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
Figures 1-2 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. 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 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.
Claims 1, 2, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suzuki (US 10,131,203).
As to claim 1, Suzuki discloses a thermal management system for a vehicle, the system comprising:
a base circuit in which a compressor 11, a condenser 12 (or 15), an expansion valve 14 (or 16), and an evaporator 20 (or 15) circulate refrigerant;
a recirculation circuit branched from a discharge portion of the compressor 11 at point 13a in the base circuit and joined at an inlet portion of the compressor (Figs. 1 and 5-6); and
an adjusting valve 22 (or 25) positioned at the discharge portion where the recirculation circuit is branched from the base circuit and configured to adjust a flow rate of the refrigerant that flows toe the recirculation circuit (Figs. 1 and 5-6; col. 22, lines 10-20).
As to claim 2, Suzuki discloses an ejector 21 positioned at the inlet portion where the recirculation circuit is joined to the base circuit, the ejector 21 configured to perform suction of the refrigerant in the base circuit by use of refrigerant flow in the recirculation circuit (Figs. 1 and 5-6).
As to claim 9, Suzuki discloses a gas-liquid separator 19 between the evaporator 15/20 and the compressor 11 so that refrigerant is supplied to the compressor 11 in a gaseous state (Figs. 1 and 5-6).
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.
Claims 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki as applied in the rejections above, and further in view of Ohman (US 5,816,055).
As to claims 4-6, Suzuki does not teach a configuration with a flash tank as claimed. However, Ohman teaches that it is known to use a flash tank 26 provided between a condenser and evaporator, with a flash circuit 22 branched from the tank 26 to provide gaseous refrigerant to a compressor inlet, first and second expansion valve 13/15 upstream and downstream of the tank 26, respectively, and a shutoff valve 17 in the flash circuit 22 configured to adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant in the flash circuit 22 (Fig. 1). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify Suzuki to include a flash tank economizer as claimed and taught by Ohman in order to increase the conditioning capabilities of the system (Ohman, col. 1, lines 23-25).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN BRADFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-5199. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 - 4:00 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jerry-Daryl Fletcher can be reached at (571)270-5054. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JONATHAN BRADFORD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763