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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding independent claims 1, 10, and 19, the phrase “an oxygen concentration part including a first oxygen concentration member, a second oxygen concentration member, and a vacuum pump configured to separate and concentrate oxygen from the air from which moisture is removed by the dehumidification part” is unclear and renders the claim indefinite. In particular, note that the phrase “configured to separate and concentrate oxygen from the air from which moisture is removed by the dehumidification part” is not clear as to whether it is modifying the term “a vacuum pump” or the “oxygen concentration part.” It appears that the separation and concentration of oxygen is performed by the oxygen concentration member of the oxygen concentration part, and not the vacuum pump, as the vacuum pump discharges air (note that in applicant’s specification, it is described that the vacuum pump lowers the pressure during regeneration to release adsorbed nitrogen).
It is suggested to amend the limitations to include --, wherein the oxygen concentration part is-- between “a vacuum pump” and “configured to separate and concentrate oxygen.”
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon et al (US 2017/0117600) in view of Nakanishi (US 4,595,642).
Regarding claim 1, Kwon et al teaches a power supply apparatus (paragraph [0009], electrochemical battery), comprising:
an air supply part configured to supply air (paragraph [0052], air supplier 110 having air suction device 111, paragraph [0068], fig s5 and 8);
a dehumidification part configured to remove moisture in the air supplied from the air supply part (figs 5 and 8, paragraph [0068], moisture remover 112);
an oxygen concentration part (figs 5 and 8, paragraph [0068], oxygen generator 113) including a first oxygen concentration member (fig 6, paragraph [0077], first adsorber 31) and a second oxygen concentration member (fig 6, paragraph [0077], second adsorber 32) configured to separate and concentrate oxygen from the air from which moisture is removed by the dehumidification part (paragraph [0077], adsorbs nitrogen so that remaining air has an increased oxygen concentration);
a battery part including a lithium-air battery (paragraph [0009], battery module including at least one electrochemical cell, paragraph [0053], metal of the metal air cell is lithium) and configured to be supplied with the concentrated oxygen from the oxygen concentration part (figs 5 and 8); and
a controller (paragraph [0052], controller 150) configured to
in response to discharging the lithium-air battery (paragraph [0061], paragraph [0065], oxygen concentration between 30% and 100%), generate the concentrated oxygen to be supplied to the lithium-air battery by driving one of the first oxygen concentration member or the second oxygen concentration member, and regenerate the other of the first oxygen concentration member or the second oxygen concentration member while the concentrated oxygen is generated (paragraph [0077], pressure swing adsorption method, where air having increased oxygen concentration exhausted from first adsorber 31, while nitrogen adsorbed to the second adsorbent 32a may be desorbed, when the first adsorbent is saturated, desorbing may be performed in the first while adsorbing performed in the second).
Kwon et al teaches a valve for exhaust gas (paragraph [0072], fig 5, valve 114b), but is quiet to a vacuum pump.
Nakanishi teaches a fuel cell composite plant comprising a fuel cell and a gas separator for feeding a high purity oxygen gas to a cathode of the fuel cell (abstract). Nakanishi teaches a pressure swing adsorption gas separator 27 that is connected with a vacuum pump 28 (col 2 lines 48-60). The adsorbing towers are provided, on the side of the air inlets, with outlet valves that are connected to a vacuum pump 28 (col 3 lines 15-25). The vacuum pump is used to decrease the pressure in the adsorbing towers so that the adsorbing ability of the towers is recovered (col 3 lines 25-45), and that a continuous supply of the product gas can be supplied by carrying out adsorption at a high pressure and desorption at a lower pressure with at least two pairs of adsorbing towers (col 3 lines 25-45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Kwon et al to further include a vacuum pump on the inlet side of the adsorbent towers so as to discharge waste air and to further decrease the pressure in the adsorbing towers so as to recover the adsorbing ability of the towers.
