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 § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 8, 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 8 recites “wherein the two other opposite sides of the central panel of the second plate are inclined with respect to said central panel in the same direction as the first joining panels and form third joining panels”. The support is found only in Figs. 3a-3b where the plate B has two unbent opposite sides and two bent opposite sides with respect to the central panel. However, parent claim 1 has specified that the plate A has two opposite sides and two other opposite sides bent and inclined with respect to the central panel. The support is found only in Figs. 2a-2b. Claim 8 fails to comply with the written description requirement because no single embodiment discloses that the plate B has two inclined opposite sides in claim 8 and the plate A has all four sides inclined in claim 1 where the claim 8 is dependent upon.
Claim 9 is also rejected due to its dependence from claim 8.
Claims 19 recites “bending said first and second sides of at least two of the other central panels so as to form third joining panels, said third joining panels comprising a first part, which is inclined with respect to said other two central panels”. “at least two of the other central panels” are bent and inclined as claimed, and appears to be the central panels of the second plates (B). Since claim 19 ultimately dependent from claim 1, for the same reason as claim 8 above, the specification has no disclosure that the plate B has two inclined opposite sides while the plate A has all four sides inclined.
For examination purposes, claim 8 is generally construed as --wherein two opposite sides other than the flat opposite edges of the central panel of the second plate are coplanar with respect to said central panel and form third joining panels--.
Claim 9 is generally construed as --wherein at least one of the third joining panels of the second plate is coplanar with the central panel--.
Claim 19 is construed as --forming two opposite sides other than the flat opposite edges of at least two of the other central panels so as to form third joining panels--.
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, 2, 4 and 6-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mcnab (WO 2018/157192) in view of Lapkowsky (US Patent No. 4,848,450).
Regarding claim 1, Mcnab (Figs. 4A and 4B) discloses a pair of heat exchanger plates (120, 130, Fig. 3), comprising a first heat exchanger plate (120) and a second heat exchanger plate (130), which are disposed facing one another and are spaced apart from one another (respective faces of the plates 120 and 130 facing each other and spaced apart) so as to define an internal volume that is able to form a channel for a flow of a first fluid (a fluid passage where the reference number “130” points), and each comprising a central panel (flat areas of the plates 120 and 130), said central panels being quadrilateral, and being flat and mutually parallel (the flat areas are rectangular shape and parallel, Figs. 4A and 4B), wherein two opposite sides of the central panel of the first plate (120) are inclined with respect to said central panel in the direction of the second plate (at flanges 121 on two opposite sides of the plate 120 and each incline towards the plate 130) and form first joining panels (two joining walls between plates 120 and 130 at the flanges 121 on two opposite sides of the plate 120) that come into contact with two corresponding flat opposite edges of the central panel of the second plate (the respective joining walls of the plate 130 that contact the flanges 121 of the plate 120), wherein said corresponding flat opposite edges are coplanar with the central panel (the plate 130 as shown in Figs. 4A and 4B has joining walls are part of the flat areas 130 and they are coplanar),
wherein at least one of the first joining panels of the central panel of the first plate comprise(s) a first part (flanges 121) extending from the central panel (extending from the flat area of the plate 120) and a second part (the two joining walls) extending from said first part (extending from the flanges 121), said first part forming an angle with the central panel (the flange 121 incline and form and angle with the flat area of the plate 120) and said second part being parallel to said central panel (the two joining walls are parallel to the flat area of the plate 120).
Mcnab fails to disclose wherein the two other opposite sides of the central panel of the first plate are inclined with respect to said central panel in the direction away from the first joining panels (left and right sides of the area 111 in the orientation of Fig. 3 incline away from at least first flanges 112 and 113) and form second joining panels (second slopes 118 and 119 and second flanges 114 and 115 and may also include another pair of end plates 103 and 104).
