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 .
Response to Amendments
The amendments filed on 08/05/2025 have been received, to which the Applicant is thanked. Claims 3, & 5-7 have been cancelled. New claims 15-18 have been added into consideration.
Response to Arguments
The arguments have been fully considered, but have not been found to be persuasive.
In response to Applicants argument on pages 2-4 regarding newly amended claim language,
The examiner respectfully responds the Applicants arguments are directed to new amendments to the claim language, which have been addressed in the rejection below.
Election/Restrictions
As a result of the election of species made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/20/2024. The Applicant has elected Species III, drawn to Fig. 3, claims 17 and 18 have been removed from consideration as pertaining to a non-elected species, as claim 17 states the limitation “further comprising an array of growth trays arranged in a stack within the chamber.”, of which upon a review of the Specifications on Page 9, Lines 34-37 which states “With reference to Figures 1 and 2 there is provided a vertical growth tower 1 comprising an array 2 of growth trays 4 arranged in a stack. Each growth tray 4 in the array 2 of growth trays has an array of LEDs (not shown) positioned on the underside of the growth tray 4 to provide light to the growth tray below it in the array”,
While additionally, claim 18 recites the limitation “”further comprising an array of light emitting diodes positioned on the undersides of the growth trays, the light emitting diodes configured to generate light and heat in the chamber.”, which is also found on Page 9, Lines 34-37 that states “With reference to Figures 1 and 2 there is provided a vertical growth tower 1 comprising an array 2 of growth trays 4 arranged in a stack. Each growth tray 4 in the array 2 of growth trays has an array of LEDs (not shown) positioned on the underside of the growth tray 4 to provide light to the growth tray below it in the array”.
As a result of the above, claims 17 and 18 have been withdrawn from consideration.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 8-9, & 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Goel et al (US 2017/0234564), hereinafter referred to as Goel.
Regarding claim 1, Goel (US 2017/0234564) shows a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system for conditioning air within a chamber (101, Fig. 2A), the system comprising: an inlet (254, Fig. 2A), an outlet (256, Fig. 2A), and a conditioning unit (100, Fig. 1, ¶0023), the conditioning unit comprising a fan (210, Fig. 2A) configured to urge air into the system from the chamber via the inlet and out of the system into the chamber via the outlet (¶0032 – the fan is configured to urge air into the system from the chamber the inlet 254 and out of the system into the chamber via the outlet 256), and a heat exchanger (142, Fig. 2A) configured to exchange heat with the air within the conditioning unit (¶0022, Lines 15-17), wherein during operation, air is urged through conditioning unit by the fan (210, Fig. 2) such that heat is exchanged between the air and the heat exchanger (142 – fan 210 urges air through the conditioning unit structure, such that heat is exchanged between the air and the heat exchanger 142), wherein the fan is configured to vary the flow rate of air urged through the conditioning unit to thereby control the amount of heat transferred between the air and the heat exchanger (¶0033 – element 210 is a variable speed fan , meaning, the fan is configured so that speed can be variable to vary the flow rate of air), wherein the heat exchanger is configured to contain a liquid coolant that flows through the heat exchanger between an inlet of the heat exchanger and an outlet of the heat exchanger (¶0033, Lines 11-14) without changing phase (¶0032, Lines 1-9 – the heat exchanger is configured to contain a liquid coolant that flows through the heat exchanger without changing phase as the low-pressure, low-temperature, super-heated vapor refrigerant does not change phase when the pressure increases and then forms a high-pressure, high-temperature, superheated vapor refrigerant, as outlined in ¶0031, Lines 13-15 “Saturated vapor, saturated liquid, and saturated fluid refer to a thermodynamic state where a liquid and its vapor exist in approximate equilibrium with each other”, meaning, given the particular nature of the low/high-pressure, low/high-temperature, super-heated vapor refrigerant, there is no phase changing occurring as the liquid and its vapor exist in approximate equilibrium), wherein the temperature of the heat exchanger is controlled by varying the temperature of the liquid coolant (¶0032) and/or the flow rate of the liquid coolant through the heat exchanger, and wherein the HVAC system is configured to reduce the humidity of the air passing through the conditioning unit (¶0006, Lines 1-3) by adjusting the temperature of the heat exchanger below the dew point of the air (¶0052 – the system is configured to be a dehumidifier, which itself is configured to reduce the humidity of the air passing through the conditioning unit).
