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 .
This is in response to the correspondence received on 5/30/2025.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 5/30/2025has been entered.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant elected without traverse of Species A, Fig. 2 in the reply filed on April 2, 2024.
Figs 3-5 are non-elected species.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 13, 20, and their dependent claims, rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
In claims 1, 13 and 20, the new limitation “without intervening components” does not appear to be supported by the Specification and appears to comprise new matter. It is noted that the drawings are schematic in nature and that schematic drawings do not necessarily show all components in a system, therefore not supporting the absence of additional components in the system. Furthermore, paragraph [0030] of the specification states “The VCS 202 may include additional components, sensors, and/or heat exchangers.” Additionally, figures 2-5 in the application show at least a “VCS compressor” or an “Expansion valve” between the pressure sensor/temperature sensor (the figures show 2 separate sets of sensors in the loop) and the heat exchanger or heat load, indicating the presence of at least one of these components in the path of the fluid. Negative limitations are addressed in MPEP 2173.05(i) “Any negative limitation or exclusionary proviso must have basis in the original disclosure. If alternative elements are positively recited in the specification, they may be explicitly excluded in the claims. See In re Johnson, 558 F.2d 1008, 1019, 194 USPQ 187, 196 (CCPA 1977) ("[the] specification, having described the whole, necessarily described the part remaining."). See also Ex parte Grasselli, 231 USPQ 393 (Bd. App. 1983), aff’d mem., 738 F.2d 453 (Fed. Cir. 1984).”
“Any claim containing a negative limitation which does not have basis in the original disclosure should be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a)” MPEP 2173.05(i)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 13, 20 and their dependent claims, rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claims 1, 13, 20, in the limitation “without intervening components” it is unclear what “components” is intended to describe. It is not clear what elements would be considered to be components, and what elements would not. Paragraph [0030] of the specification states “The VCS 202 may include additional components, sensors, and/or heat exchangers”. Furthermore, figures 2-5 in the application show at least a “VCS compressor” or an “Expansion valve” between the pressure sensor/temperature sensor (the figures show 2 separate sets of sensors in the loop), indicating the presence of at least one of these components in the path of the fluid, making it unclear if compressors and valves are considered to be intervening components.
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 non-obviousness.
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) 1-2, 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams 5899085 in view of Blatchley 20210101445, and Retersdorf 20230265793
Also see rejection of claim 1 under 112 (a) and 112(b) above.
Regarding claim 1, Williams teaches:
A cooling system (Williams, Fig 1) comprising :
a vapor cycle system (Fig 1) including
a compressor (80),
a heat exchanger (inter alia, evaporator 70, cabin evaporator 82, condenser 92) downstream from the compressor (Fig. 1 shows the heat exchangers are downstream from the compressor in a closed loop)
a heat load downstream from the heat exchanger and upstream of the compressor (a cooling system evaporator 70 and a condenser 92 are connected to the system compressor by fluid passages (abstract))
a bleed air conduit (40) configured to receive bleed air (Col 3 ll 25-45) from a gas turbine engine (10);
a bleed turbine (42) driven by the bleed air supplied from the bleed air conduit (40 connected to 42, Fig 1), the bleed turbine configured to drive the compressor of the vapor cycle system (via shaft 116, Fig 1);
valve (44 and also 46, Fig 1) disposed along the bleed air conduit (40) between the gas turbine engine and the bleed turbine (Fig. 1);
[valve 44 and 46 control] a flow of a cooling fluid delivered from the compressor to the heat exchanger (valves 44 and 46 provide a path for bleed air to power air turbine 42, thus powering compressor 80 and controlling fluid delivered to the system comprising the heat exchangers (col 3 ll. 55-65)).
Williams does not teach the exact order of components in the vapor cycle system as claimed, and is silent about a temperature sensor or pressure sensor as claimed.