Lapkowsky (Fig. 2) discloses wherein the two other opposite sides of the central panel of the first plate (opposite pair of sides with potions 15 and 16) are inclined with respect to said central panel in the direction away from the first joining panels (portions 15 and 16 are inclined or has an angle between plate 10 and extend in a direction away from portions 18 and 19) and form second joining panels (the potions 15 and 16 are second joining panels to a plate stacking directly below the plate shown in Fig. 2).
Therefore, each plate 120 having a side where the location of “120” is pointing at and an opposite side of said side may be provided with the portions 15 and 16 as taught by Lapkowsky. Since the heat exchanger of Mcnab is a cross-flow heat exchanger (see Technical Field), providing the portions 15 and 16 at the two opposite sides define a channel between each plate pair 120 and 130 that performs a cross-flow heat exchange with the channel within each plate pair 120 and 130.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the two plates are geometrically different than one another in Mcnab as taught by Lapkowsky in order to define channels for the heat exchanger to enable the cross-flow heat exchange.
Regarding claim 2, Mcnab as modified further discloses said first joining panels (the two opposite joining walls of the plate 120) are mutually symmetric with respect to a first median axis (x) of the central panel (joining walls symmetric about a first median axis in the middle between and parallel to the edges of the two opposite joining walls of the wall 120).
Regarding claim 4, Mcnab as modified further discloses wherein the angle between the first part of the first joining panel and the central panel is at least 45° (the incline angle between the flat area of the plate 120 and the flange 121 appears to be an obtuse angle and it is at least 45°).
Regarding claim 6, Mcnab as modified further discloses wherein at least one of the second joining panels of the central panel of the first plate (portions 15 and 16 as taught by Lapkowsky provided to two opposite sides of the plate 120 without flanges 121 in Mcnab) comprise(s) a first part (portion 15) extending from the central panel (extending from the flat area of the plate 120) and a second part (portion 16) extending from said first part (extending from the portion 15), said first part forming an angle with the central panel (the portion 15 incline and form and angle with the flat area of the plate 120) and said second part being parallel to said central panel (the portion 16 is parallel to the flat area of the plate 120).
Regarding claim 7, Mcnab as modified further discloses wherein the angle between the first part of the second joining panel and the central panel is at least 45 (the incline angle of the portion 15 and the flat area is 90°).
Regarding claim 8, as best understood, Mcnab as modified further discloses wherein two opposite sides other than the flat opposite edges of the central panel of the second plate are coplanar with respect to said central panel (the sides of the plate 130 not joining the plate 120 in the same plate pair are also coplanar with the flat area of the plate 130) and form third joining panels (the sides of the plate 130 not joining the plate 120 in the same pair form joining panels for plate 120 in another plate pair).
Regarding claim 9, as best understood, Mcnab as modified further discloses wherein at least one of the third joining panels of the second plate is coplanar with the central panel (the sides of the plate 130 joining plate 120 in another plate pair is also coplanar with the flat area of the plate 130).
Regarding claim 10, Mcnab as modified further discloses wherein the second joining panels and/or third joining panels are different from the first joining panels (the two joining walls extended from flanges 121 are different from the modified and added portions 15 and 16 as taught by Lapkowsky).
Regarding claim 11, Mcnab as modified further discloses wherein the plates are joined together by welding between the joining panels that are in contact with the two corresponding flat opposite edges of the central panel (“welding the flange surfaces of the first plate to the second surface of the second heat exchanger plate”, paragraph 0019 of Mcnab).
Regarding claim 12, Mcnab as modified further discloses wherein the two plates are geometrically different than one another (plate 120 has flanges 121; and plate 130 is generally a flat plate).
Regarding claim 13, Mcnab as modified further discloses a stack of pairs of heat exchanger plates comprising at least two successive pairs of spaced-apart plates as claimed in claim 1 (see Fig. 4A having plurality of plate pairs 120 and 130 stacked), denoted first pair of heat exchanger plates and the second pair of heat exchanger plates (any two adjacent plate pairs 120 and 130), wherein:
said first pair and said second pair are disposed so as to be mutually parallel and to face one another, the space between the plates of each pair forming a channel for receiving a first flow of fluid (a fluid channel between plates 120 and 130 in each plate pair),
the space between the first and the second pair of heat exchanger plates forms a channel for receiving a second flow of fluid (a fluid channel between the first pair of plates 120 and 130; and the second pair of plates 120 and 130).
