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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-15 are currently pending.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1-10 and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over OH et al. (US-2021/0341169-A1) in view of Luo et al (CN-115111723-B, Published December 19, 2023).
With respect to claim 1, OH teaches of an air conditioner (air conditioner 1, fig.2), comprising:
a housing including a plurality of outlets (housing 10 with discharge port 41 includes ports 41a-c, figs.2-3);
a heat exchanger disposed in the housing (heat exchanger 20 of housing 10, fig. 3);
a compressor (compressor 3, fig.1) connected to the heat exchanger and configured to circulate a refrigerant to allow the refrigerant to pass through the heat exchanger (The indoor heat exchanger 20 may be installed in the indoor unit 1 together with the expansion valve 5, and the outdoor heat exchanger 4 may be installed in the outdoor unit 2 together with the compressor 3. Therefore, the indoor heat exchanger 20 may cool an air in the air conditioning space (indoor), [0051]);
a plurality of fans (blower fan 33 includes fans 32a-c, fig.3) configured to blow air to allow the air to pass through the heat exchanger and be discharged to the plurality of outlets (the heat-exchanged air by the heat exchanger 20 may be discharged to the outside of the air conditioner 1 through at least one discharge port 41 and the discharging hole 42 by the fan 32, [0070]); and
a controller (controller 160, fig.8) including at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, individually and/or collectively, configured to turn on all of the plurality of fans and turn off the plurality of fans after a cooling operation ends to perform an automatic drying operation (The fan motor 33 may rotate the fan 32 in response to a blowing control signal of the controller 160. The fan motor 33 may adjust the rotation speed of the fan 32 in response to the blowing control signal of the controller 160, [0128]; The air conditioner 1 may operate the fan 32 at the first rotation speed for the first time t1 (1050), [0177]; the air conditioner 1 may perform the drying operation reflecting the external humidity, [0188]; the air conditioner 1 may perform the drying operation based on a difference between the internal humidity and the external humidity of the air conditioner 1, [0191]; the air conditioner 1 may operate the fan 32 for a second time at the first rotation speed or the second rotation speed (1080), [0193]; After the second time has elapsed, the air conditioner 1 may stop the fan 32 (1090), [0197]).
With respect to claim 1, OH does not appear to teach sequentially turn off the plurality of fans after a cooling operation ends.
However, it is known by Luo to teach of an air conditioner (Luo: figs.1-4), comprising: a heat exchanger (Luo: condenser 13, fig.1 and page 6); a compressor connected to the heat exchanger and configured to circulate a refrigerant to allow the refrigerant to pass through the heat exchanger (Luo: compressor 12 and the condenser 13 are connected to form a refrigeration loop, the refrigeration loop is also provided with a gas-liquid separator 14, fig.1 and page 6); a plurality of fans configured to blow air to allow the air to pass through the heat exchanger and be discharged (Luo: The number of the fan 11 is two or more, such as: The number of the fan 11 is three or four, fig.1 and page 6), and a controller including at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, individually and/or collectively, configured to sequentially turn off the plurality of fans after a cooling operation ends to perform an automatic drying operation (Luo: The control device of the air conditioner of the embodiment, through the obtaining module 21, The calculation module 22 and the execution module 23 can realize that a plurality of fans to be turned off are turned off sequentially based on the determined turn-off time sequence, page 10).
Because Luo’s teaching is also directed to an air conditioner (Luo: figs.1-4; air conditioner 1, fig.2), it would have been obvious to POSITA before the effective filing date to incorporate the teaching of a plurality of fans and sequentially turn off the fans as taught by Luo with the air conditioner as taught by OH for the purpose to avoid the problem of low pressure protection…improve the reliability of the machine set and the use experience of the user (Luo: page 10).
