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 § 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 2 and 11 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 claims 2 and 11:
Claim 2 recites “wherein the absorbers are not overlapping” which is unclear. The term “overlapping” is entirely based on the direction at which the absorbers are being viewed, meaning any two objects arranged would be overlapping from a certain viewing direction as an observer could align them to overlap one another. Therefore, without the claims defining the direction in which the absorbers are not overlapping, the scope of the claim becomes unclear. For compact prosecution, it is being interpreted as the absorbers not overlapping in direction along the fluid passage and in a direction perpendicular to the direction along the fluid passage, as is described in the specification.
Claim 11 recites substantially the same limitation as claim 2 and therefore is rejected based on the same rationale presented above.
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) 10, 12-13 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lof (US 2680565 A).
Regarding claim 10, Lof teaches of:
A method for ventilating a building using a solar chimney, the solar chimney comprising an elongated enclosure and absorbers, the elongated enclosure having an inlet fluidly connected to the building and an outlet (Fig. 1, T has an inlet 33 and an outlet 34 with absorbers), the method comprising:
configuring the elongated enclosure to provide a fluid passage to receive light from at least one side of the elongated enclosure (Fig. 2, the enclosure T receives light via 38); and
arranging the absorbers in a staggered configuration within the fluid passage wherein at least one of the absorbers is offset in a direction along the fluid passage relative to at least one other absorber, each absorber being adapted to absorb energy from the light for heating up fluid in the fluid passage to create an updraft of the fluid from the inlet, through the fluid passage, and to the outlet for ventilating the building (Fig. 2, absorbers 40 are staggered and offset and create an updraft towards 34).
Regarding claim 12, Lof teaches of the method of claim 10, and Lof further teaches of:
wherein each absorber is in a form of a plate and having a light absorbing area, further comprising arranging the light absorbing area of each absorber substantially parallel to the at least one side of the elongated enclosure (Figs. 1-2, each 40 is a plate and has a light absorbing area, further each of 40 is substantially parallel to 38)
Regarding claim 13, Lof teaches of the method of claim 10, and Lof further teaches of:
further comprising arranging each absorber to be offset in a direction along the fluid passage (Figs. 1-2, each of the absorbers 40 are offset along the length of)
Regarding claim 15, Lof teaches of the method of claim 10, and Lof further teaches of:
wherein the at least one side of the elongated enclosure is transparent (Fig. 2, 38 is transparent)
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 and 3-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hummel (US 4126270 A).
Regarding claim 1, A first embodiment Hummel teaches of:
A solar chimney comprising:
an elongated enclosure configured to provide a fluid passage to receive light from at least one side of the elongated enclosure (Fig. 4, 140 has a transparent sheet of glass 170 that allows light to enter a side of the enclosure 140)
The first embodiment of Hummel fails to explicitly teach:
absorbers arranged in a staggered configuration within the fluid passage wherein at least one of the absorbers is offset in a direction along the fluid passage relative to at least one other absorber, each absorber being adapted to absorb energy from the light for heating up fluid in the fluid passage to create an updraft of the fluid.
A further embodiment of Hummel teaches of:
absorbers arranged in a staggered configuration within the fluid passage wherein at least one of the absorbers is offset in a direction along the fluid passage relative to at least one other absorber, each absorber being adapted to absorb energy from the light for heating up fluid in the fluid passage to create an updraft of the fluid (Fig. 6, 218 are arranged in a staggered configuration where all of the individual absorbers 220 are arranged offset from one another and create an updraft of the air through the gaps 222 as shown by the arrows)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace 162 of the first embodiment of Hummel in fig. 4 with 218 of the further embodiment of Hummel in Fig. 6
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 increases turbulence within the system, improving heat transfer from the absorbers to the air (Col. 7, lines 15-41, Referring first to FIG. 5, the wall structure shown in that view incorporates a solar energy absorbent panel 212 formed with a plurality of transverse slots 214, the upper edge of each of which is defined by a forwardly directed flange 216 which defines an air scoop. These scoops deflect from the front air passageway 178' to the rear air passageway 176' the boundary layers of air adhering to the outer face of the body 212. The scoops are spaced vertically such that a rising boundary layer of air forming below each scoop will be deflected into the rear air passageway 176 before it becomes turbulent. In a typical installation, the slots 214 would be arranged at approximately one foot vertical spacings from one another. It will be appreciated that turbulence in the rear air passageway 176' is desirable to improve the heat transfer. The presence of the insulation 160' prevents significant heat loss from the system. FIG. 6 shows a heat energy absorbent body 218 formed by a series of flat vertical plates 220 arranged in an ascending sequence with each plate above the lower plate spaced slightly further from the insulation 160' than the plate below and with its bottom margin overlapping the upper margin of the lower plate so as to define horizontal slots similar to the slots 214 of FIG. 5. These slots have the same effect as the slots 214 is directing into the rear air passageway 176' boundary layers of air forming on the outer surfaces of the plates 220.)
