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 .
Response to Amendments
The amendments filed on May 18, 2026 have been entered. Accordingly, claims 13-20 are new, wherein claims 1-20 are currently pending in this application.
Claim Objections
The following claims are objected to because of informalities, wherein appropriate correction is required:
In claim 11: the recitation of “a reservoir” should be amended to –the reservoir—, to avoid potential ambiguities.
In claim 13: the recitation of “the refrigerant the reservoir comprising” (in lines 2-3) should be amended to –the refrigerant, the reservoir comprising— (i.e., by adding a comma) for grammatical purposes.
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.
Claim 12 is 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 12 contains the following issues:
The claim recites “a heat exchanger and a reservoir”, despite already being recited in claim 1, which renders the scope of the claim indefinite. One of ordinary skill in the art may not be able to ascertain whether a separate and distinct heat exchanger and reservoir are required for anticipation or infringement. For examination purposes, the quoted recitation will be construed as –the heat exchanger and the reservoir—.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Koster et al. (US 20150345844 A1), herein Koster.1
As per claim 1, Koster discloses a reservoir (1) for a motor vehicle for separating gaseous and liquid portions of a refrigerant from one another and/or collecting and storing the refrigerant (see at least ¶ 2), the reservoir (1) comprising:
a cylinder (2 or 14);
an intake tube (3);
a heat exchanger (15);
wherein the cylinder (2 or 14) has a lower cylinder cap (19);
wherein the intake tube (3) is inside the cylinder (see at least figs. 1-2);
wherein refrigerant flows through the intake tube (see at least ¶ 35);
wherein the intake tube (3) has an upper and a lower end (evident from at least fig. 1),
wherein the heat exchanger (15) is thermally coupled to the exterior of the cylinder (2 or 14) to transfer heat between the exterior of the cylinder and the cylinder (see at least fig. 1),
wherein the intake tube (3) has a reversal region for the refrigerant at the lower end bottom, wherein the reversal region (see arrows in fig. 6) and the lower cylinder cap (19) form an integral part, or are connected to one another (evident from at least figs. 5-6).
As per claim 2, Koster discloses wherein the reversal region contains an oil hole (7; see at least figs. 3 and 6).
As per claim 3, Koster discloses wherein the reversal region in the intake tube (3) has an axial height (see at least figs. 3 and 6), wherein the oil hole (7) is above or below the midpoint of the axial height (see at least fig. 3).
As per claim 4, Koster discloses wherein the intake tube (3) forms an integral part (see at least fig. 1).
As per claim 5, Koster discloses wherein intake tube (3) comprises at least two parts (4 and 5; see at least ¶ 36).
As per claim 6, Koster discloses wherein the intake tube (3) contains at least one tube (5), wherein the reversal region forms a connector (e.g., 9; see at least figs. 3 and 6), wherein the connector is connected to the at least one tube (5).
As per claim 7, Koster discloses wherein the reversal region in the intake tube (3) is at least partially surrounded by a filter (10; see figs. 4-5).
As per claim 8, Koster discloses wherein the cylinder (2 or 14) has an upper cylinder cap (18), and the intake tube (3) and the upper cylinder cap (18) are connected to one another (as shown in at least fig. 1).
As per claim 8, Koster discloses wherein an upper cylinder cap (18) has at least one separating wall (see at least fig. 1).
As per claim 10, Koster discloses wherein the reservoir has an axis (e.g., vertical central axis), wherein the oil hole (7) is at a radial spacing to the axis (as shown in at least fig. 3).
As per claim 11, Koster discloses a refrigerant circuit for a motor vehicle (see at least ¶¶ 2-3, 8, 10, 18 & 20) that has a reservoir according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1).
As per claim 12, Koster discloses an assembly (1) for a motor vehicle (see fig. 1 and ¶ 2), containing a heat exchanger (15) and a reservoir according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1).
As per claim 13, Koster discloses a reservoir (1) for a motor vehicle for separating gaseous and liquid portions of a refrigerant from one another and/or collecting and storing the refrigerant (see at least ¶ 2), the reservoir (1) comprising:
a cylinder (2 or 14);
an intake tube (3);
a heat exchanger (15);
wherein the cylinder (2 or 14) has a lower cylinder cap (19);
wherein the intake tube (3) is inside the cylinder (2 or 14);
wherein refrigerant flows through the intake tube (see arrows in at least fig. 6);
wherein the intake tube (3) has an upper and a lower end (see at least fig. 1),
wherein the heat exchanger (15) is fluidly coupled to the exterior of the cylinder (2 or 14) to transfer heat between the exterior of the cylinder and the cylinder (see at least fig. 1),
wherein the intake tube (3) has a reversal region for the refrigerant at the lower end (see at least fig. 6), wherein the reversal region and the lower cylinder cap (19) form an integral part, or are connected to one another (see at least figs. 1 and 6).
As per claim 14, Koster discloses wherein the reversal region contains an oil hole (7), wherein the reservoir has an axis (e.g., a vertical central axis), wherein the oil hole (7) is at a radial spacing to the axis (see at least fig. 3).
As per claim 15, Koster discloses wherein the reversal region in the intake tube (3) has an axial height (see at least fig. 6), wherein the oil hole (7) is above or below the midpoint of the axial height (as shown in at least figs. 3 or 6).
As per claim 16, Koster discloses wherein intake tube (3) comprises at least two parts (4 and 5).
As per claim 17, Koster discloses wherein the intake tube (3) contains at least one tube (5), wherein the reversal region forms a connector (e.g., 9), wherein the connector is connected to the at least one tube (see at least fig. 6).
As per claim 18, Koster discloses wherein the intake tube (3) forms an integral part (see fig. 1), and wherein the reversal region in the intake tube (3) is at least partially surrounded by a filter (10; see at least fig. 4).
As per claim 19, Koster discloses wherein the cylinder (2 or 14) has an upper cylinder cap (18), and the intake tube (3) and the upper cylinder cap (18) are connected to one another (as shown in at least fig. 1).
As per claim 20, Koster discloses wherein an upper cylinder cap (18) has at least one separating wall (see at least fig. 1).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 10-11 of the Remarks, filed on May 18, 2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 1-12 under the previously relied upon prior art of Hosokawa (US 10215461 B2) have been fully considered and are persuasive in light of the amendments. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Koster, as applied supra.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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
1 The prior art of Koster was originally made of record in the IDS filed on March 19, 2025.
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