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 .
Status of Application
Claims 1-22 are pending and have been examined in this application. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/12/2026 has been entered.
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed on 01/29/2026 has been considered by the Examiner.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 8-11, 13 & 15-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Number 9,702,576 B2 to Avedon in view of US Patent Number 4,973,016 to Hertenstein and further in view of US Patent Number 4,392,525 to O’Mara.
A) As per Claim 1, Avedon teaches an air conditioner (Avedon: Figure 1) comprising:
a hinge (Avedon: Figure 18, Items 282),
a duct (Avedon: Figure 9 duct within Item 12),
a fan assembly (Avedon: Figure 1) hinged to the duct via the hinge, the hinge being provided on one side edge of the fan assembly (Avedon: Figure 18, Items 282),
wherein the fan assembly comprises:
a fan (Avedon: Figure 9, Item 36) configured to suction and discharge air,
a drive motor (Avedon: Col. 6, lines 24-25) configured to rotate the fan, a fan frame to which the fan and the drive motor are mounted, the fan frame including a grill member.
a wire (Avedon: Figure 24A-24B, Item 239) connected to the drive motor to supply power to the drive motor.
Avedon does no teach that the wire is guided along the grill member toward the one side edge of the fan assembly including the hinge.
However, Hertenstein teaches guiding a wire along a grill member toward hinge mounting for the fan assembly (Hertenstein: Figure 2, wire Item 58 up to hinge at 30B and hinge at 40).
At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Avedon by having the wire guided toward the hinge side of the assembly, as taught by Hertenstein, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Avedon with these aforementioned teachings of Hertenstein with the motivation of requiring less loose wire to take up the slack when the assembly pivots open.
Avedon in view of Hertenstein does not teach a wire groove, wherein at least a portion of the wire is disposed inside the wire groove, at least part of the wire groove being provided in the grill member.
However, O’Mara teaches a wire groove, wherein at least a portion of the wire is disposed inside the wire groove at least part of the wire groove being provided in the grill member (O’Mara: best shown in Figures 2 & 4).
At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Avedon in view of Hertenstein by adding a wire groove to the grille, as taught by O’Mara, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Avedon in view of Hertenstein with these aforementioned teachings of O’Mara with the motivation of protecting the power cord of the fan motor.
B) As per Claim 2, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches that the duct includes a circular opening, and wherein the fan is drawn from the circular opening as the fan assembly and rotationally moves with respect to the duct (Avedon: Figure 18 rotates to Figure 22; Col. 11, lines 49-51, linearly moves when removed from ceiling/ceiling support after rotating open).
C) As per Claim 3, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches that a link provided to connect the fan assembly and the duct to allow the fan assembly to be coupled to the duct, and provided to connect the fan assembly and the duct to allow the fan assembly to linearly move and rotationally move with respect to the duct, wherein the fan frame comprises a shaft provided to serve as a rotation axis of the fan assembly, and wherein the link comprises a shaft coupler provided to allow the shaft to be coupled thereto (Avedon: best shown in Figure 19B).
D) As per Claim 8, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches that the fan frame is provided to cover a flow path of the duct in response to the fan assembly being coupled to the duct (Avedon: Figure 22, Item 270).
E) As per Claim 9, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches that the fan frame comprises a grille member to allow air, which is introduced into the flow path, to be discharged through the fan frame (Avedon: Figure 22, Item 270).
F) As per Claim 10, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches a connector electrically connected to the drive motor to supply electric power to the drive motor, wherein the fan frame comprises a connector receiving member provided to receive the connector (Avedon: Figures 24A-24B, Item 239; O’Mara: best shown in Figures 2 & 4)
G) As per Claim 11, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches that a connector cover provided to cover the connector receiving member to prevent the connector from being exposed to an outside (O’Mara: best shown in Figures 2 & 4).
H) As per Claim 13, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches a main body (Avedon: Figure 22, Item 214); and a front panel (Avedon: Figure 22, Item 270) detachably coupled to the main body and provided to cover a front surface of the main body.
J) As per Claim 15, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches that the front panel comprises a plurality of holes provided to discharge air discharged by the fan, and wherein the front panel is disposed to face the duct (Avedon: Figure 22, Item 270).
K) As per Claim 16, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches a fastening member fastened to the duct to fix the fan assembly to the duct (Avedon: Figure 18, Item 278).
L) As per Claim 17, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches that the fan assembly is provided to linearly and rotationally move after the fastening of the fastening member is released (Avedon: Figure 18 rotates to Figure 22; Col. 11, lines 49-51, linearly moves when removed from ceiling/ceiling support after rotating open).
M) As per Claim 18, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches that the fan frame includes a joint configured to couple the hinge to the fan frame, and wherein the wire extends along a same side of the fan frame as the hinge (Avedon: Figure 21, Item 282 and wire shown in Figures 24A-24B) (Hertenstein: Figure 2, wire Item 58 up to hinge at 30B and hinge at 40).
N) As per Claim 19, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches a cover disposed to cover a front of the fan assembly and detachably coupled to the fan assembly (Avedon: Figure 22, Item 270).
O) As per Claim 20, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches a plurality of couplings provided at the front of the duct, wherein the cover is arranged to prevent the wire from exposure to an outside of the air conditioner while the cover is coupled to the fan assembly (O’Mara: best shown in Figures 2 & 4).
P) As per Claim 21, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches that the duct comprises a plurality of holes provided to discharge air discharged by the fan, and wherein the cover is disposed to face the duct (Avedon: Figure 22, Item 270).
Q) As per Claim 22, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches a connector cover coupled to a front of the fan assembly so as to prevent an end of the wire from being exposed to an outside (O’Mara: best shown in Figures 2 & 4).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of US Patent Number 9,752,816 B2 to Hwang.
A) As per Claim 14, Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara teaches all the limitations except that a heat exchanger disposed inside the main body, wherein the duct is disposed inside the main body between the front panel and the heat exchanger to face the front panel and the heat exchanger.
However, Hwang teaches a heat exchanger disposed inside the main body, wherein the duct is disposed inside the main body between the front panel and the heat exchanger to face the front panel and the heat exchanger (Hwang: Figure 5, Item 170).
At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara by adding a heat exchanger, as taught by Hwang, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Avedon in view of Hertenstein and O’Mara with these aforementioned teachings of Hwang with the motivation of supplement the heating/cooling of the building.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 & 12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-22 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALLEN SCHULT whose telephone number is (571)272-8511. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-5PM.
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/Allen R. B. Schult/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762