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 .
Status of Claims
In the response dated 04/10/2026, the status of the claims are as follows:
Claims 1 and 17 have been amended.
Claims 2 have been cancelled.
Claims 1 and 3-17 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 11/14/2025, with respect to the 35 USC § 103 rejections to claims 1 and 17 have been fully considered and are persuasive in view of the amendments to the claims. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Nakamura regarding claim 1 and Tolbert regarding claim 17, as described below.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: “aligned with said ports” in line 14 should read “aligned with said one or more ports”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities: “a plurality of cable ducts” in line 14 should read “the plurality of cable ducts”. Appropriate correction is required.
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, 3-8 and 10-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Evans (US20040040325A1) in view of Roth (US4672818A) and Nakamura (US20190123540A1).
Regarding claim 1, Evans teaches
an air conditioning unit (air conditioning unit 180) configured to be mounted externally on a vehicle (recreational vehicle 100, fig. 1) and which comprising a housing that spatially separates an interior of the air conditioning unit from the environment (protective shroud 140)
Evans does not teach
wherein the air conditioning unit is configured such that a connection hub is removably mountable to the outside of the housing in order to route one or more cables from the environment to the interior of the air conditioning unit via the connection hub and further to an interior of the vehicle, said housing having a base and a lid, said connection hub connected to said base of said housing, said connection hub having a one piece structure on the outside of said housing and having a contoured exterior surface which cooperates with a contoured surface of said housing, said connection hub being substantially L-shaped comprising a first portion having said contoured exterior and a second portion extending from said first portion that receives said one or more cables through one or more ports, said first portion of said connection hub having one or more cable ducts disposed therein and respectively aligned with said ports
Roth teaches
said housing having a base (base member 14) and a lid (shroud member 190)
Evans teaches protective shroud 140, but does not disclose a construction comprising a base and a lid. Roth teaches a similar air conditioner housing 10, however comprises the base and lid arrangement. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the base member 14 and shroud member 190 construction of Roth to Evans, as modified, since “Attachment of the shroud 190 to the base member 14 is by readily removable screws” [col. 6 lines 33-35 of Roth], in order to allow for easy removal of the outer shroud to perform maintenance on the air conditioning system.
Nakamura teaches
a connection hub (grommet 1) is removably mountable to the outside of the housing in order to route one or more cables from the environment to the interior (figs. 24-26, removably mounted to case 602 via screws 610)
said connection hub connected to said base of said housing (grommet 1 connected to half-case 602b, fig. 24), said connection hub having a one piece structure on the outside of said housing (fig. 24),
a first portion (supporting structure 303, fig. 23) and a second portion extending from said first portion (pedestal 302, fig. 23) that receives said one or more cables through one or more ports (pool portion 304, fig. 23), said first portion of said connection hub having one or more cable ducts disposed therein (plurality of holes 306, figs 21-23) and respectively aligned with said ports (fig. 22-23)
Evans teaches “the operative connection 160 includes wires that extend from the solar panel 150 to interact with an electrical system 120 and wires that extend to the battery 160. The electrical system 120 provides, inter alia, voltage regulation of energy supplied to the battery. In one specific example, the wires of the operative connection 160 extend from the solar panel 150 and pass directly through the protective shroud 140 and into the electrical system 120”; thus, protective shroud 140 comprises a connection hub to accommodate the operative connection 160 wires passing through it in [0015], however does not explicitly disclose the structure for passing the operative connection 160 wires through the protective shroud 140. Therefore, the protective shroud 140 of Evans can be modified to include the grommet 1 of Nakamura to accommodate the wires of operative connection 160 (Nakamura teaches “The grommet according to the present technology may be applied not only to a battery pack but also to an article such as a housing used in an electronic apparatus, an automobile, or the like” [0078]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make this modification since “The grommet is attached to fix a wire and protect the wire against water and dust when the wire is pulled out from a housing of a battery pack or the like” [0069 of Nakamura], thus preventing damage to air conditioning unit 180 of Evans.
The combination teaches
wherein the air conditioning unit is configured such that a connection hub is removably mountable to the outside of the housing (grommet 1 of Nakamura as applied to protective shroud 140 of Evans) in order to route one or more cables from the environment to the interior of the air conditioning unit via the connection hub and further to an interior of the vehicle (“the wires of the operative connection 160 extend from the solar panel 150 and pass directly through the protective shroud 140 and into the electrical system 120” [0015 of Evans]; as shown on fig. 1, electrical system 120 within vehicle)
Further, while Evans, as modified, does not teach “said connection hub having a contoured exterior surface which cooperates with a contoured surface of said housing, said connection hub being substantially L-shaped comprising a first portion having said contoured exterior”, one of skill in the art would recognize that changes in configuration are a matter of design choice such that making the exterior surface of the connection hub and housing a contoured shape is obvious when the particular configuration result in no change in system performance. In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966) (The court held that the configuration of the claimed disposable plastic nursing container was a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular configuration of the claimed container was significant; applicant has not cited mechanical significance of the recited configuration to perform differently than the prior art device in the disclosure. Therefore, the claim is given no distinguishable patentability.
