No. 2005-345084 A (with translation)
“Matteson et al.”
US Publication No. 2011/0005237 A1
“Meng et al.”
US Publication No. 2012/0291433 A1
“Mun et al.”
KR Publication No. 2013-0065955 A (with translation)
“Romanelli”
US Publication No. 2003/0070431 A1
“Tsuchino et al.”
US Publication No. 2011/0167818 A1
“Uchimura et al.”
JP Publication No. 2006-283675 A (with translation)
“Van Den Bossche et al.”
US Publication No. 2010/0194111 A1
“Yamada et al.”
US Publication No. 2013/0008165 A1
Pertinent Prior Art
The following prior art is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Adachi et al. teaches a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle and comprising a closed-loop path that includes: (i) a refrigerant pump 6 pumping refrigerant in a liquid phase and pressurizing it; (ii) an evaporator 2 supplied with pressurized refrigerant by the pump 6 and having a heat exchanger that supplies heat from a hot water heat source to the refrigerant to vaporize the refrigerant to a gaseous phase; (iii) an expander (i.e., decompressor) 4 supplied with vaporized refrigerant by the evaporator 2 such that the pressure of the refrigerant in the gaseous phase drops from a higher pressure to a lower pressure as it moves through the decompressor 4 to thereby convert the thermal energy of the refrigerant into mechanical energy via rotary motion of the decompressor 4; and (iv) a condenser 5 supplied with refrigerant by the decompressor 4 and having a heat exchanger that transfers heat from the refrigerant to a cool water heat sink to convert the refrigerant from the gaseous phase back to the liquid phase for subsequent circulation by the pump 6. See Fig. 1; ¶¶ 0001-0003, 0013-0018.1 The pump 6 may be a positive-displacement pump, and that the liquid level of the organic refrigerant in the evaporator 2 can be kept constant by controlling the speed of the pump 6 such that the heat energy of the organic refrigerant supplied to the decompressor 4 is kept constant. See ¶ 0018.
Ast et al. teaches an oil separator 22 for a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle.
Carter teaches a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle including first and second orbital scroll expanders (i.e., positive displacement decompressors) 30, 40. The engine also includes a reservoir (i.e., holding tank) 23 for temporarily holding the working fluid.
Hanna et al. teaches a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle including an orbital scroll expander (i.e., positive displacement decompressor) 101. In the embodiment of Fig. 3, the evaporator 304 includes a holding tank having a lower portion with a larger cross-sectional area than an upper portion thereof.
Hirano et al. teaches a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle including an evaporator 4 comprising evaporator tubes 410 provided with heat exchange fins 433. See Figs. 1-4 and 7-9; ¶¶ 0018-0025, 0035-0036.2 Thus, Hirano et al. teaches that it was known to provide such a heat engine with an evaporator comprising a fin-tube heat exchanger.
Inaba et al. teaches a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle including a gas-liquid separator 230 that functions as a holding tank for temporarily holding the organic refrigerant.
Langson teaches a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle and comprising a closed-loop path that includes: (i) a refrigerant holding tank(s) 40, 62; (ii) a refrigerant pump 52 drawing refrigerant in a liquid phase from the tank(s) 40, 62 and pressurizing it; (iii) an evaporator 30, 48 supplied with pressurized refrigerant by the pump 52 and having a heat exchanger 36 that supplies heat from a hot water heat source 34, 44 to the refrigerant to vaporize the refrigerant to a gaseous phase; (iv) an expander (i.e., decompressor) 18, 56 supplied with vaporized refrigerant by the evaporator 30, 48 such that the pressure of the refrigerant in the gaseous phase drops from a higher pressure to a lower pressure as it moves through the decompressor 18, 56 to thereby convert the thermal energy of the refrigerant into mechanical energy via rotary motion of the decompressor 18, 56; and (v) a condenser 22, 60 supplied with refrigerant by the decompressor 18, 56 and having a heat exchanger 24 that transfers heat from the refrigerant to a heat sink (air or water) 26 to convert the refrigerant from the gaseous phase back to the liquid phase for storage in the tank(s) 40, 62 and subsequent circulation by the pump 52. See Figs. 2 and 3; ¶¶ 0010, 0021-0030, 0032-0033. The refrigerant circulated through the closed-loop path is an organic refrigerant—such as R-124 or R-245—with a relatively low boiling point and capable of generating a high pressure when heated by the heat source 34, 44 to a relatively low temperature of about 140° F (60 ° C) to 300° F (149° C). See ¶¶ 0010, 0022, 0024, 0028. The expander (i.e., decompressor) 56 is an orbital scroll expander (i.e., positive displacement decompressor) 74 having a fixed scroll 80 and an orbital scroll 82. See Figs. 3 and 4; ¶¶ 0030, 0034.