Regarding claim 10, Kwon et al teaches a control method of a power supply apparatus (paragraph [0009], electrochemical battery), the power supply apparatus having:
an air supply part provided to supply air (paragraph [0052], air supplier 110 having air suction device 111, paragraph [0068], fig s5 and 8);
a dehumidification part configured to remove moisture in the air supplied from the air supply part (figs 5 and 8, paragraph [0068], moisture remover 112);
an oxygen concentration part (figs 5 and 8, paragraph [0068], oxygen generator 113) including a first oxygen concentration member (fig 6, paragraph [0077], first adsorber 31) and a second oxygen concentration member (fig 6, paragraph [0077], second adsorber 32) configured to separate and concentrate oxygen from the air from which moisture is removed by the dehumidification part (paragraph [0077], adsorbs nitrogen so that remaining air has an increased oxygen concentration); and
a battery part including a lithium-air battery (paragraph [0009], battery module including at least one electrochemical cell, paragraph [0053], metal of the metal air cell is lithium) and configured to be supplied with the concentrated oxygen from the oxygen concentration part (figs 5 and 8);
the control method comprising (paragraph [0052], controller 150):
in response to discharging the lithium-air battery (paragraph [0061], paragraph [0065], oxygen concentration between 30% and 100%), generating the concentrated oxygen to be supplied to the lithium-air battery by driving one of the first oxygen concentration member or the second oxygen concentration member, and regenerating the other of the first oxygen concentration member or the second oxygen concentration member while the concentrated oxygen is generated (paragraph [0077], pressure swing adsorption method, where air having increased oxygen concentration exhausted from first adsorber 31, while nitrogen adsorbed to the second adsorbent 32a may be desorbed, when the first adsorbent is saturated, desorbing may be performed in the first while adsorbing performed in the second).
Kwon et al teaches a valve for exhaust gas (paragraph [0072], fig 5, valve 114b), but is quiet to a vacuum pump.
Nakanishi teaches a fuel cell composite plant comprising a fuel cell and a gas separator for feeding a high purity oxygen gas to a cathode of the fuel cell (abstract). Nakanishi teaches a pressure swing adsorption gas separator 27 that is connected with a vacuum pump 28 (col 2 lines 48-60). The adsorbing towers are provided, on the side of the air inlets, with outlet valves that are connected to a vacuum pump 28 (col 3 lines 15-25). The vacuum pump is used to decrease the pressure in the adsorbing towers so that the adsorbing ability of the towers is recovered (col 3 lines 25-45), and that a continuous supply of the product gas can be supplied by carrying out adsorption at a high pressure and desorption at a lower pressure with at least two pairs of adsorbing towers (col 3 lines 25-45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Kwon et al to further include a vacuum pump on the inlet side of the adsorbent towers so as to discharge waste air and to further decrease the pressure in the adsorbing towers so as to recover the adsorbing ability of the towers.
Claim(s) 2-5 and 11-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon as modified by Nakanishi as applied to claims 1 and 10 above, and further in view of Saballus (US 2014/0004434).
Regarding claim 2, the combination teaches the dehumidification part comprising: a first dehumidifying member (Kwon, paragraph [0069], adsorber configured to absorb moisture in air); and a heating member configured to heat the first dehumidifying member (paragraph [0069], heater configured to heat the adsorber and desorb moisture), wherein in response to charging the lithium-air battery, the first dehumidifying member are heated by using the heating member (paragraph [0069], heater to heat and desorb), and air passing through the first dehumidifying member is discharged to an outside through the vacuum pump (Kwon, paragraph [0069], desorbed moisture exhausted through outlet port 112a, note that in the combination having a vacuum pump, it would have been obvious to exhaust through the vacuum pump).
The combination is quiet to a second dehumidifying member.
Saballus teaches a fuel cell system where the water extraction device has at least two drying units and adapted for selectively providing a fluid connection from the air supply device to the fuel cell by means of one of the at least two drying units, for an optimal drying process that does not influence a dynamic power generation (abstract). Saballus drying units are regenerable drying units, that are adapted to absorb water vapor contents and furthermore adapted to later release the absorbed water vapor as a supply of heat again (paragraph [0012]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include a second dehumidifying member, as taught in Saballus, for an optimal drying process that does not influence a dynamic power generation (abstract).
