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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/14/2024 is 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.
Claims 1, 4, and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The Preliminary Amendment includes the amendment “the remote control is configured to … compare, with the threshold, the temperature difference obtained when the reference indoor unit is operated” in claim 1. The requirement that the comparison to the threshold be “when the reference indoor unit is operated” is not found in the original specification. Appropriate correction is required. Claims 4 and 6-9 are rejected based on their dependency on claim 1.
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.
Claims 1, 4, 6-7, 9 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0240823 to Li et al. (“Li”) in view of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP2013076493 to Hitachi Global Life Solutions Inc (“Hitachi”). Note that Li is related to CN113237202 identified in Applicant’s IDS of 08/14/2024.
Regarding claim 1:
An air-conditioning apparatus (Li at Abstract and Fig. 5.) comprising
an outdoor unit (Li at par. [0071].),
a plurality of indoor units installed in an air-conditioning target space (Li at par. [0119] and Fig. 5.), and
wherein the plurality of indoor units include respective temperature sensors configured to detect indoor temperatures that are respective temperatures of indoor air to be sucked into the plurality of indoor units (Li at pars. [0057]-[0058].),
a remote control, … the remote control is configured to control the outdoor unit and the plurality of indoor units (Li discloses an “acquisition device (“control”) [that] is further configured to control indoor units to run in a refrigeration mode, a heating mode, or a dehumidification mode.” and Li also discloses that the outdoor unit is part of the system. Li at par. [0065] and [0071]. Although implicit given the nature of the AC system in Fig. 5, Li does not explicitly disclose that the acquisition device is a remote control or that the outdoor unit is controlled using the remote control. However, this feature is obvious as discussed below.)
a remote control, … the remote control is configured to control the outdoor unit and the plurality of indoor units (In a same field of endeavor, air conditioning units (and thus analogous art), Hitachi discloses a control terminal 10 (“remote control”) for controlling an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. Hitachi at par. [0031] and Fig. 4. Because Li does not give details regarding its controller, one skilled in the art would have looked for a controller to perform the functions of controlling the indoor and outdoor units. It would have been obvious and one skilled in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Hitachi’s remote control in to the system of Li because Hitachi’s remote control “provides an air conditioning control terminal and setting operation method of air conditioning control that can perform various settings such as wind direction and wind speed of air conditioner simply and intuitively.” Hitachi at par. [0009]. Because both Li and Hitachi relate to control of air conditioners, there would have been a reasonable chance of success. See MPEP § 2143.I.G.),
the remote control is configured to … store in advance a threshold for a temperature difference between an indoor temperature detected at a reference indoor unit and indoor temperatures detected at ones of the plurality of indoor units that are other than the reference indoor unit, when a specific one of the plurality of indoor units is selected as the reference indoor unit (Li discloses calculation of first correlation coefficients between pairs of indoor units based on inlet temperature covariance and variance. Li at pars. [0100]-[0129]. As seen in Table 1, an indoor unit, represented by “0,” acts as a “reference indoor unit” for each set of calculations. The reference indoor unit’s inlet temperature and temperature variance acts as a reference (“threshold”) to which the inlet temperatures and variances of the other indoor units are compared with when performing the respective calculations. Li discloses that measurements are taken at fixed time intervals. Li at par. [0101]. Thus, the values will be stored in advance prior to the calculations.), and
the remote control is configured to … compare, with the threshold, the temperature difference obtained when the reference indoor unit is operated, and determine relative installation positions of the ones of the plurality of indoor units that are other than the reference indoor unit, to the reference indoor unit (As discussed above, Li discloses comparing the inlet temperatures of the other indoor units with the “reference” unit to determine the relative installation positions. Li at pars. [0100]-[0129]. Li discloses that the indoor units are running when the relative position is determined. Li at par. [0164].).
Regarding claim 4: The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1,
wherein the remote control is configured to determine that the smaller the temperature difference, the closer another one of the other indoor units to the reference indoor unit (Li at pars. [0053] and [0098].).
Regarding claim 6: The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1,
wherein the remote control is configured to sequentially select the plurality of indoor units one by one as the reference indoor unit, and determine the relative installation positions of the other ones of the plurality of indoor units to the reference indoor unit as which the plurality of indoor units are sequentially selected one by one, and determine, based on the determined relative installation positions of the other ones of the plurality of indoor units, the relative installation positions of all the plurality of indoor units to the reference unit as which the plurality of indoor units are sequentially selected one by one (Li at pars. [0105]-[0107], [0120] and par. [0165]. Table 1 shows sequential selection.).
