CTNF 18/952,295 CTNF 86991 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-4, 9, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murakami (US 2008/0135634) in view of Temple (US 6,463,747) . As to claim 1, Murakami teaches a method of operating an environmental control apparatus, the method comprising: determining or receiving a cooling demand (paragraph 20); determining a preliminary thermofluidic property objective value based on the cooling demand (paragraph 23); determining a final thermofluidic property objective value based on the preliminary value and one or more thresholds (), the final property value being a conditioned temperature and thus related to a target property of working fluid at a control location of the environmental control apparatus; and operating the system based on the final value (paragraphs 30-31). Murakami does not explicitly teach a vapor compression system as claimed. However, Temple teaches that it is known to use vapor compression air conditioning system with a compressor 18, an expansion device 16, and evaporator 14 as claimed. Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify Murakami such that the environmental control is performed with a vapor compression system as claimed and taught by Temple in order to provide efficient and effective cooling by the system. As to claim 2, the final value is related to system operation and thus is related to any target pressure of the working fluid. As to claim 3, Murakami teaches monitoring a thermofluidic property of the working fluid at the control location and determining the preliminary value based on the cooling demand and the monitored value (paragraph 23). As to claim 4, Murakami teaches determining the cooling demand based on a temperature setpoint and a monitored or predicted temperature of the thermal source (Fig. 8). As to claim 9, Murakami teaches setting the final value based on upper and lower thresholds (Fig. 7). As to claim 18, the modified apparatus includes the claimed system and the controller 40 of Murakami being configured to perform the claimed method . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 5-8, 11-13, and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the prior art as applied above, and further in view of Krishnamoorthy (US 2020/0033039) . As to claim 5, Murakami does not explicitly teach basing thermofluidic property objectives on the claimed parameters. However, Krishnamoorthy teaches adjusting thermofluidic setpoints based on monitored working fluid temperature to maximize COP (paragraph 82). Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify the operation of Murakami to be performed in the manner as claimed in order to maximize operating efficiency of the system. As to claims 6-8, 11-13, and 16-17, Krishnamoorthy teaches using control locations as claimed (see sensor locations in Fig. 1) to adjust compressor and expansion valve control accordingly (Fig. 2). As to claim 15, the modified apparatus includes multiple evaporators and associated control as claimed (Krishnamoorthy, Fig. 1) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim 10 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. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN BRADFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-5199. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 - 4:00 ET. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jerry-Daryl Fletcher can be reached at (571)270-5054. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /JONATHAN BRADFORD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763 Application/Control Number: 18/952,295 Page 2 Art Unit: 3763 Application/Control Number: 18/952,295 Page 3 Art Unit: 3763 Application/Control Number: 18/952,295 Page 4 Art Unit: 3763 Application/Control Number: 18/952,295 Page 5 Art Unit: 3763
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