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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 3 and 19-21 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on September 14, 2026.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the at least the low absorber and the high absorber are configured to supply heated cooling fluid to the condenser of claims 7 and 17. must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2, 4-6, and 8-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites the limitations, “a first concentrated solution”, “a first diluted solution”, “a second concentrated solution” and “a second diluted solution”. It is unclear how these solutions are related to the “diluted solution” and “concentrated solution” of each stage recited in claim 1 lines 2-4.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the intermediate temperature” and “the high temperature”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. For the purposes of examination, the examiner is going to treat the claim as if it read, “The multi-stage absorption chiller of claim [1] 2, wherein the of the coolant at an inlet of the high absorber tracks the of the coolant at the outlet of the high absorber.”
Claim 9 recites the limitation, “a condenser, configured to condense the vapor refrigerant to a cooled high pressure liquid” in lines 10-11, and then recites, “a condenser, configured to condense the high pressure vapor refrigerant from the high generator to a cooled high pressure liquid” in lines 17-18. It is unclear if these are the same condenser or if the claim requires two separate condensers. Further, “the high generator in line 18 lacks antecedent basis, and it is unclear if “a cooled high pressure liquid” of line 18 is the same as the “cooled high pressure liquid of line 10-11. For the purposes of examination, the examiner is going to treat the claim as if it read, “[a] the condenser, configured to condense the high pressure vapor refrigerant from a high generator to [a] the cooled high pressure liquid”.
Claims 4-6, and 10-18 are also rejected by virtue of dependency.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 6, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP2007127342 to Inoue, hereinafter referred to as Inoue, (see English language translation provided by Applicant on April 15, 2025).
In reference to claim 1, Inoue discloses the claimed invention including:
A multi-stage absorption chiller (see figure 1), comprising:
a plurality of absorber/generator stages (G), each stage configured to absorb cooled vapor with a concentrated solution to create a diluted solution (inferred from the description of absorbers and generators), each stage configured to heat the diluted solution to produce a vapor refrigerant and the concentrated solution (inferred from the disclosure);
a condenser (C), configured to condense the vapor refrigerant to a cooled high pressure liquid (at 31);
a pressure regulator (36), configured to regulate the cooled high pressure liquid from the condenser to a low pressure mixture of liquid and vapor; and
an evaporator (E), configured to cool and evaporate the vapor from the low pressure mixture of liquid and vapor and provide the cooled vapor to the plurality of absorber/generator stages (at AH).
In reference to claim 2, Inoue discloses the claimed invention including:
the plurality of absorber/generator stages comprises:
a low absorber (AH) configured to absorb a low pressure cooled vapor (from E) by a first concentrated solution (from 11) to create a first diluted solution (at 12);
a low generator (G), configured to heat the first diluted solution (from 12) from the low absorber (AH) to produce an intermediate pressure vapor refrigerant (to AL) and the first concentrated solution (to 11) to the low absorber (AH);
a high absorber (AL), configured to absorb the intermediate pressure vapor refrigerant from the low generator (G) by a second concentrated solution (at 22) to create a second diluted solution (to 21); and
a high generator (GL), configured to heat the second diluted solution (from 21) from the high absorber (AL) to produce a high-pressure vapor refrigerant (to C) and the second concentrated solution (from 22) to the high absorber (AL).
In reference to claim 6, Inoue discloses the claimed invention including:
a low heat exchanger (50), configured to transfer heat from the first concentrated solution (from 11) to the first diluted solution (at 12); and
a high heat exchanger (60), configured to transfer heat from the second concentrated solution (at 22) to the second diluted solution (to 21).
In reference to claim 8, Inoue discloses the claimed invention including:
the of the coolant at an inlet of the high absorber tracks the of the coolant at the outlet of the high absorber. It is noted this language requiring temperature of the coolant at an inlet of the high absorber tracks the of the coolant at the outlet of the high absorber is a recitation of how the apparatus is intended to be operated that does not result in any structure different than the prior art for performing the operation. Since Inoue teaches all of the claimed structural elements and is perfectly capable of performing the claimed function, the apparatus of Inoue is considered to meet all of the claimed structural limitations.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-18 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 4, 5, and 7 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
WO2013/152463 to Li showing a multiple stage absorption system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CASSEY D BAUER whose telephone number is (571)270-7113. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs: 10AM-8PM (ET).
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/CASSEY D BAUER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
