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 § 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1 – 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 111298605 to Chen et al. (hereinafter referred to as Chen) in view of US Patent No. 4,303,228 to Snarski (hereinafter referred to as Snarski).
In regard to claim 1, as shown in figures 1 and 2, Chen discloses a regenerator for regenerating a drying agent in a drying device (Ads.A, Ads.B) for compressed gas. As shown by the flow in figure 2, a regeneration line connects to a regeneration inlet (the outlet of Ads.A in normal operation) of the drying device. The regeneration line connects the regeneration inlet to an outlet of a blower (K1) for the supply of regeneration gas. A heater (HE01 or H1) is provided between the outlet of the blower (K1) and the regeneration inlet for heating the regeneration gas. A valve system (V10, V12, V13) is provided that is capable of connecting the outlet of the blower to a cooling line connected to a cooling inlet (the inlet of Ads.A in normal operation) of the drying device. The heater in the regeneration line can be am electric heater (H1) or a heat exchanger (HE01). Chen does not disclose an additional vessel with a drying agent provided between the outlet of the blower and the heater (HE01 or H1). Snarski discloses a similar system having two vessels (10, 12) that are alternately used for adsorption and regenerated. As discussed in the abstract, the vessels can be used to remove water (i.e. dry) from a gas stream. As shown in the figure and discussed in column 3 lines 47 – 62, ambient can be flown through a desiccant drier (76) and a heater (78), as needed, to form the regeneration gas. While Snarski does not specifically disclose when a drier and/or heater would be need, one of ordinary skill in the art would reasonably expect the ambient air needs to be sufficiently dry and hot to effectively be used in regeneration and if the air does not meet the criteria a heater and/or drier can be used. The drier (76) in Snarksi is shown to be provided prior to the heater (78).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chen to include a drier upstream of the heat exchanger as suggested by Snarski in order to further be able to dry the ambient air used as the regeneration gas in order to allow it to be more effective in regenerating the drying agent. In this combination, ambient air is first dried then heated before being used as the regeneration gas. In the combination of Chen and Snarski, the additional vessel having the drying agent would be located between the valve “V10” and the heat exchanger (HE01) as valve “V10” controls when the regeneration gas is sent to the regeneration inlet. The cooling line is shown to connect upstream of valve “V10”. Therefore, in the combination, the cooling line connects via the valve system to the regeneration line at a location between the outlet of the blower (K1), on the one hand, and the additional vessel, on the other hand.
In regard to claim 2, as shown in figures 1 and 2 of Chen, the valve system (V10, V12, V13) is capable of operating such that the regeneration line, respectively the cooling line, can connect with the outlet of the blower, respectively with a blow-off opening, or vice versa.
In regard to claim 3, as shown in figures 1 and 2 of Chen, the valve system (V10, V12, V13) includes multiple on/off valves.
In regard to claim 4, in the combination of Chen and Snarski, the additional vessel includes a desiccant, which can be considered a water-resistant drying agent, as taught by Snarski.
In regard to claim 5, how the additional vessel is made relates to the method of making the regenerator and does not affect its structure.
In regard to claim 6, Snarski is used as the secondary reference disclosing the additional vessel. Snarski does not disclose the material used to form the additional vessel. Thermally insulating materials are well known in the art. Predictably, the additional vessel could be formed with a thermally insulating material in order to limit the effects of the ambient temperature on the performance of the desiccant and/or to limit the heat exchange between the ambient air and the air in the regeneration line. Thus, it would have further been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chen and Snarski to form the additional vessel to be thermally insulated in order to limit the effects of the ambient temperature on the performance of the desiccant and/or to limit the heat exchange between the ambient air and the air in the regeneration line.
In regard to claim 7, Chen is used as the primary reference and, as further shown in figures 1 and 2, discloses a device for drying compressed gas that is provided with an inlet for compressed gas to be dried (N1) and an outlet for dried compressed gas (N2). The device comprises at least two vessels containing a regenerable drying agent (Ads.A, Ads.B) and a controllable valve device including a first valve block (V1, V2, V5, V6) and a second valve block (V3, V4, V7, V8) connecting the inlet and the outlet, respectively, to the vessels. The controllable valve device is configured such to allow at least one vessel compressed gas to dry, while the other vessel is being regenerated and cooled. As shown in figures 1 and 2, the vessel with “Ads.A” is being regenerated and cooled, and the vessel with Ads.B is receiving the gas to be dried (N1). The valves are capable of allowing the vessels to operate in the reverse manner. As discussed above, the combination of Chen and Snarski discloses a regenerator according to claim 1 of the present application. Chen discloses the regeneration line which is connected to the second valve block (V3, V4, V7, V8) and connects the regeneration line to a regeneration inlet of the drying device. The cooling line is shown to be connected to the first valve block (V1, V2, V5, V6) to connect the cooling line to a cooling inlet of the drying device.
In regard to claims 8 and 9, Snarski is used as the secondary reference disclosing the additional vessel. Snarski does not disclose the size of the additional vessel. Snarski notes that the drier that forms the additional vessel is optional. Therefore, the size of the additional vessel is predictably not considered to be critical. The drier predictably would only need to be large enough to remove some moisture and enhance the effectiveness of the regeneration gas. It would have further been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chen and Snarski to form the additional vessel to have an internal volume of at most 1/3 of the internal volume of one of the at least two vessels given this is large enough to remove a desired amount of moisture in the regeneration gas and provide for more effective regeneration.
In regard to claims 10 and 11, Chen is used as the primary reference and includes a temperature sensor (TT1) at a location between the heating means (HE01, H1) and the vessel that is being regenerated. As discussed in the summary of the invention the electric heater (H1) is controlled based in the temperature measured by the temperature sensor, which inherently requires a control unit to perform.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert Clemente whose telephone number is (571)272-1476. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/ROBERT CLEMENTE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1773