Regarding claim 3, the combination teaches wherein:
the air supply part comprises an air pump configured to draw outside air and supply to a downstream of the air pump (note combination, Kwon’s air suction device 111 corresponds to the air supply device 8 of Saballus); a discharge port of the air pump is branched into two air flow paths (Saballus, fig 1, supply line 20 branches to each of the drying units, paragraph [0042], paragraph [0010], note at least two, although the examples of Saballus shows three); one of the two air flow paths is connected to the first dehumidifying member (Saballus, fig 1, see line going to drying unit 14); the other of the two air flow paths is connected to the second dehumidifying member (Saballus, fig 1, see line going to drying unit 16); a first valve is provided in the air flow path connecting the discharge port of the air pump and the first dehumidifying member (Saballus, paragraph [0042], valve 24); and a second valve is provided in the air flow path connecting the discharge port of the air pump and the second dehumidifying member (Saballus, paragraph [0042], valve 26).
Regarding claim 4, the combination teaches wherein:
a third valve is provided in an air flow path between a discharge port of the first dehumidifying member and the first oxygen concentration member (note combination, where Saballus shows a valve 38 at the exit of the drying unit, which will correspond to after the moisture remover and before the oxygen generator of Kwon);
a fourth valve is provided in an air flow path between a discharge port of the second dehumidifying member and the second oxygen concentration member (note combination, valve 40 downstream of dryer 16);
a fifth valve is provided in an air flow path between an inlet port of the vacuum pump and an inlet port of the first oxygen concentration member which is a downstream of the third valve (note combination, Nakanishi teaches outlet valve 40a on the side of the air inlet of the adsorbing tower, connected to vacuum pump, fig 2, col 3 lines 20-30);
a sixth valve is provided in an air flow path between the inlet port of the vacuum pump and an inlet port of the second oxygen concentration member, which is a downstream of the fourth valve (note combination, Nakanishi teaches outlet valve 40b on the side of the air inlet of the adsorbing tower, connected to vacuum pump, fig 2, col 3 lines 20-30);
a seventh valve is provided in an air flow path between an inlet port of the lithium-air battery and a discharge port of the first oxygen concentration member (Nakanishi, fig 2, valve 38a, col 3 lines 20-30, product feed); and
an eighth valve is provided in an air flow path between the inlet port of the lithium-air battery and a discharge port of the second oxygen concentration member (Nakanishi, fig 2, valve 38b, col 3 lines 20-30, product feed).
Regarding claim 5, the combination teaches wherein the vacuum pump is connected between an inlet port of the first oxygen concentration member and an inlet port of the second oxygen concentration member (Nakanishi, fig 2, outlet valves 40a and 40b, vacuum pump 28).
Regarding claim 11, the combination teaches the dehumidification part comprising: a first dehumidifying member (Kwon, paragraph [0069], adsorber configured to absorb moisture in air); and a heating member configured to heat the first dehumidifying member (paragraph [0069], heater configured to heat the adsorber and desorb moisture), wherein in response to charging the lithium-air battery, the first dehumidifying member are heated by using the heating member (paragraph [0069], heater to heat and desorb), and air passing through the first dehumidifying member is discharged to an outside through the vacuum pump (Kwon, paragraph [0069], desorbed moisture exhausted through outlet port 112a, note that in the combination having a vacuum pump, it would have been obvious to exhaust through the vacuum pump).
The combination is quiet to a second dehumidifying member.
Saballus teaches a fuel cell system where the water extraction device has at least two drying units and adapted for selectively providing a fluid connection from the air supply device to the fuel cell by means of one of the at least two drying units, for an optimal drying process that does not influence a dynamic power generation (abstract). Saballus drying units are regenerable drying units, that are adapted to absorb water vapor contents and furthermore adapted to later release the absorbed water vapor as a supply of heat again (paragraph [0012]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include a second dehumidifying member, as taught in Saballus, for an optimal drying process that does not influence a dynamic power generation (abstract).
Regarding claim 12, the combination teaches wherein:
the air supply part comprises an air pump configured to draw outside air and supply to a downstream of the air pump (note combination, Kwon’s air suction device 111 corresponds to the air supply device 8 of Saballus); a discharge port of the air pump is branched into two air flow paths (Saballus, fig 1, supply line 20 branches to each of the drying units, paragraph [0042], paragraph [0010], note at least two, although the examples of Saballus shows three); one of the two air flow paths is connected to the first dehumidifying member (Saballus, fig 1, see line going to drying unit 14); the other of the two air flow paths is connected to the second dehumidifying member (Saballus, fig 1, see line going to drying unit 16); a first valve is provided in the air flow path connecting the discharge port of the air pump and the first dehumidifying member (Saballus, paragraph [0042], valve 24); and a second valve is provided in the air flow path connecting the discharge port of the air pump and the second dehumidifying member (Saballus, paragraph [0042], valve 26).
