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 .
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 1 is 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the first fluid circuit" in lines 20-30 of claim 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the second fluid circuit" in lines 20-30 of claim 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the one fluid circuit" with the thermally conductive wall paragraph of claim 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-7, 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yu et al (U.S. Pub. 2023/0001689)
Regarding claim 1, A tempering device for tempering ink for an ink printer having: a warm fluid source (460; Figure 1) with at least one outflow (Figure 1) and at least one inflow (440), wherein a first tempering fluid with a warm fluid temperature is provided at the at least one outflow (Figure 1; Abstract; Paragraphs 0076, 0080-0081)
A cold fluid source (450) with at least one outflow (Figure 1) and at least one inflow (430), wherein a second tempering fluid with a cold fluid temperature is provided at the at least one outflow (Figure 1; Paragraph 0076, 0078-0079)
A mixer (470) with at least two inflows (Figure 1) that are connected via fluid conduits with the at least one output of the warm fluid source or the at least one output of the cold fluid source, at least one control unit (480) that mixes mass throughputs of the supplied first and second tempering fluids in such a ratio that a mixture fluid with corresponding fractional quantities of the first and second tempering fluids is provided with a resulting mixture temperature at an output of the mixer (Figure 1; Paragraph 0076, 0081-0083)
A heat exchanger (Figure 3; Paragraph 0099; temperature control object; shown between elements 200 and 110) with a first fluid and a second fluid separate from one another for transferring thermal energy from the first fluid circuit to the second fluid circuit (Figure 3; Paragraphs 0097-0100)
A mixture entrance (490) for the first fluid circuit, to which the mixture fluid is supplied from the mixer, and with a mixture exit (492) of the first fluid circuit via which the mixture fluid is returned to the cold fluid source and/or the warm fluid source (the ink temperature control unit 400 adjusts the temperature of the discharged ink by a gas heat transfer medium; wherein the discharge line(s) 492 is shown by Figure 3; Paragraphs 0072, 0086, 0094, 0102)
An ink entrance (Figures 1, 3) for the second fluid circuit, which is connected with an ink reservoir (200) and via which ink to be tempered is supplied to the heat exchanger (Figure 3; Paragraph 0099), and with an ink exit that is connected with at least one printing unit (100) of the ink printer in order to supply the tempered ink to the at least one printing unit (Figures 1, 3-4; Paragraph 0058)
A thermally conductive wall via which thermal energy is transferred from the one fluid circuit to the other (Paragraph 0101)
At least one temperature sensor (Paragraph 0086) that is arranged at or after the ink exit of the heat exchanger an dis electrically connected with the mixer, wherein the temperature sensor measures a value of a temperature of the ink and feeds the measured value as a control variable back to the mixer in order to regulate a nominal temperature of the ink (Figures 1, 3; Paragraphs 0028, 0086)
Regarding claim 3, wherein the warm fluid source and the col fluid source respectively have a heat generator and/or a cooling element via which the first and second tempering fluids are tempered to respective predetermined fluid temperatures (Figures 1, 3; Paragraph 0076, 0078-0081)
Regarding claim 4, wherein the first and second tempering fluids are water with possibly added additives (Figure 1; Abstract; Paragraphs 0076, 0080-0081)
Regarding claim 5, wherein at least one of the warm fluid source and the cold fluid source are fed with a respective fluid temperature from one or more water conduits, which fluid temperatures correspond to a water temperatures of the water conduits (Figure 1; Abstract; Paragraphs 0076, 0080-0081)
Regarding claim 6, wherein the warm fluid source and the cold fluid source respectively have one or more temperature sensors to measure respective fluid temperatures, wherein the one or more temperature sensors are electrically connected with the mixer in order to send the measured temperature values to the mixer (Figures 1, 3; Paragraphs 0028-0029, 0086)
Regarding claim 7, wherein at least one temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the ink is arranged at the ink exit of the heat exchanger or in the printing unit (Figures 1, 3; Paragraphs 0028-0029, 0086)
Regarding claim 9, wherein the control unit of the mixer is a PI controller, connected upstream of which is a mixing valve in order to control the respective inflow quantity of the two tempering fluids such that the mixture fluid assumes the desired mixing temperature (Figure 1; Paragraphs 0076, 0083)
Regarding claim 10, providing the first tempering fluid with the warm fluid temperature and she second tempering fluid with the cold fluid temperature (Figure 1; Paragraph 0076, 0081-0083)
Supplying the first and second tempering fluids to the mixer (Figure 1; Paragraph 0076, 0078-0083)
Regulating (controller 480) the temperature of the mixture fluid in the mixer, which mixture fluid is mixed from corresponding fractions of the first and second tempering fluids depending on the measured ink temperature to achieve a desired mixture temperature at the output of the mixer (Figure 1; Paragraph 0076, 0081-0083)
Bringing the mixture fluid into thermal contract with the ink, wherein the transfer of thermal energy from the mixture fluids to the ink to be printed is performed in the heat exchanger in order to bring the ink to be desired nominal temperature (Figures 1, 3; Paragraph 0076, 0078-0083, 0101)
Measuring the value of the ink temperature after an output of the heat exchanger, and feeding the measured value back to the mixer to regulate the ink temperature (the ink temperature control unit 400 adjusts the temperature of the discharged ink by a gas heat transfer medium; wherein the discharge line(s) 492 is shown by Figure 3; Paragraphs 0072, 0086, 0094, 0102)
continuously regulating the temperature of the ink until the nominal temperature of the ink is achieved and is subsequently largely maintained (Figures 1, 3; Paragraph 0076, 0078-0083, 0101)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al (U.S. Pub. 2023/0001689) in view of Hitzlsperger (U.S. Pub. 2020/0238714)
Regarding claim 2, Hitzlsperger discloses it is known in the art to use a plate heat exchanger as the heat exchanger (Paragraph 0075)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Hitzlsperger into the device of Yu, for the purpose of efficiently heating the ink
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al (U.S. Pub. 2023/0001689)
Regarding claim 8, Yu discloses the warm fluid and the cold fluid source respectively has one or more heating elements or cooling elements in order to set the warm fluid temperature to less than/equal to the maximum allowable ink temperature, and to set the cold fluid temperature so low that the predetermined mixture temperature is somewhere in a middle range between the two fluid temperatures (Figures 1, 3; Paragraph 0076, 0078-0083)
Yu discloses the claimed invention except for wherein the warm fluid temperature is preferably at approximately 40°C and the cold fluid temperature is at approximately 20°C if the ink temperature, according to a specified operation temperature value, is at approximately 32°C. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the warm fluid temperature is preferably at approximately 40°C and the cold fluid temperature is at approximately 20°C if the ink temperature, according to a specified operation temperature value, is at approximately 32°C, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the warm fluid temperature is preferably at approximately 40°C and the cold fluid temperature is at approximately 20°C if the ink temperature, according to a specified operation temperature value, is at approximately 32°C, for the purpose of maintaining a desired temperature
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON S UHLENHAKE whose telephone number is (571)272-5916. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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/JASON S UHLENHAKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853 February 18, 2026