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 § 112
Claim 5 is 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 “high pressure gas” in claim 5 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “high pressure” 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.
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 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Akiba (JP58210486A).
Regarding claim 1, Akiba discloses a vector cancelling condenser device (Fig. 1-3) comprising: a body (8) defined by at least one wall (see wall(s) thereof) and an enclosed space (interior thereof); and at least one pair of delivery tubes (12, 12’) having a pair of gas outlets (outlets of 12, 12’) in the body, wherein the pair of gas outlets are facing each other and configured to cancel the velocity of gas coming out from the gas outlets (collides with each other to eliminate the velocity energy of the steam – Page 1) to forms saturated vapor of the gas and condensed liquid formed by releasing latent heat of condensation from the saturated vapors.
Regarding claim 5, Akiba discloses a vector cancelling condensing method (Fig. 1-3) comprises steps of: suppling high pressure gas to a plurality of delivery tubes having a pair of gas outlets (110a, 110b) facing each other; cancelling the velocity of gas coming out from the gas outlets and converts the gas into saturated vapors (collides with each other to eliminate the velocity energy of the steam – Page 1); condensing (condensed – Page 2) the saturated vapors partially into condensed liquid; extracting the latent heat of condensation released from the partial condensation of the saturated vapors into liquid (via pipes 10); and collecting the condensed liquid (see outlet of 8 in Fig. 1).
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.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akiba (JP58210486A) in view of Bronicki (US4542625).
Regarding claim 2, Akiba teaches the limitations of claim 1, and Akiba further teaches the vector cancelling condenser device further comprises: at least one heat extracting pipe (10) provided in the body (8) and the heat extracting pipe is configured to extract the latent heat of condensation released from the condensation of saturated vapors; and a liquid collector (see outlet of 8 in Fig. 1) configured to collect the condensed liquid.
Akiba does not teach wherein the heat extracting pipe is a coil. Bronicki teaches wherein the heat extracting pipe is a coil (heat exchanger coil 25/41 Fig. 1-4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Akiba to include wherein the steam condenser is a shell and coil heat exchanger, as taught by Bronicki, as it has been held obvious to provide a simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results (see MPEP 2143).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akiba (JP58210486A) in view of Han (CN109990614A).
Regarding claim 3, Akiba teaches the limitations of claim 1, and Akiba does not teach wherein the vector cancelling condenser device (100) further comprises at least one heat extracting jacket provided in the body (102) and the heat extracting jacket is configured to extract the latent heat of condensation released from the condensation of saturated vapors.
Han teaches the condenser device (Fig. 1-3) further comprises at least one heat extracting jacket (5 & 6) provided in the body and the heat extracting jacket is configured to extract the latent heat of condensation released from the condensation of saturated vapors.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Akiba to include the jacket of Han, in order to improve efficiency (Page 4).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akiba (JP58210486A) in view of Blangetti (US5018572A).
Regarding claim 4, Akiba teaches the limitations of claim 1, and Akiba does not teach the shape of the body (102) is selected from sphere, cylinder, cube, cuboid, hexagonal cylinder, polygonal cylinder.
Blangetti teaches the shape of the body is selected from sphere, cylinder, cube, cuboid, hexagonal cylinder, polygonal cylinder (cuboidal condenser – Col. 3, lines 55-65).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Akiba to include wherein the steam condenser is a shell and coil heat exchanger, as taught by Blangetti, as it has been held obvious to try when choosing from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation of success (see MPEP 2143).
Conclusion
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/ERIC S RUPPERT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763