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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salazar (US 20190389273 A1) in view of Proctor (US 20170218987 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Salazar teaches of:
A housing for an HVAC unit (Fig. 10), comprising:
a first housing part (Fig. 5, 14) with a first fixation component (102),
a second housing part (Fig. 4, 16) with a second fixation component (130),
a divider wall arranged between the first housing part and the second housing part (Fig. 5, 18 is arranged between 14 and 16), configured to at least partly divide the housing into a first side and a second side (¶ [0020], The divider 18 is disposed between the lower shell 14 and the upper shell 16 and is configured to divide the housing assembly 12 into more than one zone), so that the first housing part, the divider wall and the second housing part are stacked in a stacking direction (Fig. 5, 14, 16 and 18 are stacked direction 138),
wherein the first housing part is fixed directly to the second housing part (Fig. 8, see 130 fixed directly to 102),
wherein the divider wall includes an aligning component (Fig. 5, 114) configured to align the first fixation component so that the first housing part is aligned with the divider wall before the first fixation component is connected with the second fixation component (Fig. 5, 114 aligns 102 and 130 as they are moved to connect)
Salazar fails to explicitly teach:
the second fixation component including a plurality of ribs extending parallel to the stacking direction, each of the plurality of ribs separated from each other by one of a plurality of slots.
Proctor teaches of:
the second fixation component including a plurality of ribs (Fig. 6, 609-1 - 609-4) extending parallel to the stacking direction (609-1 - 609-4 all extend parallel to the stacking direction), each of the plurality of ribs separated from each other by one of a plurality of slots (608-1 - 608-4 are between each of the ribs).
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify 108 to have four ribs and modify 136 to have four slots corresponding to the four ribs on 108 so that when 108 and 104 are brough together the four ribs engage the four slots
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would assist in guiding 108 and 136 together, ensuring that they are angularly aligned (Proctor, ¶ [0031], “As can be seen from FIG. 5, the ribs 507-1 to 507-4 of the boss 500 are tapered toward the mating end of boss 500 so that the boss has a smaller diameter at the mating end. In addition, the total length of the boss 500 is substantially the same as the height of the casing 100 shown in FIG. 1. These features allow the boss to be easily guided and mated to a guide 600 (to be described in connection with FIG. 6 below) and provide reinforcement to the casing 100 in FIG. 1.”)
Regarding claim 2, The combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 1, and The combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the first fixation component, the aligning element and the second fixation component are arranged to cooperate along a fixation axis extending parallel to the stacking direction (Salazar, Fig. 5, the fixation axis is the same as 138)
Regarding claim 3, The combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 1, and The combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the first fixation component includes a locator pin (Salazar, Fig. 5, 108), while the second fixation component includes a collar configured to accept the locator pin (Salazar, Figs. 5 and 8, 136 accepts 108).
Regarding claim 4, The combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 2, and The combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the aligning element is arranged closer to the first housing portion than to the second housing portion in the stacking direction (Salazar, Fig. 8, 114 extends beyond the lower portion 58 of the divider wall 18 and is therefore closer to 14 than 16)
Regarding claim 5, The combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 3, and The combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the collar extends towards the first housing part over at least a portion of the divider wall in the stacking direction (Salazar, Fig. 8, 136 extends towards 14 over 18)
Regarding claim 6, The combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 3, and The combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the collar extends towards the first housing part over at least majority of the divider wall in the stacking direction (Salazar, Fig. 8, 136 extends over more than half of the divider wall 18 as 136 extends beyond 64 and past the central portion of 18 into the lower portion of 18, 58)
Regarding claim 7, The combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 3, and The combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the locator pin and the collar are configured to be connected by a screw (Salazar, Fig. 8, 156 connects 136 and 108)
Regarding claim 8, The combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 3, and The combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the locator pin and the collar are configured to be connected by a screw so that the screw extends along a fixation axis extending parallel to the stacking direction (Salazar, Fig. 8, 156 connects 136 and 108 in a direction parallel to the fixation axis and stacking direction 138)
Regarding claim 9, The combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 3, and The combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the aligning component includes a locator hole configured to accept the locator pin so that the locator pin is guided to the collar through the locator hole (Salazar, Fig. 6, 114 has 124 to receive 108)
Regarding claim 10, The combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 3, and The combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the second fixation component includes gussets supporting the collar (Salazar, Fig. 5, 130 is connected to 132 via gussets)
Regarding claim 11, The combined teachings teach of the housing according to 8, and The combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the second fixation component includes gussets supporting the collar, wherein the fixation axis, defines a central axis of the collar (Salazar, Fig. 5, 130 is connected to 132 via gussets and 138 goes through the central axis of the collar), the collar including a collar bottom with a second opening configured to accept the screw, with the collar bottom including a supported portion supported by the gussets and a cleared portion unsupported by the gussets (Salazar, see annotated version of Fig. 5 below, the collar bottom has a second opening to receive the screw and the gussets support second opening, the portions between the gussets are the cleared unsupported portion)
Regarding claim 12, The combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 11, and The combined teachings further teach of:
wherein the gussets include side gusset arms and a middle gusset arm arranged between the side gussets arms so that the side gusset arms and the middle gusset arm terminate at a circumference of the collar bottom while leaving it accessible when viewed along the fixation axis (Salazar, see annotated version of Fig. 5 below, the gussets terminate at the circumference of the collar bottom and leave it open for the screw)
Regarding claim 13, Salazar teaches of:
A housing for an HVAC unit (Fig. 10), comprising:
a first housing part (Fig. 5, 14) with a first fixation component (102),
a second housing part (Fig. 4, 16) with a second fixation component (130),
a divider wall arranged between the first housing part and the second housing part (Fig. 5, 18 is arranged between 14 and 16), configured to at least partly divide the housing into a first side and a second side (¶ [0020], The divider 18 is disposed between the lower shell 14 and the upper shell 16 and is configured to divide the housing assembly 12 into more than one zone), so that the first housing part, the divider wall and the second housing part are stacked in a stacking direction (Fig. 5, 14, 16 and 18 are stacked direction 138)
Salazar fails to explicitly teach:
the second fixation component including a plurality of ribs extending parallel to the stacking direction, each of the plurality of ribs separated from each other by one of a plurality of slots.