Regarding claim 3, the combined teachings teach of the solar chimney of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein each absorber is in a form of a plate and has a light absorbing area substantially parallel to the at least one side of the elongated enclosure (Fig. 6, 220 are substantially parallel to the glass side of the enclosure).
Regarding claim 4, the combined teachings teach of the solar chimney of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein each absorber is offset in a direction along the fluid passage (Fig. 6, each of the absorbers 220 are offset)
Regarding claim 5, the combined teachings teach of the solar chimney of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein a ratio of a length of the elongated enclosure to a separation between the at least one side of the elongated enclosure and an opposite side to the at least one side of the elongated enclosure is in a range of 0.2 to 0.5 (Col. 3, lines 67-68-Col. 4, line 1, In this embodiment, each unit is of the following approximate dimensions: height -- 20 feet; width -- 3 feet; depth -- 8 inches; therefore with the depth of 8 inches (one side of the elongated enclosure to an opposite side) and a width of 36 inches (the length of one side of the elongated enclosure), the ratio of the elongated enclosure is 0.22)
Regarding claim 6, the combined teachings teach of the solar chimney of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the at least one side of the elongated enclosure is transparent (Fig. 4, 170 is transparent glass)
Regarding claim 7, the combined teachings teach of the solar chimney of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the absorbers are made of metal (Col. 6, lines 1-2, solar energy absorbent body formed by a sheet 162 of aluminum foil)
However, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the absorbers are made of non-reflective metal
A further embodiment of Hummel teaches of:
wherein the absorbers are made of non-reflective metal (Hummel, Col. 8, lines 24-34, According to a further embodiment of the invention, the surface of the solar energy absorbent body which is exposed to sunlight may be coated with an organic compound containing from twelve to twenty-five, preferably twenty benzine rings in a straight chain. This material absorbs ultra-violet rays, visible rays (4,000-7,000 A) and infrared rays to two microns and emits only a small proportion of all the rays received. In any event, for maximum absorption, the exposed surface of the solar energy absorbent body is preferably black in colour)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
coat the aluminum absorbers of Hummel with the non-reflective coating described above
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 absorbers to absorb more solar energy
Regarding claim 8, the combined teachings teach of the solar chimney of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the elongated enclosure includes a wall of a building (Fig. 4, 152, 158 and 160 all form a wall of a building)
Regarding claim 9, the combined teachings teach of the solar chimney of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
A kit of parts arranged to be assembled to form the solar chimney as claimed in claim 1 (Col. 3, lines 64-67, As indicated above, the solar energy collector units 34 are modular and the number of units used will depend on the required overall size of the solar energy collector.; the solar collectors are modular and therefore are formed from kits of parts that can be assembled together)
Claim(s) 10 and 12-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hummel (US 4126270 A) in view of Lof (US 2680565 A).
Regarding claim 10, Hummel teaches of:
A method for a building using a solar chimney, the solar chimney comprising an elongated enclosure and absorbers, the elongated enclosure having an inlet fluidly connected to the building and an outlet (Fig. 4, elongated enclosure 140 has an inlet 210 and an outlet 166), the method comprising:
configuring the elongated enclosure to provide a fluid passage to receive light from at least one side of the elongated enclosure (Fig. 4, 140 has a transparent pane of glass 170 allowing light to enter into the enclosure)
The first embodiment of Hummel fails to explicitly teach:
A method for ventilating a building using a solar chimney
arranging the absorbers in a staggered configuration within the fluid passage wherein at least one of the absorbers is offset in a direction along the fluid passage relative to at least one other absorber, each absorber being adapted to absorb energy from the light for heating up fluid in the fluid passage to create an updraft of the fluid from the inlet, through the fluid passage, and to the outlet for ventilating the building.
