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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 11/10/2025, with respect to the claim objections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The claim objections have been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments, filed 11/10/2025, with respect to the 35 USC § 103 rejections have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues “It is respectfully submitted the air conditioning of horse stalls in a trailer is not disclosed, taught, suggested, or contemplated in the collective teaching of the cited references. As noted in the rejection Vernese does not teach air conditioning units. However, Vernese is the only reference cited which relates to a horse trailer. No other cited reference provides for horse stalls at all. As such, the core concept of the invention, providing a cooled environment for horse stalls to prevent horses from overheating when transported, is not found anywhere in the collective teaching of the cited references”. However, while Vernese teaches a gooseneck horse trailer specifically adapted for the transport of horses, Champagne teaches a gooseneck trailer of similar structure to Vernese comprising the claimed air conditioning units. The phrase “for cooling horses being transported thereby inhibiting the horses from being exposed to dangerously high temperatures” is regarded as an intended use limitation; since the air conditioning system of the gooseneck trailer of Champagne is configured to be applied to the gooseneck trailer of Vernese, the combined system would thus be configured to cool horses being transported thereby inhibiting the horses from being exposed to dangerously high temperatures. Thus, the combination would teach “each of said plurality of air conditioning units being in fluid communication with said plurality of horse stalls” when the air conditioning system of Champagne is applied to the trailer of Vernese.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vernese (US 5769478 A) in view of Champagne (US 20170057396 A1) and Hindle (US 20180086402 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Vernese teaches
an equine trailer device (“The present invention relates generally to trailers” [col. 1 line 7]; “A common type of livestock trailer is adapted for transporting horses” [col. 1 lines 19-20]), said device comprising:
a gooseneck trailer (fig. 10) having a plurality of horse stalls (stalls 146, fig. 8) being located within said gooseneck trailer wherein said gooseneck trailer is configured to transport a plurality of horses (in each of the stalls 146), said gooseneck trailer having a drop-down door which defines a ramp when said drop-down door is in an open position wherein said ramp is configured to facilitate the horses to enter said gooseneck trailer (“A ramp 166 is provided at the back end of the trailer 152 for selectively providing sloping access to a trailer interior 167 through a back door opening 76, which also mounts a door upper half 168” [col. 5 lines 46-49]; thus, ramp 166 part of the door assembly);
a plurality of light emitters, each of said plurality of light emitters being attached to said top wall of said gooseneck trailer such that each of said plurality of light emitters is positioned within said gooseneck trailer wherein each of said plurality of light emitters is configured to emit light into an interior of said gooseneck trailer (“A roof 102 includes a crowned top panel 104 and a rim 106 depending downwardly therefrom and terminating at a lower, free edge 108. The roof 102 includes a rounded corner edge 110, an electrical wiring passage 112 located immediately inside the corner edge 110 and a vent 111. The wiring passage 112 receives electrical wiring 114 connected to running lights 116”) [col. 4 lines 55-61]; and
Vernese does not teach
a climate controlled equine trailer device for cooling horses being transported thereby inhibiting the horses from being exposed to dangerously high temperatures
a plurality of air conditioning units, each of said air conditioning units being attached to said gooseneck trailer, each of said plurality of air conditioning units being in fluid communication with said plurality of horse stalls in an interior of said gooseneck trailer thereby facilitating each of said plurality of air conditioning units to cool an interior of said gooseneck trailer wherein each of said plurality of air conditioning units is configured to inhibit the horses inside of said gooseneck trailer from being exposed to dangerously high temperatures;
a plurality of solar panels, each of said solar panels being attached to said gooseneck trailer wherein each of said solar panels is configured to be exposed to sunlight, each of said plurality of solar panels being in electrical communication with said plurality of air conditioning units for supplying electrical power to said plurality of air conditioning units wherein said plurality of air conditioning units is configured to be operatable independent of an external power source;
a light switch being positioned within said gooseneck trailer, said light switch being electrically coupled to said plurality of light emitters for turning said plurality of light emitters on and off
Champagne teaches
a plurality of air conditioning units, each of said air conditioning units being attached to said gooseneck trailer (“ceiling cassettes 220 a , 220 b each containing an evaporator coil 220 and a fan”) [0030], each of said plurality of air conditioning units being in fluid communication with an interior of said gooseneck trailer thereby facilitating each of said plurality of air conditioning units to cool an interior of said gooseneck trailer wherein each of said plurality of air conditioning units is configured to inhibit the horses inside of said gooseneck trailer from being exposed to dangerously high temperatures (as shown by cool air flow on fig. 2);
a plurality of solar panels (solar photovoltaic panels 110, fig. 3), each of said solar panels being attached to said gooseneck trailer wherein each of said solar panels is configured to be exposed to sunlight (as shown on fig. 3), each of said plurality of solar panels being in electrical communication with said plurality of air conditioning units for supplying electrical power to said plurality of air conditioning units (“the solar-thermal powered recreational vehicle 1 also features a solar-thermal air conditioning system powered by the clean energy system. The solar-thermal air conditioning system includes a compressor 231 , a solar collector 210 , a condenser 232 , a metering device 240 , and an evaporator 220”) [0021] wherein said plurality of air conditioning units is configured to be operatable independent of an external power source (“The generator 140 functions as a back-up power source when the solar panels 110 and the battery bank 130 are unable to meet the power load of the recreational vehicle 1 and shore power is unavailable” [0027]; thus, clean energy system 100 is the main power source, and thus configured to be operatable independent of an external power source)
The trailer of Vernese can be modified to comprise the clean energy system 100 of Champagne. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide an air conditioned trailer with an efficient energy supply system.
