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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/29/2026 has been entered.
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 1-4 and 6 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. The limitation, "the control device, upon detecting that the electrical conductivity… has risen above a predetermined electrical conductivity, opens the electromagnetic valve, and thereby supplies the cooling water…," of Claim 1, is not supported by the original disclosure. The original disclosure contains a conductivity sensor for measuring electrical conductivity and a control device to open/close the electromagnetic valve as per the measured electrical conductivity (see paragraph 9); however, the original disclosure neither includes a predetermined electrical conductivity being determined/established by the control device nor a comparison of measured electrical conductivity with a predetermined electrical conductivity to establish whether the measured electrical conductivity is above/below a predetermined electrical conductivity. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 2-4 and 6 are also rejected by virtue of being dependent upon the rejected base claim.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosoi (WO 2017/110608 A1) and in view of Nagata (US 2019/0248683 A1) and further in view of Goto (US 2009/0145489 A1) and Tenne (US 2009/0255874 A1).
In regards to claim 1, Hosoi teaches a chiller (see fig. 1 and abstract) configured to control temperature of a plurality of heat loads (workpieces W1, W2, see fig. 1 and abstract) by using circulating cooling coolant (circulating coolant with pumps 203, see fig. 1), the chiller comprising:
a plurality of cooling-fluid circuits (circuits 200-1, 200-2) through which the cooling fluids (coolants) are respectively supplied to the plurality of heat loads (coolant supplied to respective workpieces W1, W2, see fig. 1 and page 5, paragraph 3); and a refrigeration circuit (100) through which primary refrigerant (cooling refrigerant through circuit 100, page 2, paragraph 5) that controls the temperatures of the cooling fluid flows (via evaporators 101), wherein the refrigeration circuit includes heat-exchange-path sections (refrigerant paths passing through valves EV1-1, EV1-2, and evaporators 101-1, 101-2, see fig. 1) that are connected in parallel with one another (see fig. 1) and are provided with respective heat exchangers (evaporators 101-1, 101-2), a number of the heat-exchange-path sections being equal to a number of the cooling-fluid circuits (two heat exchange paths corresponding to the two cooling-fluid circuits 200-1, 200-2, see fig. 1), wherein the plurality of cooling-fluid circuits are each connected to the heat exchanger of a corresponding one of the plurality of heat-exchange-path sections (see circuit connections at evaporators 101-1, 101-2, fig. 1), wherein the plurality of cooling-fluid circuits each include a tank (tanks 201-1, 201-2, see fig. 1), in which the cooling fluid is stored (see page 3, paragraph 2); a first supply line (coolant supplied via coolant lines to evaporator 101-1) through which the cooling fluid in the tank is supplied to the heat exchanger (101-1) of the corresponding one of the plurality of heat-exchange-path sections (coolant from tank 201-1 supplied via coolant lines passing through pump 203-1 and at sensor T4-1 to evaporator 101-1); a pump (pump 203-1) provided to the first supply line (see fig. 1); a second supply line (coolant supplied via coolant line containing pump 203-1) through which the cooling fluid having a temperature controlled in the heat exchanger (coolant cooled at evaporator 101-1) is delivered to the heat load (heat load W1, see page 5, paragraph 3 and fig. 1); and a return line (coolant line with sensor T2-1) through which the cooling fluid returning from the heat load is guided to the tank (coolant fluid from W1 returned to tank 201-1 via coolant line containing sensor T2-1); wherein the chiller includes a control device (control unit CPU, PID, see figs. 1-3) configured to control the chiller as a whole (see page 3, paragraph 2 – page 4, paragraph 1).
However, Hosoi does not explicitly teach a filtering line branching off from a supply line and connected to the return line of the cooling fluid circuits; a DI filter on the filtering line for purifying the cooling fluid; and the cooling fluid is water; and wherein the filtering line connects second supply line to the return line of second circuit to deliver cooling water to heat loads of the first and second circuits.
