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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/4/2024 was filed on or after the mailing date of the application. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shindo (JPH07228133A).
Regarding Claim 1, Shindo teaches an air conditioning system for blowing heated air [fig 1], the air conditioning system comprising:
a casing [24] including an air introduction port configured to introduce air 0012; fig 1; Drawing 1],
an internal passage [20] configured to guide the air introduced from the air introduction port to an inside of a compartment [0012], and
an external passage [21] configured to guide the air introduced from the air introduction port to an outside of the compartment [0012];
a bypass passage [31] configured to guide air flowing through the internal passage to the external passage [0014];
an air blowing unit [22, 27] configured to generate an air flow in the internal passage and the external passage [0012-0016]; and
a refrigeration cycle including an electric compressor [6] configured to compress and discharge a refrigerant by an operation of an electric motor as a drive source [0016],
a first heat exchanger [23] provided in the internal passage and configured to heat the air flowing in the internal passage by exchanging heat between the refrigerant discharged from the electric compressor and the air flowing in the internal passage [0015],
a decompressor [8] configured to reduce a pressure of a refrigerant that has flowed out from the first heat exchanger [0015], and
a second heat exchanger [28] provided in the external passage and configured to absorb heat from air flowing in the external passage by exchanging heat between a refrigerant that has flowed out from the decompressor and the air flowing in the external passage [0015],
wherein the bypass passage includes an air flow upstream end disposed in the internal passage [Drawing I], and
an air flow downstream end disposed in the external passage and upstream of a position of the second heat exchanger in the air flow in the external passage [Drawing I].
Regarding Claim 2, Shindo teaches the invention of claim 1 above and Shindo teaches wherein the air flow upstream end of the bypass passage is disposed downstream of a position of the first heat exchanger in the air flow in the internal passage [See Drawing I].
Regarding Claim 3, Shindo teaches the invention of claim 1 above and Shindo teaches a flow rate adjustment unit [32] configured to adjust a flow rate of air flowing from the internal passage to the external passage via the bypass passage [0014].
Regarding Claim 4, Shindo teaches an air conditioning system for blowing heated air [fig 1], the air conditioning system comprising:
a casing [24] including an air introduction port configured to introduce air [0012; Drawing I],
an internal passage [20] configured to guide the air introduced from the air introduction port to an inside of a compartment [0012], and
an external passage [21] configured to guide the air introduced from the air introduction port to an outside of the compartment [0012];
a bypass passage [31] configured to guide air flowing through the internal passage to the external passage [0014], the bypass passage including an air flow upstream end disposed in the external passage, and an air flow downstream end disposed in the internal passage; an air blowing unit configured to generate an air flow in the internal passage and the external passage [0014; Drawing I];
a refrigeration cycle including an electric compressor [6] configured to compress and discharge a refrigerant by an operation of an electric motor as a drive source [0016],
a first heat exchanger [23] provided in the internal passage and configured to heat air flowing in the internal passage by exchanging heat between the refrigerant discharged from the electric compressor and the air flowing in the internal passage [0015],
a decompressor [8] configured to reduce a pressure of a refrigerant that has flowed out from the first heat exchanger [0015], and
a second heat exchanger [28] provided in the external passage and configured to absorb heat from the air flowing in the external passage by exchanging heat between a refrigerant that has flowed out from the decompressor and the air flowing in the external passage [0015]; and
a flow rate adjustment unit [32] configured to adjust a flow rate of air flowing from the external passage to the internal passage via the bypass passage [0014],
wherein the air blowing unit [22, 27] is configured to generate an air flow in the internal passage and an air flow in the external passage such that the air flow in the internal passage and the air flow in the external passage are opposite in flow direction [0012-0016],
the air flow upstream end of the bypass passage has an opening facing upstream in the air flow in the external passage, the air flow downstream end of the bypass passage has an opening facing downstream in the air flow in the internal passage, and the flow rate adjustment unit [32] is configured to adjust a temperature of the air flowing through the internal passage by adjusting the flow rate of the air flowing from the external passage to the internal passage via the bypass passage [0012-0016].
