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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “45” has been used to designate both a wall element in figure 10 and in page 11, line 1-14 of the originally filed specification and a motor in figure 11 and in page 12, line 18-19 of the originally filed specification. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: Reference character 33, seen in figure 8. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 5 and 14-19 are 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.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the resulting two open ends " in lien 3-4 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 14 recites the limitation " the number of interconnected frames" the body of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim as only injected moulded frames are previously recited in claim 1 from which claim 14 depends and they are never established as being interconnected. Interconnected frames are recited in claims 12-13 however claim 14 does not depend from either of those claims. Claims 15-19 are rejected for their dependency from claim 14 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-8, 10-13, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kameda et al. (JP 2002-250595) in view of Guo eta al (US 2018/0266774 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kameda discloses (figure 1-8) an evaporator plate heat exchanger (at evaporator/vaporizer 12a) comprising a water supply (water is suppled via pipe 55 per paragraph 0036 of the machine translation provided by the examiner) and a stack of frames (frames formed by the connecting parts of plates 27, 28 and 29 as seen in figure 3 and 4) and heat exchange sheets (at fins 14 and 30), wherein the stack has two ends and at least four sides, wherein the stack has alternating first and second spaces (first space in flow path 32 and second space in flow path 40) between the heat exchange sheets, the stack further comprises a first enclosed space at one side of the stack (in tank portion 36 into which dispersing member 19a is inserted per paragraph 0033) which is fluidly connected to the first spaces and not fluidly connected to the second spaces (water from dispersing member 19a flows into flow path 32 through hole 49 per paragraph 0033 and 0037) and wherein the first enclosed space is fluidly connected to the water supply (water from pipe 55 flows into dispersing member 19a and from holes 49 into passages 32 per paragraph 0037).
However Kameda does not explicitly disclose that the stack of frames is a stack of injected moulded frames, as Kameda is silent as to injection molding of the heat exchanger structure.
Guo teaches a stacked plate heat exchanger with frames (at heat exchange frame 4) made by injection moulding (per paragraph 0064) and combined with metal or other material heat exchange sheets (heat exchange sheets 3, which may be aluminum per paragraph 0060)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have modified the frame of Kameda to be injection moulded as taught by Guo. Doing so would ensure a sealed connection between a heat exchange sheet and other parts as recognized by Guo (per paragraph 0064).
Regarding claim 2, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Kameda further discloses the stack further comprises a second enclosed space (at outlet tank portion 37) at the opposite side of the stack which is fluidly connected to the first spaces (32) and not fluidly connected to the second spaces (40) and wherein the second enclosed space is fluidly connected to a water discharge (fluid from pipe 55 flows into dispersing member 19a and from holes 49 into passages 32 and from passages 32 into outlet tank portion 37 and out through extraction pipe 26 per paragraph 0037-0038).
Regarding claim 3, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Kameda in view of Guo further discloses the frame and the heat exchange sheet are comprised in a heat exchange plate and wherein the heat exchange plate is an insert moulded work product wherein the heat exchange sheet is the insert of the insert moulded work product (where the frame 4 of Guo has heat exchange sheets 3 formed via injection moulding into an integral structures per paragraph 0064).
Regarding claim 4, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 3 above and Kameda in view of Guo further discloses the stack comprises alternatingly stacked first heat exchange plate and differently shaped second heat exchange plate (the alternating plates have different shapes as seen in figure 4).
Regarding claim 5, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Kameda further discloses the first enclosed space (in tank portion 36 into which dispersing member 19a is inserted per paragraph 0033) is formed by openings in the injected moulded frames (openings to accommodate holes 49 of dispersing member 19a and path 32 as seen in figure 3) and wherein the resulting two open ends are closed by a wall as present in closed end frames (At the walls closing the spaces 32 formed by the walls of plate 28) .
Regarding claim 6, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Kameda further discloses the first enclosed space (in tank portion 36 into which dispersing member 19a is inserted per paragraph 0033) is formed by a box shaped part (at dispersing member 19a) having an open side (the side at inlet holes 49) and wherein the box shaped part is fixed to the first side of the stack such that the open side faces the first side of the stack (where the openings at holes 49 face once side of the of the heat exchanger plates as seen in figure 3 and 4).