Regarding claim 14, Mcnab as modified further discloses wherein the two successive spaced-apart pairs are connected laterally by closure means (frames laterally connecting plate pairs at corners, see Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 15, Mcnab as modified further discloses a stack of the pair of plates as claimed in claim 1 (Figs. 4A and 8), said pair of plates or said stack of pairs of the plates being disposed in a frame (the stack plate pairs are disposed in a frame as shown in Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 16, Mcnab as modified further discloses a method for manufacturing a stack of at least two pairs of heat exchanger plates as claimed in claim 1, said method comprising the following steps:
preparing the at least two pairs of first and second heat exchanger plates (pairs of plates 120 and 130 shown in Fig. 4A and 4B), each having the central panel (the plates 120 and 130 each has the flat central area),
for at least two of said central panel (Ao), bending the two opposite sides (“longitudinal edge 7, 8 is bent to form a longitudinal flange”, paragraph 0034) so as to form the first joining panels (that forms the flanges 121 and the two joining walls between the plates 120 and 130), said first joining panels each comprising a first part (the flanges 121) that is inclined with respect to the central panel (the flat area);
disposing one of the two pairs of the plates in a first stack (a first stack of plates 120 and 130), and another one of the two pairs of the plates in a second stack (a second stack of plates 120 and 130 below the first stack),
forming the at least two pairs of plates (joining the first pair and second pair of plates 120 and 130), by fixing the first joining panels of one of the plates (at the two joining walls of the plate 120) to the corresponding flat edges of the other plate (to flat edges of the plate 130), a space between the two plates of each pair forming a first fluid channel (a space formed between plates 120 and 130 forming a first fluid channel),
joining the first stack and the second stack together (see transition from Fig. 2 to Fig. 3 in Lapkowsky to join the portions 16 to an adjacent flat area of plate 10. And in Mcnab in view of Lapkowsky, the portions 16 of plate 120 of the first pair join the flat area of plate 130 of the second pair), a space between the first stack and the second stack forming a second fluid channel (a second fluid channel between the first pair and second pair), by fixing the second joining panels (fixing the portions 16 together).
Regarding claim 17, Mcnab as modified further discloses wherein the central panels are quadrilateral with truncated, cut-off or rounded edges (rectangular shaped areas of the plate with bevels 13).
Regarding claim 18, Mcnab as modified in claim 16 further discloses bending the two other opposite sides of the at least two central panels in the direction away from the first joining panels (see transition from Fig. 1 to Fig. 2 in Lapkowsky. Mcnab in view of Lapkowsky may include the portions 15 and 16 which bend to form the shape shown in Fig. 2 of Lapkowsky) so as to form the second joining panels (to form the bent portions 15 and 16 as modified), said second joining panels comprising a first part (15), which is inclined with respect to the central panel (the portion 15 has an angle with the flat area of the plate 120).
Regarding claim 19, as best understood, Mcnab as modified further discloses forming two opposite sides other than the flat opposite edges of at least two of the other central panels so as to form third joining panels (the sides of the plate 130 not joining the plate 120 in the same plate pair are also coplanar with the flat area of the plate 130, and form joining panels for plate 120 in another plate pair).
