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 . Claims 11-30 filed on 3/2/2024 have been reviewed and considered by this office action.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN202210302226.1, filed on 3/2/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed on 3/2/2024, 1/2/2025, and 10/22/2025 have been reviewed and considered by this office action.
Drawings
The drawings filed on3/2/2024 have been reviewed and are considered acceptable.
Specification
The specification filed on 3/2/2024 has been reviewed and is considered acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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 11-12, 20, 21-23, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakahara (JP 2006-343001A) in view of Vincensini et al. (US PGPUB 20210239346).
Regarding Claims 11, 21, and 22; Nakahara teaches; A control method comprising:
obtaining a theoretical discharge pressure according to a geometric parameter of an outdoor unit of a multi-split air conditioner, an air supply port parameter of an indoor unit of the multi-split air conditioner, an outdoor ambient temperature, and an indoor ambient temperature; (Nakahara; at least pages 8-10; discloses calculating maximum operating pressures (MOP) for control of refrigerant in a multi-split air conditioning system)
obtaining a pressure deviation according to a high pressure of the outdoor unit and the theoretical discharge pressure; and (Nakahara; at least pages 8-9; disclose detecting with a PID, a deviation in pressure difference based on the calculated pressures and a detected actual pressure)
performing starting control of the multi-split air conditioner according to the pressure deviation. (Nakahara; at least pages 8-9; disclose operating the air-conditioning system expansion valve for control of the air-conditioning system in response to the pressure deviation).
Nakahara appears to be silent on; obtaining a theoretical discharge pressure according to a geometric parameter of an outdoor unit of a multi-split air conditioner, an air supply port parameter of an indoor unit of the multi-split air conditioner, an outdoor ambient temperature, and an indoor ambient temperature;
However, Vincensini teaches; obtaining a theoretical discharge pressure according to a geometric parameter of an outdoor unit of a multi-split air conditioner, an air supply port parameter of an indoor unit of the multi-split air conditioner, an outdoor ambient temperature, and an indoor ambient temperature; (Vincensini; at least paragraph [0080]; disclose a system and method for determining a predicted pressure (i.e. calculated MOP of Nakahara) using information including area/tonnage of the air conditioning system (i.e. geometric), indoor/outdoor temperatures, and supply port temperature).
Nakahara and Vincensini are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor or problem solving area of, air conditioning control systems.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the disclosed invention to have incorporated the known method for predicting max pressure in an air conditioning system based on specific parameters as taught by Vincensini with known system of a multi-split air conditioning control system as taught by Nakahara in order to help result in continuous operation of an air-conditioning system without disruption due to pressure control as taught by Vincensini (paragraph [0093]).
Regarding Claims 12 and 23; the combination of Nakahara and Vincensini teach; The method according to claim 11, wherein: obtaining the theoretical discharge pressure includes obtaining the theoretical discharge pressure in response to a determination that a standby time of the multi-split air conditioner is greater than or equal to a preset time length, and the outdoor ambient temperature is smaller than or equal to a preset temperature. (Nakahara; at least pages 7-8).
Regarding Claim 20; the combination of Nakahara and Vincensini teach; The method according to claim 11, wherein obtaining the pressure deviation according to the high pressure and the theoretical discharge pressure includes: calculating a difference between the theoretical discharge pressure and the high pressure; and calculating a ratio of the difference to the high pressure to obtain the pressure deviation. (Nakahara; at least pages 12-13).
Regarding Claim 30; the combination of Nakahara and Vincensini teach; A multi-split air conditioner comprising the electronic device according to claim 22. (Nakahara; at least Fig. 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-19 and 24-29 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 13 and 24 recite, “The method according to claim 11, wherein: the outdoor unit is one of M outdoor units of the multi-split air conditioner, the indoor unit is one of N indoor units of the multi-split air conditioner, and each of M and N is an integer equal to or greater than 1; and
obtaining the theoretical discharge pressure includes:
obtaining an outdoor unit radiation heat exchange area according to M geometric parameters, obtaining an indoor unit radiation heat exchange area according to N air supply port parameters, obtaining an outdoor unit average ambient temperature according to M outdoor ambient temperatures, and obtaining an indoor unit average ambient temperature according to N indoor ambient temperatures;
obtaining a theoretical discharge saturation temperature and a theoretical suction saturation temperature according to the outdoor unit radiation heat exchange area, the indoor unit radiation heat exchange area, the outdoor unit average ambient temperature, and the indoor unit average ambient temperature; and
obtaining the theoretical discharge pressure according to the theoretical discharge saturation temperature and the theoretical suction saturation temperature.”
