DETAILED ACTION
The present office action is in response to the preliminary amendment filed on 12/09/2024. Claims 1 – 10 are pending in the application.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
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 of this title, 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, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamei et al. (U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2018/0213808) in view of Bosher et al. (U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2004/0035553, listed on Applicant’s IDS dated 07/28/2025).
Regarding Claim 1, Kamei shows (Figures 1 – 12):
An inside air control apparatus (10) for adjusting a composition (“an inside air control system which controls a composition of the air in the container”, Paragraph 0001) of inside air (air within 11) in a storage (11), comprising”
an absorber (34, 35) containing an absorbent (“absorbent provided in first and second absorption columns 34 and 35”, Paragraph 0057) for absorbing nitrogen (“first and second absorption columns 34 and 35 each provided with an absorbent for absorbing a nitrogen component in the air”, Paragraph 0057) and configured to separate (as illustrated by the flow arrows in Figure 4 and 5) outside air (outside air, as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5) outside the storage (11) into a first gas (nitrogen enriched gas, as illustrated in Figure 4 and described in Paragraphs 0103-0105) having a higher concentration of nitrogen and a lower concentration of oxygen (“this produces nitrogen-enriched air containing the nitrogen component desorbed from the absorbent, and having a higher nitrogen concentration and a lower oxygen concentration than the outside air… discharged through 44”, Paragraph 0105) than the outside air (outside air, as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5) and a second gas (oxygen enriched gas, as illustrated in Figure 5 and described in Paragraphs 01016-1018) having a lower concentration of nitrogen and a higher concentration of oxygen (“this produces an oxygen-enriched air having a lower nitrogen concentration and a higher oxygen concentration than the outside air”, Paragraph 0107) than the outside air (outside air, as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5);
a first gas passage (gas passage of the first operation, as illustrated in Figure 4) through which the first gas (nitrogen enriched gas, as illustrated in Figure 4 and described in Paragraphs 0103-0105) flows; and
a second gas passage (gas passage of the second operation, as illustrated in Figure 5) through which the second gas (oxygen enriched gas, as illustrated in Figure 5 and described in Paragraphs 01016-1018) flows,
the inside air control apparatus (10) being configured to perform (as described in “Basic Operation of Gas Supply Device” on Pages 7 – 9):
a decrease operation (first operation) for decreasing a concentration of oxygen (as controlled by controller 55 and oxygen sensor 51) in the inside air (air within 11) by introducing (through 44) the first gas (nitrogen enriched gas, as illustrated in Figure 4 and described in Paragraphs 0103-0105) to an inside (the inside of 11) of the storage (11) through the first gas passage (gas passage of the first operation, as illustrated in Figure 4); and
a second operation (second operation) which produces the second gas (oxygen enriched gas, as illustrated in Figure 5 and described in Paragraphs 01016-1018).
However, Kamei lacks showing the second gas (oxygen enriched gas produced, as illustrated in Figure 5 and described in Paragraphs 01016-1018) having the lower concentration of nitrogen and the higher concentration of oxygen (“this produces an oxygen-enriched air having a lower nitrogen concentration and a higher oxygen concentration than the outside air”, Paragraph 0107) than the outside air (outside air, as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5) is introduced to the inside of the storage through the second gas passage in the second operation, resulting in an increase operation for increasing a concentration of oxygen in the inside air.
In the same field of endeavor of controlling an internal environment during transportation, Bosher teaches (Figure 1):
“If the oxygen level in the cargo area goes below its set point then the system will process outside air through the membrane which instead of directing a nitrogen enriched stream into the cargo area may direct an oxygen enriched stream”, Paragraph 0174.
Further, “preferably control of said gas environment involves the control of at least one or more of the nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and ethylene content of the gas environment within the container”, Paragraph 0044.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the second gas having the lower concentration of nitrogen and the higher concentration of oxygen produced during the second operation shown Kamei in view of the teachings of Bosher, resulting in the second gas to be introduced to the inside of the storage through the second gas passage in the second operation, resulting in an increase operation for increasing a concentration of oxygen in the inside air, to increase controllability of the environment inside the storage by controlling of said gas environment involves the control of at least one or more of the nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and ethylene content of the gas environment within the container.
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Kamei (Figures 1 – 12) and Bosher (Figure 1) teaches:
The second gas passage (gas passage of the second operation, as illustrated in Figure 5) is able to switch between (as taught in combination, this would be accomplished via a control valve) an introduction mode (as taught by Bosher in Paragraph 0174) introducing the second gas (oxygen enriched gas, as illustrated in Figure 5 and described in Paragraphs 01016-1018) to the inside (via 44) of the storage (11) and a discharge mode (mode illustrated in Kamei Figure 5) for discharging (via 45) the second gas (oxygen enriched gas, as illustrated in Figure 5 and described in Paragraphs 01016-1018) to an outside (as illustrated by air flow arrows in Figure 5) of the storage (11).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Kamei (Figures 1 – 12) and Bosher (Figure 1) teaches:
The second gas passage (gas passage of the second operation, as illustrated in Figure 5) includes
a trunk passage (41, 42) connected to (as illustrated in Figure 5) the absorber (34, 35),
a supply passage (44) communicating with (as illustrated in Figure 5) the inside (the inside of 11) of the storage (11),
a discharge passage (45) communicating with (as illustrated in Figure 5) the outside (the exterior of 11) of the storage (11), and
a switching mechanism (as described in Paragraph 0092, controller 55 controls various control valves to control the flow through 30; in combination, a control valve would be used to change the flow between the discharge mode and the introduction mode) allowing the trunk passage (41, 42) to communicate with the supply passage (44) in the introduction mode (as taught by Bosher in Paragraph 0174) and allowing the trunk passage (41, 42) to communicate with the discharge passage (45) in the discharge mode (mode illustrated in Kamei Figure 5).