Hindle teaches
a light switch being positioned within said gooseneck trailer, said light switch being electrically coupled to said plurality of light emitters for turning said plurality of light emitters on and off (“Interior light control switch 82 is also included for selectively providing power to the interior lights 62”) [0050]
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 interior light control switch 82 of Hindle tot the trailer of Vernese, as modified, in order to allow a user to selectively turn on and off the running lights 116 as desired.
The combination teaches
a climate controlled equine trailer device for cooling horses being transported thereby inhibiting the horses from being exposed to dangerously high temperatures (the equine trailer of Vernese as modified by Champagne allows for the trailer to be climate controlled)
each of said plurality of air conditioning units being in fluid communication with said plurality of horse stalls in an interior of said gooseneck trailer (the equine trailer of Vernese as modified by Champagne allows for ceiling cassettes 220a , 220b of Champagne to be in fluid communication with stalls 146 of Vernese)
Regarding claim 2, Vernese, as modified, teaches the device according to claim 1, wherein:
said gooseneck trailer has a top wall, a bottom wall, a first lateral wall and a second lateral wall (fig. 2 of Vernese), said bottom wall having a rear portion, a front portion and a vertical portion extending between and being perpendicularly oriented with said rear portion and said front portion such that said front portion is spaced upwardly from said rear portion (as shown on fig. 10 of Vernese), a front end of said gooseneck trailer being associated with said front portion, a back end of said gooseneck trailer being associated with said rear portion (fig. 10 of Vernese);
said gooseneck trailer has a hitch extending downwardly from said front portion of said bottom wall thereby facilitating said hitch to be coupled to a tow vehicle for towing said gooseneck trailer (fig. 10 of Vernese), said front portion of said bottom wall defining a forward space between said front portion and said top wall of said gooseneck trailer, said rear portion of said bottom wall defining a rear space between said rear portion and said top wall of said gooseneck trailer (fig. 10 of Vernese); and
each of said horse stalls is positioned in said rear space (fig. 11 of Vernese)
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vernese (US5769478A) in view of Champagne (US20170057396A1) and Hindle (US20180086402A1), in further view of Bacon (US20090058106A1).
Regarding claim 3, Vernese, as modified, teaches the device according to claim 2, further comprising
a plurality of windows, each of said plurality of windows being movably integrated into a respective one of said first lateral wall and said second lateral wall of said gooseneck trailer, thereby facilitating each of said plurality of windows to be positioned in an open position for ventilating an interior of said gooseneck trailer or a closed position (“The second side wall 64d includes a plurality of window openings 92 each receiving a respective side window 94 which has open and closed positions with respect to the side window opening 92”) [col. 4 lines 44-47]
Vernese, as modified, does not teach
each of said plurality of windows having a bottom edge being hingedly coupled to a lower bounding edge of a respective one of a plurality of window openings in said respective first lateral wall and said second lateral wall of said gooseneck trailer
Bacon teaches
each of said plurality of windows (feed door 2, fig. 1) having a bottom edge being hingedly coupled to a lower bounding edge of a respective one of a plurality of window openings (via hinge 6, fig. 2) in said respective first lateral wall and said second lateral wall of said gooseneck trailer (trailer sidewalls 35)
Vernese teaches the opening and closing of windows 94 but does not explicitly teach how the window Is coupled to the trailer. 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 window system of Bacon to Vernese, as modified, in order to allow the windows to be opened and closed form the outside of the trailer, so a user does not have to enter the trailer while horses are present.