With respect to claim 2, OH and Luo combined teaches further wherein at least one processor of the controller, individually and/or collectively, is configured to determine whether a first condition is satisfied, and turn off one of the plurality of fans based on whether the first condition is satisfied (Luo: controlling the first to-be-closed fan to shut down after the compressor finishes the initial load reducing, page 3).
With respect to claim 3, OH and Luo combined teaches wherein at least one processor of the controller, individually and/or collectively, is configured to determine whether a second condition is satisfied, and turn off another of the plurality of fans based on whether the second condition is satisfied (Luo: after the first fan to be turned off executes the shutdown logic, the control method…re-determining the shutdown time sequence of the residual fan to be shut down…after the compressor finishes the initial load reduction, keeping the preset time; obtaining the suction pressure of the compressor, and controlling the suction pressure of the compressor to be adjusted to a preset suction pressure; controlling the second to-be-closed fan to execute the shutdown logic according to the same step as the first to-be-closed fan until all the to-be-closed fans are shut down, page 3).
With respect to claim 4, OH and Luo combined teaches wherein at least one processor of the controller, individually and/or collectively, is configured to determine whether a first condition is satisfied, and perform the automatic drying operation based on the first condition being satisfied (OH: drying process 1000 of an air conditioner, fig.11 and [0156]; perform the cooling process in response to the user input for cooling the indoor, [0158]).
With respect to claim 5, OH and Luo combined teaches wherein the plurality of fans comprises: a first fan; a second fan disposed lower than the first fan; and a third fan disposed lower than the second fan (Luo: four number of fans 11 disposed as shown in fig.1), wherein at least one processor of the controller, individually and/or collectively, is configured to turn on all of the first fan, the second fan, and the third fan for a first period of time after the cooling operation ends (Luo: all fans are interpreted to be on until ‘when the shutdown signals of at least two fans are received in the preset time length, determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down. Preferably, the preset duration is, for example, 10S. The step of determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down is to determine the shutdown time sequence of all the fans to be shut down’, page 6).
With respect to claim 6, OH and Luo combined teaches wherein at least one processor of the controller, individually and/or collectively, is configured to determine whether a first condition is satisfied, based on the first period of time elapsing (Luo: when the shutdown signals of at least two fans are received in the preset time length, determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down. Preferably, the preset duration is, for example, 10S. The step of determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down is to determine the shutdown time sequence of all the fans to be shut down’, page 6).
With respect to claim 7, OH and Luo combined teaches wherein the first condition includes an operation time of the compressor being less than a reference time (Luo: after the first fan to be turned off executes the shutdown logic, the control method…re-determining the shutdown time sequence of the residual fan to be shut down…after the compressor finishes the initial load reduction, keeping the preset time; obtaining the suction pressure of the compressor, and controlling the suction pressure of the compressor to be adjusted to a preset suction pressure; controlling the second to-be-closed fan to execute the shutdown logic according to the same step as the first to-be-closed fan until all the to-be-closed fans are shut down, page 3).
With respect to claim 8, OH and Luo combined teaches wherein at least one processor of the controller, individually and/or collectively, is configured to turn off the first fan and turn on the second fan and the third fan for a second period of time, in response to the first condition being satisfied (Luo: The control device of the air conditioner of the embodiment, through the obtaining module 21, The calculation module 22 and the execution module 23 can realize that a plurality of fans to be turned off are turned off sequentially based on the determined turn-off time sequence, page 10; determining the turn-off time sequence of the fan to be turned off, the first fan to be turned off, the second fan to be turned off, ..., the Nth fan to be turned off in turn according to the turn-off sequence of the fan… when the shutdown signals of at least two fans are received in the preset time length, determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down. Preferably, the preset duration is, for example, 10S. The step of determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down is to determine the shutdown time sequence of all the fans to be shut down. based on the determined shutdown time sequence, controlling the fan to be shut down to shut down. Specifically, the fan to be closed before the shutdown time sequence is prior to the fan to be closed after the shutdown time sequence to execute shutdown logic, page 6; sequentially turned off each of the fans 11 based on turn-off time sequence is interpreted to turn off the first fan while the second fan and third fan are on).
