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 .
Response to Amendment
Amendments to the claims, filed on 3/17/26, have been entered in the above-identified application.
Any rejections made in the previous action, and not repeated below, are hereby withdrawn.
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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nowak et al (US 2014/0162022 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 3-5, 7, and 8, Nowak teaches a porous liquid repellant coating for use in a heat exchanger (i.e., a heat exchanger comprising a porous liquid repellent coating) comprising a porous layer of a hardened matrix material, discrete templates (e.g., iron oxide), and nanoparticles (e.g., zinc oxide) (i.e., a porous layer of a transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide) (para 12-16, 24-26, 99,149; fig 1).
With regard to the limitations “a layer of a liquid-repellent compound deposited onto the porous layer of the transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide;” “wherein the porous layer of the transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide having the layer of the liquid-repellent compound deposited thereon forms a surface which is comprised of a plurality of surface pores;” Nowak teaches the discrete templates may be treated with fatty acids or silanes (i.e., liquid-repellent compounds); and the nanoparticles may be treated with alkylsilanes or fluoroalkylsilanes (i.e., liquid-repellent compounds) (para 24-26). Therefore, Nowak teaches a layer of a liquid-repellent compound deposited onto the porous layer of the transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide; wherein the porous layer of the transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide having the layer of the liquid-repellent compound deposited thereon forms a surface which is comprised of a plurality of surface pores.
In the alternative, with regard to the limitations “a layer of a liquid-repellent compound deposited onto the porous layer of the transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide;” “wherein the porous layer of the transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide having the layer of the liquid-repellent compound deposited thereon forms a surface which is comprised of a plurality of surface pores;” Nowak teaches its coatings are superhydrophobic, are multilayer, and are porous (para 39, 88, 99, fig 1). Therefore another layer of the coating of Nowak would be equivalent to a layer of a liquid-repellent compound deposited onto the porous layer of the transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide; wherein the porous layer of the transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide having the layer of the liquid-repellent compound deposited thereon forms a surface which is comprised of a plurality of surface pores.
With regard to the limitations “comprised of a plurality of surface pores of varying angles with an average angle that is reentrant;” “wherein at least one of the plurality of surface pores has a reentrant angle of less than 90° and wherein at least one of the plurality of surface pores has an angle of more than 90°;” “wherein the porous liquid repellent coating provides a water contact angle of more than 150°;” and “wherein the porous liquid repellent coating comprises an average within-pore surface roughness factor of about 3.5;” Nowak teaches superhydrophobicity is characterized by the high contact angle and small hysteresis of water droplets on surfaces is attributed to a layer of air pockets formed between water and a rough (i.e., roughness) substrate (para 7); and further teaches the anti-wetting feature of the structural coating is created, at least in part, by surface roughness that increases the effective contact angle of water with the substrate, wherein the contact angle is maximized (e.g., greater than 150°) (para 88-90).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to adjust the roughness, and therein the surface pore angle, water contact angle, and roughness factor, of the coating of Nowak to optimize its superhydrophobicity.
Regarding claim 2, Nowak teaches its porous liquid repellent coating is tuned to adjust the wetting of water and freezing of water on the surface that is coated (i.e., dewetting behavior) (para 62); and air often contains moisture or water vapor; so, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to use the coating on any part of the heat exchanger, including that of the air side, to assist in dewetting (i.e., the removal of water condensate).
Regarding claim 6, Nowak teaches the porous voids have a length scale from about 50 nanometers to about 10 microns (para 75) which matches the ranges of the instant claim.
Regarding claim 9, the limitations of the instant claim depend upon optional limitations of claim 7 and therefore need not be taught by the prior art.
Regarding claim 10, the Examiner takes official notice that it was known at the time of invention that air conditioners and/or refrigeration systems used heat exchangers. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to use the heat exchangers of Nowak in air conditioners and/or refrigeration systems.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the instant claims have been considered but are moot due to the new grounds of rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of new prior art of record. The Applicant is directed to the 35 USC § 103 section above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Gross et al (US 2014/0272301 A1) teaches a superhydrophobic impact resistant coating for use in heat exchangers (abstract, para 74, 153) with similar properties and/or structure to that of Nowak.
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 NATHAN L VAN SELL whose telephone number is (571)270-5152. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thur, Generally 7am-6pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, M. Veronica Ewald can be reached at 571-272-8519. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
NATHAN VAN SELL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1783
/NATHAN L VAN SELL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1783
Prosecution Insights