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 .
Drawings
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: 49a, 49b, 58a, 58b, 59a, 59b. 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 Objections
Claims 19-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 19 and 20 recite “the first distribution door”, “the second distribution door”, “the first baffle door” and “the second baffle door” which lack antecedent basis.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 5-8, 16 and 18 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.
Claims 5-8, 16 and 18 recite the limitation "the doors". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Particularly, independent claim 1 introduces one or more distribution doors and one or more baffle doors and therefore it is unclear as to which sets or doors the limitation “the doors” refers to.
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) 1-9 and 11-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haupt (US 20200346519 A1) in view of Kettner (US 5971287 A) and Forrest (US 20010047658 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Haupt teaches of:
A method of operating an air handling system of a vehicle comprising the steps of:
providing a housing (Fig. 10, 112) defining an inlet section (Fig. 10, 110) and a conditioning section downstream of the inlet section (¶ [0040], “a conditioning section (not shown) disposed downstream of the inlet section”), wherein the inlet section includes one or more distribution doors (Fig. 10, 140) and one or more baffle doors (Fig. 10, 150) disposed therein to selectively control a flow of recirculation air (Fig. 10, 124 is a recirculation air inlet) and a flow of ambient air (Fig. 10, 126 is an ambient air inlet) entering the inlet section (Figs. 10-13, 140 and 150 are positioned to control the flow of recirculation and ambient air), and wherein the conditioning section includes a blower assembly (Fig. 10, 129 is a blower assembly in the inlet section which is upstream from the conditioning section as stated above);
selectively positioning at least one of the doors to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air and the ambient air through the inlet section (¶ [0069], “As shown throughout FIGS. 10-13, the doors 140, 150 can be adjusted to different positions for achieving various different modes of operation of the air handling system”)
Haupt fails to explicitly teach:
selectively controlling a speed of the blower assembly to achieve a target dew point temperature in a passenger compartment of the vehicle.
Kettner teaches of:
selecting a target dew point temperature in a passenger compartment of the vehicle (Col. 1, lines 52-55, “According to the invention, the feeding of fresh air and/or recirculated air is so adjusted that the temperature of the dew point of the air within the vehicle is lower than the temperature on the inside of the windshield of the vehicle”)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the method of Haupt so that it sets a target dew point temperature within the cabin of the vehicle it occupies to be lower than the temperature of the interior of the windshield of the vehicle and further so that it achieves this target dew point temperature by controlling the ratio of fresh and recirculated air
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:
setting the dew point temperature to be lower than the interior temperature of the windshield would prevent fogging of the windshield and would reduce power consumption (Kettner, Col. 1, lines 59-63, “A fogging of the windshield of the vehicle on the inside of the vehicle is thus effectively prevented without diverting the attention of the driver from the traffic. The required heating power can be substantially reduced thereby”)
Forest teaches of:
selectively controlling a speed of the blower assembly (Fig. 1, controller 90 controls door 44 and speed of 43; Abstract, “The overall air flow is determined by the speed of the blower motor and the speed of the vehicle, and the speed of the blower motor and the position of the inlet air mixing device are adjusted as a function of both the vehicle speed and the selected blower motor speed so that the predefined level of outside air flow is preserved regardless of the vehicle speed and the selected blower motor speed”; ¶ [0023], “Thus, the control unit 90 gradually adjusts the speed of blower motor 43 and the position of inlet air control door 44 under conditions of high or low air conditioning load to increase the amount of recirculated cabin air in the inlet air mixture, while retaining a predetermined amount of outside air regardless of the selected blower motor speed and the vehicle speed”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the method of the combined teachings so that the mixture of air through the inlet section is also determined by the speed of the blower which is adjusted by the controller so that the method achieves the target dew point temperature within the cabin by adjusting the speed of the blower while maintaining a predetermined amount of ambient air into the vehicle
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:
adjusting the mixture of recirculation and ambient air by adjusting both the speed of the blower and the position of the door improves the efficiency of the system (Forrest, ¶ [0023], “Thus, the control unit 90 gradually adjusts the speed of blower motor 43 and the position of inlet air control door 44 under conditions of high or low air conditioning load to increase the amount of recirculated cabin air in the inlet air mixture, while retaining a predetermined amount of outside air regardless of the selected blower motor speed and the vehicle speed, thereby improving both the efficiency and performance of the air conditioning system 10”)