Regarding claim 3, Evans, as modified, teaches the air conditioning unit of claim 1,
wherein the air conditioning unit has a connection area for providing a sealed connection to the vehicle (base of protective shroud 140)
Evans does not teach
wherein, in the connection area, the housing has a first opening and a second opening, wherein the air conditioning unit further comprises a first air circuit that extends inside the air conditioning unit between the first opening and the second opening, wherein, during operation of the air conditioning unit, air from the interior of the vehicle is drawn through the first opening into the first air circuit and is fed through the second opening back into the interior of the vehicle, and wherein the air conditioning unit is configured such that the cables can be routed along at least a part of the first air circuit and inside the vehicle via the first opening or the second opening
Roth teaches
wherein the air conditioning unit has a connection area for providing a sealed connection to the vehicle (“The projections 24 are used to locate the base 14 about an opening, of substantially the same size as the margin 22, in the roof of the vehicle upon which the base member 14 is to be mounted. The margin 22 is lined with a sealing gasket 26”) [col. 2 lines 56-61], wherein, in the connection area, the housing has a first opening (forward rectangular opening 28) and a second opening (outlet 30), wherein the air conditioning unit further comprises a first air circuit that extends inside the air conditioning unit between the first opening and the second opening (evaporator compartment 16 and evaporator blower compartment 18 as shown on fig. 4), wherein, during operation of the air conditioning unit, air from the interior of the vehicle is drawn through the first opening into the first air circuit and is fed through the second opening back into the interior of the vehicle (“a forward rectangular opening 28 through which return air, entering from the room space below the roof, flows upward. Aft of the return air opening 28 is an outlet 30, surrounded by a sealing strip 31, for the downward discharge of conditioned air into the room space”) [col. 2 lines 62-67], and wherein the air conditioning unit is configured such that the cables can be routed along at least a part of the first air circuit and inside the vehicle via the first opening or the second opening (“Adjacent to the outlet 30, is a wiring raceway opening 32, seen in FIG. 5, through which the air conditioner wiring 34 extends downward into the room space”) [col. 2 line 67 to col. 3 line 2]
The system of Evans discloses an air conditioning unit 180, but does not detail the arrangement of the air conditioner within protective shroud 140. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the arrangement of Roth to Evans in order to effectively provide conditioned air to the living space 170 of Evans.
Regarding claim 4, Evans, as modified, teaches the air conditioning unit of claim 3,
wherein the air conditioning unit further comprises a casing forming an air duct serving as at least a portion of the first air circuit inside the casing, wherein the casing is configured to provide access for the cables inside the portion of the first air circuit formed by the casing (casing of evaporator compartment 16 and evaporator blower compartment 18, as shown on fig. 4 of Roth (forward and side walls 52, 54, bridge portion 56, side-and-top scroll wall 140, etc.))
Regarding claim 5, Evans, as modified, teaches the air conditioning unit of claim 4,
wherein the casing has a cutout region for providing the access (wiring raceway opening 32 of Roth), wherein the cutout region is designed to removably receive a cover insert to cover the cutout region (designed to receive second wiring passage hood 170 as shown on fig. 2 and 5 of Roth), said cover insert may have one or more through holes for routing the cables as intended (not required by claim language due to use of “may”; however as shown on fig. 2 and 5 of Roth, the air conditioner wiring 34 enters through second wiring passage hood 170, thus second wiring passage hood 170 has a through hole for routing the cables)
Regarding claim 6, Evans, as modified, teaches the air conditioning unit of claim 4,
wherein the casing is configured so that a cable guiding part for further guiding the cables inside the first air circuit is removably mountable to the casing at a region inside the air duct formed by the casing (second wiring passage hood 170 as shown on fig. 2 and 5 of Roth)
Regarding claim 7, Evans, as modified, teaches the air conditioning unit of claim 4,
wherein the casing being composed of at least two molded parts connected to each other (two separate casing parts of evaporator compartment 16 and evaporator blower compartment 18 shown on fig. 1 of Roth as base member 14 and intermediate member 120; “The complex assembly and servicing requirements for prior art rooftop air conditioners are minimized by the molded plastic three-piece housing of the present invention” [col. 1 line 54-57 of Roth]) and a cutout region is located at a connection area between two of the molded parts (second wiring passage hood 170 as shown on fig. 2 of Roth)
Regarding claim 8, Evans, as modified, teaches the air conditioning unit of claim 7,
wherein the at least two molded parts are formed of a plastic foam material (“The base member 14 is molded from an engineering grade of structural foam plastic, selected by conventional engineering procedures to be sufficiently strong to support the chosen components of an air conditioning unit” [col. 2 lines 45-49 of Roth]; “In contrast the integral fillets of the base and intermediate members 14, 120 provide for stream flow of air without any caulking. The foam material itself is an excellent insulator, improving the efficiency of air conditioning” [col. 7 lines 35-40 of Roth]; thus, both the base member 14 and intermediate member 120 of Roth are made of plastic foam material)