Regarding claim 7: The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1, wherein
the reference indoor unit includes a louver configured to cause blowing air to flow in an up-down direction (Li does not explicitly disclose the structure of its indoor units. However, Hitachi discloses an indoor unit having air direction plates 291 and 292 (“louver”) that direct air up and down. Hitachi at pars. [0033]-[0033] and Fig. 5. Because Li does not disclose the structure of its indoor units, it would have been obvious and one skilled in the art would have looked for known indoor units that can be incorporated into the system of Li. One skilled in the art could have incorporated the indoor units of Hitachi into the system of Li using known methods to achieve predictable results. See MPEP § 2143.I.A.), and
the remote control is configured to control the reference indoor unit such that the louver faces upward, when the remote-control-side controller determines the relative installation positions of the other ones of the plurality of indoor units to the reference indoor unit (Hitachi discloses an indoor unit having air direction plates 291 and 292 (“louver”) that direct air up (“louver faces upward”) and down. Hitachi at pars. [0033]-[0033] and Fig. 5. Li discloses that, during determination of their relative positions, the indoor units can be run “in the refrigeration mode, the heating mode, or the dehumidification mode” to realize “rapid refrigeration, heating, or dehumidification.” Li at par. [0164]. That is, the remote control in the system of Li in view of Hitachi is configured operate the indoor units so that they blow air in any desired direction (including upward) to effectuate the “rapid refrigeration, heating, or dehumidification.” Accordingly, Li I view of Hitachi renders obvious the claimed configuration.).
Regarding claim 9: The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1,
wherein the remote control is configured to set a set temperature of the reference indoor unit to a temperature obtained by adding or subtracting a preset value to or from the indoor temperature detected at the reference indoor unit (Li discloses determining the relative positions “while rapid refrigeration, heating, or dehumidification is realized.” Li at par. [0164]. Thus, Li discloses setting a temperature that is different from the inlet temperature (“adding or subtracting a preset value”).).
Regarding claim 11:
An air-conditioning apparatus (Li at Abstract and Fig. 5.) comprising
an outdoor unit (Li at par. [0071].),
a plurality of indoor units installed in an air-conditioning target space (Li at par. [0119] and Fig. 5.), and
wherein the plurality of indoor units include respective temperature sensors configured to detect indoor temperatures that are respective temperatures of indoor air to be sucked into the plurality of indoor units (Li at pars. [0057]-[0058.),
a remote control, … the remote control is configured to control the outdoor unit and the plurality of indoor units (Li discloses an “acquisition device (“controlr”) [that] is further configured to control indoor units to run in a refrigeration mode, a heating mode, or a dehumidification mode.” and Li also discloses that the outdoor unit is part of the system. Li at par. [0065] and [0071]. Although implicit given the nature of the AC system in Fig. 5, Li does not explicitly disclose that the acquisition device is a remote control or that the outdoor unit is controlled using the remote control. However, this feature is obvious as discussed below.)
