DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 5,7-9,11-18 are objected to under 37 CFR 1.75(c) as being in improper form because a multiple dependent claim cannot depend from another multiple dependent claim. See MPEP § 608.01(n). Claim 4 recites “An energy harnessing system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims” making it a proper multiple dependent claim. However claims 5,7-9,11-18 all recite “An energy harnessing system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims”, thus making them dependent from Claim 4, and as such they are multiple dependent claims which are depending from a multiple dependent claim. Accordingly, the claims 5-18 are not further treated on the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
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.
Claims 1,4,9,11-12,16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2020147918 to Budhdeo in view of US Patent 11480160 to Mokheimer.
As to claim 1, Budhdeo discloses an energy harnessing system comprising: a solar collector (40); a solar-energy heat circulation system including a first heat exchanger communicated with at least two second heat exchangers (first heat exchanger 35 and second heat exchangers 20; Page 19, Line 32-Page 20 Line 10); a heat engine having at least two carbon-dioxide-sublimation-and-deposition chambers (12) having a carbon dioxide inlet (16) and a carbon dioxide outlet (18) and at least one of the sublimation-and-deposition chambers comprising carbon dioxide (Abs), each second heat exchanger configured to heat the associated sublimation-and-deposition chamber (20), a turbine (14) fluidly communicated with the carbon dioxide outlet of each sublimation-and-deposition chamber (18 to 24), the turbine configured to be driven by gaseous carbon dioxide from the sublimation-and-deposition chambers (Page 16, Line 11-Page 17, Line 10), at least one expansion chamber fluidly communicated with the turbine and the carbon dioxide inlet of each sublimation-and-deposition chamber (Tubes 32: Page 16, Line 35-Page 17, Line 10), the expansion chamber configured to receive and cool gaseous carbon dioxide from the turbine and provide cooled gaseous carbon dioxide to the sublimation-and-deposition chambers, at least one second valve (Page 15, Line 20-30) configured to selectively close each carbon dioxide inlet of the carbon-dioxide-sublimation-and-deposition chamber, and a refrigerant circulation system (34) configured to cool the expansion chamber and having a third heat exchanger configured to cool each sublimation-and-deposition chamber (22).
Budhdeo does not expressly disclose the solar collector having at least one reflective element
the reflective element arranged so that in use incident solar radiation is directed to the first heat exchanger
and at least one first valve for selectively communicating the first heat exchanger with at least one of the second heat exchangers.
Mokheimer discloses the solar collector having at least one reflective element the reflective element arranged so that in use incident solar radiation is directed to the first heat exchanger (Fig 1e) and at least one first valve for selectively communicating the first heat exchanger with at least one of the second heat exchangers (Mokheimer :Col 13, Line 20-30).
At the time of invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Budhdeo to include the solar collector having at least one reflective element the reflective element arranged so that in use incident solar radiation is directed to the first heat exchanger and at least one first valve for selectively communicating the first heat exchanger with at least one of the second heat exchangers using the teachings of Mokheimer so as to efficiently concentrate solar rays onto the heat exchanger to heat the transfer fluid as much as possible, and to control the flow of heat transfer fluid to the CO2 system to regulate between alternate heat sources and to regulate based on heat production as a result of daylight hours (as disclosed Budhdeo: Page 19, Line 32-Page 20 Line 10) increasing system efficiency and reducing waste of system resources.
As to claim 4, Budhdeo discloses wherein the reflective element is curved (Mokheimer: Fig 1e).
As to claim 9 (presented to show best known art), Budhdeo discloses a pressure chamber (pipe between 12 and 14) having an inlet communicated with the carbon-dioxide-sublimation-and-deposition chambers and an outlet communicated with the turbine, the pressure chamber having a valve at the outlet (27) so as to permit storing and pressurizing of gaseous carbon dioxide (one way valve 26 lets pressure into intermediate region until pressure differential is high enough to open valve 27).
