DETAILED ACTION
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-11 are 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Both internal baffles (e.g. FR 1,291,617; features 8-10 and 20-22) and distributor pipes (see rejections below) are common in the art for guiding flow through a header. However, the combination of the two features into a single design does not appear to be taught or fairly suggested in the art.
Where gaps do exist between baffles and distributor tubes through which the distributor is inserted (see US 2017/0227264; Fig. 3, element 34), they are designed as a concession to easy removability of the distributor and not as a feature of flow design. They are specifically minimized in order to prevent as much flow as possible through the gap.
Thus the features of claims 10-11 appear to be allowable in combination with all of the recited features of the claims from which they depend.
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 5 and 16-20 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 5 does not appear to recite any limitations. It appears to only state two conditions without reciting any structure. Furthermore, it appears that the attempted intent of the claim is to contradict claim 3 from which it depends by requiring flow of the fluid simultaneously out of the hole (claim 3) and into the hole (claim 5), though it is unclear if this is truly the intent of the claim due to its grammatical structure.
Claim 16 does not have any meaning. It requires that a ratio (a dimensionless value) be equal to a range between a distance (0.5 times an inner diameter) and another dimensionless value (50%). This is an impossible apples to oranges comparison.
In claims 17 and 20, line 2, “a housing defining shape of...” is missing a word.
Claims 18-19 depend from claim 17.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-7, 15, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2013/184522 (‘522) in view of Beamer (US 2009/0173482).
Regarding claim 1, ‘522 teaches a fluid distributor for a header associated with a heat exchanger, the distributor comprising: a distributor tube (9, 4, 18) comprising a first segment (18) and second segment (9) wherein the distributor tube comprises a hole (12; see Para. [0031] which allows for embodiments with any number of holes) at a predefined position on a predefined side (left and right in Fig. 3); the distributor tube is configured with the header such that the first tube segment remains outside of the header (Fig. 3) and the second tube segment extends longitudinally within the header (Fig. 3) via a first end of the header (8)with the hole located at the first end of the header (Fig. 3).
‘522 does not teach that the second segment is bent.
Beamer teaches that it is old and well-known to form distributor tubes (e.g. 80) which extend longitudinally within a header (22) via a first end (78) to be bent (Fig. 3, 54 and 82) or straight (Figs. 1-2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide the device of ‘522 with either a straight or bent distributor tube second segment, as taught by Beamer, depending on the available installation space for the device.
Regarding claim 2, ‘522 further teaches that the distributor has a first open end (inlet to 18) outside the header and a second open end (13) within the header (Fig. 3) and the hole is inside the header at the first end of the header (near 8). Per the above combination with Beamer, the first and second segments of the distributor are connected by a curved portion (Fig. 3) outside the header.
Regarding claim 3, the distributor is configured to receive a two-phase fluid within the distributor tube (Para. [0004]) via the first open end causing the fluid to flow out of the distributor into the header via the second end (13) and vapor phase associated with the two phase fluid to flow into the header via the hole (Para. [0032]) and the fluid flows from the second hole to ports associated with heat exchange tubes connected to the header (10). It is noted that the “configured to...” language associated with vapor specifically flowing from one hole and mixed refrigerant phases flowing from the other does not appear to be associated with any particular unclaimed structure. Therefore, the device as otherwise recited is “configured to” perform this function.
Regarding claim 4, the fluid flowing out of the hole (12) encourages stirring (by its motion out of the hole) of any pool of liquid phase formed within the header (see Fig. 1 where the hole is at the bottom of the device) while moving the stirred liquid phase in an upward direction to enable homogenous flow of liquid phase within the header and further into the one or more ports (see homogenization of flow per Figs. 6a-c).
Regarding claims 6-7, per the combination above, the distributor has an “L” or “J” shaped structure, which is to say the bend is 90 degrees (see Fig. 3 of Beamer).
Regarding claim 15, ‘522 teaches that the header may be oriented vertically with the second end up and the first end down (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 20, a housing (2) defining the shape of the inlet header with a plurality of heat exchange tubes (10) fluidically connected to the header, the first tube segment is outside the header and the second tube segment extends longitudinally within the header via a first end (as per claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 17, ‘522 further teaches a housing defining the shape of the inlet header (2) and comprising one or more partitioned compartments (one compartment partitioned at the ends from the external environment)with an interior volume fluidically connected to a plurality of heat exchange tubes (Fig. 3), wherein the distributor tube is configured with one of the compartments of the inlet header such that a first tube segment of the distributor tube remains outside the compartment (4) and a second (9) extends longitudinally within the compartment (2) via a hole located at the first end of the compartment (through 8).
Regarding claim 18, per the combination above in claim 1, the first and second tube segments are connected by a curved portion (see Fig. 3 of Beamer) outside of the header, per Beamer; a first open end (18) is located outside the respective compartment (i.e. outside of 2)and a second open end (13) within the compartment, the hole is located downstream of the curved portion (12 is inside the header (2) such that the hole remains at the first end of the compartment adjacent the curved portion (i.e. near 8), per ‘522.
Regarding claim 19, ‘522 further teaches that the distributor tube is fluidly connected to an outlet of an external fluid distributor that receives the two phase fluid from a refrigerant line and uniformly supplies the two phase fluid into the corresponding distributor tube (i.e. the refrigerant supplied to 18 from the compressor).
Claim(s) 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2013/184522 (‘522) in view of Beamer (US 2009/0173482) and Mohanta (US 12,566,035).
Regarding claims 8-9, it is unclear if ‘522 teaches the nozzle.
Mohanta teaches that it is old and well-known to include a nozzle (100) at the end of a distributor pipe (110) which extends longitudinally inside of a header (202) having a flat profile (Figs. 1a-d) and reducing the area between 25 and 75% (20-70%; Col. 2:6-8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide the device of ‘522 with the nozzle of Mohanta in order to increase homogenous distribution of the fluid (Col. 7:53-63).
Claim(s) 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2013/184522 (‘522) in view of Beamer (US 2009/0173482) and Taras (US 2017/0276411).
‘522 does not teach the use of a porous media.
Taras teaches that it is old and well-known in a heat exchanger with a distributor (e.g. 70) extending longitudinally along a header (60) it is old and well-known to provide a porous media (80) within the header around the distributor tube (e.g. Fig. 16) which facilitates the fluid to be evenly distributed into the tubes (Fig. 16), per claim 12; the media is disposed within the header along an entire length thereof (Fig. 16), per claim 13; the density or pore size of the porous media increases along a direction from the second end toward the first end of the header (Para. [0070]), per claim 14.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to provide the device of ‘522, as modified, with the porous medium, as taught by Taras, in order to assist in even distribution of the fluid.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Devon Lane whose telephone number is (571)270-1858. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, 9-4.
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/DEVON LANE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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