a remote control, … the remote control is configured to control the outdoor unit and the plurality of indoor units (In a same field of endeavor, air conditioning units (and thus analogous art), Hitachi discloses a control terminal 10 (“remote control”) for controlling an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. Hitachi at par. [0031] and Fig. 4. Because Li does not give details regarding its controller, one skilled in the art would have looked for a controller to perform the functions of controlling the indoor and outdoor units. It would have been obvious and one skilled in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Hitachi’s remote control in to the system of Li because Hitachi’s remote control “provides an air conditioning control terminal and setting operation method of air conditioning control that can perform various settings such as wind direction and wind speed of air conditioner simply and intuitively.” Hitachi at par. [0009]. Because both Li and Hitachi relate to control of air conditioners, there would have been a reasonable chance of success. See MPEP § 2143.I.G.),
a reference unit as which a specific one of the plurality of indoor units is selected includes a louver configured to cause blowing air to flow in an up-down direction (Li does not explicitly disclose the structure of its indoor units. However, Hitachi discloses an indoor unit having air direction plates 291 and 292 (“louver”) that direct air up and down. Hitachi at pars. [0033]-[0033] and Fig. 5. Because Li does not disclose the structure of its indoor units, it would have been obvious and one skilled in the art would have looked for known indoor units that can be incorporated into the system of Li. One skilled in the art could have incorporated the indoor units of Hitachi into the system of Li using known methods to achieve predictable results. See MPEP § 2143.I.A.), and
the remote control is configured to control the reference indoor unit in such a manner as to cause the louver to face upward (Hitachi discloses an indoor unit having air direction plates 291 and 292 (“louver”) that direct air up (“louver faces upward”) and down. Hitachi at pars. [0033]-[0033] and Fig. 5. Accordingly, Li I view of Hitachi renders obvious the claimed configuration.),
the remote control is configured to … determine relative installation positions of ones of the plurality of indoor units that are other than the reference indoor unit, to the reference indoor unit, based on the indoor temperatures detected at the plurality of indoor units (Li discloses calculation of first correlation coefficients between pairs of indoor units based on inlet temperature covariance and variance to determine relative installation positions. Li at pars. [0100]-[0129]. As seen in Table 1, an indoor unit, represented by “0,” acts as a “reference indoor unit” for each set of calculations. The reference indoor unit’s inlet temperature and temperature variance acts as a reference to which the inlet temperatures and variances of the other indoor units are compared with when performing the respective calculations.).
Claims 8 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0240823 to Li in view of Hitachi, and further in view of Chinese Patent Application Publication No. CN107014051A to Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner Gen. Corp. Led, et al. (“Qingdao”):
Regarding claim 8: The air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1, wherein
the reference indoor unit includes a louver configured to cause blowing air to flow in a lateral direction, and is capable of causing the blowing air to flow in the left-right direction (Li does not explicitly disclose the structure of its indoor units. However, Hitachi discloses an indoor unit having air direction plates 295 (“louver”) that direct air in a left and right direction (“lateral direction”). Hitachi at pars. [0033]-[0033] and Fig. 5. Because Li does not disclose the structure of its indoor units, it would have been obvious and one skilled in the art would have looked for known indoor units that can be incorporated into the system of Li. One skilled in the art could have incorporated the indoor units of Hitachi into the system of Li using known methods to achieve predictable results. See MPEP § 2143.I.A.), and
the remote control is configured to control the reference indoor unit such that the louver continuously operates to swing in the left-right direction (Although Li in view of Hitachi discloses louvers that blow air in a lateral direction, Li in view of Hitachi does not explicitly disclose that the “louver continuously operates to swing in the left-right direction.” However, in a same field of endeavor, air conditioners (and thus analogous art), Qingdao discloses a rod 2 with blades 1 mounted at an angle. When the rod 2 is rotated, the direction of the air flow continuously swings from right to left. Qingdao at p. 8 (“It can be seen by the process, the rotating shaft after finishing once by rotation operation of A-B-C-D-A, rotating the whole arc of rotation is 2 pi, namely again after rotating 360 degrees back to the first reference position, thus, continuously circulating through controlling the rotating of rotating, it can make the air conditioner generates left and right purging effect, so as to improve the comfort of the user.”) and Fig. 4. It would have been obvious and one skilled in the art would have been motivated to include a continuous left-right swing in the air flow in order to “improve the comfort of the user.” Qingdao at p. 8. Because Li in view of Hitachi and Qingdao relate to air conditioner control, there would have been a reasonable chance of success. See MPEP § 2143.I.G.).
when the remote control determines the relative installation positions of the other ones of the plurality of indoor units to the reference indoor unit (Li discloses that, during determination of their relative positions, the indoor units can be run “in the refrigeration mode, the heating mode, or the dehumidification mode” to realize “rapid refrigeration, heating, or dehumidification.” Li at par. [0164]. That is, the remote control in the system of Li in view of Hitachi is configured operate the indoor units so that they blow air in any desired direction (including upward) to effectuate the “rapid refrigeration, heating, or dehumidification.” Accordingly, Li I view of Hitachi and Qingdao renders obvious the claimed configuration.).