Regarding claim 4, Vernese, as modified, teaches the device according to claim 2, wherein:
each of said plurality of air conditioning units is positioned on said top wall of said gooseneck trailer, each of said plurality of air conditioning units having an output extending through said top wall thereby facilitating each of said air conditioning units to blow cooled air through said top wall (ceiling cassettes 220a, 220b, 220c as shown on fig. 2 of Champagne);
each of said plurality of solar panels is positioned on said top wall of said gooseneck trailer, said plurality of solar panels being arranged in a pair of rows extending between said front end and said back end of said gooseneck trailer (solar photovoltaic panels 110 as shown on fig. 3 of Champagne); and
each said plurality of air conditioning units is positioned between said pair of rows of said solar panels, said pair of air conditioning units being spaced apart from each other and being distributed between said front end and said back end of said gooseneck trailer (ceiling cassettes 220a, 220b, 220c as shown on fig. 3 of Champagne)
Regarding claim 5, Vernese, as modified, teaches the device according to claim 2, further comprising:
a housing being extending upwardly from said front portion of said bottom wall of said gooseneck trailer such that said housing is positioned in said forward space in said gooseneck trailer (“FIG. 5 is a detailed section view of the storage area identified in FIG. 4, showing several of the internal components of the solar-thermal powered recreational vehicle depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4” [0014 of Champagne]; as shown on fig. 4, the storage area below the dotted lines which contains the section view of fig. 5, comprises an area that includes extending upwardly from both the front portion and back portion of the bottom wall, thus the storage area is positioned in said forward space in said gooseneck trailer); and
a plurality of batteries, each of said plurality of batteries being positioned within said housing (“the battery bank 130 be comprises four to six marine batteries” [0025 of Champagne]; battery bank 130 depicted in storage area on fig. 5), each of said plurality of batteries being electrically coupled to said plurality of solar panels such that said plurality of solar panels charges said plurality of batteries (“The battery bank 130 stores excess solar energy collected by the solar PV panels 110”) [0025 of Champagne], each of said plurality of batteries being electrically coupled to said plurality of air conditioning units for supplying electrical power to said plurality of air conditioning units (“power can be supplied by the hybrid inverter 150 from four different energy sources: shore power 109 , the solar photovoltaic panels 110 , the battery bank 130 , or the generator 140 . Regardless of the power source, the hybrid inventor 150 will distribute 110 volt electricity to the recreational vehicle 1 to meet its power needs, such as appliances, lights, electronics, and the solar-thermal air conditioning system”) [0020 of Champagne]
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vernese (US5769478A) in view of Champagne (US20170057396A1) and Hindle (US20180086402A1), in further view of Sandu (US20200238928A1).
Regarding claim 6, Vernese, as modified, teaches the device according to claim 5, wherein:
said device includes a control circuit being positioned within said housing (charge controller 120, fig. 5), said control circuit being electrically coupled between said plurality of batteries and said plurality of solar panels for controlling charging said plurality of batteries (“The charge controller 120 functions to optimize the PV array's output which can fluctuate based on shading and temperature variables, as well as regulate discharge from the battery bank 130” [0026 of Champagne]; also shown on fig. 1 of Champagne);
said control circuit including an inverter for converting direct current electricity from said plurality of batteries into alternating current electricity being supplied to said plurality of air conditioning units (“The hybrid inverter 150 functions to change the electrical current supplied by the PV array from DC current to AC current. The hybrid inverter 150 preferably is a pure sine wave inverter in modular form. The hybrid inverter 150 can be integrated into a pre-wired panel system capable of receiving power from multiple sources (e.g., a PV array, battery bank, generator, and/or shore power) and distributing it to multiple AC loads”) [0024 of Champagne]
Vernese does not teach
said control circuit includes a thermostat being in thermal communication with an interior of said gooseneck trailer, said control circuit actuating said plurality of air conditioning units when said thermostat senses a temperature that is above a pre-determined trigger temperature, said control circuit de-actuating said plurality of air conditioning units when said thermostat senses a temperature that is below a pre-determined cut-off temperature
Sandu teaches
said control circuit includes a thermostat being in thermal communication with an interior of said gooseneck trailer, said control circuit actuating said plurality of air conditioning units when said thermostat senses a temperature that is above a pre-determined trigger temperature, said control circuit de-actuating said plurality of air conditioning units when said thermostat senses a temperature that is below a pre-determined cut-off temperature (as shown on fig. 4 of Sandu, the system comprises a thermostat at 144 with a “current” temperature reading, thus being thermal communication with the trailer; one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that an air conditioning system would only run when the measured temperature reads above the set temperature)
The system of Vernese, as modified, can be modified to include the control system 100 of Sandu as described, including smart mobile device 104 and internal temperature monitor, in the controller of Champagne as applied to Vernese. 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 in order to allow a user to control the air conditioning of the trailer from anywhere inside or outside of the trailer.
