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 .
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.
Claims 1 and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Memory (US 6,848,268) in view of Maiello (US 2015/0059373).
As to claim 1, Memory teaches an air conditioner comprising:
a refrigerant circuit which includes a compressor 20, a condenser 24, and an evaporator 28 and circulates refrigerant;
a heat exchanger 78 which includes a first flow channel 60 from the condenser and a second flow channel 74 for the compressor suction;
wherein the pressure of the refrigerant passing through the first flow channel 60 is higher than the pressure of the refrigerant passing through the second channel 74 (Fig. 1, note that channel 60 is on the high side and channel 74 is on the low side of the circuit); an inner diameter of a pipe for the first flow channel 60 is smaller than an inner diameter of a pipe for the second flow channel 74 (Figs. 2-4); and the heat exchanger 78 is configured to perform a pressure reduction of the refrigerant passing through the first flow channel 60 and exchange heat between the refrigerant in the channels 60 and 74 (col. 4, lines 20-26 and 49-54).
Memory does not explicitly teach a controller configured to control the refrigerant circuit so as to bring a degree of superheat at the evaporator outlet to a target value of 5 degrees or less. However, Maiello teaches using a controller 41 to maintain a degree of superheat at a target value of 5 degrees or less (paragraph 30). Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify Memory to utilize a controller configured to maintain a target superheat degree as claimed and taught by Maiello because it would prevent compressor malfunction by ensuring that the refrigerant is completely evaporated before being supplied to the compressor.
As to claim 7, the claim merely recites an intended use of the system. The modified apparatus is capable of controlling the degree of superheat (Maiello, paragraph 30) and thus is considered to be capable of performing the intended use of the system.
As to claims 8-10, the claims merely recited intended use of refrigerants in the system. Memory teaches that the system can operate using various refrigerants (col. 3, lines 49-54) and thus the system is capable of operation using the refrigerants as claimed.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Memory and Maiello as applied above, and further in view of Saikusa (US 2016/0320111).
As to claim 5, Memory teaches a cooling operation wherein the condenser condenses refrigerant and the evaporator evaporates refrigerant (Fig. 1), but does not teach a reversible operation using a four-way valve as claimed. However, Saikusa teaches that it is known to provide such a system with a four-way valve 2 that reverses the operations of a condenser 3 and evaporator 6, wherein a first flow channel of an internal heat exchanger 4a is disposed between condenser 3 and evaporator 6, and a second flow channel is disposed between the four-way valve 2 and the inlet of compressor 1 (Fig. 1). Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to further modify Memory to incorporate a four-way valve as taught by Saikusa because it would provide a more versatile system with the capability for both heating and cooling of a space.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Memory, Maiello, and Saikusa as applied above, and further in view of Kenji (JP 63-113264, see translation included with IDS filed 6/12/2024).
As to claim 6, Memory does not explicitly teach use of a first pipe, second pipe, and switching valve as claimed. However, Kenji teaches that it is known to provide parallel flow branches with different diameters, and to control flow therethrough with a switching valve for separate expansion control in heating vs cooling operations (Figs. 1-2). Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify the first flow channel of Memory to be configured as claimed and taught by Kenji in order to provide effective flow control in both directions of refrigerant flow during operation.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN BRADFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-5199. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 - 4:00 ET.
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/JONATHAN BRADFORD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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