However, Blatchley teaches a climate control system 200 with a refrigerant working fluid in the circuit 204 [0019], and:
a heat exchanger (236) downstream (Fig 2, see arrow 284) [0033]) from the compressor (228),
a heat load (232) downstream from the heat exchanger and upstream of the compressor (Fig. 2, flow down through 295 to 234 to 232 [0038]),
at least one of a first temperature sensor (274) or a first pressure sensor (A possible location of a modeled pressure, discussed in greater detail herein is indicated at 276 [0032]) in direct fluid communication with and disposed between the heat exchanger and the heat load (Fig. 2), without intervening components (Fig. 2 shows the sensors connected to the heat exchanger and heat load; it is noted that valve 289 is not considered an intervening component as discussed in the 112(a) and 112(b) rejections above, and supported by the figures in the application), to determine an amount of subcool coming out of the heat exchanger and being delivered to the heat load (determining a subcool value from the modeled pressure and a temperature from a sensor downstream of the exterior heat exchanger, such as at the outlet of the exterior heat exchanger [0059], and “The method also includes operating the expansion valve in the heat pump circuit to cool a vehicle cabin based on the modeled pressure and a temperature from a sensor positioned upstream of the expansion valve and downstream of the exterior heat exchanger” [0005])
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Williams with Blatchley's structure discussed above in order to provide a climate control system, as taught by Blatchley, abstract.
Williams in view of Blatchley teaches the valve along the bleed air conduit as discussed above but is silent about the valve being a throttle valve.
However, Retersdorf teaches and engine bleed air system (Fig 1) and:
a throttle valve (80) disposed along the bleed air conduit (602) between the gas turbine engine (an inlet 40 at an engine bleed port [0047]) and an environmental control system/ACS (abstract, [0002, 0071], Fig. 1); and a controller (100, [0071]) configured to control a degree of opening of the throttle valve ([0071]) based on a measurement of at least one of a pressure sensor (controller 100 receives a signal from the pressure sensor 121 [0071]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Williams in view of Blatchley with Retersdorf’s teachings above to control a throttle valve based on parameters monitored by a sensor discussed, providing a throttle valve disposed along the bleed air conduit between the gas turbine engine and the bleed turbine and a controller configured to control a degree of opening of the throttle valve and a flow of a cooling fluid delivered from the compressor to the heat exchanger based on a measurement of at least one of the first temperature sensor or the first pressure sensor, in order to control the pressure in the system where a “controller 100 sends a signal to the actuator for valve 80 to increase valve position (open the valve more) if the signal from pressure sensor 121 is less than the reference value. Controller 100 sends a signal to the actuator for valve 80 to decrease valve position (close the valve more) if the signal from pressure sensor 121 is greater than the reference value” as taught by Retersdorf [0071], therefore having a way to control the system based on desired parameters.
Regarding claim 2, Williams in view of Blatchley, and Retersdorf teaches the invention of claim 1. Williams further teaches:
Williams in view of Blatchley, and Retersdorf, as discussed so far, are silent about the expansion valve as claimed.
However, Blatchley teaches:
an expansion valve (234), the expansion valve disposed between (Fig. 2) the heat exchanger (as discussed for claim 1) and the heat load (as discussed for claim 1).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams 5899085 in view of Blatchley 20210101445, Retersdorf 20230265793.
Regarding claim 5, Williams in view of Blatchley, Retersdorf and Defenbaugh teaches the invention of claim 1. Williams further teaches:
wherein the bleed air conduit (40) is coupled to a compressor section (18) of the gas turbine engine (via 38 and 32, Fig 1).
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams 5899085 in view of Blatchley 20210101445, and Retersdorf 20230265793 and Defenbaugh 5007245.
Regarding claim 3, Williams in view of Blatchley, and Retersdorf teaches the invention of claim 2. However, Williams in view of Blatchley, and Retersdorf, as discussed so far is silent about:
further comprising at least one of a second temperature sensor or a second pressure sensor in direct fluid communication with and disposed downstream of between the heat load and the compressor, without intervening components, to determine an amount of superheat coming out of the heat load.