Regarding claim 20, Mcnab as modified in claim 13 further discloses wherein the two successive spaced-apart pairs are connected laterally by an edge bar, a C-profile or U-profile cover plate, or a flat cover plate (frames laterally connecting plate pairs at corners, see Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 21, Mcnab as modified in in claim 1 further discloses wherein at least one of the first joining panels of the central panel of the first plate comprise(s) a first part extending from the central panel and a second part extending from said first part, said first part forming an angle with the central panel and said second part being parallel to said central panel, wherein the angle between the first part of the first joining panel and the central panel is between 80° and 110° (this limitation is not required since conjunction “and/or” is used); and/or
at least one of the second joining panels of the central panel of the first plate (portions 15 and 16 as taught by Lapkowsky provided to two opposite sides of the plate 120 without flanges 121 in Mcnab) comprise(s) a first part (portions 15) extending from the central panel (extending from the flat area of the plate 120) and a second part (portions 16) extending from said first part (extending from the portion 15), said first part forming an angle with the central panel (the portion 15 incline and form and angle with the flat area of the plate 120) and said second part being parallel to said central panel (the portion 16 is parallel to the flat area of the plate 120), wherein the angle between the first part of the second joining panels and the central panel is between 80° and 110° (the angle is 90°); and/or
wherein one or both of the central panel contain reliefs (this limitation is not required since conjunction “and/or” is used).
Regarding claim 22, please see the rejection of claim 1 above, and
Mcnab further discloses wherein the second heat exchanger plate (B) is in one plane (the flat area of the plate 130 is in one plane).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/17/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s argument to 112(a) rejection to claims 8, 9 and 19 that various aspects (of the plates) can be present in a single embodiment, it is noted that the specification only discloses a summary of the plates that collaboratively include features of joining panels (i.e., inclined, flat, C-shaped or Z-shaped), but lack sufficient details that the first plate (A) having two opposite sides (inclined) and two other opposite sides (also inclined, specified in claim 1), together with the second plate (B) having the two other opposite sides (inclined in the same direction as the first joining panels, specified in claims 8 and 9) / bending the two other opposite sides of the at least two central panels (specified in claim 19).
Note that limitations recited in claims 8, 9 and 19 by themselves meet the written description requirement. However, claims 8, 9 and 19 lack written description as they are dependent from claim 1 and automatically include limitations in claim 1.
Page 5 of the specification discloses that the second plate (B) the plate may include two other opposite sides inclined in the same direction as the first joining panels (the first plate A). Further description on page 6 of the specification only discloses a general description of the first and/or second and/or third joining panels that are inclined, Z-shaped or C-shaped. Applicant’s quotation on page 10 of the specification only discloses that the channels may have different or uniform height. The specification fails to disclose the second plate (B) with two inclined other opposite sides in claims 8, 9 and 19 with the first plate (A) having two inclined opposite sides and two other inclined opposite sides as specified in parent claim 1.
In response to applicant's argument that the three argument points on pages 10-12 of remarks, i.e., “Firstly, they do not have the same geometric shape”, “Secondly, all the plates have indeed the same shape with the same bent zones at each of their four edges”, and “Thirdly, their specific geometric shape at their periphery has a purpose”, the test for obviousness is not whether the features of a secondary reference may be bodily incorporated into the structure of the primary reference; nor is it that the claimed invention must be expressly suggested in any one or all of the references. Rather, the test is what the combined teachings of the references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981).
It is noted that the modification of Mcnab in view of Lapkowsky does not directly importing the specific shape, arrangement and purpose of Lapkowsky. Instead, Lapkowsky is relied upon that the plate 10 in Fig. 2 has first joining panels (portions 18 and 19) at two opposite sides and has second joining panels at two other opposite sides of the central panel of the first plate (portions 15 and 16), so that a cross-flow is enabled between two fluids. Since Mcnab only discloses two joining walls between plates 120 and 130 at the flanges 121 and lacks the second joining panels, the portions 15 and 16 of Laplowsky may be added at opposite sides without the joining walls (one shown at the location of “120” in Fig. 4B) to enable a cross-flow arrangement between two fluids. The combined teachings of the references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art because Mcnab in fact discloses a cross-flow heat exchanger.
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.
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/JIANYING C ATKISSON/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/F.K.L/Examiner, Art Unit 3763