Nagata teaches a chiller using cooling water circulation (cooling water and chiller circulation system, see paragraph 18), wherein the chiller includes plurality of cooling-water circuits (see at least water circuits 2a-2b and 3a-3b, fig. 1), where the cooling and heat-dissipating fluid is water (see paragraph 73), wherein the chiller includes a filtering line (line 13, 27-31) with a filter (impurity separation device 17, 17’) for purifying the cooling waters (see paragraph 69), where the filtering line (27-31) branching off from the second supply line (branching off from supply line 3a, fig. 1) of a first of the plurality of cooling-water circuits (second supply line 3a as part of first water circuit 3a-3b, fig. 1 and paragraph 71) and connected to the return line (return line 2b, fig. 1) of a second of the cooling water-circuit (return line 2b of second circuit 2a-2b, see fig. 1 and paragraph 68), the filtering line (lines 27-31 and/or 13) being a line configured to supply the cooling water from the second supply line (3a) of the first of the cooling-water circuits (3a-3b) to the return line (2b) of the second of the cooling-water circuits (2a-2b) in a state that the cooling waters that flow through the first and the second of the cooling-water circuits (water through pipes 3a, 2b) are delivered to a heat load (heat loads 7 and 5) corresponding to the first and the second of the cooling-water circuits (heat load 7 associated with circuit 3a-3b and heat load 5 associated with circuit 2a-2b, see fig. 1 and paragraphs 65-67); and wherein the control device (control unit 32), opens electric valve (valve 32, see paragraph 73 and fig. 1) to supply the cooling water flowing through the second supply line (second supply lines 3a, 2a) of the first of the cooling-water circuits to the return line (return line 2b) of the second of the cooling-water circuits through the filtering line (filtering line 27-31 and line 13 receiving cooling water from supply lines 3a and 2a, respectively, and supplying cooling water to return line 2b via 36, see fig. 1 and paragraphs 68-73).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the chiller system of Hosoi by providing a filtering line branching off from the second supply line of a first of the plurality of cooling-water circuits and connected to the return line of a second of the cooling water-circuits, the filtering line being a line configured to supply the cooling water from the second supply line of the first of the cooling-water circuits to the return line of the second of the cooling-water circuits, with opening of electric valve, in a state that the cooling waters that flow through the first and the second of the cooling-water circuits are delivered to a heat load corresponding to the first and the second of the cooling-water circuits based on the teachings of Nagata in order to improve efficiency of the chiller by using water as a secondary fluid and protect the system from future maintenance costs due to unfiltered debris travelling through the water pipes and damaging the evaporator.
Nagata also teaches a control device (control units 32, 24) configured to control the chiller as a whole (see valves 33, 22 of the chiller controlled by controllers 32 and 24, fig. 1), wherein the filtering line (27-31 and/or 13) is provided with an electric/electromagnetic valve (electromagnetic valves 33 and electric/electronic valve 22, see paragraphs 92 and 69) configured to allow or stop flow of the cooling water from the second supply line into the filtering line (by operation of valves 33 and 22, fluid flows through filters 17, see paragraph 73, 69, and fig. 1), wherein the control device controls the electric valve to open (see paragraph 73). In addition, Nagata further discloses that the electromagnetic valve (33) on a filtering line (line containing filter 17’) is configured to allow or stop flow of the cooling water (see paragraph 92) and an on-off valve (22) on a filtering line (line containing filter 17) configured to allow or stop flow of the cooling water (see paragraph 69), wherein a junction (see below annotated fig. 1) connected to the return line of the filtering line is provided with a conductivity sensor (sensor 23) configured to measure electrical conductivity of cooling water that flows in the return line (see paragraph 69 and fig. 1), and wherein the control device (24, 32) controls the electric/electronic/electromagnetic valves (22, 33) to open with reference to the electrical conductivity/timer measured by the conductivity sensor/control unit (see paragraphs 69 and 73).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the chiller system of Hosoi as modified by providing an electromagnetic valve configured to allow or stop flow of the cooling water from the second supply line into the filtering line, a junction connected to the return line of the filtering line, a conductivity sensor configured to measure electrical conductivity of the cooling water flowing in the return line based on the teachings of Nagata in order to accurately control the flow of cooling water being supplied to the tank and to monitor the purity/impurity of the cooling water by measuring the ions and charge within the cooling water.
