Ex Parte Hoang

Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

Sep 28, 2011

10908165 (B.P.A.I. Sep. 28, 2011)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS
AND INTERFERENCES
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Ex parte LOC G. HOANG
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Appeal 2009-012741
Application 10/908,165
Technology Center 3700
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Before STEVEN D.A. McCARTHY, MICHAEL W. O’NEILL and
STEFAN STAICOVICI, Administrative Patent Judges.

McCARTHY, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL

The Appellant’s claims being twice rejected, the Appellant appeals 1
under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the Examiner’s decision rejecting claims 1-3, 5, 2
7, 9-14 and 17-20 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being anticipated by 3
Sundararajan (US 6,609,533 B2, issued Aug. 26, 2003). We have 4
jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). 5
We REVERSE.6
Appeal No. 2009-012741
Application No. 10/908,165

2
Claims 1, 10 and 18 are independent. Claim 1 recites: 1
1. A valve system comprising: 2
a closure member that is linearly translatable 3
within a valve body; 4
a fail safe assembly comprising: 5
a hollow body having a first 6
end that is connected to the valve 7
body; 8
a spring disposed within said 9
hollow body between the first end and 10
a piston disposed within the hollow 11
body, wherein the spring biases the 12
piston toward the second end of the 13
hollow body, and 14
a first rod member that is 15
connected to said closure member and 16
the piston; 17
a linear actuator engaged with a second end 18
of the hollow body of said fail safe assembly, 19
wherein said linear actuator is operable to move 20
the first rod member; and 21
a mechanical override system connecting 22
said linear actuator to said fail safe assembly, 23
wherein said mechanical override system is 24
operable to move the linear actuator relative to the 25
valve body. 26
Sundararajan describes a subsea actuator 10 connected to a gate valve 27
12. (Sundararajan, col. 6, ll. 21-24). The gate valve 12 includes a closure 28
member or gate 14. (Sundararajan, col. 6, ll. 26-29). The subsea actuator 10 29
includes a hydraulic cylinder housing 36 housing a cylinder 40 and a piston 30
34. (Sundararajan, col. 7, ll. 9-13). The piston 34 drives an attached 31
actuator stem 54. (Sundararajan, col. 8, ll. 1-4). 32
Appeal No. 2009-012741
Application No. 10/908,165

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Sundararajan’s subsea actuator 10 includes a fail safe assembly such 1
that the gate valve 12 automatically opens or closes if the hydraulic system 2
fails. (Sundararajan, col. 7, ll. 24-26). The subsea actuator 10 includes an 3
actuator housing 22 which partially encloses the hydraulic cylinder housing 4
26. (Sundararajan, col. 6, ll. 36-39 and fig. 2). The subsea actuator 10 also 5
includes a spring cartridge 100 housed within the actuator housing 22. The 6
spring cartridge 100 includes a spring 32. (Sundararajan, col. 9, ll. 27-31 7
and fig. 5). The spring 32 biases a spring pusher 62 disposed within the 8
actuator housing 22 toward the proximal end of the actuator housing 22. 9
(See Sundararajan, col. 8, ll. 18-25). A detachable stem extension 56 10
connects the piston 34 and the actuator stem 54 to the gate 14. 11
(Sundararajan, col. 8, ll. 4-5). The actuator stem 54 is coupled to the spring 12
pusher 62 so that the bias of the spring 32 acts not only on the spring pusher 13
62 but also on the actuator stem 54, the stem extension 56 and the gate 14. 14
(See Sundararajan, col. 8, ll. 18-25 and fig. 2). 15
A bonnet 24 connects the actuator housing 22 to the valve body or 16
valve housing 18. (Sundararajan, col. 6, ll. 36-39 and fig. 1). An upper 17
flange portion 38 of the hydraulic cylinder housing 36 is secured to the 18
actuator housing 22. (Sundararajan, col. 7, ll. 13-14). 19
Sundararajan’s subsea actuator 10 also includes a mechanical override 20
system 80. A manual override system housing 86 houses the manual 21
override system 80. The manual override system housing 86 is secured to 22
the hydraulic cylinder housing 36. (Sundararajan, col. 8, ll. 49-52 and fig. 23
2). The manual override system 80 also includes a slave member 50 24
engaging the piston 34. (Sundararajan, col. 7, ll. 41-44 and col. 8, ll. 65 – 25
col. 9, l. 1). Sundararajan describes no direct connection between the 26
Appeal No. 2009-012741
Application No. 10/908,165

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manual override system 80 and either the actuator housing 22, the spring 1
cartridge 100 or the stem extension 56. 2
The Examiner finds that the combination of the piston 34 and the 3
actuator stem 54 correspond to the “linear actuator” recited in claims 1, 10 4
and 18. (E.g., Ans. 3 and 6-7). The Appellant disagrees, arguing that the 5
“linear actuator” must include the piston 34, the actuator stem 54 and the 6
hydraulic cylinder housing 36. (E.g., App. Br. 14). Since ordinary usage of 7
the term “linear actuator” implies sufficient structure to actuate some 8
component in a linear manner, the Appellant’s characterization of the 9
description of Sundararajan is more persuasive than the Examiner’s 10
characterization. 11
When the term “linear actuator” as used in claim 1 is read on the 12
combination of Sundararajan’s piston 34, actuator stem 54 and hydraulic 13
cylinder 36, the manual override 80 does not connect the linear actuator with 14
a fail safe assembly including the actuator housing 22, the spring cartridge 15
100 and the stem extension 56. Instead, the hydraulic cylinder 36 connects 16
the manual override 80 to the fail safe assembly. (See App. Br. 13 (arguing 17
the distinction between “connecting” and “being connected”)). We do not 18
sustain the rejection of claims 1-3, 5, 7 and 9 under § 102(b) as being 19
anticipated by Sundararajan. 20
Claim 10 recites a mechanical override “operable to move said linear 21
actuator relative to the valve body.” Claim 18 recites “means for moving 22
said linear actuator relative to the valve body so as to translate said closure 23
member without extending the second rod member from said linear 24
actuator.” Since the manual override 80 is secured to the valve body or 25
valve housing 18 through the hydraulic cylinder housing 36, the actuator 26
Appeal No. 2009-012741
Application No. 10/908,165

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housing 22 and the bonnet 24, it does not appear that the manual override 80 1
is susceptible of movement relative to the valve body 18. We do not sustain 2
the rejection of claims 10-14 and 17-20 under § 102(b) as being anticipated 3
by Sundararajan. 4
5
DECISION 6
We REVERSE the Examiner’s decision rejecting claims 1-3, 5, 7, 9-7
14 and 17-20. 8
9
REVERSED 10
11
12
Klh 13