Regarding claim 13, the combination teaches wherein:
a third valve is provided in an air flow path between a discharge port of the first dehumidifying member and the first oxygen concentration member (note combination, where Saballus shows a valve 38 at the exit of the drying unit, which will correspond to after the moisture remover and before the oxygen generator of Kwon);
a fourth valve is provided in an air flow path between a discharge port of the second dehumidifying member and the second oxygen concentration member (note combination, valve 40 downstream of dryer 16);
a fifth valve is provided in an air flow path between an inlet port of the vacuum pump and an inlet port of the first oxygen concentration member which is a downstream of the third valve (note combination, Nakanishi teaches outlet valve 40a on the side of the air inlet of the adsorbing tower, connected to vacuum pump, fig 2, col 3 lines 20-30);
a sixth valve is provided in an air flow path between the inlet port of the vacuum pump and an inlet port of the second oxygen concentration member, which is a downstream of the fourth valve (note combination, Nakanishi teaches outlet valve 40b on the side of the air inlet of the adsorbing tower, connected to vacuum pump, fig 2, col 3 lines 20-30);
a seventh valve is provided in an air flow path between an inlet port of the lithium-air battery and a discharge port of the first oxygen concentration member (Nakanishi, fig 2, valve 38a, col 3 lines 20-30, product feed); and
an eighth valve is provided in an air flow path between the inlet port of the lithium-air battery and a discharge port of the second oxygen concentration member (Nakanishi, fig 2, valve 38b, col 3 lines 20-30, product feed).
Regarding claim 14, the combination teaches wherein the vacuum pump is connected between an inlet port of the first oxygen concentration member and an inlet port of the second oxygen concentration member (Nakanishi, fig 2, outlet valves 40a and 40b, vacuum pump 28).
Claim(s) 6-9 and 15-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon as modified by Nakanishi and Saballus as applied to claims 3 and 12 above, and further in view of LeVan et al (US 2007/0017369).
Regarding claim 6, the combination is quiet to further comprising: a ninth valve provided among a downstream of the first oxygen concentration member, a downstream of the second oxygen concentration member, and an inlet port of the lithium-air battery.
LeVan teaches various partial pressure swing adsorption gas separation methods (paragraph [0005], figs 1-4), where the system and method may be used to separate any multicomponent gas stream and not limited to fuel cell systems (paragraph [0008]). There are at least two adsorbent beds (11, 13) shown in figure 1 (paragraph [0012]) and the apparatus also comprises a plurality of valves which direct the gas flow (paragraph [0013]), including three four-way valves, such as the feed valve 15, the regeneration valve 17, and the product valve 19 (fig 1, paragraph [0013]). The valves enable a four-step partial pressure swing adsorption cycle for gas separation (paragraph [0006]) that is reliable and energy efficient (paragraph [0007]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the combination to include a ninth valve (corresponding to the product valve 19 of LeVan) provided downstream of the first and second oxygen concentration members and an inlet port of the battery, as Levan shows the valve arrangements can enable a four-step partial pressure swing adsorption cycle that is reliable and energy efficient.
Regarding claim 7, the combination teaches wherein a flow path of the ninth valve is configured to: be controlled so that air, discharged from the first oxygen concentration member and flowing through the seventh valve, flows into an inlet port of the lithium-air battery (LeVan, fig 1, note valve 19, one line goes from bed 1 to conduit 7); be controlled so that air, discharged from the second oxygen concentration member and flowing through the eighth valve, flows into the inlet port of the lithium-air battery (LeVan, fig 1, note valve 19, one line goes from bed 2 to conduit 7); and be controlled so that air flowed from the outside flows into the first oxygen concentration member and the second oxygen concentration member (LeVan, fig 1, note valve 19, 4th line connects to line 23 that receives dry air from line 5).
