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(s) (IDS) submitted on 8/22/2024 was/were 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites “the vertical direction”. However it is unclear what “vertical direction” is being referred to because there is a lack of antecedent basis for a “vertical direction”. For purposes of examination “the vertical direction” will be considered - - a vertical direction - - .
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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) 1, 5, 7, and 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al. (KR101415703) in view Seefeldt (US 20050252226).
Per claim 1, Jin. An air conditioner comprising:
a first heat exchanger (110) disposed in an indoor space,
a second heat exchanger (120) disposed in an outdoor space,
a water injection module (200) disposed to be adjacent to the second heat exchanger,
the water injection module including a flow adjustment valve (“pump 212”) (to clarify, pump 212 acts a flow adjustment valve because the pump stops and starts the flow of water to the nozzle) adjusting supply of water to the second heat exchanger (120),
a fluid tube (see schematic tubing in figure 1) connected to the first heat exchanger (110) and the second heat exchanger (120), a compressor (140) and an expansion device (150) disposed on the fluid tube, a flow path switching valve (160) changing a path of fluid discharged from the compressor (140) to allow the fluid to flow toward one of the first heat exchanger (110) and the second heat exchanger (120),
a processor (“controller 310”, necessarily includes a processor) connected to the flow adjustment valve (“The control unit 300 controls the driving of the nozzle unit 200 and includes a controller 310, a temperature sensor 320, a timer 330, and an input unit 340”, pg. 3 of translation), and
a storage unit connected to the processor (there is necessarily memory in the controller to operate the programs),
wherein the storage unit includes a program changing
a heating mode in which the flow adjustment valve(160) is closed such that the first heat exchanger operates as a condenser and the second heat exchanger operates as an evaporator, and the flow path switching valve performs adjustment to allow the fluid from the compressor to flow toward the first heat exchanger (“In the winter, the outdoor heat exchanger 120 functions as an evaporator and the indoor heat exchanger 110 functions as a condenser. When the cooling / heating system operates, the controller 310 determines that the outside air temperature is lower than the set temperature, The blowing fan 223 is operated to blow the air in the heating pipe 221 to the outdoor heat exchanger 120 through the air injection nozzle 224 when the outdoor air temperature is lower than 10 ° C. External air is continuously introduced into the heating pipe 221 as the blowing fan 223 is driven and the external air is heated by the geothermal heat while passing through the heating pipe 221 and then supplied to the outdoor heat exchanger 120 The evaporation efficiency in the outdoor heat exchanger 120 is improved as the temperature of the outdoor heat exchanger 120 is increased.”, pg. 3 of translation), and
a cooling mode in which the flow adjustment valve (160) is opened such that the first heat exchanger (110) operates as the evaporator and the second heat exchanger (120) operates as the condenser, and the flow path switching valve (160) performs adjustment to allow the fluid from the compressor to flow toward the second heat exchanger (“That is, in the summer season, the outdoor air temperature is higher than other seasons. In the heating / cooling system, the indoor heat exchanger 110 drives the evaporator and the outdoor heat exchanger 120 drives the condenser. When the cooling / heating system operates, the controller 310 receives the ambient temperature from the temperature sensor 320. If the outside air temperature is higher than a set temperature that allows the outdoor heat exchanger 120 to be normally driven, that is, for example, the set temperature is 25 ° C, if the temperature of the outside air exceeds 25 ° C, And injects the groundwater into the outdoor heat exchanger 120 through the water injection nozzle 214”, pg. 3 of translation) but fails to explicitly teach wherein the expansion device is an expansion valve and wherein the processor is connected to the flow path switching valve.
Regarding the expansion valve and processor connected to the flow path switching valve, Seefeldt teaches a heating/cooling system including an expansion valve (42) and a processor (20) connected to a flow path switching valve (18) for providing efficient heating and cooling (para. 0028). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide an expansion valve and a processor connected to a flow path switching valve, as taught by Seefeldt in the invention of Y, in order to advantageously provide efficient heating and cooling (para. 0028).
Per claim 5, claim 5 recites similar laminations as claim 1 and is rejected in a similar manner.
Further, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would necessarily perform the method claimed, then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device. When the prior art device is the same as a device described in the specification for carrying out the claimed method, it can be assumed the device will perform the claimed process. Thus, the method, as claimed, would necessarily result from the normal operation of the apparatus. See MPEP 2112.02.
Per claim 7, claim 7 recites “wherein, when an indoor temperature reaches a target cooling temperature in the cooling mode, an amount of water injected to the second heat exchanger and an air volume of an outdoor fan, forming a flow of air passing through the second heat exchanger, are controlled to maintain the target cooling temperature”. Per MPEP 2111.04, section II, “The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met”. Therefore said limitation is not required to be disclosed by the prior art.