Regarding claim 10, Evans, as modified, does not teach the air conditioning unit of claim 1,
wherein the air conditioning unit includes the connection hub being removably mounted over ventilation apertures of said housing
Evans, as modified, teaches “the wires of the operative connection 160 extend from the solar panel 150 and pass directly through the protective shroud 140 and into the electrical system 120” and appears to show operative connection 160 enter through protective shroud 140 at a location above air vents 145. However, in the event applicant disagrees, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to arrange operative connection 160 to enter through protective shroud 140, via the grommet 1 of Nakamura, at a location above air vents 145, since it has been held that the rearrangement of parts is an obvious matter of design choice when no criticality of the arrangement is provided. In the instant case, the location of the connection hub of Nakamura as applied to Evans would effectively perform the same function of the claimed connection hub; In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950); wherein the claims to a hydraulic power press which read on the prior art except with regard to the position of the starting switch were held unpatentable because shifting the position of the starting switch would not have modified the operation of the device. Therefore, the claim is given no distinguishable patentability.
Regarding claim 11, Evans, as modified, teaches the air conditioning unit according to of claim 10,
wherein the connection hub (grommet 1 of Nakamura) comprises a plurality of cable ducts (plurality of holes 306, figs 21-23 of Nakamura) for routing the cables from the environment through the connection hub (as shown on fig. 24 of Nakamura)
Evans does not teach
routing the cables from the environment through the connection hub and into a first air circuit
Roth teaches
routing the cables from the environment through the connection hub and into a first air circuit (“Adjacent to the outlet 30, is a wiring raceway opening 32, seen in FIG. 5, through which the air conditioner wiring 34 extends downward into the room space”) [col. 2 line 67 to col. 3 line 2]
The system of Evans discloses an air conditioning unit 180, but does not detail the arrangement of the air conditioner within protective shroud 140. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the arrangement of Roth, including allowing the cables to extend into the interior, to Evans, as modified, in order to effectively provide conditioned air to the living space 170 of Evans.
Regarding claim 12, Evans, as modified, teaches the air conditioning unit of claim 5,
wherein the air conditioning unit includes the cover insert being arranged in the cutout region of the casing (as shown on fig. 2 and 5 of Roth), wherein the cover insert has one or more through holes for routing the cables as intended (as shown on fig. 2 and 5 of Roth, the air conditioner wiring 34 enters through second wiring passage hood 170, thus second wiring passage hood 170 has a through hole for routing the cables)
Regarding claim 13, Evans, as modified, teaches the air conditioning unit of claim 12,
wherein the cover insert is formed of a plastic foam material (“The base member 14 is molded from an engineering grade of structural foam plastic, selected by conventional engineering procedures to be sufficiently strong to support the chosen components of an air conditioning unit” [col. 2 lines 45-49 of Roth]; “In contrast the integral fillets of the base and intermediate members 14, 120 provide for stream flow of air without any caulking. The foam material itself is an excellent insulator, improving the efficiency of air conditioning” [col. 7 lines 35-40 of Roth]; thus, the intermediate member 120 of Roth, which second wiring passage hood 170 is part of, is also made of plastic foam material)
Regarding claim 14, Evans, as modified, teaches the air conditioning unit of claim 12,
wherein the cover insert comprises a rubber gasket at the one or more through holes (sealing strip 31 at wiring raceway opening 32 a shown on fig. 5 of Roth; one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize rubber as an obvious material choice for a sealing strip)
Regarding claim 15, Evans, as modified, teaches the air conditioning unit of claim 6,
wherein the air conditioning unit includes the cable guiding part being removably mounted to the casing at a region inside the air duct formed by the casing (second wiring passage hood 170 within region of air duct as shown on fig. 2 of Roth) and in the vicinity of a cover insert (in vicinity of metal closing clip 36 as shown between fig. 2-3 of Roth (as fig. 3 is shown from below))
Regarding claim 16, Evans, as modified, teaches the air conditioning unit of claim 15,
wherein the cable guiding part is formed of a plastic foam material (“The base member 14 is molded from an engineering grade of structural foam plastic, selected by conventional engineering procedures to be sufficiently strong to support the chosen components of an air conditioning unit” [col. 2 lines 45-49 of Roth]; “In contrast the integral fillets of the base and intermediate members 14, 120 provide for stream flow of air without any caulking. The foam material itself is an excellent insulator, improving the efficiency of air conditioning” [col. 7 lines 35-40 of Roth]; thus, the intermediate member 120 of Roth, which second wiring passage hood 170 is part of, is also made of plastic foam material)
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Evans (US20040040325A1) in view of Roth (US4672818A) and Nakamura (US20190123540A1), in further view of Plank (US20080314072A1).
