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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1, 3-6 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McQueeny (US 20110097989 A1) in view of Levy (US 6318113 B1).
Regarding claim 1, McQueeny teaches of:
A system for providing localized airflow comprising:
a floor with at least one output port (Fig. 4, 24 has a plurality of outputs 34);
a table with an input port that can be attached to the at least one output port (Fig. 4, 40 has an input port 36 connected to 34); and
a vent capable of delivering air flow from the ventilation system to a guest in proximity of the table (Fig. 4, 38 delivers air from the system to a guest).
McQueeny fails to explicitly teach:
a floor with at least one output port providing connection to an HVAC system
a vent capable of delivering air flow from the HVAC system to a guest in proximity of the table
Levi teaches of:
a floor with at least one output port providing connection to an HVAC system
a vent capable of delivering air flow from the HVAC system to a guest in proximity of the table (Fig. 1, see HVAC system 3 connected to a plurality of tables 13 via a floor output port)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
connect the floor plenum of McQueeny to an HVAC system as shown in Fig. 1 of Levi
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 heated, cooled or fresh air to be provided to the user and the space (Levi, Col. 5, lines 61-67, The air conditioning plant is shown at 3 which plant may supply heated or cooled air into the open office 1 by way of an air mover 4. Fresh outside air (arrows A) is pulled into the conditioning plant 3 through an outside air intake or louver 6, through dampers 5 and the filters 3a, and the heat exchanger 3b)
Regarding claim 3, the combined teachings teach of the system of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the floor is comprised of a plurality of modular floor tiles capable of being connected (McQueeny, 22 are modular floor tiles that are connected).
Regarding claim 4, the combined teachings teach of the system of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the vent incorporates means for controlling the amount of air flow (McQueeny, ¶ [0040], To provide the user 72 with some control of the volume of air flowing through the diffuser 38, the diffuser 38 in FIGS. 8-13 is a variable air volume diffuser. As such, the diffuser 38 includes a volume control mechanism 98)
Regarding claim 5, the combined teachings teach of the system of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the air flow from the HVAC system is cooled air (Levi, Col. 5, lines 61-67, The air conditioning plant is shown at 3 which plant may supply heated or cooled air into the open office 1 by way of an air mover 4. Fresh outside air (arrows A) is pulled into the conditioning plant 3 through an outside air intake or louver 6, through dampers 5 and the filters 3a, and the heat exchanger 3b)
Regarding claim 6, the combined teachings teach of the system of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the air flow from the HVAC system is warm air (Levi, Col. 5, lines 61-67, The air conditioning plant is shown at 3 which plant may supply heated or cooled air into the open office 1 by way of an air mover 4. Fresh outside air (arrows A) is pulled into the conditioning plant 3 through an outside air intake or louver 6, through dampers 5 and the filters 3a, and the heat exchanger 3b)
Regarding claim 10, McQueeny teaches of:
A method of providing localized airflow from a table comprising:
providing a connection from a ventilation system to a floor via a plurality of output ports (Fig. 4, 24 has a plurality of outputs 34);
attaching a table to a one of the plurality of output ports via an input port (Fig. 4, 40 has a plurality of input ports 36 connected to 34); and
delivering air to a guest in proximity of the table via a vent (Fig. 4, 38 delivers air from the system to a guest).
McQueeny fails to explicitly teach:
providing a connection from an HVAC system
Levi teaches of:
providing a connection from an HVAC system (Fig. 1, see HVAC system 3 connected to a plurality of tables 13 via a floor output port)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
connect the floor plenum of McQueeny to an HVAC system as shown in Fig. 1 of Levi
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 heated, cooled or fresh air to be provided to the user and the space (Levi, Col. 5, lines 61-67, The air conditioning plant is shown at 3 which plant may supply heated or cooled air into the open office 1 by way of an air mover 4. Fresh outside air (arrows A) is pulled into the conditioning plant 3 through an outside air intake or louver 6, through dampers 5 and the filters 3a, and the heat exchanger 3b)
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McQueeny (US 20110097989 A1) in view of Levy (US 6318113 B1) as presented in claim 1, and in further view of Lee (US 20120216982 A1).
Regarding claim 7, the combined teachings teach of the system of claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the air flow from the HVAC system is fresh air
Lee teaches of:
wherein the air flow from the HVAC system is fresh air (Fig. 1, see outdoor air duct 60 that bypasses heat exchanger 50 and supplies fresh outdoor air directly to the indoor area)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the HVAC system of the combined teachings so that there is an outdoor air duct 60 that connects to the outdoor air inlet 6 of Levy and bypasses the heat exchanger 3 of Levy and directly connects to duct 7 of Levy and further provide a temperature sensor in the return air duct of Levy and the outdoor air duct of Levy so that when the outdoor air is cooler than the indoor air, the outdoor air can be selectively supplied directly to the space unconditioned
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 free cooling to occur within the occupied space of the combined teachings, increasing efficiency (Lee, ¶ [0014], The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a total heat exchange type ventilating apparatus which considers the humidities of indoor and outdoor areas in addition to the temperatures of the indoor and outdoor areas, and controls outdoor air introduced into the indoor area to be selectively operated in a heat exchange mode or a free cooling mode, making it possible to regulate an indoor air condition to be more comfortable, and a method of controlling the same.)