Regarding Claim 5, Shindo teaches the invention of claim 4 above and Shindo teaches wherein the air flow upstream end of the bypass passage is disposed downstream of a position of the second heat exchanger in the air flow in the external passage [Drawing I].
Regarding Claim 6, Shindo teaches the invention of claim 4 above and Shindo teaches wherein the air flow downstream end of the bypass passage is disposed downstream of a position of the first heat exchanger in the air flow in the internal passage [Drawing I].
Regarding Claim 7, Shindo teaches the invention of claim 3 above and Shindo teaches wherein the flow rate adjustment unit includes a flow channel adjustment unit [32] that changes a flow channel area of the bypass passage and an actuator unit that changes a posture of the flow rate adjustment unit [0014].
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 8, 9 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shindo (JPH07228133A) in view of Kanbara et al. (JPH08238919A).
Regarding Claim 8, Shindo teaches the invention of claim 1 above but does not teach a blowing control device configured to control an operation of the air blowing unit, wherein the air blowing unit includes an internal air blowing unit provided in the internal passage and configured to generate an air flow in the internal passage, and an external air blowing unit provided in the external passage and configured to generate an air flow in the external passage, and the blowing control device controls rotation speeds of the internal air blowing unit and the external air blowing unit independently of each other.
However, Kanbara teaches a cooling/heating apparatus for a vehicle [0001] having blowing control device [27] configured to control an operation of an air blowing unit [19, 20], wherein the air blowing unit includes an internal air blowing unit [19] provided in the internal passage and configured to generate an air flow in the internal passage, and an external air blowing unit [20] provided in the external passage and configured to generate an air flow in the external passage [0023], and the blowing control device controls rotation speeds of the internal air blowing unit and the external air blowing unit independently of each other [0023] where one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods and that in combination, each element would perform the same function as it did separately and one of ordinary skills would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable i.e. for the obvious advantage of controlling airflow through the system.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly Shindo to have a blowing control device configured to control an operation of the air blowing unit, wherein the air blowing unit includes an internal air blowing unit provided in the internal passage and configured to generate an air flow in the internal passage, and an external air blowing unit provided in the external passage and configured to generate an air flow in the external passage, and the blowing control device controls rotation speeds of the internal air blowing unit and the external air blowing unit independently of each other in view of the teachings of Kanbara where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results i.e. for the obvious advantage of controlling airflow through the system.
Regarding Claim 9, Shindo, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 8 above and Shindo teaches wherein the internal air blowing unit [at 22] includes an internal blower fan that rotates to generate an air flow, and an internal motor that rotates the internal blower fan, and the internal motor is provided upstream of a position of the first heat exchanger in the air flow in the internal passage [0016].
Regarding Claim 11, Shindo, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 8 above and Shindo teaches wherein the external air blowing unit [27\ includes an external blower fan that rotates to generate an air flow, and an external motor that rotates the external blower fan, and the external motor is provided upstream of the position of the second heat exchanger in the air flow in the external passage [0016].
Claim(s) 10 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shindo (JPH07228133A) and Kanbara et al. (JPH08238919A) as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Ryu et al. (US2018/0290516).
Regarding Claim 10, Shindo, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 8 above but does not teach wherein the internal air blowing unit includes an internal blower fan that rotates to generate an air flow, and the internal blower fan is provided downstream of a position of the first heat exchanger in the air flow in the internal passage.
However, Ryu teaches an air conditioner for a vehicle [0001] having wherein an internal air blowing unit includes an internal blower fan [170] that rotates to generate an air flow, and the internal blower fan is provided downstream of a position of a first heat exchanger [150] in the air flow in the internal passage [0073; figs 2 & 10] where one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods and that in combination, each element would perform the same function as it did separately and one of ordinary skills would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable i.e. for the obvious advantage of controlling airflow through the system.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly Shindo to have wherein the internal air blowing unit includes an internal blower fan that rotates to generate an air flow, and the internal blower fan is provided downstream of a position of the first heat exchanger in the air flow in the internal passage in view of the teachings of Ryu where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results i.e. for the obvious advantage of controlling airflow through the system.
Regarding Claim 12, Shindo, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 8 above but does not teach wherein the external air blowing unit includes an external blower fan that rotates to generate an air flow, and the external blower fan is provided downstream of the position of the second heat exchanger in the air flow in the external passage.