Regarding claim 12:
An air-conditioning apparatus (Li at Abstract and Fig. 5.) comprising
an outdoor unit (Li at par. [0071].),
a plurality of indoor units installed in an air-conditioning target space (Li at par. [0119] and Fig. 5.), and
wherein the plurality of indoor units include respective temperature sensors configured to detect indoor temperatures that are respective temperatures of indoor air to be sucked into the plurality of indoor units (Li at pars. [0057]-[0058.),,
a remote control, … the remote control is configured to control the outdoor unit and the plurality of indoor units ((Li discloses an “acquisition device (“controller”) [that] is further configured to control indoor units to run in a refrigeration mode, a heating mode, or a dehumidification mode.” and Li also discloses that the outdoor unit is part of the system. Li at par. [0065] and [0071]. Although implicit given the nature of the AC system in Fig. 5, Li does not explicitly disclose that the acquisition device is a remote control or that the outdoor unit is controlled using the remote control. However, this feature is obvious as discussed below.)
a remote control, … the remote control is configured to control the outdoor unit and the plurality of indoor units (In a same field of endeavor, air conditioning units (and thus analogous art), Hitachi discloses a control terminal 10 (“remote control”) for controlling an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. Hitachi at par. [0031] and Fig. 4. Because Li does not give details regarding its controller, one skilled in the art would have looked for a controller to perform the functions of controlling the indoor and outdoor units. It would have been obvious and one skilled in the art would have been motivated to incorporate Hitachi’s remote control in to the system of Li because Hitachi’s remote control “provides an air conditioning control terminal and setting operation method of air conditioning control that can perform various settings such as wind direction and wind speed of air conditioner simply and intuitively.” Hitachi at par. [0009]. Because both Li and Hitachi relate to control of air conditioners, there would have been a reasonable chance of success. See MPEP § 2143.I.G.),
a reference unit as which a specific one of the plurality of indoor units is selected includes a louver capable of causing blowing air to flow in a lateral direction (Li does not explicitly disclose the structure of its indoor units. However, Hitachi discloses an indoor unit having air direction plates 295 (“louver”) that direct air in a left and right direction (“lateral direction”). Hitachi at pars. [0033]-[0033] and Fig. 5. Because Li does not disclose the structure of its indoor units, it would have been obvious and one skilled in the art would have looked for known indoor units that can be incorporated into the system of Li. One skilled in the art could have incorporated the indoor units of Hitachi into the system of Li using known methods to achieve predictable results. See MPEP § 2143.I.A.), and
the remote control is configured to control the reference indoor unit in such a manner as to cause the louver to continuously swing in the lateral direction (Although Li in view of Hitachi discloses louvers that blow air in a lateral direction, Li in view of Hitachi does not explicitly disclose that the “louver to continuously swing in the lateral direction.” However, in a same field of endeavor, air conditioners (and thus analogous art), Qingdao discloses a rod 2 with blades 1 mounted at an angle. When the rod 2 is rotated, the direction of the air flow continuously swings from right to left. Qingdao at p. 8 (“It can be seen by the process, the rotating shaft after finishing once by rotation operation of A-B-C-D-A, rotating the whole arc of rotation is 2 pi, namely again after rotating 360 degrees back to the first reference position, thus, continuously circulating through controlling the rotating of rotating, it can make the air conditioner generates left and right purging effect, so as to improve the comfort of the user.”) and Fig. 4. It would have been obvious and one skilled in the art would have been motivated to include a continuous left-right swing in the air flow in order to “improve the comfort of the user.” Qingdao at p. 8. Because Li in view of Hitachi and Qingdao relate to air conditioner control, there would have been a reasonable chance of success. See MPEP § 2143.I.G.).
the remote control is configured to … determine relative installation positions of ones of the plurality of indoor units that are other than the reference indoor unit, to the reference indoor unit, based on the indoor temperatures detected at the plurality of indoor units (Li discloses calculation of first correlation coefficients between pairs of indoor units based on inlet temperature covariance and variance to determine relative installation positions. Li at pars. [100]-[0129]. As seen in Table 1, an indoor unit, represented by “0,” acts as a “reference indoor unit” for each set of calculations. The reference indoor unit’s inlet temperature and temperature variance acts as a reference to which the inlet temperatures and variance of the other indoor units are compared with when performing the respective calculations.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP2021081085A discloses remote control of both indoor and outdoor air conditioning units.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0151993 to Lee ae at. discloses control both indoor and outdoor air conditioning units.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP2021196108 to Hiraoka Takuya discloses determination of relative position of indoor air conditioning units.
International Publication No. WO2020/188771 to Mitsubishi Electric Corporation discloses louvers to control vertical and lateral air flows.
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/B.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2116
/KENNETH M LO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2116
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