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 § 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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Morishita (WO2015029145) of which attached English translation is attached.
Regarding Claim 1, Morishita teaches a method for manufacturing a fin by processing a plate-shaped fin material (Fig. 1, 41) into a fin for a heat exchanger, the method comprising:
a waffle forming step of forming a waffle portion (Fig. 2, 35) and a plate-shaped portion around the waffle portion in the plate-shaped fin material (Fig. 1, 41) (page 2, lines 19-20: a louver 35 is formed);
a cutting step of forming
a continuous portion (Fig. 2, 38) continuous with the plate-shaped portion, and
a fin slit (Fig. 2, 34) configured to receive a flat tube in a side of the plate-shaped portion of the plate-shaped fin material (page 2, lines 18-20: notch portion 34 into which flat tubes are inserted. Cutout portion 34) ; and
a drawing step of forming a drawn portion (Fig. 2, 110) protruding with respect to the continuous portion (Fig. 2, 38) in the continuous portion (page 2, lines 28: a dent 110 is formed on the metal strip 49).
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) 1 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (CN104482791) of which English translation is cited in view of Matsumoto et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0262740).
Regarding Claim 1, Wu teaches a method for manufacturing a fin (Fig. 1, 1) by processing a plate-shaped fin material ([0053]: a sheet-shaped fin body) into a fin for a heat exchanger, the method comprising:
a waffle forming step of forming a waffle portion (Fig. 1, 104) and a plate-shaped portion around the waffle portion in the plate-shaped fin material ([0056]);
a providing step of providing
a continuous portion (Fig. 1, 102) continuous with the plate-shaped portion ([0053]: continuous, forming a drainage portion 102), and
a fin slit (Fig. 1, 105) configured to receive a flat tube in a side of the plate-shaped portion of the plate-shaped fin material ([0020], [0053]); and
a drawing step of forming a drawn portion (Fig. 1, 101) protruding with respect to the continuous portion (Fig. 1, 102) in the continuous portion ([0055]:one support member 101 is stamped).
Wu does not explicitly teach a cutting step.
Matsumoto teaches cutting a fin slit (Fig. 6, 33) configured to receive a flat tube in a side of the plate-shaped portion of the plate-shaped fin material (Fig. 6, 31) ([0044]: the tube receiving opening (33) is cut.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to cut the plate-shaped fin of Wu as taught by Matsumoto in order to provide a flange of Matusumoto along the fin slit of Wu, so that the heat tube can be brazed to the fin using the flange as suggested in Matzumoto [0049].
Regarding Claim 4, Wu/Matsumoto teach the method of claim 1, further comprising:
a flanging step of forming a flange (Matsumoto Fig. 5, 32) at an edge of the fin slit (Wu Fig. 1, 105) (Matsumoto [0052]: bent up to form the collar (32)).
Claim(s) 2 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (CN104482791) of which attached English translation is cited in view of Matsumoto et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0262740), as applied to Claim 1, and further in view of Maejima (JP59141330) of which attached English translation is cited.
Regarding Claim 2, Wu/Matsumoto teach the method of claim 1, but, do not explicitly teach further comprising:
a hitting step of hitting the continuous portion.
Maejima teaches a hitting step of hitting the continuous portion (Fig. 1, 2) (page 3, line 17: the notch 15 is formed by punching).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to punch a notch in the continuous portion of Wu/Matsumoto as taught by Maejima in order to correct the warp of the fin as suggested in Maejima page 3, line 23-24.
Regarding Claim 3, Wu/Matsumoto/Maejima teach the method of claim 2, wherein in the hitting step, the continuous portion (Wu Fig. 1, 102) is hit from a side toward which the drawn portion protrudes (In the punching process of Maejima, a punch and a die would hit the continuous portion from both sides including the side toward which the drawn portion protrudes.).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (CN104482791) of which attached English translation is cited in view of Matsumoto et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0262740), as applied to Claim 1, and further in view of Morishita (WO2015029145) of which attached English translation is cited and Maejima (JP59141330) of which attached English translation is cited.
Regarding Claim 5, Wu/Matsumoto teach the method of claim 1, but, do not explicitly teach further comprising:
a step of forming a plurality of the fins on the plate-shaped fin material; and
a cut step of cutting a portion between the fins adjacent to each other, the hitting step being performed after the cut step is finished.
Morishita teaches a step of forming a plurality of the fins on the plate-shaped fin material (Fig. 1, 41) (page 2, lines 16-17: The metal strip 49 is formed by arranging four products side by side.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form a plurality of fins of Wu/Matsumoto on a thin metal plate (e.g. coil) as taught by Morishita in order to improve the efficiency of fin production process.
Maejima teaches the hitting step being performed after the cut step is finished. (page 3, lines 17-19: the notch 15 is formed by punching so as to create a cutting stress that is commensurate with the processing strain generated by punching the cutout portion. The cutting stress can be adjusted by the punching clearance of the notch 15 forming die. This paragraph suggests that the notch 15 is formed by a forming die after the cut step (or “punching the cutout portion”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to punch a notch in the continuous portion of Wu/Matsumoto/Morishita after the cut step is finished as taught by Maejima in order to correct the warp of the fin as suggested in Maejima page 3, line 23-24.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUN S YOO whose telephone number is (571)270-7141. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM.
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/JUN S YOO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726 9/22/2025
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