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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-4, 6, and 8-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Adachi (US 6,351,967).
As to claim 1, Adachi discloses an airflow system, comprising:
an evaporator 4 positioned directly in a first compartment of a refrigeration appliance to decrease a temperature of air in the first compartment (see annotated figures below, which shows a first compartment housing the evaporator 4 in Adachi);
a first supply duct 14 for coupling the first compartment and a second compartment (see annotated figures) and configured to direct a first flow of air directly from the first compartment to the second compartment (Figs. 13-14);
a damper 17 having a flap configured to be positioned based on a temperature setting of the second compartment (Fig. 12; col. 17, lines 50-64);
a second supply duct 12 configured for coupling to the first compartment and a third compartment (see annotated figures) and configured to direct a second flow of air from the first to the third compartment (Figs. 13-14);
a first return duct 15 configured for coupling to the first compartment and the second compartment and configured to direct a third air flow from the second compartment to the evaporator 4 (Fig. 13); and
a second return duct 13 configured for coupling to the first compartment and the third compartment and configured to direct a fourth air flow from the third compartment to the evaporator 400 (Fig. 14).
As to claim 2, Adachi discloses the first supply duct 14 having a first opening 8 formed therein, wherein a housing is configured to receive air and has a first geometry extending into the first opening 8 (Figs. 12-14), and a fan 5 is configured for positioning in the housing and to distribute the air through said first geometry to damper 17 which can be in open or closed position to direct the first flow of air.
As to claim 3, Adachi discloses a mainboard 19 configured to provide a plurality of temperature settings for the second compartment and to receive a setting of the plurality of temperature settings from a user (Fig. 16).
As to claim 4, Adachi discloses setting temperatures ranging from -18 degrees C to 4 degrees C (col. 23, lines 11-19).
As to claim 6, Adachi discloses the ducts fastened on an inner liner panel on the backside of the compartments (Figs. 2 & 13-14).
As to claim 8, the ducts of Adachi include reinforcement components (Figs. 13-14, see components with support ducts).
As to claims 9-15, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would nec-essarily perform the method claimed then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device. When the prior art device is the same as a device described in the specification for carrying out the claimed method it can be assumed the device will inherently perform the claimed process. Thus the method as claimed would necessarily result from the normal operation of the apparatus of Adachi.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adachi as applied above.
As to claim 5, Adachi teaches a fan 5 and a sensor coupled to the fan 5 and damper 17, the sensor measuring a temperature of the second compartment and the mainboard 19 comparing the measured temperature to the set temperature of the second compartment (claim 11). Adachi does not explicitly teach that the mainboard 19 provides an indication of a speed of the fan 5 and a position of the damper flap based on a difference between the measured and set temperature. However, Official Notice is taken that display of system operating conditions is a common and typical feature of the art, and thus would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the invention, to modify the controller 19 of Adachi to provide an indication of fan speed and damper position as claimed for the purpose of allowing the user to conveniently monitor system operation.
As to claim 7, Adachi teaches an outer panel (Figs. 13-14) and use of a heat insulating material (col. 16, lines 60-65), but is silent regarding a specific type of insulation. However, it would have been an obvious design choice to modify the reference by having foam insulation, since applicant has not disclosed that having a particular type of insulation solves any stated problem or provides any unexpected result, and it appears that the refrigerator would perform equally well with any reasonable type of insulation.
Annotated Figures
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Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-11, filed 1/13/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 9 under 35 U.S.C. 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Specifically, the examiner agrees that the previous rejection which cited compartments 100, 200, and 300 as the claimed first, second, and third compartments does not meet the limitations as recited in the presently amended claims. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Adachi. As noted above, the space containing the evaporator 4 can reasonably be considered to meet the limitations of the first compartment as claimed (see annotated figure for details), and thus the new grounds of rejection has been made in view of Adachi.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN BRADFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-5199. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 - 4:00 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jerry-Daryl Fletcher can be reached at (571)270-5054. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JONATHAN BRADFORD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763