Regarding claim 9, Evans, as modified, does not teach the air conditioning unit of claim 8,
wherein the plastic foam material includes expanded polypropylene
Plank teaches
wherein the plastic foam material includes expanded polypropylene (“The shells 20, 24, 25 are made of a foamed plastic material, preferably of expanded polypropylene”) [0045]
The system of Evans, as modified, can be modified to include the base member 14 and intermediate member 120 of Roth as polypropylene, as taught in Plank. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make this modification since “The foamed plastic material-in particular, if this concerns expanding and/or expanded polypropylene, EPP-has excellent stability properties allowing it to hold the components reliably” [0016 of Plank].
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reithmaier (DE 10012157 C1), referring to the English translation dated 04/16/2025, in view of Tolbert (WO2015054289A2).
Regarding claim 17, Reithmaier teaches
a construction kit (fig. 1 and fig. 7) comprising a connection hub (spout body 1) for routing a plurality of cables (“the spout body 1 has a central through-opening 2 which is bounded by a cylindrical wall 8. On the inside of the wall 8 there are several sealing ribs 7 in order to achieve a more tight seal for lines, cables, hoses, etc. to be introduced therein” [0032]; “the insertion and passage of electrical lines of a cable harness or the like through the spout body 1” [0038]; thus, can rout a plurality of electrical lines or cables), wherein the connection hub is configured to be removably mountable to an outside of a housing of an air conditioning unit (“two mutually opposite insertion webs 6 are also present, which serve for fixing the spout in a wall” [0034]; thus configured to be removably mountable to the outside of the housing of an air conditioning unit), in order to route the plurality of cables from an environment to an interior of the air conditioning unit via the connection hub (as described in [0032]) through a lower portion of said housing of said air conditioning unit (spout body 1 configured to be routed through a lower portion of said housing of said air conditioning unit)
Reithmaier does not explicitly teach “said connection hub having a first portion and a second portion defining an L-shape and having a contoured exterior surface which cooperates with a contoured surface of said air conditioning unit”. However, one of skill in the art would recognize that changes in configuration are a matter of design choice such that making the exterior surface of the connection hub and air conditioning unit a contoured shape is obvious when the particular configuration result in no change in system performance. In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966) (The court held that the configuration of the claimed disposable plastic nursing container was a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular configuration of the claimed container was significant; applicant has not cited mechanical significance of the recited configuration to perform differently than the prior art device in the disclosure. Therefore, the claim is given no distinguishable patentability.
Therefore, Reithmaier additionally teaches
one of said first portion and said second portion having one or more cable ducts therein (fig. 2, central through-opening 2 reads on cable duct)
Reithmaier does not teach
one of said first portion and said second portion having one or more cable ducts therein which are respectively aligned with ports that receive said plurality of cables
Tolbert teaches
one of said first portion and said second portion having one or more cable ducts therein (electrical feedthrough assembly 10, fig. 3) which are respectively aligned with ports that receive said plurality of cables (electrical feedthrough assembly 10 aligned in port of compressor shell 39, fig. 2)
Reithmaier teaches a connection hub in accordance with claim 17, however does not teach ports that receive said plurality of cables. Therefore, It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the grommet of Reithmaier to be used with the compressor 2 of Tolbert, in order to effectively utilize the design of Reithmaier through a wall of a component of an HVAC system, thus ensuring these plurality of wires passes through the port in an organized manner.
Conclusion
The prior art of record not relied upon includes:
Nakagawa (JP2017096577A), which teaches an air conditioner with a conduit mounting body to accommodate mounting holes formed for mounting conduits
Wang (CN204870448U), which teaches a similar air conditioner unit as claimed comprising a wire hub on the housing
Kataoka (US20110253847A1), which teaches a similar connection hub to that claimed
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 BRETT P. MALLON whose telephone number is (571)272-4749. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday from 8am to 5pm.
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/BRETT P. MALLON/Examiner, Art Unit 3762 /MICHAEL G HOANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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