Matsuo et al. discloses a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle and comprising a closed-loop path 33 that includes: (i) a refrigerant pump 280 pumping refrigerant in a liquid phase and pressurizing it; (ii) a refrigerant holding tank 285 receiving and temporarily holding the pressurized refrigerant supplied by the pump 280; (iii) an evaporator 210 supplied with pressurized refrigerant by the tank 285 and comprising a heat exchanger that supplies heat from heat sources 110, 150 to the refrigerant to vaporize the refrigerant to a gaseous phase; (iv) a turbine 240 supplied with vaporized refrigerant by the evaporator 210 such that the pressure of the refrigerant in the gaseous phase drops from a higher pressure to a lower pressure as it moves through the turbine 240 to thereby convert the thermal energy of the refrigerant into mechanical energy via rotary motion of the turbine 240; and (v) a condenser 260 supplied with refrigerant by the turbine 240 and having a heat exchanger that transfers heat from the refrigerant to a heat sink to convert the refrigerant from the gaseous phase back to the liquid phase for subsequent circulation by the pump 280. See Figs. 1-5 and 8; ¶¶ 0017, 0019, 0023, 0026, 0034-0037.3 The refrigerant circulated through the closed-loop path is an organic refrigerant—such as R-134a with a low boiling point4 and capable of generating a relatively high pressure when heated by the heat source 110 at a temperature of 85° C and when further heated by the heat source 115 such that the vaporized refrigerant enters the turbine 240 at a temperature of 80° C. See Fig. 3; ¶¶ 0026, 0043-0047. Thus, Matsuo et al. establishes that it was known to position the refrigerant pump 280 between the refrigerant tank 285 and the condenser 260.
Matteson et al. teaches a lubricating oil system for a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle, which oil system includes first and second oil separators 62, 64.
Meng et al. teaches a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle and comprising a closed-loop path 33 that includes: (i) a refrigerant pump 39 pumping refrigerant in a liquid phase and pressurizing it; (ii) an evaporator 32 supplied with pressurized refrigerant by the pump 39 and comprising a heat exchanger that supplies heat from a hot water heat source 21, 28 to the refrigerant to vaporize the refrigerant to a gaseous phase; (iii) a turbine 31 supplied with vaporized refrigerant by the evaporator 32 such that the pressure of the refrigerant in the gaseous phase drops from a higher pressure to a lower pressure as it moves through the turbine 31 to thereby convert the thermal energy of the refrigerant into mechanical energy via rotary motion of the turbine 31; and (iv) a condenser 34 supplied with refrigerant by the turbine 31 and having a heat exchanger that transfers heat from the refrigerant to a cool water heat sink to convert the refrigerant from the gaseous phase back to the liquid phase for subsequent circulation by the pump 39. See Figs. 1 and 2a; ¶¶ 0020-0021, 0107-0111.
In Meng et al., the refrigerant circulated through the closed-loop path is an organic refrigerant—such as R-32 with a low boiling point of ˗51.7° C and capable of generating a high pressure of 53.4 atm (54.1 bar) when heated by the hot water heat source 21, 28 to a relatively low temperature of about 75° C and dropping to a low pressure of 14.5 atm (14.7 bar) when expanded by the turbine 31. See Figs. 2a and 4; ¶¶ 0020, 0111, 0114. Other organic refrigerants can be used that have a very low boiling point (below ˗ 35° C) and that are capable of generating high pressure when heated to a relatively low temperature of 30° C to 80° C. See ¶¶ 0062-0106 (including TABLE 1). Meng et al. specifically teaches that such organic refrigerants are well-known alternatives to R-134a (listed in ¶ 0069 and TABLE 1 of Meng et al.).