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One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have reprogrammed the controller of Hosoi as modified to control the chiller as a whole and to control the electromagnetic valve to allow or stop flow of the cooling water from the second supply line into the filtering line based on the electrical conductivity measured by the conductivity sensor based on the teachings of Nagata because applying a known technique of electronic valve control based on electrical conductivity to a known electromagnetic valve of a chiller device ready for improvement to yield predictable results would be obvious for determining the rate of recirculating the cooling water based on the charge level of the water and to protect the chiller system from impurities within the cooling water by controlling the flow of cooling water based on electric conductivity of the cooling water.
Hosoi also does not explicitly teach that the filter is a deionization filter.
However, Goto teaches a fluid filter/impurity removing device (8 paragraphs 48, 13) for a temperature-controlled water circulation device (see figs. 1-4), where the fluid filter is a deionization filter (filter removes ionized substance from fluid, see claims 24-25).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the filter of the chiller system of Hosoi by providing a deionization filter at the filtering line for purifying the cooling waters based on the teachings of Goto for the advantage of removing harmful charged metal ions and salts from cooling water.
Hosoi also does not explicitly teach opening the valve upon detecting that the electrical conductivity is above a predetermined level.
However, Tenne teaches water filtering system (see abstract) including a conductivity sensor (238, 240, see paragraphs 45, 60), a dispensing valve (valves 209, 244, 254-262, see paragraph 60), where the electric valve (209) being normally closed (valve 209 is typically closed, see paragraph 44), and a control device (controller 101, see fig. 1 and paragraph 21) configured to opens the electric valve (valve 244 opened, see steps 306, 406, 412, figs. 3-4 and paragraph 66), upon detecting that the electrical conductivity measured by the conductivity sensor has risen above a predetermined electrical conductivity (electro-conductivity measured by sensor 238 being beyond predetermined parameter, see paragraph 47 and electro-conductivity measured by sensor 240 being outside predetermined range, see paragraph 62).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have reprogrammed the control device for opening/closing the electromagnetic valve of Hosoi as modified to open the electromagnetic valve, upon detecting that the electrical conductivity measured by the conductivity sensor has risen above a predetermined electrical conductivity based on the teachings of Tenne in order to improve quality of the water flow by supplying water to the return line for filtering because high electrical conductivity is an indication of impure water (see paragraph 46, Tenne).
Claims 2-4 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosoi in view of Nagata and Goto and Tenne as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Sakaguchi (US 2012/0255352 A1).
In regards to claim 2, Hosoi as modified teaches the limitations of claim 1 except a communicating line for maintaining an amount of each of the cooling waters in the tanks to be constant is connected between the tanks of the plurality of cooling-water circuits.
However, Sakaguchi teaches a communicating line (liquid level adjusting line through hole 11, see figs. 1-2 and paragraph 76) for maintaining an amount of each of the cooling waters in the tanks (in tanks 1 and 2) to be constant is connected between the tanks of the plurality of cooling-water circuits (see figs. 1-2 and paragraphs 76, 25 and claim 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the tanks of the chiller system of Hosoi by providing a communicating line for maintaining an amount of each of the cooling waters in the tanks to be constant is connected between the tanks of the plurality of cooling-water circuits based on the teachings of Sakaguchi in order to prevent any of the cooling-water circuits from running dry due to lack of water.
In regards to claim 3, Hosoi as modified teaches the limitations of claim 3 except a flow rate of the cooling water flowing into a tank is equal to a flow rate of the cooling water discharged from the tank.
However, Sakaguchi teaches that water coolant is pumped (by pump 16) via the bypass line (filtering line 23) and through return line (6b) to the tank (tank 2, fig. 1 and paragraph 39), and the same pumped water accumulating in tank (2) is discharged from the tank (2) and flowing through the communicating line (11) into the other tank (1) included in the cooling-water circuit having the second supply line to which the filtering line is connected (see fig. 1; paragraphs 76, 25; and claim 4); and the amount of coolant/water supplied via filtering line (23) to tank (2) over time beyond normal liquid level (F20) is returned to the other tank (1, see paragraph 25).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the flow rate of the cooling water flowing from the filtering line into the tank through the return line equal to a flow rate of the cooling water discharged from the tank and flowing through the communicating line into the tank included in the cooling-water circuit having the second supply line to which the filtering line is connected in the chiller system of Hosoi based on the teachings of the communication and filtering lines of the chiller of Sakaguchi because the amount of coolant/water supplied via filtering line 23 to tank 2 over time beyond normal liquid level (F20) is returned to the other tank (1, see paragraph 25).