As to claim 11 (presented to show best known art), Budhdeo discloses wherein there are four carbon-dioxide-sublimation-and-deposition chambers (Fig 2).
As to claim 12 (presented to show best known art), Budhdeo discloses the second and third heat exchangers are inside the carbon-dioxide-sublimation-and-deposition chambers (Fig 3).
As to claim 16 (presented to show best known art), Budhdeo discloses wherein the expansion chamber has a biconical shape (12).
As to claim 17 (presented to show best known art), Budhdeo discloses the solar collector and first heat exchanger are disconnectable from the second heat exchangers (Mokheimer : Col 13, Line 20-30).
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2020147918 to Budhdeo as applied to Claim 1 above and further in view of US Patent 6581397 to Taira.
As to claim 2,3, Budhdeo discloses the solar-energy heat circulation system and/or the refrigerant circulation system comprises a fluid but does not expressly disclose a hydrofluorocarbon specifically R32.
Taira disclose how R32 is commonly known for refrigeration systems due to its low boiling point and low global warming potential (Col 1, line 9-15).
At the time of invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Budhdeo to include the solar-energy heat circulation system and/or the refrigerant circulation system comprises a fluid but does not expressly disclose a hydrofluorocarbon specifically R32 using the teachings of Taira as it was a well known refrigerant in the art that benefited from low boiling point and low global warming potential improving longevity of the system.
Claims 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2020147918 to Budhdeo as applied to Claim 1 above and further in view of US Patent 8365719 to Caldwell.
As to claim 5 (presented to show best known art), Budhdeo does not expressly disclose wherein there is a first reflective element and a second reflective element, each reflective element being curved and having concavities facing each other which is taught by Caldwell (Fig 1).
At the time of invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Budhdeo to include wherein there is a first reflective element and a second reflective element, each reflective element being curved and having concavities facing each other using the teachings of Caldwell so as to focus a larger amount of solar radiation on a heat exchange element centrally located to increase heat production and adjust for changes in time of day as known in the art.
Claims 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2020147918 to Budhdeo as applied to Claim 5 above and further in view of US Patent 8656907 to Pham.
As to claim 6 (presented to show best known art), Budhdeo does not expressly disclose wherein the first reflective element has a larger diameter than that of the second reflective element, the first heat exchanger being between the first and second reflective elements which is disclosed by Pham (Fig 21, Col 10, line 22-35).
At the time of invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Budhdeo to include wherein the first reflective element has a larger diameter than that of the second reflective element, the first heat exchanger being between the first and second reflective elements using the teachings of Pham so as to compensate for the land to mirror density based on the proximity to the central tower (Pham: Col 9, Line 60-Col 10, Line 5), thus creating an even heat accumulation and thus application from differing regions.
Claims 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2020147918 to Budhdeo as applied to Claim 1 above and further in view of US Publication 20150013666 to Fasciano.
As to claim 7 (presented to show best known art), Budhdeo does not expressly disclose wherein a surface of the first heat exchanger is black which is disclosed by Fasciano (Par 0034) where at the time of invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Budhdeo to include this feature to enhance the solar adsorption into the heat exchanger in a known manner.
Claims 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2020147918 to Budhdeo as applied to Claim 1 above and further in view of US Publication 20090023510 to Larsen.
As to claim 8 (presented to show best known art), Budhdeo does not expressly disclose wherein the reflective element has a water collection conduit at a base thereof for distributing water condensed on the reflective element which is taught by Larsen (Par 0021), where at the time of invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Budhdeo to include wherein the reflective element has a water collection conduit at a base thereof for distributing water condensed on the reflective element using the teachings of Larsen so as to drain condensate water and rain water from the system that would otherwise impeded its functioning and degrade the system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSE SAMUEL BOGUE whose telephone number is (571)270-1406. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00-5:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Laurenzi can be reached on 571-270-7878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JESSE S BOGUE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746