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 .
This Office action is in response to the reply filed 12/08/2025. Claims 1-19 are pending.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I, claims 1-11 in the reply filed on 12/08/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 12-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/08/2025.
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.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nelson et al. (US Pat. 11,079,123) in view of Akerman et al. (US PG Pub. 2022/0260324).
Regarding claim 1, Nelson discloses a device (101) for cooling air between a garment and wearer of the garment (Fig. 8), wherein the device comprises a cooling unit (200) comprising a plurality of heat transfer modules (100, 200, 300, 400; or separate sub-chambers 107 forming a plurality of heat transfer modules; column 7, lines 32-63) for cooling the air (column 8, lines 15-26), and one or more fan(s) (122, Fig. 5) for advancing the air through the heat transfer modules (column 8, lines 34-43), wherein each heat transfer module comprises: a) a sealable volume for the placement of phase change material (104) for cooling the air, and b) a channel (120) through the sealable volume that forms an air passageway (121) that is in fluid communication with at least one of the one or more fan(s) (column 4, line 59 to column 5, line 11), wherein the channel further comprises: i) a plurality of interior fins extending from an inner channel wall into the air passageway (fins can protrude into the internal space or air passageway of the tubes; column 4, lines 59-63), and ii) a plurality of exterior fins extending from an outer channel wall into the sealable volume (fins on external side of tubes 120; Fig. 6); wherein heat can transfer from air in the air passageway to any phase change material in the sealable volume (Abstract).
If Applicant is not convinced Nelson explicitly teaches a plurality of interior fins extending from an inner channel wall into the air passageway, Akerman teaches it is known for a cooling device for cooling air having a sealable volume for the placement of phase change material (34, Fig. 2) to be provided with a plurality of interior fins (14) and exterior fins (16) extending from an inner channel wall (24, 26) into the air passageway that provides added surface area and improves the rate at which heat is absorbed from the surrounding environment by the phase change material (paragraph 26). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the device of Nelson to include a plurality of interior fins extending from an inner channel wall into the air passageway taught by Akerman in order to increase the surface area of the heat transfer module and improve the rate at which heat is absorbed from the surrounding environment by the phase change material.
Regarding claim 2, Nelson as modified discloses the device of claim 1 wherein one or more heat transfer module is interchangeable with any other heat transfer module (cooling modules 200, 300 can be attached and also removable allowing the cooling device to be interchangeable; column 7, line 64 to column 8, line 14).
Regarding claim 3, Nelson as modified discloses the device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of heat transfer modules (sub-chambers 107) is arranged in parallel in the cooling unit (parallel via partition 152) with the channels (120) of the heat transfer modules forming separate air passageways (121), with each air passageway in fluid communication with at least one of the one or more fan(s) (122).
Regarding claim 4, Nelson as modified discloses the device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of heat transfer modules (420) is arranged in a series in the cooling unit (air passes into first module 420a and then in series into second module 420b; Fig. 14) with the channels of the heat transfer modules forming an air passageway that is in fluid communication with at least one of the one or more fan(s) (422).
Regarding claim 5, Nelson as modified discloses the device of claim 3 wherein the cooling unit has two or more series of heat transfer modules (400 modules including series heat transfer modules 420a, 420b), with the series arranged parallel to each other (400 shown parallel, Fig. 15), with the channels of each of the two or more series of heat transfer modules forming separate air passageways (Fig. 15), with each air passageway in fluid communication with at least one of the one or more fan(s) (518).
Regarding claim 6, Nelson as modified discloses the device of claim 1 further comprising equipment for wearing the device by the wearer of the garment (shirt 202 with straps 204).
Regarding claim 7, Nelson as modified discloses the device of claim 6 wherein the equipment for wearing the device is designed to be worn between the garment and 204 the wearer of the garment (202 including straps 204 able to be worn under an outer garment and would be between the garment and the wearer of the garment).
Regarding claim 8, Nelson as modified discloses the device of claim 6 wherein the equipment for wearing the device positions the device on the back of the wearer (Fig. 8 shows 202 that would be capable of positioning the device on the back of the wearer).
Regarding claim 9, Nelson as modified discloses the device of claim 1 further comprising a condensate reservoir (124) for collecting moisture that condenses in the channel (column 5, line 59 to column 6, line 12).
Regarding claim 10, Nelson as modified discloses the device of claim 1 further comprising conduits (conduits shown in Figs. 8-10) for conveying air either to or from the device.
Regarding claim 11, Nelson as modified discloses the device of claim 1 further comprising a phase change material in the sealable volume (column 5, lines 22-29).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Dunlap (US 2018/0098567) PCM device for cooling vapors; Pohr (US 2005/0034476) frozen water personal cooling device; Marshall (US 4,761,314) PCM cooling device with internal and external fins; Virgil (US 3,248,897) personal air condition device with cooling fins.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH F TRPISOVSKY whose telephone number is (571)270-5296. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8AM-4PM.
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, Jerry-Daryl Fletcher can be reached at (571) 270-5054. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH F TRPISOVSKY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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