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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 15 contains the following issues:
The claim recites “the second throttling device” without proper antecedent basis. It should be noted that claim 14 provides antecedence, but claim 15 does not depend therefrom. For examination purposes, the body of the claim will be construed as –wherein the first throttling device is an electronic expansion valve or a capillary tube—.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Gao et al. (CN 111692708 A), herein Gao.
As per claim 1, Gao discloses a gas supplement control method for an air conditioner (see at least fig. 1),
wherein: the air conditioner comprises a compressor (100), an outdoor heat exchanger (4), an indoor heat exchanger (2), an enthalpy increasing system and a gas bypass (3, 10, 13 and related components); the enthalpy increasing system comprises a one-way electromagnetic valve (13); a first refrigerant flow path (e.g., path including 8, 3 and 7) is arranged between the outdoor heat exchanger (4) and the indoor heat exchanger (2); a second refrigerant flow path (10, per se) is arranged between the first refrigerant flow path (at 3) and an enthalpy increasing port of the compressor (100); the one-way electromagnetic valve (13) is arranged in the second refrigerant flow path (10); and the gas bypass (3) is arranged in the first refrigerant flow path and located between the enthalpy increasing system (upstream 3) and the indoor heat exchanger (2);
wherein the gas supplement control method comprises:
acquiring an outdoor ambient temperature and an operating state of the compressor (see at least ¶¶ 30 and 33); and
switching between an open state and a closed state of the one-way electromagnetic valve (13) according to the outdoor ambient temperature and the operating state (e.g., see at least ¶ 68).
As per claim 2, Gao discloses wherein the switching between the open state and the closed state of the one-way electromagnetic valve (13) according to the outdoor ambient temperature and the operating state (¶ 68) comprises:
switching between the open state and the closed state of the one-way electromagnetic valve (13) according to the outdoor ambient temperature (¶ 30), a current operating frequency of the compressor (see at least the second sentence of ¶ 69) and a current exhaust temperature (“when the external operating temperature […]” in ¶ 69).
As per claim 18, Gao discloses a controller (i.e., control system; see at least ¶ 11) comprising:
a memory (implied by the existence of “presets”; see at least ¶ 28); and
at least one processor (implied by the control system determining whether a condition is met; see at least ¶ 29),
wherein a computer program is stored in the memory and executable by the at least one processor (evidenced by the execution of the control method; see at least ¶¶ 32, 33, etc.), and
wherein when executing the computer program, the at least one processor performs the gas supplement control method for an air conditioner according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1).
As per claim 19, Gao discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (i.e., the control system; ¶ 11), on which computer-executable instructions are stored (i.e., presets, determinations, etc.; see at least ¶¶ 28-29, 32-33, etc.), wherein the computer-executable instructions are configured to execute the gas supplement control method for an air conditioner according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1).
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.
Claims 10-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao (CN 111692708 A) in view of Kawabe (JP 2005049002 A).
As per claim 10, Gao discloses an air conditioner (see at least fig. 1) comprising: a compressor (100), an outdoor heat exchanger (4), an indoor heat exchanger (2), wherein a first refrigerant flow path (path comprising 8, 3, 7) is arranged between the outdoor heat exchanger (4) and the indoor heat exchanger (2);
an enthalpy increasing system (3, 10, 13, etc.), comprising a one-way electromagnetic valve (13), wherein a second refrigerant flow path (10) is arranged between the first refrigerant flow path (at 3) and an enthalpy increasing port of the compressor (100), and the one-way electromagnetic valve (13) is arranged in the second refrigerant flow path; and
a gas bypass (3 and related components), arranged in the first refrigerant flow path and located between the enthalpy increasing system (e.g., 10) and the indoor heat exchanger (2).
However, Gao may not appear to explicitly disclose a water tray, the water tray being located below the outdoor heat exchanger, or wherein the gas bypass is arranged at the water tray.
On the other hand, Kawabe, directed to a vapor compression cycle, discloses a water tray (tray where 104s are located; see fig. 3), the water tray being located below the outdoor heat exchanger (102), wherein the gas bypass (203) is arranged at the water tray (evident from at least fig. 3).
