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 .
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wilkes (US 2016/0318138).
Regarding claim 17, Wilkes discloses a heat exchanger (Figs.1-6) for a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system, comprising:
a module, comprising: a manifold (106 in Fig. 1, 204 in Fig. 2) defining an internal volume (inside a single profile opening 206); and
a plurality of tubes (104), wherein each tube of the plurality of tubes comprises an end (the section of the tubes 104 within the manifold 106, Fig. 1), and the ends of the plurality of tubes are bundled together (the tubes 104 bundled in a hexagonal bundle) and extend through a common opening (the single profile opening 206) of the manifold and into the internal volume of the manifold (Figs. 1 and 2).
Regarding claim 18, Wilkes discloses an additional module (on the opposite side) comprising: an additional manifold defining an additional internal volume; and a plurality of additional tubes (some of the tubes 104), wherein each additional tube of the plurality of additional tubes comprises an additional end, and the additional ends of the plurality of additional tubes are bundled together and extend through an additional common opening of the additional manifold and into the additional internal volume of the additional manifold (Figs. 1-5, although Wilkes does not specifically show an additional manifold, it is understood that the opposite end of the heat exchanger includes a similar manifold to the one disclosed).
Regarding claim 19, Wilkes discloses that the manifold comprises a first connector (108 is a first connector), and the additional manifold comprises a second connector (the pipe 108 on the opposite end of the tubes is a second connector) configured to couple to the first connector to secure the manifold and the additional manifold to one another in an end- to-end arrangement (Fig. 1 and as is known in the art in a fluid circulation loop).
Regarding claim 20, Wilkes discloses that the first connector and the second connector fluidly couple the manifold and the additional manifold to one another to enable refrigerant flow between the manifold and the additional manifold (to provide fluid to flow from an inlet manifold to an outlet manifold and the tubes 104 in between).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-13 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wilkes (US 2016/0318138) in view of Bosworth (US Patent No. 4,643,244).
Regarding claim 1, Wilkes discloses a heat exchanger (Figs.1-6) for a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system, comprising:
a manifold (Fig. 1, 106; Fig. 2, 204) comprising an opening (Fig.1, connected to pipe 108; opening 206 in Fig. 2); and
a plurality of heat exchanger tubes (104), wherein each heat exchanger tube of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes comprises a body portion (the section of the tubes 104 in heat exchanger housing 114 and shell 112) and an end (the section of the tubes 104 within the manifold 106, Fig. 1), and the ends of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes are bundled together (the tubes 104 bundled in a hexagonal bundle) and extend into the manifold via the opening (the tubes 104 extend into the manifold 106/204 via the opening 206, Fig. 2); and
a spacer (shell 112 that longitudinally spaces the tubes 104 between the heat exchanger housing 114 and the manifold 106).
Wilkes fails to disclose a spacer positioned between each body portion to space the body portions apart from one another.
Bosworth discloses a spacer (6, Fig. 2) positioned between each body portion (the spacer 6 has positions between each body portion of tubes 4) to space the body portions apart from one another (the spacer 6 spaces the tubes 4 from one another).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wilkes’s shell 112 to include a spacer positioned between each body portion to space the body portions apart from one another in Wilkes as taught by Bosworth in order to prevent vibration between the tubes 104.
Regarding claim 2, Wilkes discloses that a diameter of each heat exchanger tube of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes is between 0.5 and 2 millimeters (paragraph 25).
Regarding claim 3, Wilkes discloses that the plurality of heat exchanger tubes is finless (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 5, Wilkes discloses that the spacer comprises a plurality of holes (holes 10 of the spacer 6, Fig. 2 of Bosworth), and each body portion extends through a respective hole of the plurality of holes (the tubes 104 in Wilkes extend respective hole 10 of the spacer 6 as modified by Bosworth).
Regarding claim 6, Wilkes discloses that the plurality of heat exchanger tubes converges towards one another along a direction from the body portions to the ends (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 7, Wilkes discloses that the manifold defines an internal volume, and each tube of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes is fluidly coupled to the internal volume of the manifold via the opening (Figs. 1 and 2).
Regarding claim 8, Wilkes discloses an additional manifold comprising an additional opening, wherein each heat exchanger tube of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes comprises an additional end, and the additional ends of the plurality of heat exchanger tubes are bundled together and extend into the additional manifold via the additional opening (Figs.1-5, although Wilkes does not specifically show an additional manifold, it is understood that the opposite end of the heat exchanger includes a similar manifold to the one disclosed).
