Ex Parte Sami et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Oct 31, 2017

12973583 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 31, 2017)

United States Patent and Trademark Office
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
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
12/973,583 12/20/2010 Samuel M. Sami 2633004US2AP 2116
27542 7590 11/02/2017
SAND ^ NFROT T
EXAMINER
AEGIS TOWER, SUITE 1100 KEBEA, JESSICA L
4940 MUNSON STREET, NW
CANTON, OH 44718-3615 ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
3748
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
11/02/2017 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):
docket@ sandandsebolt.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte SAMUEL M. SAMI, EDWIN E. WILSON,
DEAN J. BRATEL, and JOHN H. BATTEN
Appeal 2016-006747
Application 12/973,583
Technology Center 3700
Before MICHAEL L. HOELTER, NATHAN A. ENGELS, and
PAUL J. KORNICZKY, Administrative Patent Judges.
KORNICZKY, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appeal 2016-006747
Application 12/973,583
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellants Samuel M. Sami et al.1 appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a)
from the Examiner’s decision, as set forth in the Final Office Action dated
November 7, 2013 (“Final Act.”), rejecting claims 1, 3—14, and 16—24.2 We
have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We AFFIRM.
THE CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER
The claims are directed to a power generator using a wind turbine, a
hydrodynamic retarder, and an organic Rankine cycle drive. Claims 1,9,
and 13 are the independent claims on appeal. Claim 1, reproduced below
with disputed limitations italicized for emphasis, is illustrative of the
claimed subject matter:
1. An electric power generating system, comprising:
a wind turbine having blades that are rotated by a volume
of moving air thereby producing kinetic energy associated with
the rotating blades;
a hydrodynamic retarder accepting the kinetic energy from
the rotating blades and converting at least some of the kinetic
energy from the rotating blades into waste-heat that is dissipated
from the hydrodynamic retarder;
an organic Rankine cycle drive operably coupled to the
hydrodynamic retarder and including:
an organic heat exchange fluid that absorbs and is
vaporized by the waste-heat dissipated from the hydrodynamic
retarder;
a turbine that includes a rotatable turbine component, the
turbine directing flow of the vaporized organic heat exchange
fluid therethrough such that an expansion of organic heat
1 Appellants identify Dr. Samuel Sami as the real party in interest.
Appeal Brief, dated March 21, 2014 (“Appeal Br.”), at 4.
2 Claims 2 and 15 are cancelled. Appeal Br. 6.
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Application 12/973,583
exchange fluid during vaporization of the organic heat exchange
fluid rotates the turbine wheel; and further comprising:
a generator operatively coupled to the Rankine cycle drive
and converting kinetic energy from the rotating turbine wheel
into electricity; and wherein the organic heat exchange fluid
includes quaternary refrigerant organic mixtures operative at
temperatures between about 23°C to about 160°C within the
Rankine cycle drive.
REFERENCES
In rejecting the claims on appeal, the Examiner relied upon the
following prior art:
Sami US 6,101,813 Aug. 15,2000
McMaster US 7,615,884 B2 Nov. 10, 2009
McAlister US 2011/0061383 A1 Mar. 17,2011
Kaneko JP 2011-089492 May 6, 2011
Hoffeld DE 10 2007 060 477 A1 Dec. 14, 2007
Bissell WO 2009/138771 A Nov. 19, 2009
REJECTIONS
The Examiner made the following rejections:
1. Claims 1, 3—9, 13, 14, and 16—19 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as being unpatentable over Kaneko and Sami.3
2. Claims 10 and 11 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Kaneko, Sami, and Hoffeld.
3. Claim 12 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Kaneko, Sami, McMaster, and Bissell.
4. Claims 20-22 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Kaneko, Sami, and Bissell.
3 Because claim 15 is cancelled, we understand that the rejection’s
reference to claim 15 is a typographical error. Final Act. 9.
