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.
Claims 1 – 13, 15 and 17 – 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et al. (JP H09250844) in view of Katcher (US 2,392,247).
With respect to claims 1, 19 and 20, Ito et al. teach a refrigerant circuit including (Fig.1), in an order of flow of a refrigerant during circulation thereof through the refrigerant circuit, a compressor (Fig.1, Item 1), a refrigerant muffler (Fig.1, Item 6), a condenser (Fig.1, Item 3), an expansion element (Fig.1, Item 4), and an evaporator (Fig.1, Item 5); the refrigerant muffler (Fig.2A, Item 6) comprising an outer wall forming an outer surface of the refrigerant muffler and enclosing a hollow interior thereof (Fig.2A); an inlet port (Fig.2A, about lower arrow) provided in a first side of the outer wall through which a refrigerant is introduced into the hollow interior of the refrigerant muffler; and an outlet port (Fig.2A, about upper arrow) provided on outer wall through which the refrigerant exits the hollow interior of the refrigerant muffler (Fig.2A) wherein the refrigerant muffler does not include a cross-section therethrough where the outer surface of the refrigerant muffler has a circular shape comprised of both of the outer walls forming one of the pairs of the oppositely arranged outer walls.
However, Ito et al. fail to particularly disclose the muffler comprising a plurality of outer walls forming an outer surface of the refrigerant muffler and enclosing a hollow interior thereof, each of the respective outer walls forming a pair with an oppositely arranged one of the outer walls at opposing sides of the hollow interior; and wherein the refrigerant muffler does not include a cross-section therethrough where the outer surface of the refrigerant muffler has a circular shape comprised of both of the outer walls forming one of the pairs of the oppositely arranged outer walls.
On the other hand, Katcher teaches a muffler comprising a plurality of outer walls (Fig.1, Items 10, 13, 21 and 23) forming an outer surface of the muffler and enclosing a hollow interior (Fig.1, Item 20) thereof, each of the respective outer walls forming a pair with an oppositely arranged one of the outer walls at opposing sides of the hollow interior (Figs.1 and 3); and an equivalence between mufflers including an elliptical (Fig.5), circular (Fig.9) or squared (Fig.4) cross-section.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the Katcher muffler configuration with the Ito et al. design because it would provide a desired shape and/or configuration as necessitated by the specific requirements of the particular application without departing from the scope and spirit of the Ito et al. invention.
With respect to claims 2 and 3, Katcher teaches wherein the refrigerant muffler does not include a cross- section therethrough wherein a portion of the outer surface of the refrigerant muffler both has a constant radius of curvature extending through greater than 180 degrees of angular displacement and is comprised of both of the outer walls forming one of the pairs of the oppositely arranged outer walls (Figs.1 and 4).
With respect to claims 4 and 19, Ito et al. teach wherein a direction the refrigerant is introduced into the hollow interior of the refrigerant muffler through the inlet port is transverse to a direction the refrigerant exits the hollow interior through the outlet port (Fig.2A).
With respect to claim 5, Katcher teaches wherein the first one of the outer walls (Fig.1, Item 21) in which the inlet port (Fig.1, Item 22) is provided and the second one of the outer walls (Fig.1, Item 23) in which the outlet port (Fig.1, Item 24) is provided are connected to one another along a periphery of the outer surface of the muffler (Fig.1).
With respect to claim 6, Ito et al. teach wherein a direction the refrigerant is introduced into the hollow interior of the refrigerant muffler through the inlet port is parallel to a direction the refrigerant exits the hollow interior through the outlet port (Fig.2A, arrows).
With respect to claim 7, Katcher teaches wherein the first one of the outer walls (Fig.1, Item 21) in which the inlet port (Fig.1, Item 22) is provided and the second one of the outer walls (Fig.1, Item 23) in which the outlet port (Fig.1, Item 24) is provided form one of the pairs of the oppositely arranged outer walls.