However, Defenbaugh teaches a vapor cycle system (Title), and:
at least one of a second temperature sensor (T.sub.r1o and T.xub.r2, Fig 1-2, Col 7 ll 40-col 8 ll 35) or a second pressure sensor (P1) in direct fluid communication with and disposed downstream of between the heat load (Fig 1) and the compressor (11), without intervening components, to determine an amount of superheat coming out of the heat load (Col 7 ll. 40-55, Col 2 ll. 35-38).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Williams in view of Blatchley, Retersdorf with Defenbaugh's structure discussed above in order to measure the exit temperatures and pressure and use the information in the calculations to optimize operations and “prevent liquid refrigerant which would otherwise result from two-phase flow from entering the compressor inlet and damaging the compressor components” (Defenbaugh Col 7 ll 40-65).
Regarding claim 4, Williams in view of Blatchley, Retersdorf and Defenbaugh teaches the invention of claim 3. Williams in view of Blatchley, Retersdorf and Defenbaugh teaches the controller as already discussed, but is silent about controlling the expansion valve and the pressure of the cooling fluid as claimed.
However, Defenbaugh teaches:
the controller (“conventional microprocessor-based controller” Col 6 ll. 33-35) is configured to control a degree of opening of the expansion valve (Col 6 ll 28-41) is configured to control the degree of opening of the expansion valve (16, 17, Col 6 ll 28-30) and a pressure (valve controls the pressure of the fluid) of the cooling fluid being delivered to the heat load (inter alia, evaporator Col 6 ll 28-41) from the expansion valve (Col 6 ll 28-41)
based on a measurement of at least one of the second temperature sensor or the second pressure sensor (inter alia, Tr1, Tr2, Ts1, Ts2, Col 6 ll 18-41, Col 7 ll. 20-50).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Williams in view of Blatchley, Retersdorf and Defenbaugh with Defenbaugh's structure discussed above in order to have a system where the loads on the evaporators (14, 15, etc.) are individually controlled with the thermal expansion valves” as taught by Defenbaugh (Abstract).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams 5899085 in view of Blatchley 20210101445, Retersdorf 20230265793, and Young 4091613.
Regarding claim 9, Williams in view of Blatchley, and Retersdorf teaches the invention of claim 1. Williams in view of Blatchley, and Retersdorf is silent about the heat exchanger is configured to be cooled by ram air or fan bypass air as claimed.
However, Young teaches a system for an aircraft, comprising a gas turbine (Abstract) and:
A heat exchanger (78) is configured to be cooled by ram air (ram air duct 30; Col 2, ll 36-41, Col 4 ll 52-55);
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Williams in view of Blatchley, and Retersdorf h with Young's structure discussed above in order to provide “air conditioning [which] is accomplished by providing a conventional freon vapor cycle plant […] having a liquid-side heat exchanger 78 located within ram air duct 40”, “thereby cooling the compressed refrigerant contained therein” (Young, Col 4 ll 50-65).
Claim(s) 13, 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams 5899085 in view of Blatchley 20210101445, and Retersdorf 20230265793,
Regarding claim 13, Williams teaches:
A method of cooling a heat load (inter alia, aircraft cabin, Col 3 ll. 55), the method comprising:
compressing the cooling fluid received from the heat load (inter alia, 70, 82) with a compressor (80) of the vapor cycle system (Col 3 ll. 55-65);
rotating a bleed turbine(42) with bleed air from a gas turbine engine (Col 3 ll 25-45);
driving the compressor with the rotating bleed turbine (Col 3 ll 55-60); and
valve (44 and also 46, Fig 1) disposed between the bleed turbine (42) and the gas turbine engine (10)
[valve 44 and 46 control] a flow of the cooling fluid delivered from the compressor to the heat exchanger (valves 44 and 46 provide a path for bleed air to power air turbine 42, thus powering compressor 80 and controlling fluid delivered to the system comprising the heat exchangers (col 3 ll. 55-65))
Williams does not teach the exact order of components in the vapor cycle system as claimed, and is silent about a temperature sensor or pressure sensor as claimed.
