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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/13/2026 has been entered.
Status of the Claims
The status of the claims as filed in the reply dated 2/12/2026 are as follows:
Claims 1 and 18 are amended,
Claims 13 is canceled,
Claims 21 is new.
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) 1, 3-5, 7-11, 17, 18, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Naji et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0197659, “Naji”).
Regarding claim 1, Naji discloses a heat exchanger module (fig 1) comprising:
a first heat exchanger (4) and a second heat exchanger (3) configured to exchange heat with air;
a fan unit (20) configured to induce flow of the air through the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger; and an air duct configured to guide the flow of the air to the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger;
wherein the first heat exchanger, the second heat exchanger, the fan unit, and the air duct are stacked to form a sandwich such that the second heat exchanger is disposed inside the fan unit and at least partially enveloped by the fan unit (fig 1), and
wherein the air duct includes a first duct portion, a second duct portion and a third duct portion, with the first duct portion and the second duct portion being connected to the first heat exchanger, and the third duct portion being connected to the fan unit (see annotated fig 1 below).
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Regarding claim 3, Naji further discloses wherein the first heat exchanger (4) is arranged between the fan unit (20) and the air duct (12) along the flow of the air.
Regarding claim 4, Naji further discloses wherein the air duct has a quadrilateral shape with an upper duct side, a lower duct side, a first lateral duct side and a second lateral duct side, when viewed in a direction of the flow of the air (see annotated fig 1 below).
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Regarding claim 5, Naji further discloses wherein the first duct portion is the first lateral duct side of the air duct and the second duct portion is the second lateral duct side of the air duct (see annotated fig 1 above).
Regarding claim 7, Naji further discloses wherein the third duct portion is the upper duct side (see annotated fig 1 above).
Regarding claim 8, Naji further discloses wherein the fan unit (20) includes an upper fan side, with the upper duct side being connected to the upper fan side (see annotated fig 1 below).
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Regarding claim 9, Naji further discloses wherein the lower duct side (see annotated fig 1 above) is connected to the fan unit (20).
Regarding claim 10, Naji further discloses wherein the fan unit (20) includes a lower fan side, with the lower duct side being connected to the lower fan side (see annotated fig 1 below).
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Regarding claim 11, Naji further discloses wherein the fan unit (20) includes a first lateral fan side and a second lateral fan side, with the first lateral fan side and the second lateral fan side being connected to the first heat exchanger (4, see annotated fig 1 below).
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Regarding claim 17, Naji further discloses wherein the first heat exchanger (4) is a radiator (¶0079).
Regarding claim 18, Naji further discloses wherein the second heat exchanger (3) is a condenser (¶0079).
Regarding claim 21, Naji further discloses wherein guiding the flow of the air to the first heat exchanger (3) and the second heat exchanger (4) by the air duct comprises directionally redirecting the flow of the air (via operating the fan unit).
Claim(s) 1, 14, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being alternatively anticipated by Naji et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0197659, “Naji”).
Regarding claim 1, Naji discloses a heat exchanger module (fig 1) comprising:
a first heat exchanger (3) and a second heat exchanger (4) configured to exchange heat with air;
a fan unit (20) configured to induce flow of the air through the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger; and an air duct configured to guide the flow of the air to the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger;
wherein the first heat exchanger, the second heat exchanger, the fan unit, and the air duct are stacked to form a sandwich such that the second heat exchanger is disposed inside the fan unit and at least partially enveloped by the fan unit (fig 1), and
wherein the air duct includes a first duct portion, a second duct portion and a third duct portion, with the first duct portion and the second duct portion being connected to the first heat exchanger, and the third duct portion being connected to the fan unit (see annotated fig 1 below).
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Regarding claim 14, Naji further discloses wherein the second heat exchanger (4) is arranged between the first heat exchanger (3) and the fan unit (20) in the flow of the air.
Regarding claim 15, Naji further discloses wherein the second heat exchanger (4) includes a primary-second lateral side and a secondary-second lateral side (see annotated fig 1 below), with the primary-second lateral side and the secondary-second lateral side being connected to the first heat exchanger (3).
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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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naji as applied to claim 1 above (first interpretation), and further in view of Henon et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2021/0001715, “Henon”).