With respect to claim 9/8, OH and Luo combined teaches wherein at least one processor of the controller, individually and/or collectively, is configured to turn off the second fan and the third fan, based on the second period of time elapsing (Luo: The control device of the air conditioner of the embodiment, through the obtaining module 21, The calculation module 22 and the execution module 23 can realize that a plurality of fans to be turned off are turned off sequentially based on the determined turn-off time sequence, page 10; determining the turn-off time sequence of the fan to be turned off, the first fan to be turned off, the second fan to be turned off, ..., the Nth fan to be turned off in turn according to the turn-off sequence of the fan… when the shutdown signals of at least two fans are received in the preset time length, determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down. Preferably, the preset duration is, for example, 10S. The step of determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down is to determine the shutdown time sequence of all the fans to be shut down. based on the determined shutdown time sequence, controlling the fan to be shut down to shut down. Specifically, the fan to be closed before the shutdown time sequence is prior to the fan to be closed after the shutdown time sequence to execute shutdown logic, page 6; sequentially turned off each of the fans 11 based on turn-off time sequence is interpreted to turn off the second fan and the third fan after the first fan is turned off).
With respect to claim 10, OH and Luo combined teaches wherein at least one processor of the controller, individually and/or collectively, is configured to turn off the first fan and turn on the second fan and the third fan for a second period of time, in response to the first condition not being satisfied; and determine whether a second condition is satisfied, based the second period of time elapsing (Luo: The control device of the air conditioner of the embodiment, through the obtaining module 21, The calculation module 22 and the execution module 23 can realize that a plurality of fans to be turned off are turned off sequentially based on the determined turn-off time sequence, page 10; determining the turn-off time sequence of the fan to be turned off, the first fan to be turned off, the second fan to be turned off, ..., the Nth fan to be turned off in turn according to the turn-off sequence of the fan… when the shutdown signals of at least two fans are received in the preset time length, determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down. Preferably, the preset duration is, for example, 10S. The step of determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down is to determine the shutdown time sequence of all the fans to be shut down. based on the determined shutdown time sequence, controlling the fan to be shut down to shut down. Specifically, the fan to be closed before the shutdown time sequence is prior to the fan to be closed after the shutdown time sequence to execute shutdown logic, page 6; sequentially turned off each of the fans 11 based on turn-off time sequence is interpreted to turn off the first fan and leave the second fan and the third fan on second period of time).
With respect to claim 12/10, wherein at least one processor of the controller, individually and/or collectively, is configured to turn off the second fan and turn on the third fan for a third period of time, in response to the second condition being satisfied (Luo: The control device of the air conditioner of the embodiment, through the obtaining module 21, The calculation module 22 and the execution module 23 can realize that a plurality of fans to be turned off are turned off sequentially based on the determined turn-off time sequence, page 10; determining the turn-off time sequence of the fan to be turned off, the first fan to be turned off, the second fan to be turned off, ..., the Nth fan to be turned off in turn according to the turn-off sequence of the fan… when the shutdown signals of at least two fans are received in the preset time length, determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down. Preferably, the preset duration is, for example, 10S. The step of determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down is to determine the shutdown time sequence of all the fans to be shut down. based on the determined shutdown time sequence, controlling the fan to be shut down to shut down. Specifically, the fan to be closed before the shutdown time sequence is prior to the fan to be closed after the shutdown time sequence to execute shutdown logic, page 6; sequentially turned off each of the fans 11 based on turn-off time sequence is interpreted to turn off the second fan and leave the third fan on for a third period of time).