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Kamei (Figures 1 – 12) and Bosher (Figure 1) teaches:
An oxygen sensor (51) configured to measure a concentration of the oxygen (in combination 51 would be used to measure the concentration of oxygen inside 11 to compare the concentration to Bosher’s oxygen set point) in the inside air (air inside 11); and
a controller (55) configured to switch (as described in Paragraph 0092) the second gas passage (gas passage of the second operation, as illustrated in Figure 5) between (as taught by the combination of Kamei and Bosher) the introduction mode (as taught by Bosher in Paragraph 0174) and the discharge mode (mode illustrated in Kamei Figure 5) based on a value (the oxygen concentration measured by 51, compared to the set point) measured by the oxygen sensor (51).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Kamei (Figures 1 – 12) and Bosher (Figure 1) teaches:
The absorber (34, 35) includes a first absorber (34) and a second absorber (35) each containing the absorbent (“absorbent provided in first and second absorption columns 34 and 35”, Paragraph 0057), and
the inside air control apparatus (10, as modified in view of Bosher) alternately repeats (as described in “First Operation” and “Second Operation” on Pages 8-9)
a first operation (first operation) for making the second gas (oxygen enriched gas) flow out from (as described in Paragraph 0104) the first absorber (34) by supplying (as described in Paragraph 0104) the outside air (outside air) to the first absorber (34) and for making the first gas (nitrogen enriched gas) flow out from (as described in Paragraph 0105) the second absorber (35), and
a second operation (second operation) for making the second gas (oxygen enriched gas) flow out from (as described in Paragraph 0107) the second absorber (35) by supplying (as described in Paragraph 0107) the outside air (outside air) to the second absorber (35) and for making the first gas (nitrogen enriched gas) flow out from (as described in Paragraph 0108) the first absorber (34).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Kamei (Figures 1 – 12) and Bosher (Figure 1) teaches:
A refrigeration apparatus (Kamei: container refrigeration apparatus, Abstract) comprising:
the inside air control apparatus (10, as modified in view of Bosher) of claim 1 (see rejection of Claim 1 above); and
a refrigeration circuit (Kamei: 20) configured to perform a refrigeration cycle (Kamei: as described in “Configuration of Refrigeration Circuit” on Page 3) to adjust a temperature (Kamei: the air temperature inside 11) of the inside air (Kamei: air within 11).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Kamei (Figures 1 – 12) and Bosher (Figure 1) teaches:
The transportation container (Kamei: “container 11 for use in transportation”, Paragraph 0036), comprising
the refrigeration apparatus (Kamei: container refrigeration apparatus, Abstract) of claim 9 (see rejection of Claim 9 above); and
a container body (Kamei: the body of 11) provided with (Kamei: as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3) the refrigeration apparatus (Kamei: container refrigeration apparatus, Abstract) and constituting the storage (Kamei: as illustrated in Figure 2, 11 stores 15).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 6, and 7 are objected to as being dependent on a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Kamei (Figures 1 – 12) and Bosher (Figure 1) teaches:
In the increase operation (the second mode, as taught by the combination in Claim 1 above), the second gas (gas produced during second operation, as illustrated in Figure 5 and described in Paragraphs 01016-1018) is introduced to the inside (the inside of 11) of the storage (11) through the second gas passage (gas passage of the second operation, as illustrated in Figure 5).
However, the combination lacks showing the first gas is also introduced to the inside of the storage through the first gas passage in the increase operation.
Modifying the combination accordingly teaches away from the principle operation of Kamei.
Claims 6 and 7 depend from Claim 5.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and is provided in the Notice of References Cited.
The following prior art teaches related transportation refrigeration devices:
Tagawa et al. (U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2020/0132355): see Figures 1 – 5
Takayama et al. (U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2019/0141903): see Figures 1 – 5
Zita et al. (U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2017/0355518): see Figure 3
Bryant et al. (U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2013/0340444): see Figures 1, 6, and 7
Rogers et al. (U.S. Pre-Grant Publication No. 2013/0019961): see Figures 1 and 3
Haggerty et al. (U.S. Patent No. 8,252,090): see Figure 1
Harris et al. (U.S. Patent No. 4,642,996): see Figure 10
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/DANA K TIGHE/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/AVINASH A SAVANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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