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 § 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.
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) 1-11, 13-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimota (US 20180347909) in view of Andre (US 11827090).
Regarding claim 1,
Referring to at least Figs. 1, 4, Shimota teaches a heat exchange device 100 comprising: a heat exchanger 10 that defines a flow passage configured to carry a heat exchange fluid (see par. 15); an air guide 20 that is disposed at a side of the heat exchanger and defines an interior space 20a, the air guide having (i) a first side in fluid communication with an outside of the air guide (e.g. at 25, 42) and (ii) a second side 26 in fluid communication with the heat exchanger.
Shimota does not teach a rotator disposed at the first side of the air guide and configured to rotate about a rotation axis.
Andre, directed to an air guide for a vehicle heat exchanger, teaches a rotator 18 disposed at a first side of an air guide 4 and configured to rotate about a rotation axis (see col 3, lines 49-60). Andre teaches that said rotator 18 advantageously varies the flow rate of an air stream (including shutting off an air flow as needed, see col 3, lines 49-55).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Shimota by Andre with the motivation of advantageously varying the flow rate of an air stream into the air guide 20.
Regarding claim 2,
Shimota teaches wherein the air guide further defines an introduction space 42 that connects the outside of the air guide to the interior space 20a, the introduction space being defined at a lower area of the air guide.
Regarding claim 3,
Shimota as modified above teaches wherein at least a portion of the rotator is disposed in the introduction space or faces the introduction space in a forward/rearward direction of the heat exchange device (e.g. as Andre teaches that said rotator 18 should be disposed at an introduction space, see Andre Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 4,
Shimota as modified above teaches wherein at least a portion of the introduction space is defined at a rear side of the rotator (e.g. as Andre teaches wherein at least a portion of an introduction space is defined at a rear side of the rotator, see Andre Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 5,
Shimota teaches wherein the interior space is defined at an area of the air guide, the area of the air guide facing the rotator in an upward/downward direction of the heat exchange device.
Regarding claim 6,
Shimota teaches wherein the air guide has an area (not labeled) that faces the rotator in an upward/downward direction of the heat exchange device and is spaced apart from the interior space (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 7,
Shimota as modified above teaches wherein the air guide includes: a first area (not labeled, see Fig. 2), wherein at least a portion of the first area faces the rotator in an upward/downward direction of the heat exchange device; and a second area that is connected to a rear side of the first area and defines at least a portion of the interior space, wherein the rotator and the second area of the air guide are spaced apart from each other in a forward/rearward direction of the heat exchange device, and wherein a lower end of the second area is located at a lower end of the first area (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 8,
Shimota teaches wherein the first area of the air guide includes an inclined surface (not labeled, see Fig. 2) that is disposed at a front section of the first area, the inclined surface being inclined upward as the first area extends to a rear side of the first area.
Regarding claim 9,
Shimota teaches wherein the air guide further includes: a third area (not labeled) connected to a rear side of the second area, the third area connecting the second area and the heat exchanger and defining at least a portion of the interior space, and wherein a width of the introduction space in a leftward/rightward direction of the heat exchange device is greater than a width of the third area in the leftward/rightward direction (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 10,
Shimota teaches wherein a height of the third area in the upward/downward direction of the heat exchange device is greater than a height of each of the first area and the second area in the upward/downward direction.
Regarding claim 11,
Shimota as modified above teaches wherein the rotator comprises a plurality of blades not labeled) that are arranged about the rotation axis (see Andre Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 13,
Shimota as modified above does not specifically teach a motor configured to provide power for rotating the rotator about the rotation axis but the examiner takes official notice that the use of a motor for rotating a rotator about a rotation axis would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 14,
Shimota teaches wherein the first area, the second area, and the third area are separately provided parts of the air guide, wherein the first area and the second area are fixedly coupled to each other, wherein the second area and the third area are fixedly coupled to each other, and wherein the third area and the heat exchanger are fixedly coupled to each other.
Regarding claim 15,
Shimota teaches wherein the first area, the second area, and the third area are provided integrally.
Regarding claim 16,
Shimota as modified above teaches wherein the plurality of blades protrude outward from the rotation axis and extend along the rotation axis.
Regarding claim 17,
Shimota as modified above does not teach wherein the plurality of blades are orthogonal to one another, but the examiner takes official notice that the use of orthogonal blades in rotator (e.g. a shut off valve or louver) would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 18,
Shimota teaches a vehicle; the heat exchange device of claim 1; and an under-cover 6 coupled to a lower area of the air guide, wherein the air guide further defines an introduction space that connects the outside of the air guide to the interior space, and wherein the under-cover defines a through-hole at an area of the under-cover that faces the introduction space (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 19,
Shimota as modified above teaches wherein a lower end of the rotator is located at a lower side of a lower surface of the under-cover.
Regarding claim 20,
Shimota as modified above wherein at least a portion of the rotator is configured to protrude downward relative to the under-cover based on rotating about the rotation axis (e.g. as Shimota teaches that air is advantageously introduced into the air guide via protruding portions relative to an under-cover, see col 3, lines 25-32).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 12 is 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:
Regarding claim 12,
Shimota as modified by Andre does not teach wherein each of the plurality of blades has a front surface configured to be convex toward a rear side based on a corresponding one of the plurality of blades being located lower than the rotation axis.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ajisaka, Yamakawa, Tajima, and Maurer teach underbody air guides for vehicles.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVE S TANENBAUM whose telephone number is (313)446-6522. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 11 AM - 7 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Frantz Jules can be reached at (571) 272-6681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Steve S TANENBAUM/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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