With respect to claim 13/12/10, wherein at least one processor of the controller, individually and/or collectively, is configured to turn off the third fan, based on the third period of time elapsing (Luo: The control device of the air conditioner of the embodiment, through the obtaining module 21, The calculation module 22 and the execution module 23 can realize that a plurality of fans to be turned off are turned off sequentially based on the determined turn-off time sequence, page 10; determining the turn-off time sequence of the fan to be turned off, the first fan to be turned off, the second fan to be turned off, ..., the Nth fan to be turned off in turn according to the turn-off sequence of the fan… when the shutdown signals of at least two fans are received in the preset time length, determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down. Preferably, the preset duration is, for example, 10S. The step of determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down is to determine the shutdown time sequence of all the fans to be shut down. based on the determined shutdown time sequence, controlling the fan to be shut down to shut down. Specifically, the fan to be closed before the shutdown time sequence is prior to the fan to be closed after the shutdown time sequence to execute shutdown logic, page 6; sequentially turned off each of the fans 11 based on turn-off time sequence is interpreted to turn off turn off the third fan, based on the third period of time elapsing).
With respect to claim 14/10, wherein at least one processor of the controller, individually and/or collectively, is configured to turn off the second fan and turn on the third fan for a fourth period of time longer than the third period of time, in response to the second condition not being satisfied (Luo: The control device of the air conditioner of the embodiment, through the obtaining module 21, The calculation module 22 and the execution module 23 can realize that a plurality of fans to be turned off are turned off sequentially based on the determined turn-off time sequence, page 10; determining the turn-off time sequence of the fan to be turned off, the first fan to be turned off, the second fan to be turned off, ..., the Nth fan to be turned off in turn according to the turn-off sequence of the fan… when the shutdown signals of at least two fans are received in the preset time length, determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down. Preferably, the preset duration is, for example, 10S. The step of determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down is to determine the shutdown time sequence of all the fans to be shut down. based on the determined shutdown time sequence, controlling the fan to be shut down to shut down. Specifically, the fan to be closed before the shutdown time sequence is prior to the fan to be closed after the shutdown time sequence to execute shutdown logic, page 6; sequentially turned off each of the fans 11 based on turn off the second fan and leave the third fan on for a fourth period of time longer than the third period of time).
With respect to claim 15/14/10, wherein at least one processor of the controller. individually and/or collectively, is configured to turn off the third fan, based on the fourth period of time elapsing (Luo: The control device of the air conditioner of the embodiment, through the obtaining module 21, The calculation module 22 and the execution module 23 can realize that a plurality of fans to be turned off are turned off sequentially based on the determined turn-off time sequence, page 10; determining the turn-off time sequence of the fan to be turned off, the first fan to be turned off, the second fan to be turned off, ..., the Nth fan to be turned off in turn according to the turn-off sequence of the fan… when the shutdown signals of at least two fans are received in the preset time length, determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down. Preferably, the preset duration is, for example, 10S. The step of determining the shutdown time sequence of the fan to be shut down is to determine the shutdown time sequence of all the fans to be shut down. based on the determined shutdown time sequence, controlling the fan to be shut down to shut down. Specifically, the fan to be closed before the shutdown time sequence is prior to the fan to be closed after the shutdown time sequence to execute shutdown logic, page 6; sequentially turned off each of the fans 11 based on turn off the third fan, based on the fourth period of time elapsing).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious, which makes the following claims allowable over the prior art:
With respect to claim 11/10, further comprising: an indoor temperature sensor configured to detect an indoor temperature (H); a heat exchanger temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the heat exchanger; and a humidity sensor disposed in the housing and configured to detect a humidity of air passing through the heat exchanger, wherein the second condition includes a difference between the indoor temperature and the temperature of the heat exchanger being less than a reference temperature and the detected humidity being less than a reference humidity.
Conclusion
The additional prior arts made of record and have not been relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure as follows: US-5904047-A; P_2020063862_A; and JP_H09280632_A.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HIEN (CINDY) D KHUU whose telephone number is (571)272-8585. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm.
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/HIEN D KHUU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2116 September 2, 2026
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