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.
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 3-6 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 3 recites “temperature rates of change of the defrost range indicate formation of ice….” However, the defrost range is defined in claim 1 as being to temperatures, not temperature rates. It is unclear how a temperature “rate” can be compared to a temperature “range”. Further, this limitation recites the plural “temperature rates of change” whereas all other recitations within the claims refer to the singular “temperature rate of change”. This discrepancy further renders the metes and bounds of the claim unclear.
Claims 4-6 are also rejected since they depend from claim 3.
Claim 5 further recites “when the rate of change… is no longer within the defrost range….” Again, the defrost range is defined in claim 1 as being to temperatures, not temperature rates. It is unclear how a temperature “rate” can be compared to a temperature “range”.
Claim 6 further recites “when the rate of change… is no longer within the defrost range….” Again, the defrost range is defined in claim 1 as being to temperatures, not temperature rates. It is unclear how a temperature “rate” can be compared to a temperature “range”.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) & (a)(2) as being anticipated by Takahashi et al. (US 2024/0369253 A1).
As per claim 1, Takahashi et al. disclose a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system operable to use a refrigerant to heat and cool an indoor space and comprising:
a refrigerant circuit comprising a compressor 21, an outdoor heat exchanger 23, an indoor heat exchanger 31, and a four-way valve 22 operable to flow the refrigerant in a first direction in a cooling mode (paras. 0050-0055), in a second direction, opposite the first direction, in a heating mode (paras. 0056-0061), and reverse the flow from the second direction to the first direction in a defrost mode (paras. 0062-0067);
a controller 90 operably coupled to the four-way valve to control the flow of the refrigerant (step S105; etc.); and
a temperature sensor 75 disposed on the outdoor heat exchanger and configured to measure a temperature of the outdoor heat exchanger over time and continuously send a signal to the controller (implicitly provides ongoing monitoring of the system) to communicate the measured temperature (paras. 0038, 0071; etc.),
wherein the controller is configured to automatically initiate the defrost mode when the measured temperature is within a defrost range of ice formation on the outdoor heat exchanger (step S101; para. 0069; etc.).
As per claim 2, Takahashi et al. disclose wherein the temperature sensor is attached to the outdoor heat exchanger adjacent to a coil of the outdoor heat exchanger (Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 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.
Claims 7-10 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.
Claims 11-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As per claims 3-6, there is no teaching or suggestion in the prior art to further modify the system of Takahashi et al. wherein the measured temperature over time is useable by the temperature sensor or the controller to determine a rate of change of the measured temperature, temperature rates of change of the defrost range indicate formation of ice on the outdoor heat exchanger, and the rate of change of the measured temperature is stored on a microprocessor of the temperature sensor or a microprocessor of the controller. (See rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), above.)
As per claims 7-10, there is no teaching or suggestion in the prior art to further modify the system of Takahashi et al. wherein the measured temperature is a temperature of the entire outdoor heat exchanger, and the defrost range has an upper limit with a first threshold temperature and a lower limit with a second threshold temperature.
As per claims 11-20, there is no teaching or suggestion in the prior art to further modify the system of Takahashi et al. to comprise at least two temperature switches coupled to the outdoor heat exchanger, wherein a first temperature switch of the at least two temperature switches is configured to actuate at a first threshold value of the outdoor heat exchanger and a second temperature switch of the at least two temperature switches is configured to actuate at a second threshold value of the outdoor heat exchanger,
wherein the first threshold value is an upper temperature limit of a threshold defrost range, and the second threshold value is a lower temperature limit of the threshold defrost range,
wherein, upon actuation, the first or the second temperature switch sends a signal to the controller to automatically initiate a defrost mode.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARC E NORMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4812. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-4:30 M-F.
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/MARC E NORMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
