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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-19 in the reply filed on 10/03/2025 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the pipe-shaped through-hole in the expansion tank, claimed in claim 7, must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-8 and 11-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hans (US 3308805 A).
Regarding claim 1, Hans teaches of:
An air heating apparatus comprising:
an expansion tank configured to preserve water (Fig. 1, 43);
a water heater configured to receive heat from a combustion gas generated through a combustion reaction and heat the water (Fig. 1, 15 receives heat from a combustion gas generated in 3 to heat water stored in 15);
a heating heat exchanger configured to receive the water heated by the water heater and exchange heat with air that is to be discharged for heating (Fig. 1, 28 receives the heated water from 15 via 30 and exchanges heat form the water in 15 with air flowing around and through 28 via fan 23);
a fan configured to send the air to the heating heat exchanger (Fig. 1, 23); and
a main passage connecting the expansion tank, the water heater, and the heating heat exchanger (Fig. 1, the main passage includes 30, 40, 42 and 45 which is a flow path connecting the expansion tank 43, water heater 15 and heating heat exchanger 28),
wherein the main passage includes:
a first part that is a part extending downwards from the expansion tank (Fig. 1, 30, 40 and 42 are the first part and extend downward from the expansion tank); and
a second part communicated with the first part and the expansion tank, extending from the expansion tank, and one end of which extends upwards to be connected to the water heater (Fig. 1, 45 is the second part that extends from the expansion tank 43 and at the outlet end of 45 located inside of 15 it extends upward towards the wall 14 of water heater 15 and connected to the water heater).
Regarding claim 2, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 1, and Hans further teaches of:
wherein the main passage further includes:
a water discharge part connected to a lower side of the first part and communicating the first part and an outside of the first part (Fig. 1, 63 is a discharge part that connects to a lower side of the first part as listed above, the portion of 63 outside of the housing 5 is the outside part); and
a water discharge valve configured to open and close the water discharge part (Fig. 1, 63a).
Regarding claim 4, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 2, and Hans further teaches of:
further comprising:
a pump part disposed in the second part and configured to pump water that passes through the second part to the water heater (Fig. 1, 46 is a pump and pumps water through the second part 45 to the water heater 15)
Regarding claim 5, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 2, and Hans further teaches of:
further comprising:
a recovery passage connecting the heating heat exchanger and the first part to guide the water introduced into the heating heat exchanger to the first part (Fig. 1, 41 is a recovery passage that connects 28 to 40 and 42 as the absence of 41 would disconnect the two elements, and further 41 guides water out of 28 into 43)
Regarding claim 6, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 5, and Hans further teaches of:
wherein the water discharge part is disposed on a lower side of a connection point of the first part and the recovery passage (Fig. 1, 63 is below the first part 40 and 42 and the recovery passage 43)
Regarding claim 7, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 1, and Hans further teaches of:
wherein the expansion tank has a pipe-shaped through-hole extending upwards and downwards, and
wherein the second part passes through the through-hole (Fig. 1, 43 must have a through hole at the connection point of second part 45 and 43 so that 45 can engage with the through hole and be fluidly connected to the water held within 43)
Regarding claim 8, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 1, and Hans further teaches of:
further comprising:
a case, in which the expansion tank, the water heater, the heating heat exchanger, the fan, and the main passage are included in an interior thereof (Fig. 1, see case containing all the components of the system),
wherein the case includes:
an outer box having a first opening in a reference direction that is one direction that is perpendicular to an upward/downward direction; and
a first opening cover coupled to the outer box, and covering the first opening when being coupled to the outer box (Figs. 1-2, outer box is the space on the left side of 25 and 4, and has a cover shown as the sidewall that is on the right side of the apparatus in Fig. 2 that covers the opening of the outer box that is in the direction into and out of the page of Fig. 1 and in the right left direction in Fig. 2, see annotated version of Fig. 2 below for further explanation)
Regarding claim 11, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 8, and Hans further teaches of:
wherein the case further includes:
a first partition wall coupled to the outer box, and extending along the reference direction to divide an interior of the outer box to a first division space and a second division space (Fig. 1, see 14a that partitions the upper and lower portions of the apparatus, the first division space include fan 23 and the second division space includes water heater 15).
