CTNF 18/614,026 CTNF 97122 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-9, 13-15, and 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deneau (US 20090036047 A1) in view of Ogasawara (TW 201502439 A) and Sekiya (US-7794314-B2) . Regarding claim 1 , Deneau teaches a vehicle HVAC system (abstract) including a ram air throttling assembly (the assembly displayed in FIG. 2) comprising: a housing (FIG. 2, housing 14a) defining a ram air inlet (FIG. 2, first inlet 56), a recirculation air inlet (FIG. 2, second inlet 58), and an outlet (FIG. 3, outlet 28); a first door (FIG. 3, door 60) within the housing, the first door movable to direct airflow from at least one of the ram air inlet and the recirculation air inlet to the outlet (FIGS. 2 and 3). Deneau fails to teach a second door slidably movable to throttle airflow into the housing through the ram air inlet. However, Ogasawara teaches a second door movable to throttle airflow into the housing through the ram air inlet (FIG. 6, throttle door 13). At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Deneau by making it so a throttle door is operable to throttle the first inlet 56, as taught by Ogasawara, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Deneau with these aforementioned teachings of Ogasawara with the motivation of allowing a user to modulate the amount of fresh air entering in a fresh air only mode to control airflow speed. Ogasawara fails to teach that the second door is slidably movable. However, Sekiya teaches that the second door is slidably movable (FIG. 1, door device 14 is slidably movable to modulate airflow through a certain corridoor). At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Deneau by making it so a throttle door is slidably operable, as taught by Sekiya, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Deneau with these aforementioned teachings of Sekiya with the motivation of allowing the system to more precisely control air flow (i.e., being able to precisely cover 25% of the path, 50%, etc.). Regarding claim 2 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya teaches that the first door is a barrel door (Deneau, FIG. 2, the door 60 is arcuate in shape, as a barrel door). Regarding claim 3 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya teaches that the outlet is in communication with a blower (Deneau, FIG. 2, blower assembly 10a) and an HVAC case (Deneau, FIG. 2, the casing of automotive HVAC system 12) of the vehicle HVAC system. Regarding claims 4, 15, and 19 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya teaches that the ram air inlet is opposite to the recirculation air inlet (Deneau, FIG. 2). Regarding claim 5 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya teaches that the outlet is between the ram air inlet and the recirculation air inlet (Deneau, FIG. 2). Regarding claim 6 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya teaches that the second door is slidably movable into and out of a pocket defined by the housing (Sekiya, FIG. 1, the pocket that the door 14 slides in and out of). Regarding claim 7 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya teaches that the second door is slidably movable in a direction perpendicular to airflow through the ram air inlet (Sekiya, FIG. 1). Regarding claim 8 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya teaches that the second door includes a plate having door teeth (Sekiya, FIG. 1, racks 26) meshed with gear teeth of a gear (Sekiya, FIG. 1, pinions 17) such that rotation of the gear slides the second door between an open position, a closed position, and an intermediate position between the open position and the closed position (Sekiya, FIG. 1). Regarding claim 9 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya teaches a motor configured to rotate the gear (Sekiya, FIG. 16, operation device 154). Regarding claim 13 , Deneau teaches a vehicle HVAC system (abstract) including a ram air throttling assembly (the assembly displayed in FIG. 2) comprising: a housing (FIG. 2, housing 14a) defining a ram air inlet (FIG. 2, first inlet 56), a recirculation air inlet (FIG. 2, second inlet 58), and an outlet (FIG. 3, outlet 28); a first door (FIG. 3, door 60) within the housing, the first door movable to direct airflow from at least one of the ram air inlet and the recirculation air inlet to the outlet (FIGS. 2 and 3). Deneau fails to teach a second door at the ram air inlet, the second door configured as a plate slidably movable into and out of a pocket defined by the housing in a direction perpendicular to airflow through the ram air inlet to throttle airflow into the housing through the ram air inlet. However, Ogasawara teaches a second door at the ram air inlet (FIG. 6, throttle door 13). At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Deneau by making it so a throttle door is operable to throttle the first inlet 56, as taught by Ogasawara, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Deneau with these aforementioned teachings of Ogasawara with the motivation of allowing a user to modulate the amount of fresh air entering in a fresh air only mode to control airflow speed. Ogasawara fails to teach that the second door is configured as a plate slidably movable into and out of a pocket defined by the housing in a direction perpendicular to airflow through the ram air inlet to throttle airflow into the housing through the ram air inlet. However, Sekiya teaches that the second door is configured as a plate slidably movable into and out of a pocket defined by the housing in a direction perpendicular to airflow through the ram air inlet to throttle airflow into the housing through the ram air inlet (FIG. 1, door device 14 is slidably movable to modulate airflow through a certain corridoor). At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Deneau by making it so a throttle door is slidably operable, as taught by Sekiya, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Deneau with these aforementioned teachings of Sekiya with the motivation of allowing the system to more precisely control air flow (i.e., being able to precisely cover 25% of the path, 50%, etc.). Regarding claim 14 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya teaches that the second door includes door teeth (Sekiya, FIG. 1, racks 26) meshed with gear teeth (Sekiya, FIG. 1, pinions 17) of a gear such that rotation of the gear slides the second door between an open position, a closed position, and an intermediate position between the open position and the closed position (Sekiya, FIG. 1); and the vehicle HVAC system further includes a motor configured to rotate the gear (Sekiya, FIG. 16, operation device 154). Regarding claim 17 , Deneau