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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “200” has been used to designate both the cable guide and cable fixer in figures 11 and 13. The Reference character “200” designating the cable fixer should be “230”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: The words, “a cable fixer comprising” in line 6 is repeated. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 17 is objected to because of the following informalities: The word “include” in line 4 should be replaced with the word, “includes” Appropriate correction is required.
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 2-20, 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.
With reference to claim 2, in line 5, the claim refers to “the electrical equipment case”. However, claim 1 claims electrical equipment cases which would require more than one electrical equipment case. Accordingly, it is unclear if claim 2 requires one or all of the electrical equipment cases to be seated on the first partition. For the purposes of examination, the examiner is going to treat the claim as if it read, “a first partition on an upper surface of which at least one of the electrical equipment cases are
With reference to claim 9, in line 4, “the extension member”, lacks antecedent basis in the claims. For the purposes of examination, the examiner is going to treat the claim as if it read, “further comprising an extension member disposed adjacent to the second partition to form the cable passage together with the partition plate, wherein the cable guide is slidably coupled to the extension member.”
With reference to claim 11, in line 2, the claim refers to “the electrical equipment case”. However, claim 1 claims electrical equipment cases which would require more than one electrical equipment case. Accordingly, it is unclear if claim 11 requires one or all of the electrical equipment cases to comprise a surface disposed to face the die of the outdoor unit. For the purposes of examination, the examiner is going to treat the claim as if it read, “the at least one electrical equipment case comprises an electrical equipment case surface disposed to face the side of the outdoor unit”.
With further reference to claim 11, in lines 5 and 8, the claim refers to “the one surface of the electrical equipment case, this term lacks antecedent basis in the claim. For the purposes of examination, the examiner is going to treat the claim as if it read, “surface”, for claim clarity.
With respect to claim 15 in line 3, the claim recites “an outdoor unit of the air conditioner”. It is unclear how this relates to “an outdoor unit of an air conditioner” of the preamble. For the purposes of examination, the examiner is going to treat the claim as if it read, “An
With respect to claim 15, in line 8, “the cable” lacks antecedent basis in the claim. For the purposes of examination, the examiner is going to treat the claim as if it read, “a cable”.
With respect to claim 17, in line 2, “the electrical equipment cases” lacks antecedent basis as claim 15 only requires “an electrical equipment case”. For the purposes of examination, the examiner is going to treat the claim as if it read, “the electrical equipment case[s]”.
Claims 3-8, 10, 12-14, 16, and 18-20 are also rejected by virtue of dependency.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by WO2023/112987 to Okubo et al., (see English language translation provided herewith).
In reference to claim 1, Okubo discloses the claimed invention including:
An outdoor unit (20) of an air conditioner (1) comprising:
an outdoor unit housing (30, see figure 3);
a refrigerant pipe (21b) disposed inside the outdoor unit housing (30);
electrical equipment cases (42, see figure 10) disposed inside the outdoor unit housing and comprising case holes (within terminals 81, 82, 83, etc.) configured to allow a cable to pass through (inferred with the description of a terminal, there will necessarily be holes for the electric wires to pass through so as to connect to the electrical components on the substrate); and
a cable guide (65, 66, and 48 collectively comprise the cable guide) disposed on a cable passage (where sealing member 65 sits, see below for the examiner’s definition of the cable passage) through which the cable passes toward the case holes (as seen in figure 9),
wherein the cable guide comprises:
a guide body (65) configured to cover the cable passage to block a leaked refrigerant from being introduced into the case holes along the cable passage based on a refrigerant leaking from the refrigerant pipe (it should be noted that the claim does not further specify, define, or limit what, if any, additional structure is required in order to be " configured to cover the cable passage to block a leaked refrigerant from being introduced into the case holes along the cable passage based on a refrigerant leaking from the refrigerant pipe " beyond that previously recited, of which Okubo includes, as detailed above);
a guide opening (66) formed in the guide body to allow the cable to pass through; and
a cable fixer (48) comprising a fixer body coupled with the cable and inserted into the guide opening and configured to fix the cable to the guide body and cover the guide opening.
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In reference to claim 2, Okubo discloses the claimed invention including:
a partition plate (50, 51, 53, collectively comprise the partition plate) configured to partition the electrical equipment cases (42) from a space (33) in which the refrigerant pipe is disposed,
wherein the partition plate comprises:
a first partition on an upper surface (51) of which the electrical equipment case (42) is seated; and
a second partition (at 53) extending downward from the first partition (51, see below for the examiner’s definition of the first and second partition) to form the cable passage with respect to the space in which the refrigerant pipe is disposed.
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In reference to claim 15, Okubo discloses the claimed invention including:
An
an indoor unit (10) of the air conditioner; and
an outdoor unit (20) of the air conditioner configured to be connected to the indoor unit of the air conditioner (see figure 1),
wherein the outdoor unit (20) of the air conditioner comprises:
an outdoor unit housing (30);
a refrigerant pipe (21b) disposed inside the outdoor unit housing;
an electrical equipment case (42) including case holes (within terminals 81, 82, 83, etc.) formed to allow the cable to pass through, and disposed inside the outdoor unit housing (inferred with the description of a terminal where there will necessarily be holes for the electric wires to pass through so as to connect to the electrical components on the substrate); and
a cable guide (65, 66, and 48 collectively comprise the cable guide) disposed on a cable passage (refer to the annotated reference with respect to claim 1) through which the cable passes toward the case holes,
wherein the cable guide is configured to cover the cable passage in order to block the leaked refrigerant from being introduced into the case holes along the cable passage based on a refrigerant leaking from the refrigerant pipe. It should be noted that the claim does not further specify, define, or limit what, if any, additional structure is required in order to be " configured to cover the cable passage in order to block the leaked refrigerant from being introduced into the case holes along the cable passage based on a refrigerant leaking from the refrigerant pipe" beyond that previously recited, of which Okubo includes, as detailed above.
In reference to claim 16, Okubo discloses the claimed invention including:
the cable guide (65, 66, and 48) includes:
a guide body (65) configured to cover the cable passage,
a guide opening (66) formed in the guide body to allow the cable to pass through and
a cable fixer (48)
In reference to claim 17, Okubo discloses the claimed invention including:
a partition plate (50, 51, 53, collectively comprise the partition plate) provided to partition the electrical equipment cases (42) from a space (33) in which the refrigerant pipe is disposed,
wherein the partition plate includes:
a first partition on an upper surface (51) of which the electrical equipment case (42) is seated; and
a second partition (at 53) extending downward from the first partition (51, refer to annotated figure with respect to claim 2 supra) to form the cable passage with respect to the space in which the refrigerant pipe is disposed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-14 and 18-20 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 of record, when considered as a whole, alone or in combination fails to teach nor render obvious the particular combination of the instant claims including: the outdoor unit housing further comprises a front cover configured to cover the front of the outdoor unit, and a part of the front cover is in contact with the second partition to form the cable passage together with the partition plate as required by instant claims 3 and 18. Without some teaching suggestion or motivation in the art, one skilled in the art would not be motivated to make the claimed invention without impermissible hindsight reasoning.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CASSEY D BAUER whose telephone number is (571)270-7113. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs: 10AM-8PM (ET).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Frantz Jules can be reached at 571-272-6681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CASSEY D BAUER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763