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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/18/2025 was filed on or after the mailing date of the application.
The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Status
This Office Action is in response to the remarks and amendments filed on 12/17/2025.
Claims 1, 3-12 and 14-21 are pending for consideration in this Office Action.
Claim Objections
Claim 21 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 21, the claim recites “… a valve configured to selectively block the flow a thermal transfer media.”
The claim should be amended to recite - - a valve configured to selectively block the flow of a thermal transfer media- - for clarity.
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:
Claim(s) 1, 3-7, 9-12 and 14-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hofler et al. (US20230382187A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Hofler teaches a recreational vehicle [vehicle; 0004] comprising:
a first heat source [ambient heat; 0113];
a second heat source [waste heat from 15; fig. 11; 0113,];
a first heat sink [cabin heating; 0113-0117, Fig. 11];
a second heat sink [battery; 0112]; and
a first heat transfer loop [image I below] including the first heat source [ambient heat] and being configured to transfer thermal energy from the first heat source [ambient heat] to the first sink [fig. 11; 0113]; and
a second heat transfer loop [image I below] including the second heat source [fig. 11; 0113], the first heat sink, and the second heat sink and being configured to transfer thermal energy from the second heat source to the first sink [fig. 11; 0113; 9 connects 15 to heat the cabin];
wherein the first sink is configured to utilize the thermal energy [0114] from the first heat source to heat a gas [26] that is external to the second heat transfer loop [fig. 11; 0117].
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[image I; annotated Fig. 11 of Hofler]
Regarding Claim 3, Hofler teaches the recreational vehicle of claim 1 and further comprising a third heat transfer loop [24 ] configured for heat exchange with the first heat transfer loop [0065 “24 is shown in a dashed line and communicates with the refrigerant circuit through chiller 9”].
Regarding Claim 4, Hofler teaches the recreational vehicle of claim 3 and wherein the third heat transfer loop [24] is a heat pump [0056; “heat pump”].
Regarding Claim 5, Hofler teaches the recreational vehicle of claim 3 and wherein the first heat source [ambient heat; fig. 6] comprises a battery [19;0092-0093 “heat from the battery of battery heat exchanger 19 is transferred to the refrigerant via chiller 9”].
Regarding Claim 6, Hofler teaches the recreational vehicle of claim 1 and further comprising a heat exchanger [9] configured to transfer thermal energy between the first heat transfer loop [image I above] and the second heat transfer loop [0065 “24 is shown in a dashed line and communicates with the refrigerant circuit through chiller 9”].
Regarding Claim 7, Hofler teaches the recreational vehicle of claim 1 and wherein the first and second heat sources are selected from the group consisting of: a battery, an electric motor, and an inverter [0058].
Regarding Claim 9, Hofler teaches the recreational vehicle of claim 1 and wherein the first heat transfer loop [image I above] is configured to transfer thermal energy from the first heat source [ambient heat] to the first sink [cabin heating] simultaneously while the second heat transfer loop [image I above] transfers thermal energy from the second heat source [waste heat] to the second heat sink [0108-0112, see also 0049].
Regarding Claim 10, Hofler teaches the recreational vehicle of claim 1 and wherein at least one of the first and second heat transfer loops [image I above] is configured to recirculate cooled heat transfer medium from at least one of the first and second heat sinks [cabin heating and battery] to at least one of the first and second heat sources [0071-0074].
Regarding Claim 11, Hofler teaches a method for thermal management [0003 “methods of operating”] of a recreational vehicle [vehicle; 0004] and the method comprising:
forming a first heat transfer loop [image I below] including the first heat source [ambient heat] on the recreational vehicle [vehicle; 0004] and being configured to transfer thermal energy from the first heat source [ambient heat] on the recreational vehicle [vehicle] to the first sink [fig. 11; 0113] on the recreational vehicle [vehicle] and a second heat sink [battery] on the recreational vehicle [vehicle]; and
forming a second heat transfer loop [image I below] including the second heat source [fig. 11; 0113] on the recreational vehicle [vehicle], the first heat sink, and the second heat sink and being configured to transfer thermal energy from the second heat source to the first sink [fig. 11; 0113; 9 connects 15 to heat the cabin];
wherein the first sink is configured to utilize the thermal energy [0114] from the first heat source to heat a gas [26] that is external to the second heat transfer loop [fig. 11; 0117].
Regarding Claim 12, Hofler teaches the method of claim 11 and further comprising forming at least one of the first and second heat transfer loops [image I above] such that at least one of the first and second heat transfer loops [image I above] is configured to recirculate cooled heat transfer medium from at least one of the first and second heat sinks [cabin heating and battery] to at least one of the first and second heat sources [0071-0074].