Regarding claim 12, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 11, and Hans further teaches of:
wherein the main passage passes through the first partition wall (Fig. 1, 45 passes through the first partition wall 14a)
Regarding claim 13, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 12, and Hans further teaches of:
wherein a main passage packing configured to maintain a sealing state of a portion of the first partition wall, through which the main passage passes, is provided at the portion of the first partition wall, through which the main passage passes (Fig. 1, 14a is made of a heat insulating material that would act as a passage packing that would maintain a sealing state between 45 and 14a as in Fig. 1 they are shown to be in contact with one another; Col. 2, lines 43-45, The lower part 3 of the unit is constructed as a liquid tank 14 provided with a heat-insulating envelope 14a made from asbestos, fire bricks or the like)
Regarding claim 14, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 11, and Hans further teaches of:
further comprising:
a condensate discharge pipe connected to the water heater and configured to discharge condensate generated by the heat exchanger (Fig. 1, 62 is a condensate discharge pipe that discharges condensate from 28 and is connected to the water heater since all components within the system are connected to one another and further 60 is a water pipe connected to the water heater and sprays water via 34 onto the heat exchanger 28 which would then flow to condensate discharge pipe 62),
wherein the condensate discharge pipe passes through the first partition wall (Fig. 1, 62 passes through 14a)
Regarding claim 15, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 14, and Hans further teaches of:
further comprising:
a condensate packing configured to maintain a sealing state of a portion of the first partition wall, through which the condensate discharge pipe passes, is disposed at the portion of the first partition wall, through which the condensate discharge pipe passes (Fig. 1, 14a is made of a heat insulating material that would act as a passage packing that would maintain a sealing state between 62 and 14a as in Fig. 1 they are shown to be in contact with one another; Col. 2, lines 43-45, The lower part 3 of the unit is constructed as a liquid tank 14 provided with a heat-insulating envelope 14a made from asbestos, fire bricks or the like)
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) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hans (US 3308805 A) as presented in claim 2 and in further view of Min (KR 20110086956 A).
Regarding claim 3, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 2, however, Hans fails to explicitly teach:
further comprising:
a filter part disposed in the first part and configured to filter water that passes through the first part.
Min teaches of:
further comprising:
a filter part disposed in the first part and configured to filter water that passes through the first part (Fig. 7, filter part 220 is at the inlet of the expansion tank)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add a filter part to the inlet of the expansion tank at the connection point between 43 and 42 so that the water entering 43 is filtered
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it filters out foreign substances that would block the pipes in the system (Min, ¶ [0008], Meanwhile, the heating water of the gas boiler configured as above circulates through the heating pipes and is returned to the inside of the boiler along with various foreign substances such as corroded pieces of the heating pipes and moss. These foreign substances may block the boiler pipes, causing the boiler to malfunction or reducing the operating efficiency.)
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hans (US 3308805 A) as presented in claim 8 and in further view of Riepenhoff (US 7036498 B2).
Regarding claim 9, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 8, and Hans further teaches of:
further comprising:
a condensate discharge pipe connected to the water heater and configured to discharge condensate generated by the heat exchanger (Fig. 1, 62 is a condensate discharge pipe that is connected to the water heater 15 via 34 and discharges condensate from 28, the discharge pipe 62 passes through a sidewall that is perpendicular to the reference direction shown in annotated Fig. 2 below and the up/down direction)
Hans fails to explicitly teach:
wherein one condensate discharge hole is formed on each of side walls in opposite directions that are perpendicular to the upward/downward direction of the case and the reference direction, and
wherein the condensate discharge pipe passes through any one of the pair of condensate discharge holes.
Riepenhoff teaches of:
wherein one condensate discharge hole is formed on each of side walls in opposite directions that are perpendicular to the upward/downward direction of the case and the reference direction, and
wherein the condensate discharge pipe passes through any one of the pair of condensate discharge holes (Fig. 1, see multiple discharge holes 74 on opposing sidewalls that are connected via a pipe 80 to a condensate trap; Col. 5, lines 7-13, In order to facilitate ease of installation of the furnace 10 in any of the four flow positions discussed above, two connectors 72, and two other connectors 74, are attached to cabinet walls 76, 78. Each of the connectors 72, 74 is connected by a hose 80 (only three of which are visible in FIG. 1) to a respective drain port 34 in the header box 32)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
provide an additional opening on the sidewall opposite the sidewall that 62 is shown to pass through in Fig. 1 of Hans
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the condensate discharge pipe to be fed to an external area of the apparatus of Hans no matter the orientation or position (Riepenhoff, Col. 5, lines 16-24, The furnace 10 can be assembled at the factory with all of the connectors 72, 74 installed in cabinet walls, and with a hose attached to a respective drain port 34 in the header box 32. Thus, the furnace 10 can be installed for downflow, upflow, left horizontal flow, or right horizontal flow operation, and the installation technician need only attach the trap 82 to the appropriate connector to facilitate proper condensate draining.)
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hans (US 3308805 A) as presented in claim 8, and in further view of Doumany (US 3718154 A).