Mun et al. teaches a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle and comprising a closed-loop path that includes: (i) a refrigerant holding tank 800; (ii) a refrigerant pump 900 drawing refrigerant in a liquid phase from the tank 800 and pressurizing it; (iii) an evaporator 400 supplied with pressurized refrigerant by the pump 900 and having a heat exchanger that supplies heat from a hot water heat source 200, 300 to the refrigerant to vaporize the refrigerant to a gaseous phase; (iv) an expander (i.e., decompressor) 600 supplied with vaporized refrigerant by the evaporator 400 such that the pressure of the refrigerant in the gaseous phase drops from a higher pressure to a lower pressure as it moves through the decompressor 600 to thereby convert the thermal energy of the refrigerant into mechanical energy (i.e., extract mechanical energy) via rotary motion of the decompressor 600; and (v) a condenser 700 supplied with refrigerant by the decompressor 600 and having a heat exchanger that transfers heat from the refrigerant to a cool water heat sink 702 to convert the refrigerant from the gaseous phase back to the liquid phase for storage in the tank 800 and subsequent circulation by the pump 900. See Fig. 1; ¶¶ 0022-0024, 0027-0034, 0037-0039, 0055-0058.5 The refrigerant circulated through the closed-loop path is an organic refrigerant—such as R-134a—with a low boiling point6 and capable of generating a high pressure when heated by the hot water heat source 200, 300 to a relatively low temperature of about 70° C to 90° C. See ¶¶ 0024, 0032, 0037. The expander (i.e., decompressor) 600 is an orbital scroll expander (i.e., positive displacement decompressor) having a fixed scroll 620 and an orbital scroll 630. See Figs. 2-6; ¶¶ 0040-0043.
Romanelli teaches a heat engine configured to operate a thermodynamic cycle and comprising a closed-loop path including a refrigerant vessel 2, a turbine or other decompressor 12, a refrigerant pump 14, and a condenser 16 interconnected by piping 11, 13, 18 to form a hermetically sealed system. See Fig. 1; ¶¶ 0031, 0040-0042. An organic refrigerant with a low boiling point and capable of generating a high pressure when heated to a temperature well below the boiling point of water—such as AZ-207 with a boiling point of ˗62.9° F (˗52.7° C) that generates a pressure over 600 psi (41.4 bar) when heated to 150° F (65.6° C)—is circulated through the closed-loop path. See ¶¶ 0031-0038, 0041-0042. While use of AZ-20 is preferred, other possible refrigerants are identified in ¶¶ 0034-0035. The refrigerant pump 14 urges the refrigerant (e.g., AZ-20) in a gaseous phase into an upper portion of the condenser 16. See Fig. 1; ¶ 0042. A heat exchanger 4 supplies heat from a heat source 6 to the refrigerant in the liquid phase within the vessel 2, thereby vaporizing the refrigerant to the gaseous phase and further increasing its pressure to a second higher pressure upstream of the turbine or other decompressor 12. See Fig. 1; ¶¶ 0041-0042. The pressure of the refrigerant in the gaseous phase drops from the second higher pressure to a lower pressure as it moves through the turbine or other decompressor 12 to thereby convert the thermal energy of the refrigerant into mechanical energy via rotary motion of the turbine or other decompressor. See Fig. 1; See ¶¶ 0013, 0015, 0042, 0049. As shown in Fig. 1, a lower portion of the vessel 2 has a larger cross-sectional area than an upper portion thereof.
Tsuchino et al. teaches a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle including a holding tank 12 for holding the organic refrigerant.
Uchimura et al. teaches a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle and comprising a closed-loop path that includes: (i) a refrigerant pump 16 pumping refrigerant in a liquid phase and pressurizing it; (ii) an evaporator 11 supplied with pressurized refrigerant by the pump 16 and comprising a heat exchanger that supplies heat from a hot water heat source 101 to the refrigerant to vaporize the refrigerant to a gaseous phase; (iii) a turbine or alternatively an orbital scroll expander (i.e., positive displacement decompressor) 13 supplied with vaporized refrigerant by the evaporator 11 such that the pressure of the refrigerant in the gaseous phase drops from a higher pressure to a lower pressure as it moves through the decompressor 13 to thereby convert the thermal energy of the refrigerant into mechanical energy via rotary motion of the decompressor 13; and (iv) a condenser 15 supplied with refrigerant by the decompressor 13 and having a heat exchanger that transfers heat from the refrigerant to a cool water heat sink 104 to convert the refrigerant from the gaseous phase back to the liquid phase for subsequent circulation by the pump 16. See Fig. 1; ¶¶ 0023-0024, 0026.8 The refrigerant circulated through the closed-loop path is an organic refrigerant—such as HFC-123 (trifluoroethanol) with a low boiling point and capable of generating a relatively high pressure when heated by the hot water heat source 101 to a relatively low temperature of about 60° C to 100° C. See ¶¶ 0002, 0023, 0025. An electrical generator 12 is driven by the decompressor 13. See Fig. 1; ¶¶ 0023, 0025-0026.