A further embodiment of Hummel teaches of:
arranging the absorbers in a staggered configuration within the fluid passage wherein at least one of the absorbers is offset in a direction along the fluid passage relative to at least one other absorber, each absorber being adapted to absorb energy from the light for heating up fluid in the fluid passage to create an updraft of the fluid from the inlet, through the fluid passage, and to the outlet (Fig. 6, 218 are arranged in a staggered configuration where all of the individual absorbers 220 are arranged offset from one another and create an updraft of the air through the gaps 222 as shown by the arrows so that the air flows from the inlet at the bottom of the enclosure to the outlet at the top of the enclosure)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
• replace 162 of the first embodiment of Hummel in fig. 4 with 218 of the further embodiment of Hummel in Fig. 6
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 increases turbulence within the system, improving heat transfer from the absorbers to the air (Col. 7, lines 15-41, Referring first to FIG. 5, the wall structure shown in that view incorporates a solar energy absorbent panel 212 formed with a plurality of transverse slots 214, the upper edge of each of which is defined by a forwardly directed flange 216 which defines an air scoop. These scoops deflect from the front air passageway 178' to the rear air passageway 176' the boundary layers of air adhering to the outer face of the body 212. The scoops are spaced vertically such that a rising boundary layer of air forming below each scoop will be deflected into the rear air passageway 176 before it becomes turbulent. In a typical installation, the slots 214 would be arranged at approximately one foot vertical spacings from one another. It will be appreciated that turbulence in the rear air passageway 176' is desirable to improve the heat transfer. The presence of the insulation 160' prevents significant heat loss from the system. FIG. 6 shows a heat energy absorbent body 218 formed by a series of flat vertical plates 220 arranged in an ascending sequence with each plate above the lower plate spaced slightly further from the insulation 160' than the plate below and with its bottom margin overlapping the upper margin of the lower plate so as to define horizontal slots similar to the slots 214 of FIG. 5. These slots have the same effect as the slots 214 is directing into the rear air passageway 176' boundary layers of air forming on the outer surfaces of the plates 220.)
Lof teaches of:
a method of ventilating a building user a solar chimney (Fig. 1, see solar chimney T that is connected to an air duct system of the building B, and supplied by interior vents 28, hot air heated by the solar chimney is distributed to various areas within the building B and also exhausted via stack outlet 59, thus ventilating the building)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the duct system of the building of Hummel in Fig. 4 so that it has an air inlet connected to the interior of the building and upstream from the water heat exchanger 188 of Fig. 4 the air can be optionally diverted to an exhaust stack before looping back towards the elongated enclosure
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 hot air of formed in the solar chimney of Hummel to optionally exhausted to the atmosphere when hot water is not desired (Lof, Col. 6, lines 58-62, Thus, it will be seen that excess heat produced in the operation of the solar heat trap may be utilized in the household system, if desired, or if not, may be wasted to atmosphere to prevent undue heating of building B.) and further would allow for the air within the building of Hummel to be ventilated out of the building, allowing fresh air to replace the interior air
Regarding claim 12, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 10, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein each absorber is in a form of a plate and having a light absorbing area, further comprising arranging the light absorbing area of each absorber substantially parallel to the at least one side of the elongated enclosure (Hummel, Fig. 6, 220 are substantially parallel to the glass side of the enclosure)
Regarding claim 13, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 10, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising arranging each absorber to be offset in a direction along the fluid passage (Hummel, Fig. 6, each of the absorbers 220 are offset)
Regarding claim 14, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 10, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein a ratio of a length of the elongated enclosure to a separation between the at least one side of the elongated enclosure and an opposite side to the at least one side of the elongated enclosure is in a range of 0.2 to 0.5 (Hummel, Col. 3, lines 67-68-Col. 4, line 1, In this embodiment, each unit is of the following approximate dimensions: height -- 20 feet; width -- 3 feet; depth -- 8 inches; therefore with the depth of 8 inches (one side of the elongated enclosure to an opposite side) and a width of 36 inches (the length of one side of the elongated enclosure), the ratio of the elongated enclosure is 0.22)
Regarding claim 15, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 10, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the at least one side of the elongated enclosure is transparent (Hummel, Fig. 4, 170 is transparent)
Regarding claim 16, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 10, and the combined teachings further teach
wherein the absorbers are made of metal (Hummel, Col. 6, lines 1-2, solar energy absorbent body formed by a sheet 162 of aluminum foil)
However, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the absorbers are made of non-reflective metal
A further embodiment of Hummel teaches of:
wherein the absorbers are made of non-reflective metal (Hummel, Col. 8, lines 24-34, According to a further embodiment of the invention, the surface of the solar energy absorbent body which is exposed to sunlight may be coated with an organic compound containing from twelve to twenty-five, preferably twenty benzine rings in a straight chain. This material absorbs ultra-violet rays, visible rays (4,000-7,000 A) and infrared rays to two microns and emits only a small proportion of all the rays received. In any event, for maximum absorption, the exposed surface of the solar energy absorbent body is preferably black in colour)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
coat the aluminum absorbers of Hummel with the non-reflective coating described above
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 absorbers to absorb more solar energy
Regarding claim 17, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 10, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the elongated enclosure includes a wall of the building (Hummel, Fig. 4, 153, 158 and 160 all form a wall of a building)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 11 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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, Steve McAllister can be reached at (571) 272-6785. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/STEVEN B MCALLISTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762