However, Blatchley teaches a climate control system 200 with a refrigerant working fluid in the circuit 204 [0019], and:
cooling a cooling fluid (a refrigerant working fluid in the circuit 204 [0019]) in a vapor cycle system (200) with a heat exchanger (236);
measuring an amount of subcool coming out of the heat exchanger and being delivered to the heat load (determining a subcool value from the modeled pressure and a temperature from a sensor downstream of the exterior heat exchanger, such as at the outlet of the exterior heat exchanger [0059] and “The method also includes operating the expansion valve in the heat pump circuit to cool a vehicle cabin based on the modeled pressure and a temperature from a sensor positioned upstream of the expansion valve and downstream of the exterior heat exchanger” [0005]) with at least one of a first temperature sensor (274) or a first pressure sensor (A possible location of a modeled pressure, discussed in greater detail herein is indicated at 276 [0032]) in direct fluid communication with and disposed between the heat exchanger and the heat load (Fig. 2), without intervening components (Fig. 2);
cooling the heat load (232) via the vapor cycle system (Fig 2) with the cooling fluid (flowing in the direction of arrow 284, Fig. 2, through 295 to 234 to 232);
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Williams with Blatchley's structure discussed above in order to provide a climate control system, as taught by Blatchley, abstract.
Williams in view of Blatchley teaches a valve between the bleed turbine and the gas turbine engine as discussed above, but is silent about the valve being a throttle valve as claimed, and adjusting, with a controller, a degree of opening of the throttle valve, based on a measurement of at least one of the first temperature sensor or the first pressure sensor as claimed
However, Retersdorf teaches and engine bleed air system (Fig 1) and:
a throttle valve (80) disposed between an environmental control system/ACS (abstract, [0002, 0071], Fig. 1) and the gas turbine engine (an inlet 40 at an engine bleed port [0047]); adjusting, with a controller (100, [0071]), a degree of opening of the throttle valve ([0071])
based on a measurement of a pressure sensor (controller 100 receives a signal from the pressure sensor 121 [0071]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Williams in view of Blatchley with Retersdorf 's teachings discussed above, adjusting, with a controller, a degree of opening of a throttle valve disposed between the bleed turbine and the gas turbine engine and a flow of the cooling fluid delivered from the compressor to the heat exchanger based on a measurement of at least one of the first temperature sensor or the first pressure sensor, in order to control the pressure in the system where a “controller 100 sends a signal to the actuator for valve 80 to increase valve position (open the valve more) if the signal from pressure sensor 121 is less than the reference value. Controller 100 sends a signal to the actuator for valve 80 to decrease valve position (close the valve more) if the signal from pressure sensor 121 is greater than the reference value” as taught by Retersdorf [0071].
Regarding claim 16, Williams in view of Blatchley, and Retersdorf teaches the invention of claim 13. Williams further teaches:
further comprising directing a flow of bleed air (from 32 via 34 and 40) to the bleed turbine from a compressor section of the gas turbine engine (18; Col 3 ll 24-45).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams 5899085 in view of Blatchley 20210101445, Retersdorf 20230265793, and Defenbaugh 5007245
Regarding claim 20, Williams teaches:
A system (Williams, Fig 1) comprising:
a gas turbine engine (10);
a vapor cycle system (Fig 1) including
a compressor (80) connected to a bleed turbine (42) via a shaft (116),
a bleed air conduit (40) configured to receive bleed air (Col 3 ll 25-45) from the gas turbine engine;
valve (44 and also 46, Fig 1) disposed along the bleed air conduit (40) to control a flow of the bleed air through the bleed air conduit (Fig 1);
a bleed turbine (42) driven by the bleed air supplied from the bleed air conduit (Fig 1), the bleed turbine configured to drive the compressor of the vapor cycle system (via shaft 116, Fig 1);
Williams does not teach the exact order of components in the vapor cycle system as claimed.