Regarding claim 2, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein at least one of the doors is in a first position to militate against the flow of the ambient air through the inlet section when the air handling system is operating in a recirculation mode (Haupt, Fig. 10 is in a recirculation made and doors 140 and 150 are in a first positioned to militate against flow of ambient air from 126)
Regarding claim 3, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 2, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein at least one of the doors is in a second position to militate against the flow of the recirculation air through the inlet section when the air handling system is operating in an ambient air mode (Haupt, Fig. 12 is in an ambient mode and doors 140 and 150 are in a second position to militate against flow of recirculation air from 124)
Regarding claim 4, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 3, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein at least one of the doors is in an intermediate position between the first and second positions to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air (Haupt, Fig. 11, 140 is in an intermediate position to control the flow of recirculation air) and/or the flow of ambient air through the inlet section (Haupt, Fig. 11, 150 is in an intermediate position to control the flow of ambient air) to achieve a desired ratio of the ambient air to the recirculation air when the air handling system is operating in a partial recirculation mode (Haupt, ¶ [0070], “FIG. 11 illustrates a partial recirculated air partial fresh air mode (partial recirculation mode) wherein the air distribution door 140 is pivoted to an intermediate position allowing for air to enter the inlet section 10 through each of the recirculation inlet 124 and the fresh air inlet 126. The baffle door 150 is pivoted to a position wherein an end of the planar portion 154 of the baffle wall 152 abuts the air filter 130. The position of the baffle door 150 provides for a reduced flow cross-section into the fresh air inlet 126 for accommodating the increasing ram air pressure while also blocking the flow of the fresh air from back-flowing into the recirculation inlet 124.”)
Regarding claim 5, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 3, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the doors are in intermediate positions between the first and second positions to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air and the flow of ambient air through the inlet section to achieve a desired ratio of the recirculation air to the ambient air when the air handling system is operating in a partial recirculation mode (Haupt, Fig. 11 shows a partial recirculation mode where both doors 140 and 150 are in intermediate positions to achieve a desired ration of air)
Regarding claim 6, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the selective positioning of the doors is symmetric and uniform when the air handling system is operating in an ambient air mode (Haupt, see Fig. 12 showing an ambient air mode, both doors 140 and 150 are in a symmetric and uniform position when in an ambient air mode)
Regarding claim 7, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the selective positioning of the doors is symmetric and non-uniform when the air handling system is operating in an ambient air mode (Haupt, see difference between Fig. 12 and Fig. 13, the position of the doors are symmetric but non-uniform in an ambient air mode)
Regarding claim 8, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the selective positioning of the doors is asymmetric when the air handling system is operating in an ambient air mode (Haupt, Fig. 13, the position of door 150 is in reaction to the ram air pressure of the vehicle traveling and can be at a variety of positions to control ram air through 126 and therefore 140 and 150 are capable being positioned asymmetrically in an ambient air mode; ¶ [0072], “The reduction in flow cross-section aids in accommodating the ram air pressure that may be occurring due to an increase in speed in the vehicle. It should be apparent from a review of FIG. 13 that a rotation of the baffle door 150 towards the recirculation inlet 124 reduces the flow constriction of the fresh air originating from the fresh air inlet 126, and may occur in reaction to a reduced vehicle speed in comparison to the configuration shown in FIG. 13)
Regarding claim 9, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the target dew point temperature is in a range of about 5 degrees Celsius below a temperature of ambient air to about 15 degrees Celsius above the temperature of ambient air.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the target dew point temperature to be within the above claimed range of the ambient temperature based on the following rationale:
Kettner discloses maintaining the target dew point temperature at a temperature less than the interior surface temperature of the windshield, which would be similar in temperature to the ambient air. There, is no evidence of record that establishes that changing the target dew point temperature to be 5 degrees below a temperature of ambient air would result in a difference in function of the device of the combined teachings. Further, a person of ordinary skill in the art, being faced with modifying the target dew point temperature of the combined teachings, would have a reasonable expectation of success in making such a modification and it appears the a system controlled with the method of the combined teachings would have function as intended given the claimed temperature range, in that it would still prevent fogging on the interior of the windshield. Lastly, applicant has not disclosed that the claimed range solves any stated problem, indicating that the claimed range is only an exemplary range and may be any range depending on conditions (specification at ¶ [0088]) and therefore there appears to be no criticality placed on the range as claimed such that it produces an unexpected result.
