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 application and preliminary amendment filed 06/17/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “major portion” in claim 1, “major part” in claim 4, “major portion” in claim 17 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “major portion” or “major part” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. One skilled in the art would not know how much of the element is required to be surrounded in the claims. The term "major portion" or “major part” is not defined in the specification and does not have clear meaning. It is not clear if applicant means a majority, an important or special section, or just significant amount (note this itself would be indefinite as there is no clear meaning to it). The claim will be considered to read on with any clear amount of coverage/surrounding. Claims 2-3, 5-16 and 18-20 are rejected for dependence from one or more of the above rejected claims
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 15, 17-18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Woodruff (US Pat. 2,115,295).
Regarding claim 1, Woodruff discloses a fan assembly comprising: a refrigeration system comprising a heat exchanger (24); and an airflow generator (14) for generating an airflow over the heat exchanger, wherein the heat exchanger surrounds a major portion of the airflow generator (Figs. 1-2).
Regarding claim 2, Woodruff discloses the fan assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger (24) is cylindrical in shape (Figs. 1-2).
Regarding claim 3, Woodruff discloses the fan assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger (24) subtends a central angle of at least 270° (Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 4, Woodruff discloses the fan assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fan assembly comprises a filter assembly (7) for filtering the airflow, and the filter assembly surrounds a major part of the heat exchanger (page 1, lines 42-46).
Regarding claim 15, Woodruff discloses the fan assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fan assembly comprises: a main body (2) within which the refrigeration system and the airflow generator are located, the main body comprising an inlet (5) through which the airflow is drawn into the main body and an outlet (6) through which the airflow is emitted from the main body, wherein the inlet is located in a side of the main body and the outlet is located in a top of the main body (Fig. 1); and a nozzle (26) attached to the main body and receiving the airflow emitted from the main body, the nozzle comprising an outlet (top outlet of 26) through which the airflow is emitted from the fan assembly.
Regarding claim 17, Woodruff discloses the fan assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the refrigeration system comprises a compressor (9, 10) and a further heat exchanger (15); and the further heat exchanger surrounds a major portion of the compressor (15 surrounds major portion of compressor motor 10).
Regarding claim 18, Woodruff discloses the fan assembly as claimed in claim 17, wherein the fan assembly comprises a condensation collector (tray partition 13) for collecting condensate that forms on the heat exchanger (24), and the condensation collector comprise a tray located between the heat exchanger (24) and the further heat exchanger (15, Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 20, Woodruff discloses the fan assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the refrigeration system comprises a further heat exchanger (15), a compressor (9, 10) for moving a refrigerant between the heat exchanger and further heat exchanger, and a metering device (expansion valve 34) for reducing a pressure of the refrigerant.
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 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woodruff (US Pat. 2,115,295) in view of Asbra et al. (US PG Pub. 2014/0216458).
Regarding claim 16¸ Woodruff discloses the fan assembly as claimed in claim 1, but does not explicitly teach wherein the airflow generator is configured to generate an airflow having a flow rate of no less than 20 L/s.
Asbra teaches the concept of a portable air conditioner having a fan assembly including an airflow generator is configured to generate an airflow having a flow rate of no less than 20 L/s (97 CFM; paragraph 11) to ensure proper air deliver to the user. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the fan assembly of Woodruff to have the airflow generator is configured to generate an airflow having a flow rate of no less than 20 L/s taught by Asbra in order to generate a proper amount of airflow to be generated by the air conditioner.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woodruff (US Pat. 2,115,295) in view of Howard (US PG Pub. 2017/0108233).
Regarding claim 19¸ Woodruff discloses the fan assembly as claimed in claim 18, but does not explicitly teach wherein the condensation collector comprises a bottle, the tray comprises a drain through which condensate collected by the tray drains into the bottle, and the bottle is located in a gap in the further heat exchanger.
Howard teaches condensation collector comprises a bottle (element 215), the tray (element 200) comprises a drain (element 205) through which condensate collected by the tray drains into the bottle (per para. 0033). It would have been obvious at the time of filing to modify Woodruff to include the bottle of Howard located in a gap in the first heat exchanger (this is an obvious design choice based on the limited space with the compressor located as taught by Woodruff), in order to remove unwanted water when humidifying is unwanted.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-14 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art does not anticipate nor render obvious the combination set forth in the independent claims, and specifically does not show " the fan assembly comprises an axial gap between an inlet of the airflow generator and a wall facing the inlet, and a ratio of the axial gap to a diameter of the inlet is no less than 1:2.3"; “the fan assembly comprises an axial gap between an inlet of the airflow generator and a wall facing the inlet, and a ratio of the axial gap to a height of the heat exchanger is no less than 1:4”; “the fan assembly comprises a radial gap between the airflow generator and the heat exchanger, and a ratio of the radial gap, at an inlet of the airflow generator, to a height of the heat exchanger is no less than 1:5”.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Smith (US 2,150,993) fan assembly having top mounted fan inside cylindrical evaporator; Ikeda et al. (US 2017/0276379) fan assembly having a defined ratio of height between fan and exchanger and diameter of fan.
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.
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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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