Regarding claim 7, Vernese, as modified, teaches the device according to claim 6, further comprising
a transceiver being positioned within said housing, said transceiver being electrically coupled to said control circuit (“The control system 100 includes the network interface hardware for communicatively coupling the control system 100 with a computer, cloud, and/or cellular network such as network 108 . The network interface hardware may include, for example, the router 116 coupled to the communication path 103 and other modules of the control system 100 . The network interface hardware can be any device capable of transmitting and/or receiving data via a wireless network. Accordingly, the network interface hardware can include a communication transceiver for sending and/or receiving data according to any wireless communication standard.”) [0035 of Sandu], said transceiver being in wireless communication with a personal electronic device thereby facilitating said personal electronic device to remotely control operational parameters of said plurality of air conditioning units (smart mobile device 104 of Sandu), said operational parameters including actuating and de-actuating said plurality of air conditioning units and establishing said pre-determined trigger temperature of said plurality of air conditioning units (“A Front Cabin button 144 includes additional sub-controls for the front cabin of the smart vehicle 102 , such as temperature control through a temperature button 146 , HVAC mode selection through a mode button 148 (e.g., showing an air condition (AC) mode selection in FIG. 9), and a level of one or more vent fans in the front cabin”) [0058 of Sandu]
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vernese (US5769478A) in view of Bacon (US20090058106A1), Hindle (US20180086402A1), Champagne (US20170057396A1), and Sandu (US20200238928A1).
Regarding claim 8, Vernese teaches
an equine trailer device (“The present invention relates generally to trailers” [col. 1 line 5]; “A common type of livestock trailer is adapted for transporting horses” [col. 1 lines 19-20]), said device comprising:
a gooseneck trailer (fig. 10) having a plurality of horse stalls (stalls 146, fig. 8) being located within said gooseneck trailer wherein said gooseneck trailer is configured to transport a plurality of horses (in each of the stalls 146), said gooseneck trailer having a drop-down door which defines a ramp when said drop-down door is in an open position wherein said ramp is configured to facilitate the horses to enter said gooseneck trailer (“A ramp 166 is provided at the back end of the trailer 152 for selectively providing sloping access to a trailer interior 167 through a back door opening 76, which also mounts a door upper half 168” [col. 5 lines 46-49]; thus, ramp 166 part of the door assembly), said gooseneck trailer has a top wall, a bottom wall, a first lateral wall and a second lateral wall (fig. 2 of Vernese), said bottom wall having a rear portion, a front portion and a vertical portion extending between and being perpendicularly oriented with said rear portion and said front portion such that said front portion is spaced upwardly from said rear portion (as shown on fig. 10 of Vernese), a front end of said gooseneck trailer being associated with said front portion, a back end of said gooseneck trailer being associated with said rear portion (fig. 10 of Vernese), said gooseneck trailer has a hitch extending downwardly from said front portion of said bottom wall thereby facilitating said hitch to be coupled to a tow vehicle for towing said gooseneck trailer (fig. 10 of Vernese), said front portion of said bottom wall defining a forward space between said front portion and said top wall of said gooseneck trailer, said rear portion of said bottom wall defining a rear space between said rear portion and said top wall of said gooseneck trailer (fig. 10 of Vernese), each of said horse stalls is positioned in said rear space (fig. 11 of Vernese);
a plurality of windows, each of said plurality of windows being movably integrated into a respective one of said first lateral wall and said second lateral wall of said gooseneck trailer, thereby facilitating each of said plurality of windows to be positioned in an open position for ventilating an interior of said gooseneck trailer or a closed position (“The second side wall 64d includes a plurality of window openings 92 each receiving a respective side window 94 which has open and closed positions with respect to the side window opening 92”) [col. 4 lines 44-47];
a plurality of light emitters, each of said plurality of light emitters being attached to said top wall of said gooseneck trailer such that each of said plurality of light emitters is positioned within said gooseneck trailer wherein each of said plurality of light emitters is configured to emit light into an interior of said gooseneck trailer (“A roof 102 includes a crowned top panel 104 and a rim 106 depending downwardly therefrom and terminating at a lower, free edge 108. The roof 102 includes a rounded corner edge 110, an electrical wiring passage 112 located immediately inside the corner edge 110 and a vent 111. The wiring passage 112 receives electrical wiring 114 connected to running lights 116”) [col. 4 lines 55-61]
Vernese does not teach