Uchimura et al. further teaches an oil system comprising: (i) an oil pump 20 that draws oil from an oil tank 21 and supplies it to bearings 18, 19 within a housing-like structure 14 containing the decompressor 13 and the generator 12; (ii) an oil temperature regulator 25 that receives the oil from the pump 20 and heats (or cools) the oil to maintain a desired oil temperature; (iii) oil trays 22, 23 within the housing-like structure 14 that collect some of the oil and return it to the oil tank 21 while the rest of the oil mixes (necessarily but not desirably) with the organic refrigerant within the decompressor 13 and is at least partially circulated in the closed-loop path; (iii) a gas-liquid separator 34 and an associated first oil separator 37 downstream of the evaporator 11 for separating at least a portion of the oil from the organic refrigerant in the gaseous phase and for returning the separated oil to the oil tank 21 via a return line 38; and (iv) a second oil separator 60, 70 within the oil tank 21 and connected in series with the first oil separator 37 via the return line 38, with the second oil separator functioning to cool the oil while separating at least a portion of the oil from the organic refrigerant in the gaseous phase. See Figs. 1-3; ¶¶ 0003, 0006, 0027-0038. The oil temperature regulator 25 inherently includes some type of reservoir within which the oil is heated (or cooled) to maintain the desired oil temperature. Further, the housing-like structure 14 and/or the oil trays 22, 23 form a reservoir within which the oil is inherently heated by friction as well as by heat produced by operation of the decompressor 13 and generator 12.
Van Den Bossche et al. teaches a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle including a positive displacement orbital scroll expander (i.e., decompressor) 5a and a positive displacement refrigerant pump 5c that are housed in a gas tight enclosure 5.
Yamada et al. teaches a heat engine configured to operate an organic Rankine cycle and comprising a closed-loop path that includes: (i) first and second refrigerant pumps 6, 17 pumping refrigerant in a liquid phase and pressurizing it for passage through an internal combustion engine (ICE) 1; (ii) a superheater 8 supplied with pressurized refrigerant in the liquid phase by a gas-liquid separator downstream of the ICE 1, with the superheater 8 comprising a heat exchanger that supplies heat from a heat source (i.e., the exhaust manifold of the ICE 1) to the refrigerant to vaporize the refrigerant to a gaseous phase; (iii) a turbine 10 supplied with vaporized refrigerant by the superheater 8 such that the pressure of the refrigerant in the gaseous phase drops from a higher pressure to a lower pressure as it moves through the turbine 10 to thereby convert the thermal energy of the refrigerant into mechanical energy via rotary motion of the turbine 10; (iv) a condenser 12 supplied with refrigerant by the turbine 10 and having a heat exchanger (including fan 13) that transfers heat from the refrigerant to a heat sink (i.e., forced air) to convert the refrigerant from the gaseous phase back to the liquid phase; and (v) a refrigerant tank receiving condensed refrigerant from the condenser 12 for subsequent circulation by the pumps 6, 17. As shown in Fig. 1, the condenser 12 is connected to the tank 14 with the condenser 12 being an upper member having a smaller cross-sectional area and with the tank 14 being a lower member having a larger cross-sectional area. As also shown in Fig. 1, a lower portion 8a of the superheater 8 has a larger cross-sectional area than an upper portion 8b thereof.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18-28 would be allowable if (i) claims 18 and 21 are rewritten to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 251 and 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and (b) set forth in this Office action, (ii) the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 251 based on a defective reissue declaration is overcome, and (iii) the double patenting rejection is overcome.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record fails to teach a heat engine including the combination of features required by claim 18, and specifically including all of:
A refrigerant holding tank in the high-pressure zone in operable communication with the positive-displacement pump.
