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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
1. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/12/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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 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.
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 of this title, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1 and 3-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koenigs (English Translated DE Patent No.: 10209994 A1), hereinafter referred to as Koenigs ‘994, in view of Mueller et al. (U.S. PG Pub No.: 2015/0362213 A1), hereinafter referred to as Mueller et al. ‘213; further in view of QUAN (English Translated Chinese Pub No.: 1699868 A), hereinafter referred to as QUAN ‘868
Regarding claim 1, KOENIGS ‘994 discloses an air turnover unit configured to heat or cool an interior space (S) {as shown in Figure}, the air turnover unit comprising: a housing (H) having an air intake (A1) configured to intake air from the interior space (S) and an air exhaust (E1) configured to exhaust the air into the interior space, the housing configured to enclose: a fan (5) configured to: pull air into the housing through an air intake (A2), through a heat exchanger (2), and out of the housing through an air exhaust (E2) {as shown in annotated Figure: Description}; a compressor (1) configured to compress a refrigerant (R); a condenser (4) configured to cool and condense the refrigerant received from the compressor {as shown in annotated Figure: Description}; and a chilled water supply (4a) configured to supply chilled water to the condenser.
However, KOENIGS ‘994 fails to explicitly disclose the limitations of an expansion valve configured to reduce a temperature and pressure of the refrigerant received from the condenser; and a heater configured to heat the air exhausting into the interior space.
Mueller et al. ‘213 teach: the well-known concept of an expansion valve configured to reduce a temperature and pressure of the refrigerant received from the condenser {see ¶ [0039]}.
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Koenigs ‘994 in view of Mueller et al. ‘213 to include the use of an expansion valve, in order to facilitate removal pressure from the refrigerant before providing the refrigerant to the evaporator {Mueller et al. ‘213 - ¶ [0039]}.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Koenigs ‘994 in view of Mueller et al. ‘213 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 1.
QUAN ‘868 teaches: the concept of a heater (360) configured to heat the air exhausting (170) into the interior space (condition space) {see Figs. 4-7: Page 12, ¶¶ 5-6; Page 13, ¶¶ 1 and 7; and Page 15, ¶ 6}.
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Koenigs ‘994 in view of QUAN ‘868 to include the use of a heater configured to heat the air exhausting into the interior space, in order to facilitate heating of the internal space {QUAN ‘868 - Page 15, ¶ 6}.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Koenigs ‘994 in view of QUAN ‘868 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 1.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Koenigs ‘994, Mueller et al. ‘213 and QUAN ‘868 disclose and teach the air turnover unit of claim 2, Koenigs ‘994 as modified by Mueller et al. ‘213 further disclose the limitation of wherein the heater is a direct-fired heater {see ¶¶ [0001], [0003-0006], 0012], [0037], [0048], [0056] and [0069]; further, the heater can be various types of heaters, including, but not limited to, direct-fired or indirect-fired heaters}.
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Koenigs ‘994, Mueller et al. ‘213 and QUAN ‘868 disclose and teach the air turnover unit of claim 2, Koenigs ‘994 as modified by Mueller et al. ‘213 further disclose the limitation of wherein the heater is an indirect-fired heater {see ¶ [0003]; further, the heater can be various types of heaters, including, but not limited to, direct-fired or indirect-fired heaters}.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Koenigs ‘994, Mueller et al. ‘213 and QUAN ‘868 disclose and teach the air turnover unit of claim 1, KOENIGS ‘994 further discloses comprising a diffuser (6) configured to direct air to the air exhaust {as shown in annotated Figure: Description: wherein filter bed constitutes a diffuser}.
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Koenigs ‘994, Mueller et al. ‘213 and QUAN ‘868 disclose and teach the air turnover unit of claim 1, KOENIGS ‘994 further discloses wherein the heat exchanger is configured to exchange heat between air moving around a coil (C) of the heat exchanger and the refrigerant moving through the coil of the heat exchanger {as shown in annotated Figure}.
Regarding claim 7, KOENIGS ‘994 discloses a method of conditioning air in an interior space (S), the method comprising: pulling air, using a fan (5), into a housing (H) from the interior space through an air intake (A1) {as shown in annotated Figure: Description}; exchanging heat between air moving around a coil (C) of a heat exchanger (2) and a refrigerant (R) moving through the coil of the heat exchanger {as shown in annotated Figure: Description}; compressing, using a compressor (1), the refrigerant received from the heat exchanger {as shown in annotated Figure: Description}; condensing, using a condenser (4) and a chilled water supply (4a) supplied the condenser, the refrigerant received from the compressor to cool and condense the refrigerant {as shown in annotated Figure: Description}; heating or cooling the air exhausting into the interior space; and exhausting, using the fan, the air moving around the coil of the heat exchanger, out from the housing into the interior space{as shown in annotated Figure: Description}.
However, KOENIGS ‘994 failed to explicitly disclose the method of reducing, using an expansion valve, a temperature and pressure of the refrigerant received from the condenser; and a heating or cooling the air exhausting into the interior space.
Mueller et al. ‘213 teach: the well-known concept of reducing, using an expansion valve configured to reduce a temperature and pressure of the refrigerant received from the condenser {see ¶ [0039]}.
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Koenigs ‘994 in view of Mueller et al. ‘213 to include the use of an expansion valve, in order to facilitate removal pressure from the refrigerant before providing the refrigerant to the evaporator {Mueller et al. ‘213 - ¶ [0039]}.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Koenigs ‘994 in view of Mueller et al. ‘213 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 7.
QUAN ‘868 teaches: the concept of heating (360) the air exhausting (170) into the interior space (condition space) {see Figs. 4-7: Page 12, ¶¶ 5-6; Page 13, ¶¶ 1 and 7; and Page 15, ¶ 6}.
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Koenigs ‘994 in view of QUAN ‘868 to include the use of a heater configured to heat the air exhausting into the interior space, in order to facilitate heating of the internal space {QUAN ‘868 - Page 15, ¶ 6}.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Koenigs ‘994 in view of QUAN ‘868 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 7.
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Conclusion
3. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EMMANUEL E DUKE whose telephone number is (571)270-5290. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday thru Friday; 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM Monday thru Friday; 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FRANTZ JULES can be reached on (571)272-6681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EMMANUEL E DUKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763 05/26/2026
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