Regarding claim 8, the combination teaches wherein, in response to charging the lithium-air battery, the controller is configured to control the first oxygen concentration member and the second oxygen concentration member to be regenerated by circulating outside air in the oxygen concentration part through a switch of the flow path of the ninth valve and driving of the vacuum pump (note combination, LeVan shows in figures 2a-2d switching the flow path of the ninth valve (valve 19), figs 2b and 3d for dual flushing, note use of vacuum pump in Nakanishi).
Regarding claim 9, the combination teaches wherein, to regenerate the first oxygen concentration member and the second oxygen concentration member, the controller is configured to: control the flow path of the ninth valve to be switched to supply air to the first oxygen concentration member and the second oxygen concentration member by introducing the outside air (LeVan, figs 2a-2d, dual flush); and control the vacuum pump to be driven to discharge air passing through the first oxygen concentration member and the second oxygen concentration member outside (Nakanishi, fig 2, vacuum pump 28 for waste gases from the gas concentrators).
Regarding claim 15, the combination is quiet to further comprising: a ninth valve provided among a downstream of the first oxygen concentration member, a downstream of the second oxygen concentration member, and an inlet port of the lithium-air battery.
LeVan teaches various partial pressure swing adsorption gas separation methods (paragraph [0005], figs 1-4), where the system and method may be used to separate any multicomponent gas stream and not limited to fuel cell systems (paragraph [0008]). There are at least two adsorbent beds (11, 13) shown in figure 1 (paragraph [0012]) and the apparatus also comprises a plurality of valves which direct the gas flow (paragraph [0013]), including three four-way valves, such as the feed valve 15, the regeneration valve 17, and the product valve 19 (fig 1, paragraph [0013]). The valves enable a four-step partial pressure swing adsorption cycle for gas separation (paragraph [0006]) that is reliable and energy efficient (paragraph [0007]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the combination to include a ninth valve (corresponding to the product valve 19 of LeVan) provided downstream of the first and second oxygen concentration members and an inlet port of the battery, as Levan shows the valve arrangements can enable a four-step partial pressure swing adsorption cycle that is reliable and energy efficient.
Regarding claim 16, the combination teaches wherein a flow path of the ninth valve is configured to: be controlled so that air, discharged from the first oxygen concentration member and flowing through the seventh valve, flows into an inlet port of the lithium-air battery (LeVan, fig 1, note valve 19, one line goes from bed 1 to conduit 7); be controlled so that air, discharged from the second oxygen concentration member and flowing through the eighth valve, flows into the inlet port of the lithium-air battery (LeVan, fig 1, note valve 19, one line goes from bed 2 to conduit 7); and be controlled so that air flowed from the outside flows into the first oxygen concentration member and the second oxygen concentration member (LeVan, fig 1, note valve 19, 4th line connects to line 23 that receives dry air from line 5).
Regarding claim 17, the combination teaches wherein, in response to charging the lithium-air battery, the controller is configured to control the first oxygen concentration member and the second oxygen concentration member to be regenerated by circulating outside air in the oxygen concentration part through a switch of the flow path of the ninth valve and driving of the vacuum pump (note combination, LeVan shows in figures 2a-2d switching the flow path of the ninth valve (valve 19), figs 2b and 3d for dual flushing, note use of vacuum pump in Nakanishi).
Regarding claim 18, the combination teaches wherein, to regenerate the first oxygen concentration member and the second oxygen concentration member, the flow path of the ninth valve to be switched to supply air to the first oxygen concentration member and the second oxygen concentration member by introducing the outside air (LeVan, figs 2a-2d, dual flush); and the vacuum pump is driven to discharge air passing through the first oxygen concentration member and the second oxygen concentration member outside (Nakanishi, fig 2, vacuum pump 28 for waste gases from the gas concentrators).
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon in view of Nakanishi and Levan et al.