teaches a vehicle HVAC system (abstract) comprising: an HVAC case (Deneau, FIG. 2, the casing of automotive HVAC system 12); a blower (Deneau, FIG. 2, blower assembly 10a) connected to the HVAC case and configured to blow air through the HVAC case; and a ram air throttling assembly (FIG. 2) connected to the blower, the ram air throttling assembly including: a housing (FIG. 2, housing 14a) defining a ram air inlet (FIG. 2, first inlet 56), a recirculation air inlet (FIG. 2, second inlet 58), and an outlet (FIG. 3, outlet 28); a first door (FIG. 3, door 60) within the housing, the first door movable to direct airflow from at least one of the ram air inlet and the recirculation air inlet to the outlet (FIGS. 2 and 3). Deneu fails to teach an evaporator and a heater and a second door slidably movable to throttle airflow into the housing through the ram air inlet. However, Ogasawara teaches a second door movable to throttle airflow into the housing through the ram air inlet (FIG. 6, throttle door 13). At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Deneau by making it so a throttle door is operable to throttle the first inlet 56, as taught by Ogasawara, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Deneau with these aforementioned teachings of Ogasawara with the motivation of allowing a user to modulate the amount of fresh air entering in a fresh air only mode to control airflow speed. Ogasawara fails to teach an evaporator and a heater, and that the second door is slidably movable. However, Sekiya teaches an evaporator (FIG. 1, evaporator 11) and a heater (FIG. 1, heater core 12), and that the second door is slidably movable (FIG. 1, door device 14 is slidably movable to modulate airflow through a certain corridoor). At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Deneau by making it so a throttle door is slidably operable (and so that the assembly included an evaporator and a heater core), as taught by Sekiya, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Deneau with these aforementioned teachings of Sekiya with the motivation of allowing the system to more precisely control air flow (i.e., being able to precisely cover 25% of the path, 50%, etc.) and allowing for air conditioning. Regarding claim 18 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya teaches that the second door includes door teeth (Sekiya, FIG. 1, racks 26) meshed with gear teeth of a gear (Sekiya, FIG. 1, pinions 17) such that rotation of the gear slides the second door between an open position, a closed position, and an intermediate position between the open position and the closed position (Sekiya, FIG. 1); and the vehicle HVAC system further includes a motor configured to rotate the gear (Sekiya, FIG. 16, operation device 154) . 07-22-aia AIA Claim (s) 10-12, 16, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya as applied to claim s ) 1-9, 13-15, and 17-19 above, and further in view of Spryshak (US 20240083220 A1) . Regarding claim 10 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya fails to teach that the ram air inlet is a first ram air inlet; the housing further defines a second ram air inlet; and the second door is slidably movable to throttle airflow into the housing through both the first ram air inlet and the second ram air inlet. However, Spryshak teaches that the ram air inlet is a first ram air inlet; the housing further defines a second ram air inlet (FIG. 5, inlet 40, which is a second fresh air inlet); and the second door is slidably movable to throttle airflow into the housing through both the first ram air inlet and the second ram air inlet (as seen above, FIG. 1 of Sekiya shows that the door may cover one or part of both inlets). At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Deneau by making it so the assembly includes two fresh air inlets, as taught by Spryshak, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Deneau with these aforementioned teachings of Spryshak with the motivation of having more than one air inlets in case of a blockage. Regarding claim 11 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, Sekiya, and Spryshak teaches that the first ram air inlet is vertically aligned with the second ram air inlet (Spryshack, FIG. 5). Regarding claim 12 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, Sekiya, and Spryshak teaches that the housing includes two of the first doors each adjacent to a different one of the first ram air inlet and the second ram air inlet (Spryshak, FIG. 4, each of the inlets has its own corresponding door). Regarding claims 16 and 20 , the combination of Deneau, Ogasawara, and Sekiya fails to teach that the ram air inlet is a first ram air inlet; the housing further defines a second ram air inlet vertically aligned with the first ram air inlet; and the second door is slidably movable to throttle airflow into the housing through both the first ram air inlet and the second ram air inlet. However, Spryshak teaches that the ram air inlet is a first ram air inlet; the housing further defines a second ram air inlet (FIG. 5, inlet 40, which is a second fresh air inlet) vertically aligned with the first ram air inlet (Spryshak, FIG. 5); and the second door is slidably movable to throttle airflow into the housing through both the first ram air inlet and the second ram air inlet (as seen above, FIG. 1 of Sekiya shows that the door may cover one or part of both inlets). At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Deneau by making it so the assembly includes two fresh air inlets, as taught by Spryshak, with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Deneau with these aforementioned teachings of Spryshak with the motivation of having more than one air inlets in case of a blockage. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM C. WEINERT whose telephone number is (571)272-6988. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-5:00 ET. 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. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /WILLIAM C WEINERT/Examiner, Art Unit 3762 /Allen R. B. Schult/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/614,026 Page 2 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/614,026 Page 3 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/614,026 Page 4 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/614,026 Page 5 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/614,026 Page 6 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/614,026 Page 7 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/614,026 Page 8 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/614,026 Page 9 Art Unit: 3762 Application/Control Number: 18/614,026 Page 10 Art Unit: 3762
Prosecution Insights