Regarding claim 11, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein a desired percentage of total airflow of the recirculation air is in a range of about 25% to about 65% when the speed of the blower assembly is relatively low (Forrest, at low blower speeds there is 25% recirculation air; ¶ [0015], “At the lowest blower motor speed (120 CFM, for example), the predetermined amount of outside air represents a relatively high percentage (75%) of the air supplied to the cabin”)
Regarding claim 12, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein a desired percentage of total airflow of the recirculation air is about 75% to about 85% when the speed of the blower assembly is relatively high.
However, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the combined teachings so that the percentage of recirculation air is in the above range when the blower assembly is relatively high based on the following rationale:
Forest discloses that a standard within the art is to maintain a constant flow rate of 90 CFM of fresh air into a cabin of a vehicle. While Forest does not disclose a blower with the maximum capacity to have the above range of recirculation air, it does teach that the percentage of recirculation air in the total airflow is a result effective variable of blower speed in that at higher blower speeds there is more recirculation air and at lower blower speeds there is less recirculation air (Forest, ¶ [0015], “For example, the predetermined amount of outside air may be set to 90 CFM for a, six-passenger vehicle. At the lowest blower motor speed (120 CFM, for example), the predetermined amount of outside air represents a relatively high percentage (75%) of the air supplied to the cabin, whereas at the highest blower motor speed (300 CFM, for example), the predetermined amount of outside air represents a relatively low percentage (30%) of the air supplied to the cabin”). Further, it appears that one of ordinary skill in the art would have reasonable expectations of success in modifying the combined teachings to have the amount of recirculation air at a high blower speed to be in the above range, as it involves only adjusting the speed of the blower based on a predetermined desired amount of ambient air. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of the combined teachings by making the percentage of recirculation air be within the claimed range as matter of routine optimization since it has been held that “where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955).
Regarding claim 13, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein a desired percentage of total airflow of the recirculation air increases as the speed of the blower assembly increases (Forest, ¶ [0015], “At the lowest blower motor speed (120 CFM, for example), the predetermined amount of outside air represents a relatively high percentage (75%) of the air supplied to the cabin, whereas at the highest blower motor speed (300 CFM, for example), the predetermined amount of outside air represents a relatively low percentage (30%) of the air supplied to the cabin”)
Regarding claim 14, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the speed of the blower assembly and a ratio of the recirculation air to the ambient air when the air handling system is operating in a partial recirculation mode is determined based upon at least one of a vehicle speed (Forest, the ratio of recirculation air is determined based on the speed of the blower which is at least in part determined by the vehicle speed; Abstract, “The overall air flow is determined by the speed of the blower motor and the speed of the vehicle, and the speed of the blower motor and the position of the inlet air mixing device are adjusted as a function of both the vehicle speed”; ¶ [0015], “At the lowest blower motor speed (120 CFM, for example), the predetermined amount of outside air represents a relatively high percentage (75%) of the air supplied to the cabin, whereas at the highest blower motor speed (300 CFM, for example), the predetermined amount of outside air represents a relatively low percentage (30%) of the air supplied to the cabin”), a humidity level of air within the passenger compartment, a humidity level of conditioned air entering the passenger compartment, a humidity level of the recirculation air entering the recirculation air inlets, a humidity level of the ambient air entering the ambient air inlets, a temperature of the ambient air, and a number of occupants in the vehicle.