a climate controlled equine trailer device for cooling horses being transported thereby inhibiting the horses from being exposed to dangerously high temperatures
each of said plurality of windows having a bottom edge being hingedly coupled to a lower bounding edge of a respective one of a plurality of window openings in said respective first lateral wall and said second lateral wall of said gooseneck trailer
a plurality of air conditioning units, each of said air conditioning units being attached to said gooseneck trailer, each of said plurality of air conditioning units being in fluid communication with said plurality of horse stalls in an interior of said gooseneck trailer thereby facilitating each of said plurality of air conditioning units to cool an interior of said gooseneck trailer wherein each of said plurality of air conditioning units is configured to inhibit the horses inside of said gooseneck trailer from being exposed to dangerously high temperatures, each of said plurality of air conditioning units being positioned on said top wall of said gooseneck trailer, each of said plurality of air conditioning units having an output extending through said top wall thereby facilitating each of said air conditioning units to blow cooled air through said top wall;
a plurality of solar panels, each of said solar panels being attached to said gooseneck trailer wherein each of said solar panels is configured to be exposed to sunlight, each of said plurality of solar panels being in electrical communication with said plurality of air conditioning units for supplying electrical power to said plurality of air conditioning units wherein said plurality of air conditioning units is configured to be operatable independent of an external power source, each of said plurality of solar panels being positioned on said top wall of said gooseneck trailer, said plurality of solar panels being arranged in a pair of rows extending between said front end and said back end of said gooseneck trailer, each said plurality of air conditioning units being positioned between said pair of rows of said solar panels, said pair of air conditioning units being spaced apart from each other and being distributed between said front end and said back end of said gooseneck trailer;
a housing being extending upwardly from said front portion of said bottom wall of said gooseneck trailer such that said housing is positioned in said forward space in said gooseneck trailer;
a plurality of batteries, each of said plurality of batteries being positioned within said housing, each of said plurality of batteries being electrically coupled to said plurality of solar panels such that said plurality of solar panels charges said plurality of batteries, each of said plurality of batteries being electrically coupled to said plurality of air conditioning units for supplying electrical power to said plurality of air conditioning units;
a control circuit being positioned within said housing, said control circuit being electrically coupled between said plurality of batteries and said plurality of solar panels for controlling charging said plurality of batteries, said control circuit including a thermostat being in thermal communication with an interior of said gooseneck trailer, said control circuit actuating said plurality of air conditioning units when said thermostat senses a temperature that is above a pre-determined trigger temperature, said control circuit de-actuating said plurality of air conditioning units when said thermostat senses a temperature that is below a pre-determined cut-off temperature, said control circuit including an inverter for converting direct current electricity from said plurality of batteries into alternating current electricity being supplied to said plurality of air conditioning units;
a transceiver being positioned within said housing, said transceiver being electrically coupled to said control circuit, said transceiver being in wireless communication with a personal electronic device thereby facilitating said personal electronic device to remotely control operational parameters of said plurality of air conditioning units, said operational parameters including actuating and de-actuating said plurality of air conditioning units and establishing said pre-determined trigger temperature of said plurality of air conditioning units;
each of said plurality of light emitters being electrically coupled to said plurality of batteries;
a light switch being positioned within said gooseneck trailer, said light switch being electrically coupled to said plurality of light emitters for turning said plurality of light emitters on and off
Bacon teaches
each of said plurality of windows (feed door 2, fig. 1) having a bottom edge being hingedly coupled to a lower bounding edge of a respective one of a plurality of window openings (via hinge 6, fig. 2) in said respective first lateral wall and said second lateral wall of said gooseneck trailer (trailer sidewalls 35)
Vernese teaches the opening and closing of windows 94 but does not explicitly teach how the window Is coupled to the trailer. 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 window system of Bacon to Vernese in order to allow the windows to be opened and closed form the outside of the trailer, so a user does not have to enter the trailer while horses are present.
