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 .
Reissue Applications
For reissue applications filed before September 16, 2012, all references to 35 U.S.C. 251 and 37 CFR 1.172, 1.175, and 3.73 are to the law and rules in effect on September 15, 2012. Where specifically designated, these are “pre-AIA ” provisions.
For reissue applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, all references to 35 U.S.C. 251 and 37 CFR 1.172, 1.175, and 3.73 are to the current provisions.
Applicant must submit the second page of the patent in response to this Office action. The first page which has been submitted fails to provide all of the references that were cited during the original prosecution or provide the full abstract.
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) 21-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 84/02387 to Gerstmann et al (hereinafter “Gerstmann”).
Gerstmann discloses a heat exchanger with a flue gas path between a burner and an exhaust assembly, a water circuit extending between a cold water inlet and a hot water outlet and a recirculation system in fluid communication with the hot water outlet and configured to recirculate a portion of water from the hot water outlet to the water circuit at a location along the water circuit between the cold water inlet and the hot water outlet. See the below annotated Figure 2.
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In regard to claim 22, the recirculation pipe and recirculation pump are shown above.
In regard to claims 23 and 24, the first and second sections of the flue gas path are shown above. Shown is the flow gas flowing along the second section of the flue gas path not in heat transfer relationship with the recirculated portion of water. The flue gas flows over the second coil section before passing over the first coil section.
In regard to claims 25 and 26, the burner is along the central axis and the flue gas passes perpendicularly over the second coil section and then passes parallel to the axis over the first coil section, countercurrent to the flow of water through the first coil section.
In regard to claim 27, the claimed components are shown in the above annotated figure. The second paragraph of page 8 states, “A further advantage of recirculating water through the primary heat exchanger is that it increases water flow rate and thus establishes high water-side heat transfer coefficients. This minimizes liming of the main heat exchanger coil.”
In regard to claim 28, the flow of water in the first water coil section passes upward while the flue gases are traveling down.
In regard to claim 29, the figure shows the recirculation pump.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 30 and 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gerstmann in view of WO 2006/105605 to Baker (hereinafter “Baker”).
As discussed above, Gerstmann discloses the fired water heater heat exchanger of claim 29. Claim 30 depends from claim 29 and claims a plurality of water heater circuits delivering water in parallel and receiving heated water in parallel. Baker discloses a heat exchanger with helical flow paths for a fluid to be heat exchanged. The last paragraph states, “a plurality of such units would allow for a multiple fluid streams of different fluids to be heated and cooled to differing temperatures and cooled simultaneously”. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the heat exchange system of Gerstmann by using a plurality of heat exchange units in parallel to permit the heat exchange with multiple fluids and to allow the heat transfer with a larger volume of liquid.
In regard to claim 31, Gerstmann shows thermostat 36 to control a burner in response to the sensed water temperature.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 are allowed.
Claims 32 and 33 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claim 1 requires “an insulation layer positioned over a last one of the plurality of inner coil turns of the inner coil and a last one of the plurality of outer coil turns of the outer coil.” This is not taught by Gerstmann, and there is no motivation to add such an insulation layer found in the prior art. The same is true of “an end member positioned over a last one of the plurality of inner coil turns of the inner coil and a last one of the plurality of outer coil turns of the outer coil” of claim 8 and “an insulation layer positioned over a last one of the plurality of inner coil turns of the inner coil and a last one of the plurality of outer coil turns of the outer coil” of claim 17. The greatly reduced heat input rate associated with the lower flow rate and associated thermal efficiency for such a heat exchanger of claim 32 is not taught by the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM C DOERRLER whose telephone number is (571)272-4807. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7-5.
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/WILLIAM C DOERRLER/Reexamination Specialist, Art Unit 3993
Conferees: /WILLIAM E DONDERO/ Reexamination Specialist, Art Unit 3993
/EILEEN D LILLIS/SPRS, Art Unit 3993