Regarding claim 9, Wilkes discloses an additional manifold comprising an additional opening; and a plurality of additional heat exchanger tubes (some of the tubes 104), wherein each additional heat exchanger tube of the plurality of additional heat exchanger tubes comprises an additional body portion and an additional end, and the additional ends of the plurality of additional heat exchanger tubes are bundled together and extend into the additional manifold via the additional opening (Figs. 1-5, although Wilkes does not specifically show an additional manifold, it is understood that the opposite end of the heat exchanger includes a similar manifold to the one disclosed).
Regarding claim 10, Wilkes discloses that the manifold comprises a first connector (108 is a first connector), the additional manifold comprises a second connector (the pipe 108 on the opposite end of the tubes is a second connector), and the first connector and the second connector are configured to couple to one another to secure the manifold and the additional manifold to one another in an end-to-end arrangement (Fig. 1 and as is known in the art in a fluid circulation loop).
Regarding claim 11, Wilkes discloses a heat exchanger (Figs. 1-6) for a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system, comprising:
a manifold (Fig. 1, 106, Fig. 2, 204) comprising an opening (Fig. 1, connected to pipe 108; opening 206 in Fig. 2);
a plurality of tubes (104) configured to flow refrigerant therethrough, wherein each tube of the plurality of tubes comprises an end (the section of the tubes 104 within the manifold 106, Fig. 1) and a body portion (the section of the tubes 104 in heat exchanger housing 114 and shell 112), the ends of the plurality of tubes extend through the opening and into the manifold (the tubes 104 extend into the manifold 106/204 via the opening 206, Fig. 2), and the plurality of tubes are finless (Fig. 1); and
a spacer (shell 112 that longitudinally spaces the tubes 104 between the heat exchanger housing 114 and the manifold 106).
Wilkes fails to disclose a spacer, wherein the body portions extend through the spacer, and the spacer supports the body portions and spaces the body portions apart from one another.
Bosworth discloses a spacer (6, Fig. 2), wherein the body portions extend through the spacer (body portions of tubes 4 extend through the spacer 6 through holes 10), and the spacer supports the body portions and spaces the body portions apart from one another (the spacer 6 supports and spaces the tubes 4 from one another).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wilkes’s shell 112 to include a spacer, wherein the body portions extend through the spacer, and the spacer supports the body portions and spaces the body portions apart from one another in Wilkes as taught by Bosworth in order to prevent vibration between the tubes 104.
Regarding claim 12, Wilkes discloses that the ends of the plurality of tubes are secured to the manifold with a filler material dispersed between the ends of the plurality of tubes and secured to the manifold (paragraph 28).
Regarding claim 13, Wilkes discloses and the plurality of tubes diverges away from one another along a direction from the ends to the body portions (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 15, Wilkes discloses that the manifold comprises an additional opening (110), the heat exchanger comprises a plurality of additional tubes (some of the tubes 104) configured to flow refrigerant therethrough, each additional tube of the plurality of additional tubes comprises an additional end, and the additional ends of the plurality of additional tubes extend through the additional opening into the manifold (Fig. 1).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wilkes (US 2016/0318138) in view of Bosworth (US Patent No. 4,643,244) as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Nakamura et al. (US 11,215,400, herein Nakamura).
Regarding claim 16, Wilkes does not disclose that the manifold defines a first internal volume and a second internal volume, each tube of the plurality of tubes is fluidly coupled to the first internal volume via the opening, each additional tube of the plurality of additional tubes is fluidly coupled to the second internal volume via the additional opening, and the manifold comprises a baffle configured to fluidly separate the first internal volume and the second internal volume from one another.
Nakamura teaches a heat exchanger (Fig.1) comprising a manifold (12) and a plurality of tubes (30), wherein the manifold defines a first internal volume (17A) and a second internal volume (17B), each tube (33a) of the plurality of tubes is fluidly coupled to the first internal volume via an opening (21), each additional tube (33b) of the plurality of additional tubes is fluidly coupled to the second internal volume via an additional opening (21), and the manifold comprises a baffle (50) configured to fluidly separate the first internal volume and the second internal volume from one another (Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wilkes’s manifold to include a first internal volume and a second internal volume and a baffle to fluidly separate the two volumes from each other as taught by Nakamura in order to provide fluid flow in a compact heat exchange system utilizing fewer parts and reducing manufacturing costs (Nakamura, col.1 lines 56-59).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 6/6/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 11 and 17 under 35 U.S.C 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Wilkes in view of Bosworth (US Patent No. 4,643,244) for independent claims 1 and 11.
Further, the anticipation rejection of independent claim 17 by Wilkes is maintained. Examiner has clarified the rejection of claim 17 that Fig. 2 of Wilkes discloses a common opening (single profile opening 206) where the plurality of tubes (104) is bundled together and extend through the volume inside the single profile opening 206.
Conclusion
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/JIANYING C ATKISSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/F.K.L/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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