DETAILED ACTION
The present office action is in response to claims filed on 11/16/2023. Claims 1 – 16 are pending in the application.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
Claim Objections
Claims 6, 12, 13, 14, and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 6 recites “to block air” in line 2, which should recite “to block the heated air” for proper antecedent basis.
Claim 12 recites “a vehicle” in line 3, which should recite “the vehicle” for proper antecedent basis.
Claim 13 recites “air” in lines 2 and 3, which should recite “the air” for proper antecedent basis.
Claim 14 recites “air” in line 2, which should recite “the air” for proper antecedent basis.
Claim 15 recites “air” in line 2, which should recite “the air” for proper antecedent basis.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, 14, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Uemura et al. (U.S. Patent No. 6,311,763).
Regarding Claim 1, Uemura shows (Figures 1 – 6):
An air conditioner apparatus (30) for a vehicle (vehicle, title), the apparatus (30) comprising:
an air conditioning case (31) in which an air flow path (flow path from left to right from 10 to 46/47/49/50/52, as illustrated in Figure 1) is formed;
a cooling heat exchanger (32), and
a heating heat exchanger (33), wherein
the cooling heat exchanger (32) and the heating heat exchanger (33) are provided sequentially on (as illustrated in Figure 1, 33 is located upstream of 32 in the airflow path along the air flow path, therefore 32 and 33 are provided sequentially) the air flow path (flow path from left to right from 10 to 46/47/49/50/52, as illustrated in Figure 1) of the air conditioning case (31) in an airflow direction (direction from left to right in Figure 1, following the air flow path from 10 to 46/47/49/50/52), wherein
a defrost vent (49), a face vent (50), and a floor vent 52) are formed on (as illustrated in Figure 1) the air conditioning case (31), and wherein
the defrost vent (49) includes:
a first defogging flow path (solid arrow flow path through 49 illustrated in Figure 6) allowing air (air following the solid air flow arrow path in Figure 6 through 33) passing through the heating heat exchanger (33) to be discharged directly (as illustrated in Figure 6, the solid air flow arrow path in Figure 6 through 33 discharges directly through 49); and
a second defogging flow path (flow path through 49 illustrated in Figure 5) allowing air (air passing through 32 or 33, as illustrated in Figure 5) passing through the cooling heat exchanger (32) or the heating heat exchanger (33) to be mixed (due to the partially closed position of 53 blocking the direct flow path though 49, the air is allowed to mix before being discharged) and discharged therethrough (as illustrated by the air flow arrow in Figure 5).
Regarding Claim 2, Uemura shows (Figures 1 – 6):
An internal flow path (the internal flow path from 32 to 46/47/49/50/52) of the air conditioning case (31) is formed in a vertical direction (the flow path from 32 to 49 is in a vertical direction from lower at 32 to higher at 49; it is noted 49 is located in the dashboard of the vehicle below the windshield, a point higher than 32 in the engine bay) with respect to the ground so that the air flow path (flow path from left to right from 10 to 46/47/49/50/52, as illustrated in Figure 1) is directed from a downward direction (32 is disposed in the lower, downward in the direction of gravity from 49), which is a direction of gravity (vertical), to an upward direction (49 is disposed in the higher, upward in the direction of gravity from 32).
Regarding Claim 3, Uemura shows (Figures 1 – 6):
The cooling heat exchanger (32) and the heating heat exchanger (33) on the internal flow path (the internal flow path from 32 to 46/47/49/50/52) include a structure (34a, which is disposed to extend vertically within 31 from the lower, downward direction to the higher, upward direction) which is sequentially disposed from the downward direction (32 is disposed in the lower, downward in the direction of gravity from 49), which is the direction of gravity (vertical), to the upward direction (49 is disposed in the higher, upward in the direction of gravity from 32) in correspondence to the air flow path (flow path from left to right from 10 to 46/47/49/50/52, as illustrated in Figure 1) from the downward direction (32 is disposed in the lower, downward in the direction of gravity from 49), which is the direction of gravity (vertical), to the upward direction (49 is disposed in the higher, upward in the direction of gravity from 32).
Regarding Claim 4, Uemura shows (Figures 1 – 6):
A defogging outlet separator (53) configured to prevent (as illustrated in Figure 5) heated air (heated air discharging from 33) passing through the heating heat exchanger (33) to be directly discharged (based on the position of 53, as illustrated in Figure 5) through the second defogging flow path (flow path through 49 illustrated in Figure 5).
Regarding Claim 5, Uemura shows (Figures 1 – 6):
The defogging outlet separator (53) includes a partition wall (as illustrated in the various positions of 53 in the figures, 53 is a partition wall) configured to partition between (as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6) between the first defogging flow path (solid arrow flow path through 49 illustrated in Figure 6) and the second defogging flow path (flow path through 49 illustrated in Figure 5).
Regarding Claim 13, Uemura shows (Figures 1 – 6):
In a vent mode (mode illustrated in Figure 3) in which the air is discharged (as illustrated by the air flow arrows in Figure 3) to the face vent (50) or a bi-level mode (mode illustrated in Figure 4) in which the air is discharged (as illustrated by the air flow arrows in Figure 4) to the face vent (50) and the floor vent (52),
the first defogging flow path (solid arrow flow path through 49 illustrated in Figure 6) and the second defogging flow path (flow path through 49 illustrated in Figure 5) are closed (as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4).
Regarding Claim 14, Uemura shows (Figures 1 – 6):
In a defogging mode (mode illustrated in Figure 6) in which the air is discharged (as illustrated by the air flow arrows in Figure 6) to the defrost vent (49),
the first defogging flow path (solid arrow flow path through 49 illustrated in Figure 6) and the second defogging flow path (flow path through 49 illustrated in Figure 5) are open (as illustrated in Figure 6).
Regarding Claim 15, Uemura shows (Figures 1 – 6):
In a floor mode or a mix mode (mode illustrated in Figure 5) in which the air is discharged (as illustrated by the air flow arrows in Figure 5) to the defrost vent (49) and the floor vent (52),
the first defogging flow path (solid arrow flow path through 49 illustrated in Figure 6) is closed (as illustrated in Figure 5) and the second defogging flow path (flow path through 49 illustrated in Figure 5) is open (as illustrated in Figure 6).
Regarding Claim 16, Uemura shows (Figures 1 – 6):
The defrost vent (49) is formed in a position (as illustrated in Figure 1) of the air conditioning case (31) facing (as illustrated in Figure the heating heat exchanger (33).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 are objected to as being dependent on a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding Claim 6, Uemura shows the claimed invention except the defogging outlet separator further includes a hot air guide baffle formed to extend from the partition wall to block the heated air passing through the heating heat exchanged from being discharged directly through the second defogging flow path.
There is no teaching or motivation in the prior art to modify Uemura accordingly.
Claims 7 – 12 depend from Claim 6.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and is provided in the Notice of References Cited.
The following prior art teaches related vehicle air conditioner apparatuses:
Rausch (U.S. Patent No. 11,117,443): see Figure 1
Iyer et al. (U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2018/0105147): see Figure 1
Seto et al. (U.S. Patent No. 8,997,838): see Figure 3
Seto et al. (U.S. Patent No. 8,689,860): see Figure 2
Lee et al. (U.S. Patent No. 6,959,754): see Figure 11
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANA K TIGHE whose telephone number is (571)272-9476. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 8:00 - 4:00.
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, Steve McAllister, can be reached on 571-272-6785. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DANA K TIGHE/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/STEVEN B MCALLISTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762