Regarding claim 19, Kwon et al teaches a control method of a power supply apparatus (paragraph [0009], electrochemical battery), the power supply apparatus having:
an air supply part provided to supply air (paragraph [0052], air supplier 110 having air suction device 111, paragraph [0068], fig s5 and 8);
a dehumidification part configured to remove moisture in the air supplied from the air supply part (figs 5 and 8, paragraph [0068], moisture remover 112);
an oxygen concentration part (figs 5 and 8, paragraph [0068], oxygen generator 113) including a first oxygen concentration member (fig 6, paragraph [0077], first adsorber 31) and a second oxygen concentration member (fig 6, paragraph [0077], second adsorber 32) configured to separate and concentrate oxygen from the air from which moisture is removed by the dehumidification part (paragraph [0077], adsorbs nitrogen so that remaining air has an increased oxygen concentration);
a battery part including a lithium-air battery (paragraph [0009], battery module including at least one electrochemical cell, paragraph [0053], metal of the metal air cell is lithium) and configured to be supplied with the concentrated oxygen from the oxygen concentration part (figs 5 and 8);
the control method comprising (paragraph [0052], controller 150):
in response to discharging the lithium-air battery (paragraph [0061], paragraph [0065], oxygen concentration between 30% and 100%), generating the concentrated oxygen to be supplied to the lithium-air battery by driving one of the first oxygen concentration member or the second oxygen concentration member, regenerating the other of the first oxygen concentration member or the second oxygen concentration member while the concentrated oxygen is generated (paragraph [0077], pressure swing adsorption method, where air having increased oxygen concentration exhausted from first adsorber 31, while nitrogen adsorbed to the second adsorbent 32a may be desorbed, when the first adsorbent is saturated, desorbing may be performed in the first while adsorbing performed in the second); in response to charging the lithium-air battery, heating the dehumidification part by using a heating member (Kwon, paragraph [0069], heater to heat and desorb) provided in the dehumidification part, and discharging air passing through the dehumidification part to an outside (Kwon, paragraph [0069], desorbed moisture exhausted through outlet port 112a).
Kwon et al teaches a valve for exhaust gas (paragraph [0072], fig 5, valve 114b), but is quiet to a vacuum pump.
Nakanishi teaches a fuel cell composite plant comprising a fuel cell and a gas separator for feeding a high purity oxygen gas to a cathode of the fuel cell (abstract). Nakanishi teaches a pressure swing adsorption gas separator 27 that is connected with a vacuum pump 28 (col 2 lines 48-60). The adsorbing towers are provided, on the side of the air inlets, with outlet valves that are connected to a vacuum pump 28 (col 3 lines 15-25). The vacuum pump is used to decrease the pressure in the adsorbing towers so that the adsorbing ability of the towers is recovered (col 3 lines 25-45), and that a continuous supply of the product gas can be supplied by carrying out adsorption at a high pressure and desorption at a lower pressure with at least two pairs of adsorbing towers (col 3 lines 25-45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Kwon et al to further include a vacuum pump on the inlet side of the adsorbent towers so as to discharge waste air and to further decrease the pressure in the adsorbing towers so as to recover the adsorbing ability of the towers.
The combination is quiet to further comprising: a four-way valve provided among a downstream of the first oxygen concentration member, a downstream of the second oxygen concentration member, and an inlet port of the lithium-air battery; and in response to charging the lithium-air battery, regenerating the oxygen concentration part by circulating outside air in the oxygen concentration part through a switch of a flow path of the four-way valve and driving of the vacuum pump.
LeVan teaches various partial pressure swing adsorption gas separation methods (paragraph [0005], figs 1-4), where the system and method may be used to separate any multicomponent gas stream and not limited to fuel cell systems (paragraph [0008]). There are at least two adsorbent beds (11, 13) shown in figure 1 (paragraph [0012]) and the apparatus also comprises a plurality of valves which direct the gas flow (paragraph [0013]), including three four-way valves, such as the feed valve 15, the regeneration valve 17, and the product valve 19 (fig 1, paragraph [0013]). The valves enable a four-step partial pressure swing adsorption cycle for gas separation (paragraph [0006]) that is reliable and energy efficient (paragraph [0007]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the combination to include a four-way valve (corresponding to the product valve 19 of LeVan) provided downstream of the first and second oxygen concentration members and an inlet port of the battery, as Levan shows the valve arrangements can enable a four-step partial pressure swing adsorption cycle that is reliable and energy efficient. Note that in the combination, LeVan shows the switching of the four-way valve (figs 2a-2d, valve 19) so as to circulate the dry air for regenerating the beds (dual flush), and that in the combination, Nakanishi teaches further lowering the pressure using a vacuum pump for better desorption (Nakanishi, fig 2, vacuum pump 28).
Conclusion
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/JACKY YUEN/
Examiner
Art Unit 1735
/KEITH WALKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1735