However, Ryu teaches an air conditioner for a vehicle [0001] having wherein the external air blowing unit includes an external blower fan [180] that rotates to generate an air flow, and the external blower fan is provided downstream of the position of the second heat exchanger [130] in the air flow in the external passage [0073; figs 2 & 10] where one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods and that in combination, each element would perform the same function as it did separately and one of ordinary skills would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable i.e. for the obvious advantage of controlling airflow through the system.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly Shindo to have wherein the external air blowing unit includes an external blower fan that rotates to generate an air flow, and the external blower fan is provided downstream of the position of the second heat exchanger in the air flow in the external passage in view of the teachings of Ryu where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results i.e. for the obvious advantage of controlling airflow through the system.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shindo (JPH07228133A) in view of Won et al. (US2018/0251002).
Regarding Claim 13, Shindo teaches the invention of claim 1 above but does not teach a heat exchange accommodation portion accommodating the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger.
However, Won teaches an air conditioner for a vehicle [0004] having a heat exchange accommodation portion [at 800] accommodating the first heat exchanger [200] and the second heat exchanger [400; 0044; fig 7] where one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods and that in combination, each element would perform the same function as it did separately and one of ordinary skills would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable i.e. for the obvious advantage of providing a compact housing for the cooling system.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly Shindo to have a heat exchange accommodation portion accommodating the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger in view of the teachings of Ryu where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results i.e. for the obvious advantage of providing a compact housing for the cooling system.
Claim(s) 14 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shindo (JPH07228133A) in view of Kuroda (US2003/0079873).
Regarding Claim 14, Shindo teaches the invention of claim 1 above but does not teach a motor control device configured to control rotation of the electric motor; and a refrigerant circuit configured to circulate a refrigerant, wherein the motor control device is configured to change a flow direction of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit by switching a rotation direction of the electric motor.
However, Kuroda teaches a vehicle air conditioning system [0003] having a motor control device [25] configured to control rotation of the electric motor [implicit at 0046]; and a refrigerant circuit configured to circulate a refrigerant, wherein the motor control device is configured to change a flow direction of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit by switching a rotation direction of the electric motor [0046-0048] where one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods and that in combination, each element would perform the same function as it did separately and one of ordinary skills would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable i.e. for the obvious advantage of providing a system having flexibility [0046-0048].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly Shindo to have a motor control device configured to control rotation of the electric motor; and a refrigerant circuit configured to circulate a refrigerant, wherein the motor control device is configured to change a flow direction of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit by switching a rotation direction of the electric motor in view of the teachings of Kuroda where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results i.e. for the obvious advantage of providing a system having flexibility.
Regarding Claim 15, Shindo teaches the invention of claim 1 above but does not teach a refrigerant circuit configured to circulate a refrigerant; a switching valve configured to switch a flow direction of a refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit; and a motor control device configured to control an operation of the switching valve, wherein the motor control device is configured to change the flow direction of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit by controlling an operation of the switching valve.
However, Kuroda teaches a vehicle air conditioning system [0003] having a refrigerant circuit configured to circulate a refrigerant [fig 1]; a switching valve [12] configured to switch a flow direction of a refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit [0046-0048]; and a motor control device [25] configured to control an operation of the switching valve, wherein the motor control device is configured to change the flow direction of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit by controlling an operation of the switching valve [0046-0048] where one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods and that in combination, each element would perform the same function as it did separately and one of ordinary skills would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable i.e. for the obvious advantage of providing a system having flexibility [0046-0048].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly Shindo to have a a refrigerant circuit configured to circulate a refrigerant; a switching valve configured to switch a flow direction of a refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit; and a motor control device configured to control an operation of the switching valve, wherein the motor control device is configured to change the flow direction of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit by controlling an operation of the switching valve in view of the teachings of Kuroda where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results i.e. for the obvious advantage of providing a system having flexibility.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LARRY L FURDGE whose telephone number is (313)446-4895. The examiner can normally be reached M-R 6a-3p; F 6a-10a.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jerry 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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/LARRY L FURDGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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