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 § 102
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 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) 23-29 and 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Imral (US4236381).
Regarding claim 23, Imral teaches a heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) circuit, comprising:
a compressor having a suction and a discharge (Figure 2: g);
a first heat exchanger (Figure 2: b);
an expander (Figure 2: p);
a second heat exchanger (Figure 2: a);
a suction line heat exchanger (Figure 2: 10), configured to exchange heat between a first working fluid flow, wherein the first working fluid flow is a flow of working fluid from one of the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger to the suction of the compressor (Figure 2: d-e), and a second working fluid flow, wherein the second working fluid flow is a flow of working fluid from the other of the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger towards the expander (Figure 2: c);
a flow director located upstream of the suction line heat exchanger with respect to the second working fluid flow, the flow director configured to provide a variable quantity of the second working fluid flow to the suction line heat exchanger (Figure 2: h and m, see Figure 3: h as well, where h does not provide second fluid flow to the suction line heat exchanger and does provide second fluid flow to the suction line heat exchanger in Figure 2).
Regarding claim 24, Imral teaches all of the limitations of claim 23, wherein
the first heat exchanger is an outdoor heat exchanger receiving working fluid from the discharge of the compressor (Figure 2: b), the second heat exchanger is an evaporator (Figure 2: a), the first working fluid flow is from the second heat exchanger to the suction of the compressor, and the second working fluid flow is from the first heat exchanger to the expander (Figure 2: a to g and b to 10).
Regarding claim 25, Imral teaches all of the limitations of claim 23, further comprising
a flow reverser configured to direct the working fluid from a discharge of the compressor to one of the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger (Figure 2: f).
Regarding claim 26, Imral teaches all of the limitations of claim 25, wherein
the HVACR circuit is in a cooling mode when the flow reverser directs the working fluid from a discharge of the compressor to the first heat exchanger, and a heating mode when the flow reverser directs the working fluid from the discharge of the compressor to the second heat exchanger (Figures 2-3).
Regarding claim 27, Imral teaches all of the limitations of claim 26, wherein
when in the cooling mode, the first working fluid flow is from the second heat exchanger to the suction of the compressor, and the second working fluid flow is from the first heat exchanger to the expander (Figure 2).
Regarding claim 28, Imral teaches all of the limitations of claim 27, wherein
when in the heating mode, the first working fluid flow is from the first heat exchanger to the suction of the compressor, and the second working fluid flow is from the second heat exchanger to the expander (Figure 3).
Regarding claim 29, Imral teaches all of the limitations of claim 23, wherein
the suction line heat exchanger is a counter-flow heat exchanger (see Figure 3).
Regarding claim 31, Imral teaches all of the limitations of claim 23, wherein
the flow director comprises a plurality of controllable valves (Figure 2: h and k, “…throttling device k, which may be a set of capillary tubes or a thermostatic expansion valve”
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Imral (US4236381) in view of Kang (KR20120061217A).
Regarding claim 30, Imral teaches all of the limitations of claim 23.
Imral does not teach wherein the flow director comprises a stepped three-way valve and a bypass line.
Kang teaches wherein the flow director comprises a three-way valve and a bypass line (Figure 3: 60 and 62).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the flow director in Imral to comprise a three-way valve and a bypass line in order to provide accurate flow control, (Kang, “The second embodiment includes a controller (80) for controlling the bypass valve (60), wherein the controller (80) is at the outlet (10a) of the compressor (10) of the compressor (10) input from the refrigerant temperature sensing means (70). It has a structure which differentially controls the opening amount of the bypass valve 60 in proportion to temperature.”)
The Examiner takes Official Notice that it is old and well known to utilize stepper motors to control valves because they offer accurate control.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize a stepper motor for the three way valve of Imral as modified in order to provide accurate control.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Borten (US5479789) discloses a similar structure to that of claim 23.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCHYLER S SANKS whose telephone number is (571)272-6125. The examiner can normally be reached 06:30 - 15:30 Central Time, M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Huntley can be reached at (303) 297-4307. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SCHYLER S SANKS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2129