Per claim 9, claim 9 recites “wherein, when an outdoor temperature is higher than a preset temperature in the cooling mode, an average flow rate of air passing through the second heat exchanger is increased and controlled to be lower than an average flow rate of air passing through the second heat exchanger in the heating mode”. Per MPEP 2111.04, section II, “The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met”. Therefore said limitation is not required to be disclosed by the prior art.
Per claim 10, claim 10 recites “wherein, when frosting occurs in the second heat exchanger in the heating mode, the air conditioner is controlled such that a defrost mode in which an operation of an outdoor fan, forming a flow of air passing through the second heat exchanger, is stopped, and the first heat exchanger operates as the evaporator and the second heat exchanger operates as the condenser without water injection is performed for a predetermined period of time”. Per MPEP 2111.04, section II, “The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met”. Therefore said limitation is not required to be disclosed by the prior art.
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al. (KR101415703) in view Seefeldt (US 20050252226) as applied to the claims above and further in view of Guo et al. (CN108189640).
Per claim 3, Jin, as modified, meets the claim limitations as disclosed in the above rejection of claim 1. Further, Jin, as modified, teaches the second heat exchanger (120) but fails to explicitly teach a drive motor connected to the second heat exchanger, the drive motor driven such that the second heat exchanger is adjustable in a predetermined angle range relative to a vertical direction.
However, Guo teaches an air conditioning system including a drive motor (2) connected to a heat exchanger (1), the drive motor (2) driven such that the heat exchanger (1) is adjustable in a predetermined angle range relative to a vertical direction (see figure 4) for improved heat exchange performance (pg. 2 of translation). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide a drive motor connected to a heat exchanger, the drive motor driven such that the heat exchanger is adjustable in a predetermined angle range relative to a vertical direction, as taught by Guo in the invention of Jin, as modified, in order to advantageously improve heat exchange performance (pg.2 of translation).
Per claim 4, Jin, as modified, meets the claim limitations as disclosed in the above rejection of claim 1. Further, Jin, as modified, teaches the second heat exchanger but fails to explicitly teach wherein the second heat exchanger is disposed to be inclined at a predetermined angle relative to a vertical direction.
However, Guo teaches an air conditioning system wherein a heat exchanger is disposed to be inclined at a predetermined angle relative to a vertical direction (see figure 4) for improved heat exchange performance (pg. 2 of translation). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide a heat exchanger is disposed to be inclined at a predetermined angle relative to a vertical direction, as taught by Guo in the invention of Jin, as modified, in order to advantageously improve heat exchange performance (pg.2 of translation).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al. (KR101415703) in view Seefeldt (US 20050252226) as applied to the claims above and further in view of Stewart et al. (US 2021/0348794).
Per claim 8, Jin, as modified, meets the claim limitations as disclosed in the above rejection of claim 5. Further, Jin, as modified, fails to explicitly teach wherein, when an indoor temperature reaches a target heating temperature in the heating mode, an air volume of an outdoor fan, forming a flow of air passing through the second heat exchanger, is controlled to maintain the target heating temperature.
However, Stewart teaches an air conditioning system wherein, when an indoor temperature reaches a target heating temperature in the heating mode, an air volume of an outdoor fan, forming a flow of air passing through the second heat exchanger, is controlled to maintain the target heating temperature (For example, during operations control assembly 150 may determine a temperature of the refrigerant within the indoor heat exchanger 108, and based on this temperature, may adjust a position of the indoor metering valve 112, a speed of the indoor fan 110, outdoor fan 118, compressor 116, etc. so as to achieve or maintain a target value of the refrigerant temperature within the indoor heat exchanger 108.”, para. 0037) for controlling the system to a desired operation performance (para. 0028). Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide wherein, when an indoor temperature reaches a target heating temperature in the heating mode, an air volume of an outdoor fan, forming a flow of air passing through the second heat exchanger, is controlled to maintain the target heating temperature, as taught by Stewart in the invention of Jin, as modified, in order to advantageously control the system to a desired operation performance (para. 0028).
Further, claim 8 recites “wherein, when an indoor temperature reaches a target heating temperature in the heating mode, an air volume of an outdoor fan, forming a flow of air passing through the second heat exchanger, is controlled to maintain the target heating temperature”. Per MPEP 2111.04, section II, “The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met”. Therefore said limitation is not required to be disclosed by the prior art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 2 and 6 is/are objected to as being dependent upon 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Lee et al. (US 2011/0277495) teaches an air conditioner including an adjustable heat exchanger.
Otori (US 5,605,053) teaches an air conditioner including an outdoor fan with an adjustable speed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID J TEITELBAUM whose telephone number is (571)270-5142. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:00 am-4:30 pm EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FRANTZ JULES can be reached on (571) 272-66816681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID J TEITELBAUM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/FRANTZ F JULES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763