Regarding claim 2, Naji discloses all previous claim limitations. However, Naji does not explicitly disclose wherein the heat exchanger module is an inclined heat exchanger module. Henon, however, discloses a heat exchanger module (1, fig 1) which is an inclined heat exchanger module. Henon teaches this arrangement allows for a reduction in the spatial footprint of the device (¶0060). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Naji to have the heat exchanger module inclined in order to reduce the special footprint of the heat exchanger module.
Claim(s) 6 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naji alone (first interpretation).
Regarding claim 6, Naji discloses all previous claim limitations. However, Naji does not explicitly disclose wherein the first heat exchanger includes a primary-first collector and a secondary-first collector, with the first duct portion being connected to the primary-first collector and the second duct portion being connected to the secondary-first collector. However, the Examiner takes Official Notice that it is old well known in the art of heat exchangers to provide collectors in order to distribute the refrigerant evenly thus through the heat exchanger and thus improve heat exchange efficiency. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Naji to provide a primary-first collector and a secondary-first collector in order to improve heat exchange efficiency. This would result in the first duct portion being connected to the primary-first collector and the second duct portion being connected to the secondary-first collector (as all of the components of the heat exchanger module are connected).
Regarding claim 12, Naji discloses all previous claim limitations. However, Naji does not explicitly disclose wherein the first heat exchanger includes a primary-first collector and a secondary-first collector, with the first lateral fan side being connected to the primary-first collector and the second lateral fan side being connected to the secondary-first collector. However, the Examiner takes Official Notice that it is old well known in the art of heat exchangers to provide collectors in order to distribute the refrigerant evenly thus through the heat exchanger and thus improve heat exchange efficiency. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Naji to provide a primary-first collector and a secondary-first collector in order to improve heat exchange efficiency. This would result in the first lateral fan side being connected to the primary-first collector and the second lateral fan side being connected to the secondary-first collector (as all of the components of the heat exchanger module are connected).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naji alone (alterative interpretation).
Regarding claim 16, Naji discloses all previous claim limitations. However, Naji does not explicitly disclose wherein a primary-second collector and a secondary-second collector of the second heat exchanger are connected respectively to a primary-first collector and a secondary-first collector of the first heat exchanger respectively. However, the Examiner takes Official Notice that it is old well known in the art of heat exchangers to provide collectors in order to distribute the refrigerant evenly thus through the heat exchanger and thus improve heat exchange efficiency. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Naji to provide primary collectors and secondary collectors in order to improve heat exchange efficiency. This would result in the collectors being connected to one another (as all of the components of the heat exchanger module are connected).
Claim(s) 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naji as applied to claim 18 above (first interpretation), and further in view of Shembekar et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0149312, “Shembekar”, previously cited).
Regarding claim 19, Naji discloses all previous claim limitations. However, Naji does not explicitly disclose wherein the second heat exchanger includes a receiver dryer, the receiver dryer being connected to the first heat exchanger. Shembekar, however, discloses a condenser (fig 3) which includes a receiver dryer (118). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Naji to provide the receiver dryer of Shembekar in order to remove gas from the refrigerant thus allowing it to be cooled further in the condenser. This would result in the receiver dryer being connected to the first heat exchanger (as all of the components of the heat exchanger module are connected).
Regarding claim 20, Naji discloses all previous claim limitations. However, Naji does not explicitly disclose wherein the first heat exchanger includes a primary-first collector and a secondary-first collector, with the receiver dryer being connected to the primary-first collector. However, the Examiner takes Official Notice that it is old well known in the art of heat exchangers to provide collectors in order to distribute the refrigerant evenly thus through the heat exchanger and thus improve heat exchange efficiency. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Naji to provide a primary-first collector and a secondary-first collector in order to improve heat exchange efficiency. This would result in with the receiver dryer being connected to the primary-first collector (as all of the components of the heat exchanger module are connected).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/12/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues (pages 7-9) that Rogg and Bieraud fail to teach the limitations of amended claim 1. However, newly cited Naji is now being relied upon to teach theses limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HARRY E ARANT whose telephone number is (571)272-1105. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10-6 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jianying Atkisson can be reached at (571)270-7740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HARRY E ARANT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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