With respect to claims 8 and 19, Ito et al. and Katcher teach further comprising at least one guide wall (Ito et al.: Fig.2A, Items 6a | Katcher: Fig.1, Items 16 and 17) disposed within the hollow interior with each of the at least one guide walls extending between one of the pairs of the oppositely arranged outer walls and configured to divert a flow of the refrigerant and/or to reflect acoustic waves associated with the flow of the refrigerant.
With respect to claim 9, Katcher teaches wherein the one of the pairs of the oppositely arranged outer walls (Figs.3 and 4, Item 10 and 13) between which the at least one guide wall (Figs.1 and 4, Items 16 and 17) extends includes the closest spacing between the oppositely arranged outer walls thereof among all of the pairs of the oppositely arranged outer walls forming the outer surface of the muffler (Figs.3 and 4). Furthermore, Butler (US 8,256,571) or Latch (US 3,590,947) teach such a configuration.
With respect to claim 10, Katcher teaches wherein the at least one guide wall (Fig.1, Item 17) includes a connecting surface (Fig.1, Item 19) extending across a thickness (Fig.4, Item19) of the at least one guide wall (Fig.4, Item 17) to allow passage of the flow of the fluid and/or the acoustic waves associated therewith between a first major surface of the at least one guide wall and an oppositely arranged second major surface of the at least one guide wall (Figs.1 and 4).
With respect to claim 11, Katcher teaches wherein the connecting surface (Fig.1, Item 19) is formed by one of an end surface of the at least one guide wall (Fig.1, Item 17) or a surface defining an opening through the at least one guide wall (Fig.1).
With respect to claims 12, 13, 15 and 19, Ito et al. and Katcher teach wherein the at least one guide wall includes a plurality of the guide walls arranged to divert the flow of the refrigerant and/or the acoustic waves associated therewith through a serpentine flow path between the inlet port and the outlet port (Ito et al.: Fig.2A | Katcher: Fig.1).
With respect to claims 17, 18 and 19, Katcher teaches wherein the plurality of the outer walls includes three of the pairs of the oppositely arranged outer walls (Figs.1 and 3, Items 10, 13, about Items 11 and 12 and Items 21 and 23) formed into a substantially rectangular cuboid shape (Figs.1 and 3), and wherein the rectangular cuboid shape is divisible into four quadrants with the inlet port (Fig.1, Item 22) provided in a first one of the quadrants and the outlet port (Fig.,1, Item 24) provided in a second one of the quadrants disposed diagonally across the rectangular cuboid shape relative to the first one of the quadrants.
Claims 14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et al. (JP H09250844) in view of Katcher (US 2,392,247), and further in view of Butler (US 8,256,571).
With respect to claims 14 and 16, Ito et al. and Katcher teach the limitations already discussed in a previous rejection, but fail to disclose wherein each of the plurality of the guide walls includes an end surface thereof spaced apart from a facing one of the outer walls to form a manifold space by cooperation of the facing one of the outer walls and each of the end surfaces of the plurality of the guide walls, wherein the manifold space is directly fluidly coupled to each of the plurality of the passageways.
Nevertheless, Butler teaches a muffler (Fig.5) comprising a plurality of the guide walls (Fig.5, Items 60) includes an end surface thereof spaced apart (Fig.5A, Items 70 and 74) from a facing one of the outer walls (Fig.5A, Items 36 and 38) to form a manifold space (Fig.5, Item 48) by cooperation of the facing one of the outer walls and each of the end surfaces of the plurality of the guide walls, wherein the manifold space is directly fluidly coupled to each of the plurality of the passageways (Figs.5 and 5A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the Butler teachings with the Ito et al. and Katcher design because it would tune the muffler to provide a desired acoustic performance and fluid-flow profile, optimizing the performance of the refrigerant circuit components by controlling the backpressure as necessitated by the specific requirements of the particular application.
Conclusion
The attached hereto PTO Form 892 lists prior art made of record that the Examiner considered it pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDGARDO SAN MARTIN whose telephone number is (571)272-2074. The examiner can normally be reached on 9:00 - 5:00 M - F.
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/Edgardo San Martin/
Edgardo San Martín
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2837
June 26, 2026
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