Regarding claim 2, Goel shows wherein the heat exchanger is configured such that the temperature of the heat exchanger is adjustable (¶0033 – the heat exchanger 142 is configured so that the variable speed fan 210 assists in making the temperature of the heat exchanger adjustable relative to the fan speed) or the heat exchanger is configured such that the temperature of the surface of the heat exchanger is adjustable.
Regarding claim 8, Goel shows wherein the conditioning unit further comprises a controller (150, Fig. 2A), one or more sensors (280, Fig. 2A) adjacent to the inlet (254, Fig. 2A, ¶0040), and one or more sensors (282, Fig. 2A) adjacent to the outlet (256, Fig. 2A, ¶0040), and during use the controller is configured to (i) receive signals from the one or more sensors adjacent to the inlet and the one or more sensors adjacent to the outlet (¶0041, Lines 1-4), (ii) determine whether the air entering the inlet is at a target temperature (¶0041, Lines 13-19 / ¶0042, Lines 1-11), and/or a target humidity and (iii) adjust the fan speed (¶0043, Lines 1-4 / ¶0044) such that the air contacts the heat exchanger (142, Fig. 2A) to transfer heat between the heat exchanger and the air to thereby reach the target temperature (¶0043, Lines 1-11 – once overcooling is detected, measures are taken until the issues within the chamber 101 is mitigated, at the target temperature) and/or humidity.
Regarding claim 9, Goel shows wherein the conditioning unit further comprises a controller (150, Fig. 2A), one or more sensors (280, Fig. 2A) adjacent to the inlet (254, Fig. 2A, ¶0040), and one or more sensors (282, Fig. 2A) adjacent to the outlet (256, Fig. 2A, ¶0040), and during use the controller is configured to (i) receive signals from the one or more sensors adjacent to the inlet and the one or more sensors adjacent to the outlet (¶0041, Lines 1-4), (ii) determine whether the air entering the inlet is at the target temperature (¶0041, Lines 13-19 / ¶0042, Lines 1-11), and/or the target humidity, (iii) adjust the fan speed (¶0043, Lines 1-4 / ¶0044) such that the air contacts the heat exchanger to transfer heat between the heat exchanger and the air to thereby reach the target temperature (¶0043, Lines 1-11 - once overcooling is detected, measures are taken until the issues within the chamber 101 is mitigated, at the target temperature), and (iv) adjusts the temperature of the heat exchanger to thereby reach the target humidity (The limitation in step iv is based upon a previously established limitation above of “determine whether the air entering the inlet is at the target temperature and/or the target humidity”, however, the Examiner established above that in view of the “and/or” part of the limitation, the Examiner chose to reject “determine whether the air entering the inlet is at the target temperature” and did not examine the option of “the target humidity”, from which this limitation has the only antecedent basis for such subject matter; therefore, the limitation in step iv pertains to limitations on a target humidity that was not selected for examination, per the “and/ or” limitation in step ii).
Regarding claim 15, Goel shows further comprising a pump (140, Fig. 2A – element 140 is a compressor, which is known to one of ordinary skill in the art as a type of pump) configured to move the liquid coolant through the heat exchanger between the inlet of the heat exchanger and the outlet of the heat exchanger (¶0030).
Regarding claim 16, Goel shows further comprising the chamber (101, Fig. 2A) coupled between the inlet and the outlet (254/256, Fig. 2A).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Goel et al (US 2017/0234564), hereinafter referred to as Goel, as evidenced by Philipp (US 2,146,183).
Regarding claim 4, Goel shows wherein the heat exchanger is a cooling coil (142, Fig. 2A. ¶0022, Lines 1-5 – element 142 being a condenser coil, which is known in the art to be a type of coiled heat exchanger that is for cooling, as evidenced above by Philipp (US 2,146,483) on page 2, Col. 2, Lines 19-20; as such, element 142 Is a cooling coil).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN L FAULKNER whose telephone number is (469)295-9209. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9-7, Every other F: Flex.
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/RYAN L FAULKNER/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/AVINASH A SAVANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762