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 .
Status of Claims
The Office Action is in response to the remarks and amendments filed on 11/06/2023.
The claim interpretation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) is no longer invoked in light of the amendments. Claims 1-7, 9 and 14 are canceled. Claims 15 and 16 are new. Accordingly, Claims 8, 19-13, 15 and 16 are pending for consideration on the merits in this Office Action.
This Office Action contains a New Grounds of Rejection. Since these new grounds of rejection did not result from an amendment to the claims, this Office Action is being made non- final to afford the applicant the opportunity to respond to the new grounds of rejection.
Specification
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required: Provide antecedent basis for the term “flow-separated” in the specification.
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.
Claims 8, 10,12,13,15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Katoh et al. (US20130081419A1) in view of Bray et al. (US20210283978A1).
Claim 8, Katoh teaches a vehicle for passenger transport [a hybrid vehicle; 0086], the vehicle having an electric drive device [a hybrid car including an electric motor MG; 0086] and a passenger interior [where conditioned air blows toward the passenger in the vehicle interior; 0115], the vehicle comprising:
an air-conditioning unit [air conditioner 1, Figure 1] for air conditioning the passenger interior of the vehicle [0088];
said air-conditioning unit having an external heat exchanger [outdoor heat exchanger 16, Figure 1] configured to take heat from a surrounding of the vehicle during a heat pump operation of the air-conditioning unit [where the outdoor heat exchanger 16 exhibits a heat absorption effect in the heating operation; 0098], wherein an ambient air flow generated by a fan [blower fan 17, Figure 1] is guided past said external heat exchanger [where outdoor heat exchanger is to exchange heat with outside air blown from blower fan 17; 0098];
a cooling circuit [coolant circulation circuit 40, Figure 1] for cooling the electric drive device during an operation of the vehicle [where radiator 43 is for exchanging heat between the coolant for cooling the electric motor MG for traveling; 0099; where when bypassing the radiator 43, a heat storage case may be disposed in the coolant circulation circuit; 0303]; and
a waste-heat heat exchanger [radiator 43, Figure 1] connected upstream of said external heat exchanger of said air-conditioning unit, relative to the ambient air flow generated by said fan, [where the radiator 43 is integral with the outdoor heat exchanger 16 on the windward side in the flow direction X of the outside air blown by the blower fan 17, Figure 1] said waste-heat heat exchanger being impinged by the coolant flowing back from the electric drive device [electric motor MG, Figure 1;0099];
and valves [valves 42, 15a, 15b in a normal heating operation, Figure 1] disposed to enable said cooling circuit for the electric drive device to be flow-separated from said air-conditioning unit [where in a normal heating operation, way valve 42 switches coolant to bypass radiator 43; where valves 15a closes and 15b switches refrigerant flow path to inlet of accumulator 18; 0147; 0148; 0159;160].
Katoh does not teach a chiller configured to control a temperature of a coolant of said cooling circuit such that the electric drive device is uninterruptedly [where uninterruptedly is described in the Specification to be by means of a chiller during operation of the vehicle; p.1, lines 6-9] cooled and said waste-heat heat exchanger is impinged by coolant that flows back from the electric drive device to said chiller.
However, Bray teaches a vehicle having a cooling system for providing cooling to a cabin of the vehicle and a battery of the vehicle [0001] where a chiller [second chiller 26, Figure 2] is configured to control a temperature of a coolant of said cooling circuit [coolant loop 12, Figure 2] such that the electric drive device [battery 20, Figure 2] is uninterruptedly cooled [where uninterruptedly cooled is defined in the Applicant Specification to be by means of a chiller during operation of the vehicle; p.1, lines 6-9] and said waste-heat heat exchanger [first chiller 24, Figure 2] is impinged by coolant that flows back from the electric drive device to said chiller [via fitting 28 and valve 22, Figure 2;0057;0058] , where one of ordinary skill in the art would have been capable of applying the substitution of known elements, a heat storage case, for another, a chiller, and yield predictable results, i.e., improving cooling capacity to prevent the overheating of the powertrain components
Claim 8 recites a functional limitation drawn toward the intended use or manner of operating the claimed apparatus. The functional limitation is: “for uninterruptedly cooling.” When the cited prior art teaches all of the positively recited structure of the claimed apparatus, it will be held that the prior art apparatus is capable of performing all of the claimed functional limitations of the claimed apparatus. MPEP § 2114.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly of Katoh to have a chiller configured to control a temperature of a coolant of said cooling circuit such that the electric drive device is uninterruptedly [where uninterruptedly is defined in the Specification to be by means of a chiller during operation of the vehicle; p.1, lines 6-9] cooled and said waste-heat heat exchanger is impinged by coolant that flows back from the electric drive device to said chiller in view of the teachings of Bray where the substitution of two elements for another would have yielded predictable results, i.e., improving cooling to prevent the overheating of the powertrain components
Regarding Claim 10, Katoh, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 8, and further teaches where the electric drive device may be the electric Motor MG, an engine or an electric device, such as an inverter, for supplying power to the electric motor MG [Katoh;0299] but does not explicitly teach the electric drive device is a battery or a fuel cell.