Hindle teaches
a light switch being positioned within said gooseneck trailer, said light switch being electrically coupled to said plurality of light emitters for turning said plurality of light emitters on and off (“Interior light control switch 82 is also included for selectively providing power to the interior lights 62”) [0053]
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 interior light control switch 82 of Hindle tot the trailer of Vernese, as modified, in order to allow a user to selectively turn on and off the running lights 116 as desired.
Champagne teaches
a plurality of air conditioning units, each of said air conditioning units being attached to said gooseneck trailer (“ceiling cassettes 220 a , 220 b each containing an evaporator coil 220 and a fan”) [0030], each of said plurality of air conditioning units being in fluid communication with an interior of said gooseneck trailer thereby facilitating each of said plurality of air conditioning units to cool an interior of said gooseneck trailer wherein each of said plurality of air conditioning units is configured to inhibit the horses inside of said gooseneck trailer from being exposed to dangerously high temperatures (as shown by cool air flow on fig. 2), each of said plurality of air conditioning units is positioned on said top wall of said gooseneck trailer, each of said plurality of air conditioning units having an output extending through said top wall thereby facilitating each of said air conditioning units to blow cooled air through said top wall (ceiling cassettes 220a, 220b, 220c as shown on fig. 2 of Champagne);
a plurality of solar panels (solar photovoltaic panels 110, fig. 3), each of said solar panels being attached to said gooseneck trailer wherein each of said solar panels is configured to be exposed to sunlight (as shown on fig. 3), each of said plurality of solar panels being in electrical communication with said plurality of air conditioning units for supplying electrical power to said plurality of air conditioning units (“the solar-thermal powered recreational vehicle 1 also features a solar-thermal air conditioning system powered by the clean energy system. The solar-thermal air conditioning system includes a compressor 231 , a solar collector 210 , a condenser 232 , a metering device 240 , and an evaporator 220”) [0021] wherein said plurality of air conditioning units is configured to be operatable independent of an external power source (“The generator 140 functions as a back-up power source when the solar panels 110 and the battery bank 130 are unable to meet the power load of the recreational vehicle 1 and shore power is unavailable” [0027]; thus, clean energy system 100 is the main power source, and thus configured to be operatable independent of an external power source), each of said plurality of solar panels is positioned on said top wall of said gooseneck trailer, said plurality of solar panels being arranged in a pair of rows extending between said front end and said back end of said gooseneck trailer (solar photovoltaic panels 110 as shown on fig. 3 of Champagne), each said plurality of air conditioning units is positioned between said pair of rows of said solar panels, said pair of air conditioning units being spaced apart from each other and being distributed between said front end and said back end of said gooseneck trailer (ceiling cassettes 220a, 220b, 220c as shown on fig. 3 of Champagne);
a housing being extending upwardly from said front portion of said bottom wall of said gooseneck trailer such that said housing is positioned in said forward space in said gooseneck trailer (“FIG. 5 is a detailed section view of the storage area identified in FIG. 4, showing several of the internal components of the solar-thermal powered recreational vehicle depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4” [0014 of Champagne]; as shown on fig. 4, the storage area below the dotted lines which contains the section view of fig. 5, comprises an area that includes extending upwardly from both the front portion and back portion of the bottom wall, thus the storage area is positioned in said forward space in said gooseneck trailer);
a plurality of batteries, each of said plurality of batteries being positioned within said housing (“the battery bank 130 be comprises four to six marine batteries” [0025]; battery bank 130 depicted in storage area on fig. 5), each of said plurality of batteries being electrically coupled to said plurality of solar panels such that said plurality of solar panels charges said plurality of batteries (“The battery bank 130 stores excess solar energy collected by the solar PV panels 110”) [0025], each of said plurality of batteries being electrically coupled to said plurality of air conditioning units for supplying electrical power to said plurality of air conditioning units (“power can be supplied by the hybrid inverter 150 from four different energy sources: shore power 109 , the solar photovoltaic panels 110 , the battery bank 130 , or the generator 140 . Regardless of the power source, the hybrid inventor 150 will distribute 110 volt electricity to the recreational vehicle 1 to meet its power needs, such as appliances, lights, electronics, and the solar-thermal air conditioning system”) [0020 of Champagne]