Regarding claim 15, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein an increase in energy consumption of the air handling system resulting from an increase in the speed of the blower assembly is offset by a decrease in energy consumption of a heater core of the air handling system (Forest, Fig. 2 shows a situation where the temperature of the air needs to be cooled by a compressor to achieve the desired dew point, utilizing only ambient air at point A and using a mixture of ambient and recirculation air at A’, as shown A’ is closer to the desired absolute humidity line of C-D and therefore saves energy from the compressor, in an inverse situation where the mixed air would need to be heated to reach the desired absolute humidity line of C-D, energy would be saved in the heater core of the system and would offset energy consumption of the blower; ¶ [0017], “In accordance with the present invention, a similar cabin temperature and relative humidity level is achieved, but with reduced energy consumption, by adjusting the blower motor speed and the position of inlet air control door 44 as a function of SBMS and VS, as described above”);
Regarding claim 16, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the doors have a finite number of positions for each operating mode of the air handling system (Haupt, Figs. 10-13, depending on the operation conditions each door 140 and 150 may have a finite number of positions)
Regarding claim 17, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein each of the doors has a single position for each operating mode of the air handling system (Haupt, Figs. 10-13, depending on the operation conditions each door 140 and 150 may have a single position)
Regarding claim 18, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the doors have a plurality of positions for a partial recirculation mode of the air handling system (Haupt, Fig. 11, depending on operation conditions 140 may have a plurality of positions in the recirculation mode; ¶ [0070], “It should also be apparent that the position of the air distribution door 140 relative to the recirculation inlet 124 and the fresh air inlet 126 may also be adjusted via rotation of the air distribution door 140 in either of the rotational directions for redistributing the percentage of the air originating from the inlets 124, 126 based on considerations such as the desired distribution of the two air flows, the varying ram air pressure experienced by the inlet section 110 as a result of motion of the vehicle, or the humidity of the air being delivered to the passenger compartment”)
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haupt (US 20200346519 A1) in view of Kettner (US 5971287 A) and Forrest (US 20010047658 A1) and in further view of Wijaya (US 20240131898 A1).
Regarding claim 10, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the speed of the blower increases as at least one of a speed of the vehicle and a cowl pressure decreases.
Wijaya teaches of:
wherein the speed of the blower increases as at least one of a speed of the vehicle and a cowl pressure decreases (Wijaya teaches of decreasing the speed of the blower as the speed of the vehicle increases and therefore the inverse would be true; ¶ [0005], “the controller decreases the speed of the blower as the speed of the vehicle increases”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the method of the combined teachings so that as the vehicle speed decreases increase the speed of the blower and vice versa
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:
controlling the speed of the blower based on the speed of the vehicle would reduce the electrical load on the system and increase efficiency of the vehicle (Wijaya, ¶ [0052], “Reducing the speed of the blower 40 as the speed of the vehicle 20 increases can decrease an electrical load”)
Claim(s) 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yelles (US 20060086495 A1) in view of Haupt (US 20200346519 A1), Kettner (US 5971287 A) and Forrest (US 20010047658 A1).
