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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The submitted information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
The following claims are objected to because of informalities, wherein appropriate correction is required:
In claim 7: the recitation of “and expansion valve” (in lines 1-2) should be amended to –an expansion valve—, to provide proper antecedence.
In claim 8: the recitation of “frost ,” (in the preamble) should be amended to –frost,— (i.e., by deleting the space before the comma) for grammatical purposes.
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.
Claims 1-7 are 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 1 contains the following issues:
The claim is a method claim that recites, inter alia: “recalibrating a mass flow rate […] when” (in line 6), which is a conditional limitation. The claim does not appear to explicitly recite a step of detecting or determining that “the saturated suction temperature is less than the dew point of the ambient air […]”, but rather defines the recalibrating step to occur “when” the saturated suction temperature condition occurs (i.e., a contingent limitation). As currently recited, it would appear that the claimed invention may be practiced without the saturation temperature step occurring, which would seem to obviate the recalibrating step(s), given MPEP § 2111.04 (II). Namely, “[t]he broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met.” For examination purposes, the recitation of “when” will be construed as –after determining—, to avoid any ambiguities.
Claim 5 contains the following issues:
The claim is a method claim that recites, inter alia: “when” (in line 2), which is a conditional limitation, presenting the same issues as claim 1. For examination purposes, the recitation of “when” will be construed as –after determining—, to avoid any ambiguities.
Claim 6 contains the following issues:
The claim is a method claim that recites, inter alia: “when” (in line 2), which is a conditional limitation, presenting the same issues as claim 1. For examination purposes, the recitation of “when” will be construed as –after determining—, to avoid any ambiguities.
Any remaining claims are rejected at least by virtue of their dependency.
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 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Coussey et al. (US 20120266615 A1), herein Coussey.
As per claim 1, Coussey discloses a method to prevent accumulation of frost on a heat exchanger (12) in a refrigeration cycle system (10; see at least fig. 1 and abstract), the method comprising the steps of:
measuring a saturated suction temperature (via 32 or 34) of a refrigerant entering the heat exchanger (12; see ¶ 20);
measuring a dew point of an ambient air flow moving through the heat exchanger (evident from at least ¶¶ 12-13);
comparing the saturated suction temperature (from 32 or 34) to the dew point of the ambient air flow (¶ 13);
recalibrating a mass flow rate of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle system (e.g., by reducing the compressor speed) after determining the saturated suction temperature is less than the dew point of the ambient air flow and a freezing temperature of water (¶ 14), wherein the recalibrating step comprises:
instructing a compressor (16a, 16b) within the refrigeration cycle system to decrease the mass flow rate of the refrigerant in order to increase the saturated suction temperature of the refrigerant entering the heat exchanger (as described in at least ¶ 14);
taking another measurement of saturated suction temperature of the refrigerant (via feedback; ¶ 15); and
repeating the instructing and measuring steps (i.e., via the feedback) until the saturated suction temperature is greater than or equal to at least one of the dew point of the ambient air flow or the freezing temperature of water (¶ 15 and fig. 3).
As per claim 2, Coussey discloses wherein the measuring the saturated suction temperature step comprises:
orienting a pressure sensor (32) upstream of an entrance (see arrows in fig. 1) of the compressor (16a, 16b);
measuring a saturated suction pressure of the refrigerant flowing into the compressor (¶ 20); and
calculating the saturated suction temperature of the refrigerant from the measured saturated suction pressure of refrigerant (¶ 20).
As per claim 3, Coussey discloses wherein prior to measuring the dew point of ambient air flow, the method comprises the step of orienting a dew point sensor (34) downstream (indirectly) of the compressor (16a, 16b).
As per claim 4, Coussey discloses the step of continuously recycling refrigerant fluid throughout the refrigeration cycle system (see closed-system arrows in fig. 1), wherein the refrigeration cycle system comprises:
an evaporator (2) in fluid connection with the compressor (16a, 16b), the evaporator being oriented downstream of the compressor (see arrows in fig. 1);
a pressure sensor (32) upstream of the compressor (16a, 16b) to measure the pressure of refrigerant entering the compressor (see at least ¶¶ 13, 16 & 20); and
a dew point sensor (34) downstream (indirectly) of the compressor (16a, 16b) to measure the dew point of the ambient air flow moving through the evaporator (see at least fig. 1 and ¶ 25).