A lower portion of the refrigerant holding tank having a larger cross-sectional area than an upper portion thereof.
A vapor expansion chamber connected to an expansion chamber extension in the low-pressure zone.
A sub-cooling coil within the expansion chamber extension configured to begin condensing the organic refrigerant to a liquid phase in the low-pressure zone.
A refrigerant cooling heat exchanger configured to (i) receive the organic refrigerant from the expansion chamber extension, and (ii) continue condensing the organic refrigerant to the liquid phase in the low-pressure zone with a heat sink.
The positive-displacement pump is between the refrigerant holding tank and the refrigerant cooling heat exchanger.
Specification
The patent specification is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See MPEP 608.01(o). Specifically, the patent specification fails to include/describe the following claimed subject matter:
“a lower portion of the refrigerant holding tank having a larger cross-sectional area than an upper portion thereof” (claim 18, ll. 23-25).
“the positive-displacement pump is between the refrigerant holding tank and the refrigerant cooling heat exchanger” (claim 18, ll. 25-26).
Correction is required.
The specification is objected to because:
At col. 6, ll. 1, 5 and 9, the acronym “HEDC” appears, but this acronym is not defined in the specification.
At col. 6, ll. 16 and 33, “FIG. 1” is inaccurate. Pursuant to 37 CFR 1.84(u)(1), the patent’s lone drawing figure is not numbered and the abbreviation “FIG.” does not appear.
At col. 7, l. 40, “FIG. 1” is inaccurate.
At col. 7, l. 42, “eccentrically shaped” does not accurately describe the member 123 as illustrated in the lone drawing figure. It is noted that the term “eccentric” means not placed centrally or not having its axis or other part placed centrally. In contrast, element 123 is illustrated as having a shape that is symmetrical with respect to a central vertical axis.
At col. 8, ll. 11 and 54, “FIG. 1” is inaccurate.
At col. 8, ll. 55-56, “eccentrically shaped” does not accurately describe the member 181 as illustrated in the lone drawing figure. It is noted that the term “eccentric” means not placed centrally or not having its axis or other part placed centrally. In contrast, element 181 is illustrated as having a shape that is symmetrical with respect to a central vertical axis.
At col. 8, l. 62, “fist sub-cooling coil 183 join” should read “[fist] first sub-cooling coil 183 [join] joins”.
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Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
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Applicant is notified that any subsequent amendment to the specification, claims or drawings must comply with 37 CFR 1.173(b)-(g).
Failure to fully comply with 37 CFR 1.173(b)-(g) will generally result in a notification to applicant that an amendment before final rejection is not completely responsive. Such an amendment after final rejection will not be entered.
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Applicant is reminded of the continuing obligation under 37 CFR 1.178(b), to timely apprise the Office of any prior or concurrent proceed-ing in which the patent for which reissue is sought is or was involved. These proceedings would include interferences, reissues, reexaminations, and litigation.
Applicant is further reminded of the continuing obligation under 37 CFR 1.56, to timely apprise the Office of any information which is mate-rial to patentability of the claims under consideration in this reissue appli-cation.
These obligations rest with each individual associated with the filing and prosecution of this application for reissue. See also MPEP 1404, 1442.01 and 1442.04.
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By Patent Center9: Registered users may submit via the Patent Center at: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eileen Lillis, can be reached at 571-272-6928.
/PETER C ENGLISH/Reexamination Specialist, Art Unit 3993
Conferees: /WILLIAM E DONDERO/ Reexamination Specialist, Art Unit 3993
/EILEEN D LILLIS/SPRS, Art Unit 3993
1 All citations are to the English translation.
2 All citations are to the English translation.
3 All citations are to the English translation.
4 R-134a has a known boiling point of about ˗26° C.
5 All citations are to the English translation.
6 R-134a has a known boiling point of about ˗26° C.
7 AZ-20 is another name for R-410A organic refrigerant.
8 All citations are to the English translation.
9 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).
10 Mail Stop REISSUE should only be used for the initial filing of reissue applications, and should not be used for any subsequently filed correspondence in reissue applications. See MPEP 1410.
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