Regarding claim 19, Yelles teaches of:
A method of operating an air handling system of a vehicle comprising the steps of:
providing a housing (Fig. 2D, 20) defining an inlet section (Fig. 2D, inlet section is all components within 20) and a conditioning section downstream of the inlet section (Fig. 3, see arrows flowing through heat exchangers downstream from a blower which is positioned in the inlet section), wherein the inlet section includes a first inlet portion (Fig. 2D, 30) and a second inlet portion (Fig. 2D, 32), wherein the first inlet portion includes a first recirculation air inlet (Figs. 2A-2D, see recirculation air entering 30 through a first recirculation air inlet on the left side of 24) configured to receive recirculation air originating from a passenger compartment of the vehicle (recirculation air inlet receives recirculation air from a passenger compartment) and a first ambient air inlet (Figs. 2A-2D, see fresh air entering first fresh air inlet of 30 between 24 and 34) configured to receive ambient air originating from an ambient environment (fresh air is ambient air from an ambient environment), wherein the second inlet portion includes a second recirculation air inlet (Figs. 2A-2D, see recirculation air entering 32 through a second recirculation air inlet on the right side of 26) configured to receive recirculation air originating from the passenger compartment of the vehicle (recirculation air is from a passenger compartment of the vehicle) and a second ambient air inlet (Figs. 2A-2D, see fresh air entering 32 at second ambient air inlet between 26 and 34) configured to receive the ambient air originating from the ambient environment (ambient air is fresh air from an ambient environment);
when the air handling system is operating in a recirculation mode (Fig. 2C)
when the air handling system is operating in an ambient air mode (Fig. 2A)
when the air handling system is operating in a partial recirculation mode (Fig. 2B)
Yelles fails to explicitly teach:
wherein the first distribution door and the first baffle door are disposed in the inlet section and configured to selectively control a flow of the recirculation air and the ambient air entering the first inlet portion through the first recirculation air inlet and the first ambient air inlet, wherein the second distribution door and the second baffle door are disposed in the inlet section and configured to selectively control a flow of the recirculation air and the ambient air entering the second inlet portion through the second recirculation air inlet and the second ambient air inlet, and wherein the conditioning section includes a blower assembly
selectively positioning of at least one of the first distribution door, the second distribution door, the first baffle door, and the second baffle door to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air and the ambient air through the inlet section, wherein
when the air handling system is operating in a recirculation mode, each of the first distribution door and the first baffle door is in a first position to militate against the flow of the ambient air through the first ambient air inlet and each of the second distribution door and the second baffle door is in a first position to militate against the flow of the ambient air through the second ambient air inlet;
when the air handling system is operating in an ambient air mode, each of the first distribution door and the first baffle door is in a second position to militate against the flow of the recirculation air through the first recirculation air inlet, and the second distribution door and the second baffle door is in a second position to militate against the flow of the recirculation air through the second recirculation air inlet; and
when the air handling system is operating in a partial recirculation mode, at least one of the first distribution door and the first baffle door is in an intermediate position between the first and second positions to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air through the first recirculation air inlet and/or the ambient air through the first ambient air inlet and at least one of the second distribution door and the second baffle door is in an intermediate position between the first and second positions to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air through the second recirculation air inlet and/or the ambient air through the second ambient air inlet; and
selectively controlling a speed of a blower assembly to achieve a target dew point temperature in a passenger compartment of the vehicle.