As per claim 5, Coussey discloses the step of increasing the mass flow rate of refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle system (by controlling the speed of the compressor to a normal operation; see at least ¶¶ 4, 11, 19, etc.) after determining the saturated suction temperature is greater than one of the dew point of the ambient air flow and the freezing temperature of water (see at least step 60 in fig. 3).
As per claim 6, Coussey discloses the step of maintaining the mass flow rate of refrigerant within the refrigeration cycle system (step 52 in fig. 3) after determining the saturated suction temperature is greater than one of the dew point of the ambient air flow and the freezing temperature of water (see “no” path in step 54).
As per claim 7, Coussey discloses the steps of orienting a condenser (18) and expansion valve (20) downstream (indirectly) of the compressor (16a, 16b) and upstream (directly) of an evaporator (12) within the refrigeration cycle system (see fig. 1).
As per claim 8, Coussey discloses a refrigeration cycle system (10) for preventing an accumulation of frost (see at least abstract), the system comprising:
a compressor (16a, 16b) and an evaporator (12) in fluid connection (see fig. 1), wherein the evaporator (12) is downstream (see arrows) of the compressor (16a, 16b);
a refrigerant (represented by the arrows) for circulation through the refrigeration cycle system (10);
a suction pressure sensor (32) upstream of the compressor (16a, 16b) to measure the pressure of refrigerant entering the compressor (see at least ¶ 13);
a dew point sensor (34 or sensor on 12) disposed to measure the dew point of an ambient air flow entering the evaporator (see at least ¶ 13);
a speed control sensor (e.g., as part of 42a, 42b) disposed on the compressor (16a, 16b) to measure a flow rate of the refrigerant through the refrigerant cycle system (see at least ¶¶ 16-17); and
a controller (40) operatively connected (see fig. 2) to the suction pressure sensor (32), dew point sensor (34, etc.), and speed control sensor (42a, 42b), wherein the controller (40) instructs the compressor (16a, 16b) to modulate the flow rate of the refrigerant (see at least ¶¶ 14 & 17) flowing through the refrigerant cycle system (10) based on measurements from the suction pressure sensor (32), dew point sensor (34, etc.), and speed control sensor (42a, 42b).
As per claim 9, Coussey discloses a condenser (18) in fluid connection with the compressor (16a, 16b) and evaporator (12), wherein the condenser (18) is downstream of the compressor (16a, 16b) and upstream of the evaporator (12).
As per claim 10, Coussey discloses an expansion device (20) in fluid connection with the compressor (16a, 16b) and evaporator (12), wherein the expansion device (20) is downstream of the condenser (18) and upstream of the evaporator (12).
As per claim 11, Coussey discloses wherein the controller (40) converts pressure measured by the suction pressure sensor (32) into a saturated suction temperature of the refrigerant (see at least ¶ 20) and compares the saturated suction temperature of the refrigerant to the dew point measured by the dew point sensor (as described in at least ¶ 20; see also step 54 in fig. 3).
As per claim 12, Coussey discloses wherein the controller (40) instructs the compressor (16a, 16b) to decrease the flow rate of refrigerant (by reducing the speed; see at least ¶ 14) through the refrigerant cycle system (10) when the dew point is greater than the saturated suction temperature (see at least step 54).
As per claim 13, Coussey discloses wherein the dew point sensor (34, etc.) measures the temperature of the air flow entering the evaporator (2) simultaneously with the dew point of the air flow entering the evaporator (see at least ¶ 13).
As per claim 14, Coussey discloses wherein the controller (40) instructs the compressor (16a, 16b) to decrease the flow rate of refrigerant (by reducing the speed; see at least ¶ 14) through the refrigerant cycle system (10) where the saturated suction temperature is less than both of the dew point and 32 degrees Fahrenheit (see at least step 54 and ¶¶ 13-14).
As per claim 15, Coussey discloses wherein the controller (40) instructs the compressor (16a, 16b) to maintain or increase the flow rate of refrigerant (e.g., via a normal operation) through the refrigerant cycle system (10) where the saturated suction temperature is not less than both of the dew point and 32 degrees Fahrenheit (see at least step 66 and ¶¶ 22 & 26).
As per claim 16, Coussey discloses wherein the refrigerant is continuously recycled into the compressor (16a, 16b) after flowing through the refrigerant cycle system (evident from at least fig. 1).
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
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