Regarding Claim 14, Hofler teaches the method of claim 11 and further comprising forming a third heat transfer loop [24 ] configured for heat exchange with the first heat transfer loop [0065 “24 is shown in a dashed line and communicates with the refrigerant circuit through chiller 9”].
Regarding Claim 15, Hofler teaches the method of claim 14 and wherein forming the third heat transfer loop [24] comprises providing a heat pump [0056; “heat pump”] in thermal communication with the first heat transfer loop [0065 “24 is shown in a dashed line and communicates with the refrigerant circuit through chiller 9”].
Regarding Claim 16, Hofler teaches the method of claim 11 and further comprising thermally coupling the first heat transfer loop and the second heat transfer loop [image I above] by way of a heat exchanger [9] configured to transfer thermal energy between the first heat transfer loop and the second heat transfer loop [0065 “24 is shown in a dashed line and communicates with the refrigerant circuit through chiller 9”].
Regarding Claim 17, Hofler teaches a thermal management system for a recreational vehicle [0003-0004] and the thermal management system [figs. 1-16] comprising:
a first heat transfer loop [image I above] including a first heat source [ambient heat];
a second heat transfer loop [24 and 25 ] including a second heat source [waste heat] and a first heat sink [battery]; and
a heat exchanger [9] configured to transfer thermal energy between the first heat transfer loop and the second heat transfer loop [0065 “24 is shown in a dashed line and communicates with the refrigerant circuit through chiller 9”] ;
wherein the first heat sink [battery] is configured to receive thermal energy from both the first [ambient heat ] and second heat [waste heat] sources via the first and second heat transfer loops [0075-0078 see also 0112]; and
wherein the first heat sink [battery] is configured to utilize the thermal energy from both the first and second heat sources [ambient heat and waste heat] to heat a fluid or gas that is external to the second heat transfer loop [0075-0078 “coolant absorbs heat from the battery in battery heat exchanger 19 and is then actively cooled by the refrigerant” see also 0112 “ transfers the heat from the drive train to the battery”].
Regarding Claim 18, Hofler teaches the thermal management system of claim 17 and further comprising a third heat transfer loop [24 in fig. 8 where 19 and 25 are not being used see 0102] configured for heat exchange with the first heat transfer loop [image I above].
Regarding Claim 19, claim 4 teaches all limitations of claim 19 see rejection above.
Regarding Claim 20, Hofler teaches the thermal management system of claim 17 and wherein the second heat transfer loop [24 and 25] further comprises a second heat sink [26] and wherein the second heat sink [265] is configured to receive thermal energy from both the first and second heat sources [ambient heat and waste heat] via the first and second heat transfer loops [0059 “heat transfer to ambient air 26” ambient heat from the first heat transfer loop and see 0074 “passively cooled by ambient air 26” waste heat from the second transfer loop].
Regarding Claim 21, Hofler teaches the recreational vehicle of claim 6, wherein the second heat transfer loop [image I above] includes a valve [14] configured to selectively block the flow of a thermal transfer media [coolant] in the second heat transfer loop [image I above] to the second heat source [at least fig. 8 it is clear from fig. 8 that valve 14 selectively blocks the flow of a thermal transfer media in the second heat transfer loop].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hofler (US20230382187A1) and in view of Walker (US2018/0372334A1).
Regarding Claim 8, Hofler teaches the recreational vehicle of claim 1 and the first and second heat sinks [cabin heating and battery].
Hofler does not explicitly teach the first and second heat sinks are selected from the group consisting of: a water heater, a space heater, an oven, a holding tank, a fireplace, and a clothes dryer.
However, Walker teaches the first and second heat sinks [530. 520A-B and 460 corresponding to 4 and 23 of Hofler] are selected from the group consisting of: a water heater, a space heater, an oven, a holding tank, a fireplace, and a clothes dryer [see 0090, 0096 , 0104 where water heater, space heater, oven, holding tank, fireplace, and clothes dryer would be used as a heat sink].
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus of Hofler to have teach the first and second heat sinks are selected from the group consisting of: a water heater, a space heater, an oven, a holding tank, a fireplace, and a clothes dryer in view of the teachings of Walker where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results,
i.e. secures a recreational vehicle with first and second heat sinks selected from a group including, a water heater, a space heater, an oven, a holding tank, a fireplace, and a clothes dryer which improves system performance [Walker; 0057].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to Claims 1, 3-12 and 14-21 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Therefore, the applicant' s arguments are unpersuasive and the rejection is maintained.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Adam D Moore whose telephone number is (703)756-1932. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday: 09:00AM-07:00PM (Eastern).
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/ADAM DORREL MOORE/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/ELIZABETH J MARTIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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