Haupt teaches of:
wherein the first distribution door (Fig. 10, 140) and the first baffle door (Fig. 10, 150) are disposed in the inlet section (Fig. 10, 110) and configured to selectively control a flow (¶ [0069], “As shown throughout FIGS. 10-13, the doors 140, 150 can be adjusted to different positions for achieving various different modes of operation of the air handling system”) of the recirculation air and the ambient air entering the first inlet portion through the first recirculation air inlet (Fig. 10, 124) and the first ambient air inlet (Fig. 10, 126)
selectively positioning of at least one of the first distribution door and the first baffle door to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air and the ambient air through the inlet section (¶ [0069], “As shown throughout FIGS. 10-13, the doors 140, 150 can be adjusted to different positions for achieving various different modes of operation of the air handling system”), wherein
when the air handling system is operating in a recirculation mode (Fig. 10), each of the first distribution door and the first baffle door is in a first position to militate against the flow of the ambient air through the first ambient air inlet (Fig. 10, 140 and 150 are in a position to militate against flow of ambient air through 126)
when the air handling system is operating in an ambient air mode (Fig. 12), each of the first distribution door and the first baffle door is in a second position to militate against the flow of the recirculation air through the first recirculation air inlet (Fig. 12, both 140 and 150 are in a position to militate against flow of recirculation air through 124)
when the air handling system is operating in a partial recirculation mode, at least one of the first distribution door and the first baffle door is in an intermediate position between the first and second positions to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air through the first recirculation air inlet and/or the ambient air through the first ambient air inlet (Fig. 11, both 140 and 150 are in intermediate positions to control flow of recirculation air through 124 and ambient air through 126)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace both 24 and 26 with 140 and 150 of Haupt and modify the method of Yelles so that it controls the airflow through the first inlet section 30 and second inlet section 32 in the same manner shown in Figs. 10-13 of Haupt
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:
with the addition of a baffle door along with a distribution door ram air pressure from motion of the vehicle can be reduced, preventing the ambient air from blowing past the distribution door and putting excess load on the HVAC system (Haupt, ¶ [0010], “A baffle door is disposed in the inlet section and is configured to selectively reduce a flow area through the fresh air inlet to accommodate a ram air pressure induced by motion of the vehicle relative to the fresh air of the ambient environment”)
Kettner teaches of:
selecting a target dew point temperature in a passenger compartment of the vehicle (Col. 1, lines 52-55, “According to the invention, the feeding of fresh air and/or recirculated air is so adjusted that the temperature of the dew point of the air within the vehicle is lower than the temperature on the inside of the windshield of the vehicle”)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the method of the combined teachings so that it sets a target dew point temperature within the cabin of the vehicle it occupies to be lower than the temperature of the interior of the windshield of the vehicle and further so that it achieves this target dew point temperature by controlling the ratio of fresh and recirculated air
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:
setting the dew point temperature to be lower than the interior temperature of the windshield would prevent fogging of the windshield and would reduce power consumption (Kettner, Col. 1, lines 59-63, “A fogging of the windshield of the vehicle on the inside of the vehicle is thus effectively prevented without diverting the attention of the driver from the traffic. The required heating power can be substantially reduced thereby”)
Forest teaches of:
selectively controlling a speed of the blower assembly (Fig. 1, controller 90 controls door 44 and speed of 43; Abstract, “The overall air flow is determined by the speed of the blower motor and the speed of the vehicle, and the speed of the blower motor and the position of the inlet air mixing device are adjusted as a function of both the vehicle speed and the selected blower motor speed so that the predefined level of outside air flow is preserved regardless of the vehicle speed and the selected blower motor speed”; ¶ [0023], “Thus, the control unit 90 gradually adjusts the speed of blower motor 43 and the position of inlet air control door 44 under conditions of high or low air conditioning load to increase the amount of recirculated cabin air in the inlet air mixture, while retaining a predetermined amount of outside air regardless of the selected blower motor speed and the vehicle speed”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the method of the combined teachings so that the mixture of air through the inlet section is also determined by the speed of the blower which is adjusted by the controller so that the method achieves the target dew point temperature within the cabin by adjusting the speed of the blower while maintaining a predetermined amount of ambient air into the vehicle
