Ex Parte Cohen

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Mar 22, 2018

14313854 (P.T.A.B. Mar. 22, 2018)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
14/313,854 06/24/2014 Kenneth J. COHEN
4372 7590 03/26/2018
ARENT FOX LLP
1717 K Street, NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20006-5344
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
031655.00004 3777
EXAMINER
KEBEA, JESSICA L
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
3748
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
03/26/2018 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address( es):
patentdocket@arentfox.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte KENNETH J. COHEN, DAN SCHWEITZER,
and JERILYN SCHWEITZER
Appeal2017-003626
Application 14/313,854
Technology Center 3700
Before STEFAN STAICOVICI, BEVERLY M. BUNTING, and
ARTHUR M. PESLAK, Administrative Patent Judges.
PESLAK, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellants 1 appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner's
decision rejecting claims 16 and 21. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C.
§ 6(b ).
We AFFIRM.
1 Kenneth J. Cohen, Dan Schweitzer, and Jerilyn Schweitzer are the
Applicants pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 1.42 and, according to the Appeal Brief,
Dan Schweitzer and Jerilyn Schweitzer are the real parties in interest. Br. 2.
Appeal2017-003626
Application 14/313,854
THE CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER
Claim 16, reproduced below, is representative of the claimed subject
matter.
16. A combustion engine exhaust driven electrical charger,
the electrical charger comprising:
an exhaust driven turbine;
an electricity generating rotor component coupled to and
driven via the turbine;
and
an electricity generating stator component proximally
located relative to the electricity generating rotor component;
wherein rotational motion of the electricity generating
rotor component produces electrical output via the stator
component; and
wherein the electrical charger operates without an air
intake compressor.
REJECTION
Claims 16 and 21 are rejected as anticipated under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)
by Kawamura (US 4,694,654, issued September 22, 1987).
DISCUSSION
The Examiner finds that Kawamura discloses all the limitations of
claim 16. Final Act. 3. The Examiner specifically finds that Kawamura
discloses an "electrical charger" including exhaust driven turbine 3 that is
not "physically coupled" to Kawamura' s air intake compressor. Id. (citing
Kawamura, Fig. 1 ).
Appellants contend that "Kawamura discloses ' [a] second exhaust
turbine 14 is connected to an outlet end of the first exhaust turbine 3 ...
[and] [a]n air compressor 15 ... has a rotatable shaft directly coupled to a
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Appeal2017-003626
Application 14/313,854
turbine shaft 14c of the second exhaust turbine 14."' Br. 14 (citing
Kawamura 4:54--5:11, Fig. 1). Appellants argue that because "Kawamura
explicitly discloses an electrical charger comprising first and second
turbines operating in conjunction with an air intake compressor ...
Kawamura fails to disclose or suggest at least" the limitation in claim 16
"wherein the electrical charger operates without an air intake
compressor." Id.
The Examiner responds that claim 16 recites "that the electrical
charger operates without an air intake compressor and not that the engine
or an engine exhaust operates without an air intake compressor." Ans. 3.
The Examiner notes that
the preamble of ... claim 16 ... uses the transitional phrase
"comprising" which is open ended ... and therefore any
limitations to the "electrical charger" would not exclude
structures that are not part of the "electrical charger" in an
environment in which the electrical charger is employed (i.e.
the engine or engine exhaust).
Id. The Examiner then asserts that Kawamura's "electrical charger" "does
not rely on the air compressor 15 of the turbocharger ... for its operation
and therefore the electrical charger fairly meets the recitation 'wherein the
electrical charger operates without an air intake compressor."' Id. at 5.
Further, according to the Examiner, "whether or not the engine system as a
whole has an air compressor is not relevant as the engine system is not being
claimed." Id. at 6. For the following reasons, we sustain the rejection of
claim 16.
Claim 16 claims an "electrical charger" that is driven by combustion
engine exhaust. Thus, the Examiner correctly notes that the engine system is
not being claimed.
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Appeal2017-003626
Application 14/313,854
Kawamura discloses "[a] first exhaust turbine 3 is coupled to an end
of the exhaust manifold 2" of engine 1. Kawamura 4: 12-14, Fig. 1.
Kawamura discloses "[a] high-voltage AC generator 4 has a rotatable shaft
coupled directly with a turbine shaft 3c of the exhaust turbine 3." Id. at
4 :21-23. Kawamura also discloses "[a] second exhaust turbine 14 is
connected to an outlet end of the first exhaust turbine 3 for recovering
residual exhaust gas energy." Id. at 4:54--56, Fig. 1. "An intake air
compressor 15 has a rotatable shaft directly coupled to a turbine shaft 14c of
the second exhaust turbine 14." Id. at 4:61-63, Fig. 1. Kawamura also
discloses "[an] exhaust bypass passage or circuit 22 ... [with] [a] bypass
valve 23 is disposed in the bypass passage 22 and can be opened and closed
by an actuator 25." Id. at 4:66-5:5. Further, "[w]hen the engine 1 is to be
started, ... the bypass valve 23 is fully closed, so that an exhaust gas
discharged/ram the engine 1 will flow entirely into the exhaust turbine 3."
Id. at 5:27-30 (emphasis added). "When the engine 1 starts rotating ...
[t]he AC generator 4 is now driven to generate AC electric power." Id. at
5:31-35. "When the engine 1 operates under a partial load ... [t]he residual
exhaust energy that has not been recovered by the first exhaust turbine 3
then passes through the second exhaust turbine 14, whereupon the turbine
wheel 14b starts to rotate." Id. at 5:55---61.
The Examiner's finding that Kawamura's exhaust driven turbine 3
including shaft 3c that drives AC generator 4 corresponds to the recited
electrical charger is supported by the disclosure of Kawamura. Further, the
Examiner's finding that Kawamura's exhaust turbine 3 operates "without an
air intake compressor" is also supported by the disclosure of Kawamura.
Kawamura's air intake compressor 15 is driven by second exhaust turbine
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Appeal2017-003626
Application 14/313,854
14. Appellants have not shown that second exhaust turbine 14 is in anyway
coupled to and/or drives Kawamura's AC generator as required by claim 16.
In fact, as noted above, Kawamura's second exhaust turbine 14 and air
intake compressor 15 do not operate during startup of engine 1 and do not
begin operating until engine 1 reaches a partial load condition. During the
time that air intake compressor 15 is not operating, exhaust turbine 3 is
operating and AC generator 4 is generating electrical power. Further,
Appellants' argument that Kawamura discloses "an electrical charger
comprising first and second turbines operating in conjunction with an air
intake compressor" is not persuasive because the language "operating in
conjunction with" does not appear in claim 16 and because, at least during
startup, the first exhaust driven turbine could not reasonably be considered
to be working in conjunction with air intake compressor 15.
As Appellants do not apprise us of Examiner error, we sustain the
rejection of claim 16. Appellants do not argue separately for the
patentability of claim 21. We, thus, sustain the rejection of claim 21 for the
same reasons.
DECISION
The Examiner's decision rejecting claims 16 and 21 is affirmed.
No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with
this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a). See 37 C.F.R.
§ 1.136(a)(l )(iv).
AFFIRMED
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