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Application 12/973,583
5. Claim 23 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Kaneko, Sami, and McMaster.
6. Claim 24 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Kaneko, Sami, and McAlister.
Appellants seek our review of these rejections.
DISCUSSION
In response to Rejection 1, Appellants argue claims 1, 3—9, 13, 14, and
16—19 as a group. Appeal Br. 13—15. We select claim 1 as the representative
claim, and claims 3—9, 13, 14, and 16—19 stand or fall with claim 1. 37
C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(l)(iv).
In response to Rejections 2—6, Appellants do not present any
arguments directed to the patentability of dependent claims 10-12 and
20-24 over the various combinations of Kaneko, Sami, Hoffeld, McMaster,
Bissell, and/or McAlister. Appeal Br. 13—15. We understand that with
respect to these rejections, Appellants rely on the same arguments presented
for independent claim 1.
The Examiner finds that Kaneko discloses “a wind turbine (2) having
blades (2A) that are rotated by a volume of moving air thereby producing
kinetic energy associated with the rotating blades; [and] a hydrodynamic
retarder (30) accepting the kinetic energy from the rotating blades and
converting at least some of the kinetic energy from the rotating blades into
waste-heat that is dissipated from the hydrodynamic retarder (30).” Final
Act. 2—3 (citing Kaneko 140). The Examiner further finds that Sami
discloses a Rankine cycle drive as recited in claim 1, which includes “an
organic heat exchange fluid that absorbs and is vaporized by the waste- heat
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Application 12/973,583
dissipated from the hydrodynamic retarder.” Final Act. 3 (citing Sami 2:8—
17). The Examiner determines that it would have been obvious “to utilize
the thermal energy produced from the hydrodynamic retarder as taught by
Kaneko to provide the thermal heat source required to vaporize the organic
heat exchange fluid mixture to drive a turbine generator as taught by Sami.”
Final Act. 4.
Appellants argue that the Examiner’s rejection is erroneous because
“it would not be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use an organic
Rankine cycle (ORC) drive in place of a Sterling [sic] engine.” Br. 13.
Relying on the affidavit of Dr. Samuel Sami, Appellants argue that, due to
technical differences between Stirling engines and organic Rankine cycle
drives, “one of ordinary skill in the art simply would not replace a Stirling
engine with an ORC drive.” Br. 13. According to Appellants, a Stirling
engine operates at high pressures (e.g., 200 bars) and high temperatures
(e.g., typically over 1,000°C) whereas the organic Rankine cycle operates at
low temperatures (e.g., about 23°C to about 160°C). Br. 14.
In response to Appellants’ arguments, the Examiner asserts that
Appellants are mischaracterizing the rejection. We agree. The Examiner’s
proposed rejection “is not replacing a Stirling Engine with an Organic
Rankine Cycle (ORC).” Ans. 2. As the Examiner explains, the rejection “is
applying the teaching of utilizing the waste heat from a hydrodynamic brake
to supply thermal energy to another working system,” and “[t]his transfer of
energy to the corresponding system can be regulated in a number of ways
that are known in the art, i.e. control valves, flow rate, size of heat
exchangers, materials, etc.” Id. As the Examiner further explains, “excess
thermal energy can be regulated to provide the adequate amount of heat
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Application 12/973,583
required by the corresponding consumer device, and the components of the
corresponding system can be sized accordingly” so that “[w]hen the energy
input of the (Hydrodynamic Retarder) exceeds the amount needed by any
consumer, e.g. a Stirling Engine or a Rankine Cycle, one having ordinary
skill in the art would vent excess energy such that no damage would be done
to the power consumer [e.g., Rankine Cycle].” Id. at 4. Appellants do not
address the rejection as articulated by the Examiner, and, thus, do not
identify error.
For the reasons above, the rejection of claim 1 is sustained. Claims 3—
14 and 16—24 fall with claim 1.
DECISION
For the above reasons, the Examiner’s rejections of claims 1, 3—14,
and 16—24 are 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)(l)(iv).
AFFIRMED
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