a control circuit being positioned within said housing (charge controller 120, fig. 5), said control circuit being electrically coupled between said plurality of batteries and said plurality of solar panels for controlling charging said plurality of batteries (“The charge controller 120 functions to optimize the PV array's output which can fluctuate based on shading and temperature variables, as well as regulate discharge from the battery bank 130” [0026 of Champagne]; also shown on fig. 1 of Champagne), said control circuit including an inverter for converting direct current electricity from said plurality of batteries into alternating current electricity being supplied to said plurality of air conditioning units (“The hybrid inverter 150 functions to change the electrical current supplied by the PV array from DC current to AC current. The hybrid inverter 150 preferably is a pure sine wave inverter in modular form. The hybrid inverter 150 can be integrated into a pre-wired panel system capable of receiving power from multiple sources (e.g., a PV array, battery bank, generator, and/or shore power) and distributing it to multiple AC loads”) [0024 of Champagne]
each of said plurality of light emitters being electrically coupled to said plurality of batteries (“Regardless of the power source, the hybrid inventor 150 will distribute 110 volt electricity to the recreational vehicle 1 to meet its power needs, such as appliances, lights, electronics, and the solar-thermal air conditioning system”) [0020 of Champagne];
The trailer of Vernese can be modified to comprise the clean energy system 100 of Champagne. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide an air conditioned trailer with an efficient energy supply system.
Sandu teaches
said control circuit includes a thermostat being in thermal communication with an interior of said gooseneck trailer, said control circuit actuating said plurality of air conditioning units when said thermostat senses a temperature that is above a pre-determined trigger temperature, said control circuit de-actuating said plurality of air conditioning units when said thermostat senses a temperature that is below a pre-determined cut-off temperature (as shown on fig. 4 of Sandu, the system comprises a thermostat at 144 with a “current” temperature reading, thus being thermal communication with the trailer; one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that an air conditioning system would only run when the measured temperature reads above the set temperature);
a transceiver being positioned within said housing, said transceiver being electrically coupled to said control circuit (“The control system 100 includes the network interface hardware for communicatively coupling the control system 100 with a computer, cloud, and/or cellular network such as network 108 . The network interface hardware may include, for example, the router 116 coupled to the communication path 103 and other modules of the control system 100 . The network interface hardware can be any device capable of transmitting and/or receiving data via a wireless network. Accordingly, the network interface hardware can include a communication transceiver for sending and/or receiving data according to any wireless communication standard.”) [0035 of Sandu], said transceiver being in wireless communication with a personal electronic device thereby facilitating said personal electronic device to remotely control operational parameters of said plurality of air conditioning units (smart mobile device 104 of Sandu), said operational parameters including actuating and de-actuating said plurality of air conditioning units and establishing said pre-determined trigger temperature of said plurality of air conditioning units (“A Front Cabin button 144 includes additional sub-controls for the front cabin of the smart vehicle 102 , such as temperature control through a temperature button 146 , HVAC mode selection through a mode button 148 (e.g., showing an air condition (AC) mode selection in FIG. 9), and a level of one or more vent fans in the front cabin”) [0058 of Sandu];
The system of Vernese, as modified, can be modified to include the control system 100 of Sandu as described, including smart mobile device 104 and internal temperature monitor, in the controller of Champagne as applied to Vernese. 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 in order to allow a user to control the air conditioning of the trailer from anywhere inside or outside of the trailer.
The combination teaches
a climate controlled equine trailer device for cooling horses being transported thereby inhibiting the horses from being exposed to dangerously high temperatures (the equine trailer of Vernese as modified allows for the trailer to be climate controlled)
each of said plurality of air conditioning units being in fluid communication with said plurality of horse stalls in an interior of said gooseneck trailer (the equine trailer of Vernese as modified by Champagne allows for ceiling cassettes 220a , 220b of Champagne to be in fluid communication with stalls 146 of Vernese)
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/BRETT PETERSON MALLON/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/EDELMIRA BOSQUES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762