[valve 44 and 46 control] a flow of a cooling fluid delivered from the compressor to the heat exchanger (valves 44 and 46 provide a path for bleed air to power air turbine 42, thus powering compressor 80 and controlling fluid delivered to the system comprising the heat exchangers (col 3 ll. 55-65))
Williams does not teach the exact order of components in the vapor cycle system as claimed, and is silent about a temperature sensor or pressure sensor as claimed, determining the amount of subcool as claimed.
However, Blatchley teaches a climate control system 200 with a refrigerant working fluid in the circuit 204 [0019], and:
a heat exchanger (236) downstream (Fig 2, see arrow 284) [0033]) from the compressor (228,
a heat load (232) downstream from the heat exchanger and upstream of the compressor (Fig. 2, flow down through 295 to 234 to 232 [0038]),
an expansion valve (234) disposed between the heat exchanger and the heat load (Fig 2),
at least one of a first temperature sensor (274) or a first pressure sensor (A possible location of a modeled pressure, discussed in greater detail herein is indicated at 276 [0032]) in direct fluid communication with and disposed between the heat exchanger and the expansion valve (Fig. 2), without intervening components (Fig. 2), to determine an amount of subcool coming out of the heat exchanger and being delivered to the heat load (determining a subcool value from the modeled pressure and a temperature from a sensor downstream of the exterior heat exchanger, such as at the outlet of the exterior heat exchanger [0059], and “The method also includes operating the expansion valve in the heat pump circuit to cool a vehicle cabin based on the modeled pressure and a temperature from a sensor positioned upstream of the expansion valve and downstream of the exterior heat exchanger” [0005])
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Williams with Blatchley's structure discussed above in order to provide a climate control system, as taught by Blatchley, abstract.
Williams in view of Blatchley the valve along the bleed air conduit as discussed above but is silent about the valve being a throttle valve, and the throttle valve being controlled as claimed.
However, Retersdorf teaches and engine bleed air system (Fig 1) and:
a throttle valve (80) disposed along the bleed air conduit (602) ton control a flow of the bleed air through the bleed air conduit (the bleed valve 80 just upstream of the primary heat exchanger 42 controls overall pressure into the system and in general, the cooling capacity of the package [0069], Fig. 1)
a controller (100, [0071]) configured to control a degree of opening of the throttle valve ([0071])
based on a measurement of at least one of a pressure sensor (controller 100 receives a signal from the pressure sensor 121 [0071]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Williams in view of Blatchley with Retersdorf 's structure discussed above, providing a throttle valve disposed along the bleed air conduit to control a flow of the bleed air through the bleed air conduit, a controller configured to control a degree of opening of the throttle valve and a flow of a cooling fluid delivered from the compressor to the heat exchanger based on a measurement of at least one of the first temperature sensor or the first pressure sensor, in order to control the pressure in the system where a “controller 100 sends a signal to the actuator for valve 80 to increase valve position (open the valve more) if the signal from pressure sensor 121 is less than the reference value. Controller 100 sends a signal to the actuator for valve 80 to decrease valve position (close the valve more) if the signal from pressure sensor 121 is greater than the reference value” as taught by Retersdorf [0071].
Williams in view of Blatchley, and Retersdorf, as discussed so fa,r is silent about at least one of a second temperature sensor or a second pressure sensor as claimed, and the controller configured to control the expansion valve as claimed.