Claim(s) 2 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McQueeny (US 20110097989 A1) in view of Levy (US 6318113 B1) as presented in claim 1, and in further view of Harter (US 4353411 A).
Regarding claim 2, the combined teachings teach of the system of claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the table may be moved from one of the at least one output ports to a second output port of the at least one output ports.
Harter teaches of:
wherein the table may be moved from one of the at least one output ports to a second output port of the at least one output ports (Col. 1, lines 7-33, This invention relates to partition structures for rooms in office buildings and the like and more particularly to modular assembly for forming an integral part of such partitions and providing heating, ventilating and air conditioning service (HVAC) thereto. The assembly includes a portable, modular service column which can be releasably attached to a subsurface (above the ceiling or below the floor) HVAC supply system. The column can be used alone or as an integral structural element along with walls, partitions and dividers to fabricate a wide variety of rooms, enclosed areas, office partitions and room dividers, and at the same time supply heating, ventilation and air conditioning from the subsurface system to the work space immediately adjacent to the column. One of the primary features of the assembly is that it is portable; i.e., the column can be releasably connected to the floor or ceiling the HVAC supply system at a variety of locations. At the same time, the column's modular features are adapted to support one or more modular partitions or walls while providing HVAC fluid service. The assembly can be used in the fabrication of a wide variety of work environments from modular elements; any physically feasible and desired configuration can be readily assembled, disassembled and moved to different locations in a room having an "access" floor or "drop" ceiling with a subsurface, mobile HVAC supply system.)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the connection of the input port to the output port of McQueeny to be releasable so that the tables of McQueeny can be rearranged and attached to any of the output ports of the system of McQueeny
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 space to be rearranged as needed (Harter, Col. 1, lines 24-33, At the same time, the column's modular features are adapted to support one or more modular partitions or walls while providing HVAC fluid service. The assembly can be used in the fabrication of a wide variety of work environments from modular elements; any physically feasible and desired configuration can be readily assembled, disassembled and moved to different locations in a room having an "access" floor or "drop" ceiling with a subsurface, mobile HVAC supply system.)
regarding claim 9, the combined teachings teach of the system of claim 2, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the at least one output ports are arranged to allow more than one table to be placed abutting each other
However, it would have been obvious to have the plurality of desks of McQueeny to be sized so that they are abutting each other based on the following rationale:
It has been found that when the only difference between the claimed invention and the prior art is the size/proportion of the claimed element, there is no criticality on the size of the claimed invention and changing the size/proportion of the prior art element would not affect the intended function of the prior art, then the size of the claimed invention does not patentably distinguish over the prior art. In the instant case, the size of the desk of McQueeny can be increased so that the desks are sized to be abutting one another and the system of McQueeny would still function as intended.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McQueeny (US 20110097989 A1) in view of Levy (US 6318113 B1) and Harter (US 4353411 A) as presented in claim 2, and in further view of Schmidt (US 4135440 A).
Regarding claim 8, the combined teachings teach of the system of claim 2, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the at least one output port incorporates means for covering the output port when no table input port is attached.
Schmidt teaches of:
wherein the at least one output port incorporates means for covering the output port when no table input port is attached (Col. 8, lined 13-21, The supplemental air supply points 6 with associated receptacles or connection fittings 7, in case of an original construction preferably are distributed (in modular fashion) about the room to anticipate various possible future locations of work stations or the like, such as the desk location 22, and the connection fittings or air outlets receptacles 7 themselves, which also may incorporate electrical connectors and power supply receptacles, are then adapted to accept covers if not used)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace the output port of McQueeny with the output port of Schmidt that has a cover to cover it when not in use
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 has been found that the simple substation of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is obvious based upon the following rationale:
McQueeny contains an output port that differs from the claimed output port by the substitution of an output port without a cover for an output port with a cover;
The substituted output with a cover was known in the art as shown in Schmidt;
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have substituted the output port of Schmidt for the output port of McQueeny and the result would have predictable allowed for the connection of the input port of McQueeny
There is on criticality within Applicant’s specification for the cover of the output port
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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edelmira Bosques can be reached at (571) 270-5614. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M.J.G./Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/EDELMIRA BOSQUES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762