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:
adjusting the mixture of recirculation and ambient air by adjusting both the speed of the blower and the position of the door improves the efficiency of the system (Forrest, ¶ [0023], “Thus, the control unit 90 gradually adjusts the speed of blower motor 43 and the position of inlet air control door 44 under conditions of high or low air conditioning load to increase the amount of recirculated cabin air in the inlet air mixture, while retaining a predetermined amount of outside air regardless of the selected blower motor speed and the vehicle speed, thereby improving both the efficiency and performance of the air conditioning system 10”)
Regarding claim 19, Yelles teaches of:
A method of operating an air handling system of a vehicle comprising the steps of:
providing a housing (Fig. 2D, 20) defining an inlet section (Fig. 2D, inlet section is all components within 20) and a conditioning section downstream of the inlet section (Fig. 3, see arrows flowing through heat exchangers downstream from a blower which is positioned in the inlet section), wherein the inlet section includes a first inlet portion (Fig. 2D, 30) and a second inlet portion (Fig. 2D, 32), wherein the first inlet portion includes a first recirculation air inlet (Figs. 2A-2D, see recirculation air entering 30 through a first recirculation air inlet on the left side of 24) configured to receive recirculation air originating from a passenger compartment of the vehicle (recirculation air inlet receives recirculation air from a passenger compartment) and a first ambient air inlet (Figs. 2A-2D, see fresh air entering first fresh air inlet of 30 between 24 and 34) configured to receive ambient air originating from an ambient environment (fresh air is ambient air from an ambient environment), wherein the second inlet portion includes a second recirculation air inlet (Figs. 2A-2D, see recirculation air entering 32 through a second recirculation air inlet on the right side of 26) configured to receive recirculation air originating from the passenger compartment of the vehicle (recirculation air is from a passenger compartment of the vehicle) and a second ambient air inlet (Figs. 2A-2D, see fresh air entering 32 at second ambient air inlet between 26 and 34) configured to receive the ambient air originating from the ambient environment (ambient air is fresh air from an ambient environment);
when the air handling system is operating in a recirculation mode (Fig. 2C)
when the air handling system is operating in an ambient air mode (Fig. 2A)
when the air handling system is operating in a partial recirculation mode (Fig. 2B)
Yelles fails to explicitly teach:
wherein the first distribution door and the first baffle door are disposed in the inlet section and configured to selectively control a flow of the recirculation air and the ambient air entering the first inlet portion through the first recirculation air inlet and the first ambient air inlet, wherein the second distribution door and the second baffle door are disposed in the inlet section and configured to selectively control a flow of the recirculation air and the ambient air entering the second inlet portion through the second recirculation air inlet and the second ambient air inlet, and wherein the conditioning section includes a blower assembly
selectively positioning of at least one of the first distribution door, the second distribution door, the first baffle door, and the second baffle door to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air and the ambient air through the inlet section, wherein
when the air handling system is operating in a recirculation mode, each of the first distribution door and the first baffle door is in a first position to militate against the flow of the ambient air through the first ambient air inlet and each of the second distribution door and the second baffle door is in a first position to militate against the flow of the ambient air through the second ambient air inlet;
when the air handling system is operating in an ambient air mode, each of the first distribution door and the first baffle door is in a second position to militate against the flow of the recirculation air through the first recirculation air inlet, and the second distribution door and the second baffle door is in a second position to militate against the flow of the recirculation air through the second recirculation air inlet; and
when the air handling system is operating in a partial recirculation mode, the first distribution door and the first baffle door are in an intermediate position between the first and second positions to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air through the first recirculation air inlet and the ambient air through the first ambient air inlet and at the second distribution door and the second baffle door is in an intermediate position between the first and second positions to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air through the second recirculation air inlet and the ambient air through the second ambient air inlet; and
selectively controlling a speed of a blower wheel of a blower assembly to achieve a target dew point temperature in a passenger compartment of the vehicle.