Furthermore, it has been held that some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention is a support for a conclusion of obviousness which is consistent with the proper "functional approach" to the determination of obviousness as laid down in Graham, if the following findings can be articulated: (1) a finding that there was some teaching, suggestion, or motivation, either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art, to modify the reference or to combine reference teachings; (2) a finding that there was reasonable expectation of success; and (3) whatever additional findings based on the Graham factual inquiries may be necessary, in view of the facts of the case under consideration, to explain a conclusion of obviousness.1
As per (1), Kawabe recognizes the need to prevent frost accumulation on the outdoor heat exchanger when it acts as an evaporator (¶ 2). They recognize that using a heater is the easiest way to solve the problem (¶ 3). They propose using a heating element at the water tray or drainage path as a solution, to allow for freeze protection while suppressing an increase in power consumption (¶ 10). As per (2), one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that since the prior art of Kawabe has successfully implemented its own teachings with regards to the water tray, there would also be a reasonable expectation of success if said teachings were to be incorporated into the teachings of Gao. Said reasonable expectation of success is apparent from the fact that both references are analogous to each other, as well as are analogous to the claimed invention, by virtue of being within the same field of endeavor (i.e. vapor compression cycles). Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the teachings of the prior art are compatible and combinable, without yielding unpredictable results. As per (3), one of ordinary skill in the art, when considering the aforementioned evidence, would comprehend that the prior art teachings of Gao may be significantly improved by incorporating the prior art teachings of Kawabe, since the teachings thereof serve to complement the teachings of Gao by virtue of suggesting the prevention of frost formation by allowing proper drainage with heating.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have taken the teachings of Gao and to have modified them with the teachings of Kawabe, by having a water tray, the water tray being located below the outdoor heat exchanger, wherein the gas bypass is arranged at the water tray, in order to prevent frost formation while ensuring proper drainage, as similarly suggested by Kawabe, without yielding unpredictable results.
As per claim 11, Gao as modified discloses wherein:
the enthalpy increasing system further comprises a flash evaporator (3 of Gao);
the flash evaporator (3 of Gao) comprises a first refrigerant flow hole (side), a second refrigerant flow hole (bottom) and a third refrigerant flow hole (top; see fig. 4 of Gao);
the flash evaporator (3 of Gao) is connected to the enthalpy increasing port (via 10 of Gao) of the compressor (100 of Gao) through the first refrigerant flow hole (side) and the one-way electromagnetic valve (13 of Gao) sequentially;
the flash evaporator (3 of Gao) is connected to the outdoor heat exchanger (4 of Gao) through the second refrigerant flow hole (bottom); and
the flash evaporator (3 of Gao) is connected to the gas bypass through the third refrigerant flow hole (top).
As per claim 12, Gao as modified discloses wherein:
the enthalpy increasing system further comprises a throttling device (at least 8 of Gao); and
the throttling device (8 of Gao) is arranged in the first refrigerant flow path and located between the outdoor heat exchanger (4 of Gao) and the gas bypass (see at least fig. 4 of Gao).
As per claim 13, Gao as modified discloses wherein the throttling device comprises a first throttling device (8 of Gao), arranged in the first refrigerant flow path and located between the outdoor heat exchanger (4 of Gao) and the second refrigerant flow hole (bottom of 3 of Gao).
As per claim 14, Gao as modified discloses wherein the throttling device comprises a second throttling device (7 of Gao), arranged in the first refrigerant flow path and located between the third refrigerant flow hole (top of 3 of Gao) and the gas bypass (see fig. 4 of Gao).
As per claim 15, Gao as modified discloses wherein a respective one of first throttling device (8 of Gao) and a second throttling device (7 of Gao) is an electronic expansion valve (evident from at least the drawing symbols used in fig. 4 of Gao).
As per claim 16, Gao as modified discloses wherein a respective one of first throttling device (8 of Gao) and the second throttling device (7 of Gao) is an electronic expansion valve (evident from at least the drawing symbols used in fig. 4 of Gao).
As per claim 17, Gao as modified discloses a four-way valve (5 of Gao), which is respectively communicated with the outdoor heat exchanger (4 of Gao), the indoor heat exchanger (2 of Gao), and a gas return hole (53 of Gao) and a gas exhaust hole (51 of Gao) of the compressor (100 of Gao).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all2 of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The prior art, when taken as a whole, does not appear to reasonably anticipate or render prima facie obvious the claimed invention as currently recited in at least claim 3. As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
It should be noted that the intended purpose and operating principles of Gao require the specific control arrangements as disclosed and described therein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that any modifications to Gao to arrive at the claimed invention would be based on improper hindsight, and would render it inoperable for its intended purpose. Assuming arguendo, reprogramming the valves or changing the fluid line arrangements would change the principles of operation thereof, since it would require completely redesigning the structure of the vapor compression cycle, as currently described therein, most likely resulting in unexpected and/or unintended results, which is evidence against a prima facie case of obviousness. Thus, a preponderance of evidence supports the allowability of the claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MIGUEL A DIAZ whose telephone number is (313)446-6587. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jianying C. Atkisson can be reached at (571) 270-7740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MIGUEL A DIAZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
1 See MPEP § 2143.
2 Disclaimer: failure to include all the intervening limitations will result in a different claim scope, which may require a new grounds of rejection prior to a final determination of allowability.
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