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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The submitted information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 1 contains the following issues:
The claim recites “preferably for a motor vehicle”, wherein the term "preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. It should be noted that a description of examples or preferences is properly set forth in the specification rather than the claims. If stated in the claims, examples and preferences may lead to confusion over the intended scope of a claim. In the instant case, it is not clear whether the claimed narrower range “for a motor vehicle” is a limitation. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). For examination purposes, the quoted limitation will be omitted.
The claim recites “the bottom”, in the second to last line, without proper antecedent basis. It is unclear what specific bottom of the recited structures is being referred to for anticipation or infringement. For examination purposes, the recitation will be construed as –a bottom—.
Claim 9 contains the following issues:
The claim recites “the upper cylinder cap”, in the second line, without proper antecedent basis. It is unclear whether claim 9 was intended to depend on claim 8 instead of claim 1. For examination purposes, the recitation will be construed as –an upper cylinder cap—.
Claim 12 contains the following issues:
The claim recites “preferably for a motor vehicle”, wherein the term "preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. It should be noted that a description of examples or preferences is properly set forth in the specification rather than the claims. If stated in the claims, examples and preferences may lead to confusion over the intended scope of a claim. In the instant case, it is not clear whether the claimed narrower range “for a motor vehicle” is a limitation. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). For examination purposes, the quoted limitation will be omitted.
Any remaining claims are rejected at least by virtue of their dependency.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Hosokawa (US 10215461 B2).
As per claim 1, Hosokawa discloses a reservoir (see fig. 1) for separating gaseous and liquid portions of a refrigerant from one another and/or collecting and storing the refrigerant (evident from at least column 1, lines 13-17), containing:
a cylinder (30)
an intake tube (31)
wherein the cylinder (30) has a lower cylinder cap (40)
wherein the intake tube (31) is inside the cylinder (30)
wherein refrigerant flows through the intake tube (see arrows in fig. 1)
wherein the intake tube (31) has a reversal region (region below 31 with the curved arrows) for the refrigerant at the bottom (see fig. 1), wherein the reversal region and the lower cylinder cap (40) form an integral part (i.e., functionally integrated to guide the refrigerant), or are connected to one another (as assembled in fig. 1).
As per claim 2, Hosokawa discloses wherein the reversal region (below 31) contains an oil hole (35).
As per claim 3, Hosokawa discloses wherein the reversal region (below 31) in the intake tube (31) has an axial height (e.g., height between the surface of 13 and the bottom surface of 31; see fig. 1), wherein the oil hole (35) is above or below the midpoint of the axial height (evident from fig. 1).
As per claim 4, Hosokawa discloses wherein the intake tube (31) forms an integral part (see fig. 1).
As per claim 5, Hosokawa discloses wherein the intake tube (31) comprises at least two parts (e.g., 31, 31f and/or 19).
As per claim 6, Hosokawa discloses wherein the intake tube (31) contains at least one tube (as shown in fig. 1), wherein the reversal region (below 31) forms a connector (between 30 and 31), wherein the connector is connected (fluidly) to the at least one tube (see fig. 1).
As per claim 7, Hosokawa discloses wherein the reversal region (below 31) in the intake tube (31) is at least partially surrounded by a filter (45).
As per claim 8, Hosokawa discloses wherein the cylinder (30) has an upper cylinder cap (18), and the intake tube (31) and the upper cylinder cap (18) are connected to one another (see fig. 1).
As per claim 9, Hosokawa discloses wherein an upper cylinder cap (18) has at least one separating wall (e.g., horizontal wall of 18).
As per claim 10, Hosokawa discloses wherein the reservoir (1) has an axis (e.g., vertical axis), wherein the oil hole (35) is at a radial spacing to the axis (i.e., 35 is radially off-center relative to the central axis of 1).
As per claim 11, Hosokawa discloses a refrigerant circuit (200) for a motor vehicle (col. 1, lines 19-20) that has a reservoir (1, 250) according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1).
As per claim 12, Hosokawa discloses an assembly (200), containing a heat exchanger (220 or 230) and a reservoir (1, 250) according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MIGUEL A DIAZ whose telephone number is (313)446-6587. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
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/MIGUEL A DIAZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763