Regarding claim 10, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 8, and Hans further teaches of:
further comprising:
a water introducing pipe connecting the expansion tank and a water source on an outside of the case to introduce water on the outside of the case into the expansion tank (Fig. 1, 51 is a water introducing pipe that connects the expansion tank 43 to a water source on an outside of the case and further 51 passes through a sidewall that is in a direction perpendicular to the reference direction shown in annotated Fig. 2 below and the up/down direction)
Hans fails to explicitly teach:
wherein one introduction hole is formed on each of side walls in opposite directions that are perpendicular to the upward/downward direction of the case and the reference direction, and
wherein the water introducing pipe passes through any one of the pair of introduction holes of the case.
Doumany teaches of:
wherein one introduction hole is formed on each of side walls in opposite directions that are perpendicular to the upward/downward direction of the case and the reference direction, and
wherein the water introducing pipe passes through any one of the pair of introduction holes of the case (Fig. 1, see housing 1 with multiple knockout holes 11 on each of the sidewalls that can selectively receive water pipes; Col. 2, lines 20-25, The top 2 and sides 4 and 5 of the box 1 preferably have holes or knockout plugs 11 formed therein to allow passage of cold and hot water pipes therethrough whether pipes leading to the box are directed thereto only through the top or through the sides or upwardly through the bottom thereof.)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add knockout holes on all the sidewalls of the apparatus of Hans that can be selectively opened to allow the passage of the water introduction pipe 51 through any of the sidewalls
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the system to have greater flexibility during assembly (Doumany, Col. 2, lines 20-25, The top 2 and sides 4 and 5 of the box 1 preferably have holes or knockout plugs 11 formed therein to allow passage of cold and hot water pipes therethrough whether pipes leading to the box are directed thereto only through the top or through the sides or upwardly through the bottom thereof)
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hans (US 3308805 A) as presented in claim 1, and in further view of Kwok (GB 2400637 A).
Regarding claim 17, Hans teaches of the air heating apparatus of claim 1, however, Hans fails to explicitly teach:
wherein the main passage further includes:
a first adapter connecting an upper end of the second part and the water heater.
Kwok teaches of:
wherein the main passage further includes:
a first adapter connecting an upper end of the second part and the water heater (Figs. 4-6, see water heater 110’ that has an adapter 10’ connecting the water heater to a supply pipe 20’ via 30A’)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the connection point between 45 and 15 of Hans so that at the point where 45 enters 15, an adapter 30A’ is added along with a whole 23’, therefore recreating the connection shown in Fig. 6 of Kwok in the system of Hans
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would prevent the backflow of water in the case of a leak upstream in 45, preventing the heaters in the water heater 15 from burning out (Kwok, Pg. 1, lines 12-21, The existing water heaters of this type are known to have a problem, in that when there is a sudden interruption of the water supply especially caused by an upstream leakage, water contained in the heater is often caused to flow back under atmospheric pressure by siphon principle from the storage tank. This can be hazardous in case the heating element inside the tank is switched on or continues to operate while water is depleted, that may lead to burning of the heating element and/or in turn the overall heater.)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16 and 18-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claims 16 and 18:
Both claims 16 and 18 recite “a recovery passage connecting the heating heat exchanger and the first part to guide the water introduced into the heating heat exchanger to the first part” and further that the recovery passages passes through the first partition wall. Hans as presented in claim 1 does not teach of a recovery passage guiding water from the heat exchanger to the first part that also passes through the first partition wall. This would require in the system of Hans for an additional pipe between either between 40 and 28 to reorient downward through the first partition wall 14a and back up to 40 or 42. This would not be an obvious modification to Hans and no prior art suggests such a change. Therefore, claims 16 and 18 are considered to be unique and are objected to as they depend from rejected claim 1.
Regarding claim 19:
Claim 19 recites that there are a pair of fuel introducing holes on opposite sidewalls that are in a direction perpendicular to an upward/downward direction of the case and a reference direction that is one direction that is perpendicular to the upward/downward direction. All known prior art that teaches of reconfigurable fuel supply line arrangements teach of the fuel entering through a top or bottom wall of a case, see US 6886756 B2 which in Fig. 2 shows a fuel supply line 20 entering through the top of the case and in Fig. 4 shows knockout hole 80 which is an optional opening in the bottom of the case for fuel supply line when the case is in a different arrangement. All known references that teach of a fuel supply line entering through a sidewall in the orientation claimed in claim 19 do not teach of alternative holes formed in the air heating case. As no known prior art teaches of the claimed limitation and Hans does not teach of any opening in the sidewalls to accommodate the fuel supply line, claim 19 is objected to as depending from a rejected claim 1.
Annotated Figures
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Annotated Fig. 2 of Hans
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL J GIORDANO whose telephone number is (571)272-8940. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fr 8 AM - 5 PM EST.
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/M.J.G./Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/STEVEN B MCALLISTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762