However, Bray teaches a vehicle having a cooling system for providing cooling to a cabin of the vehicle and a battery of the vehicle [0001] where said electric drive device is a battery or a fuel cell [battery 20, Figure 2], where one of ordinary skill in the art would have been capable of applying the substitution of known elements, the vehicle mounted electric motor generating heat in operation, for another, battery, and yield predictable results, i.e., preventing overheating of powertrain components like the battery [Bray; 0002]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly of the combined teachings to have the electric drive device is a battery or a fuel cell in view of the teachings of Bray where the substitution of two elements for another would have yielded predictable results i.e., preventing overheating of powertrain components like the battery [Bray; 0002]
Regarding Claim 12, Katoh, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 8 and further teaches where said external heat exchanger [outdoor heat exchanger 16, Figure 1] of said air-conditioning unit [air conditioner 1, Figure 1] is equipped with a temperature sensor [outlet temperature sensor 51 for detecting refrigerant on the outlet side of outdoor heat exchanger 16, Te; 0139] for ascertaining an icing-up of said external heat exchanger [where air conditioning controller of this embodiment includes the structure (a frost formation determination portion) for determining whether or not the frost is formed at the outdoor heat exchanger 16, based on a detection signal from the sensor group for the air conditioning control including sensor of temperature Te; 0143].
Regarding Claim 13, Katoh, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 12 and further teaches where said air- conditioning unit [air conditioner 1, Figure 1] has a controller [air conditioner controller; 0138] signal-connected to said temperature sensor [where a group of various sensors for control of air conditioning is coupled to the input side of the air conditioning controller, including outlet refrigerant temperature sensor 51 for detecting a refrigerant temperature Te;0138] and said control device controller is configured to deactivate a circuit of said air-conditioning unit upon ascertaining an icing-up of said external heat exchanger [where In the defrosting operation, the air conditioning controller stops the operation of the compressor 11, and also stops the operation of the blower fan 17; 0164].
Regarding Claim 15, Katoh, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 8 and further teaches where said waste-heat heat exchanger [radiator 43, Figure 1] upstream of said external heat exchanger [where the radiator 43 is integral with the outdoor heat exchanger 16 on the windward side in the flow direction X of the outside air blown by the blower fan 17; 0137] is configured to preheat the ambient air flow [where in the defrosting operation when the fan 17 may be turned off, the heat contained in radiator 43 is transferred to the heat-absorption air passages 16b of the outdoor heat exchanger 16 via the outer fins 50, Figure 1; 0166; and in the waste heat collection operation, where the fan is on, where outdoor heat exchanger 16 absorbs both the heat contained in the outside air blown by the blower fan 17 and the heat contained in the coolant of radiator 43 to evaporate itself; 0170].
Regarding Claim 16, Katoh, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 15 and further teaches where preheating the ambient air flow [refer to the rejection of claim 15 above] at the waste-heat heat exchanger [radiator 43, Figure 1] upstream of said external heat exchanger [where the radiator 43 is integral with the outdoor heat exchanger 16 on the windward side in the flow direction X of the outside air blown by the blower fan 17; 0137] is configured for saving electrical power for a heating register or for operating a compressor with reduced electrical power, where the claim language does not require the prior art to perform an additional method step nor does it require additional structure beyond claim 15. Therefore, the claimed properties of saving electrical power are presumed to be inherent. MPEP § 2112.01.
.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Katoh et al. (US20130081419A1) in view of Bray et al. (US20210283978A1) and in further view of Salasoo et al. (US20100019718A1).
Regarding Claim 11, Katoh, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 8 and does not teach wherein the vehicle is a railborne vehicle.
However, Salasoo teaches a system for improving the performance of a vehicle energy storage device [0001] where the vehicle is a rail borne vehicle [locomotive 100; 0018] where one of ordinary skill in the art would have been capable of applying this known technique of battery cooling to a known electric locomotive that was ready for improvement and the results would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art, i.e., extending the operating life and improving the performance of the battery by managing parameters such as battery temperature gradient [Salasoo, 0058;0059].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly of the combined teachings to have where the vehicle is a rail borne vehicle in view of the teachings of Salasoo where this known technique could have been applied to a known device that was ready for improvement and the results would have been predictable, i.e., extending the operating life and improving the performance of the battery by managing parameters such as battery temperature gradient [Salasoo, 0058;0059].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-8, filed 10/02/2025, with respect to the rejection of claim 8 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Katoh et al. (US20130081419A1) in view of Bray et al. (US20210283978A1). Refer to the rejections of claims 8, 10-13,15 and 16 above.
Applicant argues that Hase does not disclose a waste-heat exchanger upstream of said external heat exchanger of said air-conditioning unit, relative to the ambient air flow generated by said fan, as claimed, because Hase discloses air first passes through the external heat exchanger and then through the waste heat radiator. Applicant arguments have been fully considered and are persuasive. In particular, radiator, 40, of Hase is mapped to the waste heat heat exchanger as claimed and outdoor evaporator, 33, of Hase is mapped to the outdoor evaporator as claimed. Hase discloses where the heat of radiator 40 is blown onto evaporator 33 downstream of radiator 40 during defrosting; where outside air heated by the heat of radiator 40 is blown to the outside evaporator 33 provided on the downstream side of the radiator 40. It is unclear whether the fan 37 or natural wind is configured to blow the outside air as claimed in the heating operation. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Katoh et al. (US20130081419A1) in view of Bray et al. (US20210283978A1).
On page 10, in regards to the amendment of claim 8 in which the subject matter of claim 14 is incorporated, Applicant argues that the functionality of the valves of Hase are different than the valves claimed, according to the Applicant Specification p.8 line 32- p.9 line 11. Applicant’s arguments 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.
On page 10-11, Applicant argues that secondary references Durrani and Salasoo do not cure the shortcomings of the primary reference Hase. Applicant’s arguments 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.
Applicant does not separately argue the rejection of claims 10-13 and 15-16 except for their dependence upon claim 8.
Conclusion
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/KEONA LAUREN BANKS/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/ELIZABETH J MARTIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763