However, Defenbaugh teaches a vapor cycle system (title) and:
and at least one of a second temperature sensor (T.sub.r1o and T.xub.r2, Fig 1-2, Col 7 ll 40-col 8 ll 35) or a second pressure sensor (P1) in direct fluid communication with and disposed between the heat load (Fig 1) and the compressor (11), without intervening components, to determine an amount of superheat coming out the heat load (Col 7 ll. 40-55, Col 2 ll. 35-38);
a controller (conventional microprocessor-based controller Col 6 ll 28-41) configured to control a degree of opening of the expansion valve (Col 6 ll 28-41) and a pressure (valve controls the pressure of the fluid) of the cooling fluid being delivered to the heat load (inter alia, evaporator Col 6 ll 28-41) from the expansion valve (Col 6 ll 28-41) based on a measurement of at least one of the second temperature sensor or the second pressure sensor (inter alia, Tr1, Tr2, Ts1, Ts2, Col 6 ll 18-41, Col 7 ll. 20-50).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Williams in view of Blatchley, Retersdorf with Defenbaugh's structure discussed above in order to measure the exit temperatures and pressure and use the information in the calculations to optimize operations and “prevent liquid refrigerant which would otherwise result from two-phase flow from entering the compressor inlet and damaging the compressor components” (Defenbaugh Col 7 ll 40-65), and to have a system where the loads on the evaporators (14, 15, etc.) are controlled with the thermal expansion valves, as taught by Defenbaugh (Abstract).
Claim(s) 21-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams 5899085 in view of Blatchley 20210101445, Retersdorf 20230265793, Defenbaugh 5007245.
Regarding claim 21, Williams in view of Blatchley, and Retersdorf teaches the invention as discussed for claim 13. Williams in view of Blatchley, and Retersdorf, as discussed so far, is silent about:
further comprising measuring an amount of superheat coming out of the heat load with at least one of a second temperature sensor or a second pressure sensor disposed between the heat load and the compressor.
However, Defenbaugh teaches a vapor cycle system (Title), and:
measuring an amount of superheat coming out of the heat load with at least one of a second temperature sensor (T.sub.r1o and T.xub.r2, Fig 1-2, Col 7 ll 40-col 8 ll 35) or a second pressure sensor (P1) disposed between (Fig 1) the heat load and the compressor (11, Fig 1).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Williams in view of Blatchley, Retersdorf with Defenbaugh's structure discussed above in order to measure the exit temperatures and pressure and use the information in the calculations to optimize operations and “prevent liquid refrigerant which would otherwise result from two-phase flow from entering the compressor inlet and damaging the compressor components” (Defenbaugh Col 7 ll 40-65).
Regarding claim 22, Williams in view of Blatchley, Retersdorf and Defenbaugh teaches the invention as discussed for claim 21. Williams in view of Blatchley, Retersdorf and Defenbaugh, as discussed so far, is silent about:
further comprising adjusting, with the controller, a degree of opening of the expansion valve and a pressure of the cooling fluid being delivered to the heat load from the expansion valve based on a measurement of at least one of the second temperature sensor or the second pressure sensor.
However, Defenbaugh teaches:
adjusting, with the controller (“conventional microprocessor-based controller” Col 6 ll. 33-35) is configured to control a degree of opening of the expansion valve (Col 6 ll 28-41), a degree of opening of the expansion valve (16, 17, Col 6 ll 28-41) and a pressure (valve controls the pressure of the fluid) of the cooling fluid being delivered to the heat load from the expansion valve (Col 6 ll 28-41) based on a measurement of at least one of the second temperature sensor or the second pressure sensor (inter alia, Tr1, Tr2, Ts1, Ts2, Col 6 ll 18-41, Col 7 ll. 20-50)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Williams in view of Blatchley, Retersdorf and Defenbaugh with Defenbaugh's structure discussed above in order to have a system where the loads on the evaporators (14, 15, etc.) are individually controlled with the thermal expansion valves” as taught by Defenbaugh (Abstract).
Response to Arguments/Remarks
Applicant’s arguments have been considered, but they are not persuasive because they do not apply to the new combination of references that was necessitated by applicant’s amendment. However, to the extent possible, applicant’s arguments have been addressed in the body of the rejections above, at the appropriate location.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Roberto T. Igue whose telephone number is (303)297-4389. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30-4:30 PT.
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/ROBERTO TOSHIHARU IGUE/ /GERALD L SUNG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3741 Examiner, Art Unit 3741