In regards to claim 4, Hosoi as modified teaches the limitations of claim 2 and further discloses a control device (control unit CPU) configured to control the chiller as a whole (see page 3, paragraph 2 – page 4, paragraph 1).
However, Hosoi does not explicitly teach an electromagnetic valve configured to allow or stop flow of the cooling water, a conductivity sensor configured to measure electrical conductivity of fluid, and controlling the electromagnetic valve to open or close with reference to the electrical conductivity measured by the conductivity sensor.
Nagata teaches a control device (control unit 32) configured to control the chiller as a whole (see valve 33 of the chiller controlled by controller 32, fig. 1), wherein the filtering line (27-31) is provided with an electric valve (electromagnetic valve 33, see paragraph 92) configured to allow or stop flow of the cooling water from the second supply line into the filtering line (see paragraph 73), wherein the control device controls the electric valve to open or close (see paragraph 73). In addition, Nagata further discloses that the electromagnetic valve (33) on a filtering line (line containing filter 17’) is configured to allow or stop flow of the cooling water (see paragraph 92) and an on-off valve (22) on a filtering line (line containing filter 17) configured to allow or stop flow of the cooling water (see paragraph 69), a conductivity sensor (sensor 23) configured to measure electrical conductivity of cooling water (see paragraph 69), and controlling the valve to open or close with reference to the electrical conductivity measured by the conductivity sensor (see paragraph 69).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the chiller system of Hosoi as modified by providing an electromagnetic valve configured to allow or stop flow of the cooling water from the second supply line into the filtering line and a conductivity sensor configured to measure electrical conductivity of the cooling water flowing in the return line based on the teachings of Nagata in order to accurately control the flow of cooling water being supplied to the tank and to monitor the purity/impurity of the cooling water by measuring the ions and charge within the cooling water. It would have also been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have reprogrammed the controller of Hosoi as modified to control the chiller as a whole and control the electromagnetic valve configured to allow or stop flow of the cooling water from the second supply line into the filtering line based on the electrical conductivity measured by the conductivity sensor based on the teachings of Nagata in order to determine the rate of recirculating the cooling water based on the charge level of the water and to protect the chiller system from impurities within the cooling water by controlling the flow of cooling water based on electric conductivity of the cooling water.
In regards to claim 6, Hosoi as modified teaches the limitations of claim 2 and Sakaguchi further discloses the tanks are at the same height as each other (heights of the tanks overlap, see fig. 1, Sakaguchi) and the tanks are not pressurized, therefore, they are connected to air, which includes outdoor air.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 12/15/2025 in the remarks have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In response to applicant's argument, "in Nagata path 2b is a path for supplying cooling water from temperature-controlled heat exchanger 6b to cooling tower, which is equivalent to claimed second supply line and not the claimed return path; however," the disagrees and maintains the rejection of the above-mentioned claimed limitations because Nagata teaches a second supply line (supply lines 3a or 2a, fig. 1) through which the cooling water is delivered to a heat load (cooling target 7 or heat load 6b, see fig. 1), a return line (return lines 2b or 3b, fig. 1) through which the cooling water returning from the heat load (cooling water returning from target 6b or load 7, see fig. 1) is guided to the tank (cooling water via return lines 3b or 2b being guided to respective tanks 6a or 5d, see figs. 1 and paragraphs 66-68), and a filtering line (lines 27-31 or line 13) branching off from the second supply line (lines 27 and 13 branching off from supply lines 3a and 2a respectively, fig. 1) and connected to the return lines (connected to return line 2b via junction 36 or junction between return and filter line, see above annotated fig. 1) of the second cooling-water (return line 2b of second circuit 2a-2b, see fig. 1 and paragraph 68). Hence, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the teachings of Hosoi with Nagata to provide filtering lines with filters and electric valves to improve quality of cooling water (see paragraph 8, Nagata). Therefore, applicant’s argument is not found persuasive.
In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-4 and 6 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument with regards to the newly submitted amendments to the claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MERAJ A SHAIKH whose telephone number is (571)272-3027. The examiner can normally be reached on M-R 9:00-1:00 pm.
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/MERAJ A SHAIKH/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/JIANYING C ATKISSON/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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