Regarding claim 7, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Kameda further discloses the first enclosed space (in tank portion 36 into which dispersing member 19a is inserted per paragraph 0033) is fluidly connected to the first spaces (32) by means of elongated and parallel openings or parallel rows of smaller openings (at holes 49 as seen in figure 5 and 6).
Regarding claim 8, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Guo further discloses the heat exchange sheet (3) is an aluminium sheet (heat exchange sheets 3, which may be aluminum per paragraph 0060).
Regarding claim 10, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Guo further discloses the frame of the heat exchange plate (frame 4) is made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ( frame 4 may be the cited plastic materials per paragraph 0064 of Gao).
Regarding claim 11, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Kameda further discloses the frame has a square shape or a rectangular shape (the stack of plates is rectangular as seen in figure 1 and 4).
Regarding claim 12, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Kameda in view of Gao discloses a stack of interconnected injected moulded frames (frames formed by the connecting parts of plates 27, 28 and 29 as seen in figure 3 and 4 of Kameda), each stack provided with closed end frames (at plates 34a and 34b) however Kameda does not explicitly disclose multiple stacks of interconnected injected moulded frames, each stack provided with closed end frames, as Kameda only explicitly discloses one heat exchanger stack. However producing a second heat exchanger would meet this limitation as the frames of Kameda are provided in a stack with end frames as noted above. The mere duplication of parts, without any new or unexpected results, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Harza, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960) (see MPEP § 2144.04)
Regarding claim 13, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 12 above and Kameda in view of Gao discloses the stacks (formed by an individual heat exchanger at evaporator/vaporizer 12a) have the same number of interconnected injected moulded frames, where providing a second heat exchange would have the same number of interconnected frames as the first and the mere duplication of parts, without any new or unexpected results, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Harza, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960) (see MPEP § 2144.04).
Regarding claim 20, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Kameda further discloses wherein the first enclosed space (32) contains water (per paragraph 0036-0037). The recitation of “pressurised water” is considered to be a statement of intended use. The applicant is reminded that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the structural limitations of the claim, as is the case here; refer to MPEP 2114(II). In the instant case, Kameda as modified discloses/teaches all of the structural limitations as claimed. Therefore Kameda as modified is capable of being employed/used in the manner claimed.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kameda et al. (JP 2002-250595) in view of Guo eta al (US 2018/0266774 A1) in view of Woods.
Regarding claim 9, Kameda as modified discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Kameda further discloses wherein two consecutive heat exchange sheets in the stack have facing sides to first space (32) and However Kameda does not disclose wherein the facing sides are provided with a layer of a hydrophilic material.
Woods discloses a fuel reformer (1) similar to the heat exchanger reformer of Kameda. Where the retromer contains a hydrophilic layer to wick the water fuel mixture into a desired area as recognized by Woods (per paragraph 0019 and 0026)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have modified the heat exchanger for a water fuel mixture of Kameda include a hydrophilic layer as taught by Woods. Doing so would to wick the water fuel mixture into a desired area and allow for the separation and removal of gaseous products from reformer as recognized by Woods (per paragraph 0019 and 0026).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 15 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the above named prior art does not teach or fairly suggest the frame has a square shape or a rectangular shape resulting in a box shaped stack and wherein the stacks are positioned in line such that their respective sides are in line and wherein a second side of the stack is connected to an header for a first gas flow and connected to a header for a second gas flow and wherein a fourth side of the stack is connected to a header for the second gas flow and to a header for the first gas flow, as required by claim 15. Kameda in view of Gao do not disclose the plurality of stacks each with a first enclosed space connected to a water supply, where the plurality of stacks are in turn connected to a header in the manner claimed. Claims 16-19 would be allowable based on their dependency from claim 15.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Nozawa et al. (JP 05157470 A) discloses a relevant heat exchange structure to at least the independent claim.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HANS R. WEILAND whose telephone number is (571)272-9847. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6-3 EST and alternating Fridays.
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/HANS R WEILAND/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/ERIC S RUPPERT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763