The present claim takes into account the various parameters of the indoor/outdoor unit geometric parameters as well as a plurality of measured indoor/outdoor ambient temperatures to determine a theoretical discharge/suction saturation temperature of the system, and utilizes this theoretical temperature in order to correlate and calculate the corresponding theoretical discharge pressures.
The closest prior art of record is Nakahara (JP 2006-343001A) in view of Vincensini et al. (US PGPUB 20210239346). Nakahara discloses a system and method for calculating maximum operating pressures (i.e. theoretical pressures) for an air conditioning system, determines a deviation in the calculated pressures and current pressure, and controls the air conditioning system in response to a deviation. The reference of Vincensini teaches a pressure prediction system and method for operating an air conditioning system in which various parameters such as tonnage/area of the equipment and ambient temperatures are used to predict a pressure. However, neither alone nor in combination to the cited references teach, “obtaining the theoretical discharge pressure includes:
obtaining an outdoor unit radiation heat exchange area according to M geometric parameters, obtaining an indoor unit radiation heat exchange area according to N air supply port parameters, obtaining an outdoor unit average ambient temperature according to M outdoor ambient temperatures, and obtaining an indoor unit average ambient temperature according to N indoor ambient temperatures;
obtaining a theoretical discharge saturation temperature and a theoretical suction saturation temperature according to the outdoor unit radiation heat exchange area, the indoor unit radiation heat exchange area, the outdoor unit average ambient temperature, and the indoor unit average ambient temperature; and
obtaining the theoretical discharge pressure according to the theoretical discharge saturation temperature and the theoretical suction saturation temperature.”
Claims 14 and 25 recite: “The method according to claim 11, wherein performing starting control of the multi-split system according to the pressure deviation includes:
controlling the multi-split air conditioner to execute a normal starting flow in response to a determination that the pressure deviation is greater than or equal to a first deviation;
in response to a determination that the pressure deviation is smaller than the first deviation and greater than or equal to a second deviation, preheating the multi-split air conditioner for a first preset time length, then controlling a compressor to operate at a minimum allowable operating frequency for a second preset time length, and then controlling the multi- split air conditioner to execute the normal starting flow; and
in response to a determination that the pressure deviation is smaller than the second deviation, preheating the multi-split air conditioner until a difference between an air outlet temperature of the compressor and a condensation temperature of the multi-split air conditioner is greater than a difference threshold, and then controlling the multi-split air conditioner to execute the normal starting flow.”
The closest prior art of record is Nakahara (JP 2006-343001A) in view of Vincensini et al. (US PGPUB 20210239346). Nakahara discloses a system and method for calculating maximum operating pressures (i.e. theoretical pressures) for an air conditioning system, determines a deviation in the calculated pressures and current pressure, and controls the air conditioning system in response to a deviation. The reference of Vincensini teaches a pressure prediction system and method for operating an air conditioning system in which various parameters such as tonnage/area of the equipment and ambient temperatures are used to predict a pressure. However, neither alone nor in combination to the cited references teach, “controlling the multi-split air conditioner to execute a normal starting flow in response to a determination that the pressure deviation is greater than or equal to a first deviation;
in response to a determination that the pressure deviation is smaller than the first deviation and greater than or equal to a second deviation, preheating the multi-split air conditioner for a first preset time length, then controlling a compressor to operate at a minimum allowable operating frequency for a second preset time length, and then controlling the multi- split air conditioner to execute the normal starting flow; and
in response to a determination that the pressure deviation is smaller than the second deviation, preheating the multi-split air conditioner until a difference between an air outlet temperature of the compressor and a condensation temperature of the multi-split air conditioner is greater than a difference threshold, and then controlling the multi-split air conditioner to execute the normal starting flow.”
Dependent claims 15-19 and 26-29 each depend on objected to claims 14 and 25 respectively and would also be considered allowable if incorporated with the objected to claims in their entirety.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Linlin Zhou (CN 112944586Al): disclose an air conditioning control system and method which utilizes a theoretical pressure drop to be compared to an actual pressure drop, and in response to a deviation, detecting and locating a fault within the air conditioning system.
Kramer et al. (US PGPUB 20150211943): disclose a system and method for troubleshooting an air conditioning system by calculating a plurality theoretical branch line pressures and in response to a detected deviation, determining a fault condition.
Kaneko (US PGPUB 20140358296): disclose an air conditioning control system and method for calculating a target pressure and in response to a deviation to the target pressure, utilizing the various detected temperatures to determine appropriate control strategies to achieve the target pressure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER W CARTER whose telephone number is (469)295-9262. The examiner can normally be reached 9-6:30.
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/CHRISTOPHER W CARTER/Examiner, Art Unit 2117
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