Proctor teaches of:
the second fixation component including a plurality of ribs (Fig. 6, 609-1 - 609-4) extending parallel to the stacking direction (609-1 - 609-4 all extend parallel to the stacking direction), each of the plurality of ribs separated from each other by one of a plurality of slots (608-1 - 608-4 are between each of the ribs).
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify 108 to have four ribs and modify 136 to have four slots corresponding to the four ribs on 108 so that when 108 and 104 are brough together the four ribs engage the four slots
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would assist in guiding 108 and 136 together, ensuring that they are angularly aligned (Proctor, ¶ [0031], “As can be seen from FIG. 5, the ribs 507-1 to 507-4 of the boss 500 are tapered toward the mating end of boss 500 so that the boss has a smaller diameter at the mating end. In addition, the total length of the boss 500 is substantially the same as the height of the casing 100 shown in FIG. 1. These features allow the boss to be easily guided and mated to a guide 600 (to be described in connection with FIG. 6 below) and provide reinforcement to the casing 100 in FIG. 1.”)
Regarding claim 14, the combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 13, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the first housing part is fixed directly to the second housing part (Salazar, Fig. 8, see 130 fixed directly to 102)
Regarding claim 15, the combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 13, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the divider wall includes an aligning component (Salazar, Fig. 5, 114) configured to align the first fixation component so that the first housing part is aligned with the divider wall before the first fixation component is connected with the second fixation component (Salazar, Fig. 5, 114 aligns 102 and 130 as they are moved to connect)
Regarding claim 16, the combined teachings teach of the housing of claim 13, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the first fixation component includes a locator pin (Salazar, Fig. 5, 108), while the second fixation component includes a collar configured to accept the locator pin (Salazar, Figs. 5 and 8, 136 accepts 108).
Regarding claim 17, the combined teachings teach of the housing of claim 15, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the aligning element is arranged closer to the first housing portion than to the second housing portion in the stacking direction (Salazar, Fig. 8, 114 extends beyond the lower portion 58 of the divider wall 18 and is therefore closer to 14 than 16)
Regarding claim 18, Salazar teaches of:
A housing for an HVAC unit (Fig. 10), comprising:
a first housing part (Fig. 5, 14) with a first fixation component (102),
a second housing part (Fig. 4, 16) with a second fixation component (130)
wherein the first housing part is fixed directly to the second housing part via the first and second fixation components (Fig. 8, see 130 fixed directly to 102)
Salazar fails to explicitly teach:
the second fixation component including a plurality of ribs extending away from the first fixation component, each of the plurality of ribs separated from each other by one of a plurality of slots.
Proctor teaches of:
the second fixation component including a plurality of ribs (Fig. 6, 609-1 - 609-4) extending parallel to the stacking direction (609-1 - 609-4 all extend parallel to the stacking direction), each of the plurality of ribs separated from each other by one of a plurality of slots (608-1 - 608-4 are between each of the ribs).
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify 108 to have four ribs and modify 136 to have four slots corresponding to the four ribs on 108 so that when 108 and 104 are brough together the four ribs engage the four slots
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would assist in guiding 108 and 136 together, ensuring that they are angularly aligned (Proctor, ¶ [0031], “As can be seen from FIG. 5, the ribs 507-1 to 507-4 of the boss 500 are tapered toward the mating end of boss 500 so that the boss has a smaller diameter at the mating end. In addition, the total length of the boss 500 is substantially the same as the height of the casing 100 shown in FIG. 1. These features allow the boss to be easily guided and mated to a guide 600 (to be described in connection with FIG. 6 below) and provide reinforcement to the casing 100 in FIG. 1.”)
Regarding claim 19, the combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 18, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising a divider wall arranged between the first housing part and the second housing part (Salazar, Fig. 5, 18 is arranged between 14 and 16), configured to at least partly divide the housing into a first side and a second side (Salazar, ¶ [0020], “The divider 18 is disposed between the lower shell 14 and the upper shell 16 and is configured to divide the housing assembly 12 into more than one zone”), so that the first housing part, the divider wall and the second housing part are stacked in a stacking direction (Salazar, Fig. 5, 14, 16 and 18 are stacked direction 138).
Regarding claim 20, the combined teachings teach of the housing according to claim 19, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the divider wall includes an aligning component (Salazar, Fig. 5, 114) configured to align the first fixation component so that the first housing part is aligned with the divider wall before the first fixation component is connected with the second fixation component (Salazar, Fig. 5, 114 aligns 102 and 130 as they are moved to connect)
Annotated Figures
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Annotated Fig. 5 of Salazar
Conclusion
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 MICHAEL J GIORDANO whose telephone number is (571)272-8940. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fr 8 AM - 5 PM EST.
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, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at (571) 272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/VIVEK K SHIRSAT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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