Haupt teaches of:
wherein the first distribution door (Fig. 10, 140) and the first baffle door (Fig. 10, 150) are disposed in the inlet section (Fig. 10, 110) and configured to selectively control a flow (¶ [0069], “As shown throughout FIGS. 10-13, the doors 140, 150 can be adjusted to different positions for achieving various different modes of operation of the air handling system”) of the recirculation air and the ambient air entering the first inlet portion through the first recirculation air inlet (Fig. 10, 124) and the first ambient air inlet (Fig. 10, 126)
selectively positioning of at least one of the first distribution door and the first baffle door to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air and the ambient air through the inlet section (¶ [0069], “As shown throughout FIGS. 10-13, the doors 140, 150 can be adjusted to different positions for achieving various different modes of operation of the air handling system”), wherein
when the air handling system is operating in a recirculation mode (Fig. 10), each of the first distribution door and the first baffle door is in a first position to militate against the flow of the ambient air through the first ambient air inlet (Fig. 10, 140 and 150 are in a position to militate against flow of ambient air through 126)
when the air handling system is operating in an ambient air mode (Fig. 12), each of the first distribution door and the first baffle door is in a second position to militate against the flow of the recirculation air through the first recirculation air inlet (Fig. 12, both 140 and 150 are in a position to militate against flow of recirculation air through 124)
when the air handling system is operating in a partial recirculation mode, the first distribution door and the first baffle door is in an intermediate position between the first and second positions to selectively control the flow of the recirculation air through the first recirculation air inlet and the ambient air through the first ambient air inlet (Fig. 11, both 140 and 150 are in intermediate positions to control flow of recirculation air through 124 and ambient air through 126)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace both 24 and 26 with 140 and 150 of Haupt and modify the method of Yelles so that it controls the airflow through the first inlet section 30 and second inlet section 32 in the same manner shown in Figs. 10-13 of Haupt
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:
with the addition of a baffle door along with a distribution door ram air pressure from motion of the vehicle can be reduced, preventing the ambient air from blowing past the distribution door and putting excess load on the HVAC system (Haupt, ¶ [0010], “A baffle door is disposed in the inlet section and is configured to selectively reduce a flow area through the fresh air inlet to accommodate a ram air pressure induced by motion of the vehicle relative to the fresh air of the ambient environment”)
Kettner teaches of:
selecting a target dew point temperature in a passenger compartment of the vehicle (Col. 1, lines 52-55, “According to the invention, the feeding of fresh air and/or recirculated air is so adjusted that the temperature of the dew point of the air within the vehicle is lower than the temperature on the inside of the windshield of the vehicle”)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the method of the combined teachings so that it sets a target dew point temperature within the cabin of the vehicle it occupies to be lower than the temperature of the interior of the windshield of the vehicle and further so that it achieves this target dew point temperature by controlling the ratio of fresh and recirculated air
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:
setting the dew point temperature to be lower than the interior temperature of the windshield would prevent fogging of the windshield and would reduce power consumption (Kettner, Col. 1, lines 59-63, “A fogging of the windshield of the vehicle on the inside of the vehicle is thus effectively prevented without diverting the attention of the driver from the traffic. The required heating power can be substantially reduced thereby”)
Forest teaches of:
selectively controlling a speed of a blower wheel of a blower assembly (Fig. 1, controller 90 controls door 44 and speed of 43; Abstract, “The overall air flow is determined by the speed of the blower motor and the speed of the vehicle, and the speed of the blower motor and the position of the inlet air mixing device are adjusted as a function of both the vehicle speed and the selected blower motor speed so that the predefined level of outside air flow is preserved regardless of the vehicle speed and the selected blower motor speed”; ¶ [0023], “Thus, the control unit 90 gradually adjusts the speed of blower motor 43 and the position of inlet air control door 44 under conditions of high or low air conditioning load to increase the amount of recirculated cabin air in the inlet air mixture, while retaining a predetermined amount of outside air regardless of the selected blower motor speed and the vehicle speed”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the method of the combined teachings so that the mixture of air through the inlet section is also determined by the speed of the blower which is adjusted by the controller so that the method achieves the target dew point temperature within the cabin by adjusting the speed of the blower while maintaining a predetermined amount of ambient air into the vehicle
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:
adjusting the mixture of recirculation and ambient air by adjusting both the speed of the blower and the position of the door improves the efficiency of the system (Forrest, ¶ [0023], “Thus, the control unit 90 gradually adjusts the speed of blower motor 43 and the position of inlet air control door 44 under conditions of high or low air conditioning load to increase the amount of recirculated cabin air in the inlet air mixture, while retaining a predetermined amount of outside air regardless of the selected blower motor speed and the vehicle speed, thereby improving both the efficiency and performance of the air conditioning system 10”)
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/HELENA KOSANOVIC/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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