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 information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/24/2025 is compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 1-10 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 calls for the limitation “a first inlet/outlet” in line 29 which is confusing as it is unclear how it relates to the previous recitation of “a first inlet/outlet” above in line 23. For examination purposes, the limitation is being considered as -- the first inlet/outlet --.
Claim 1 calls for the limitation “a second inlet/outlet” in line 30 which is confusing as it is unclear how it relates to the previous recitation of “a second inlet/outlet” above in line 24. For examination purposes, the limitation is being considered as -- the second inlet/outlet --.
Claim 3 calls for the limitation “a first refrigerant port” in line 2 which is confusing as it is unclear how it relates to the previous recitation of “a first refrigerant port” above in line 20 of claim 1. For examination purposes, the limitation is being considered as -- the first refrigerant port --.
Claim 3 calls for the limitation “a second refrigerant port” in line 2 which is confusing as it is unclear how it relates to the previous recitation of “a second refrigerant port” above in line 22 of claim 1. For examination purposes, the limitation is being considered as -- the second refrigerant port --.
Claim 3 calls for the limitation “a third refrigerant port” in lines 2-3 which is confusing as it is unclear how it relates to the previous recitation of “a third refrigerant port” above in lines 24-25 of claim 1. For examination purposes, the limitation is being considered as -- the third refrigerant port --.
Claim 3 calls for the limitation “a fourth refrigerant port” in line 3 which is confusing as it is unclear how it relates to the previous recitation of “a fourth refrigerant port” above in line 26 of claim 1. For examination purposes, the limitation is being considered as -- the fourth refrigerant port --.
Claim 5 calls for the limitation “an inlet of the compressor” in line 3 which is confusing as it is unclear how it relates to the previous recitation of “an inlet of the compressor” above in line 27 of claim 1. For examination purposes, the limitation is being considered as -- the inlet of the compressor --.
Claim 5 calls for the limitation “an outlet of the compressor” in line 5 which is confusing as it is unclear how it relates to the previous recitation of “an outlet of the compressor” above in line 20 of claim 1. For examination purposes, the limitation is being considered as -- the outlet of the compressor --.
Claim 6 calls for the limitation “an electric vehicle” in line 4 which is confusing as it is unclear how it relates to the previous recitation of “an electric vehicle” above in line 1 of claim 1. For examination purposes, the limitation is being considered as -- the electric vehicle --.
Claim 8 calls for the limitation “a second side of the first refrigerant-to-cooling” in lines 4-5 which is confusing as it is unclear how it relates to the previous recitation of “a second side of the refrigerant-to-cooling water heat exchanger” above in lines 6-7 of claim 1. For examination purposes, the limitation is being considered as -- the electric vehicle --.
Claim 8 calls for the limitation “a second side of the second refrigerant-to-cooling” in lines 7-8 which is confusing as it is unclear how it relates to the previous recitation of “a second side of the refrigerant-to-cooling water heat exchanger” above in lines 6-7 of claim 1. For examination purposes, the limitation is being considered as -- the electric vehicle --.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 1 includes an explicit recitation of a third refrigerant passage connecting a second inlet/outlet of the expansion valve to a third refrigerant port of the refrigerant switching valve; and a fourth refrigerant passage connecting a fourth refrigerant port of the refrigerant switching valve to an inlet of the compressor, wherein the expansion valve comprises: a first inlet/outlet connected to the second refrigerant passage; a second inlet/outlet connected to the third refrigerant passage; and a third inlet/outlet connected to the fourth refrigerant passage, wherein the first inlet/outlet and the second inlet/outlet are continuously open, and the third inlet/outlet is configured to be selectively opened or closed to bypass a portion of the refrigerant introduced into the expansion valve to the fourth refrigerant passage.
Closest prior art 1: Newman et al. (US 2011/0094498) discloses a thermal management system (Figs. 8-9) for an electric vehicle, comprising: a heat pump unit (a heat pump system 100) configured to release and absorb heat based on the heat dissipation and condensation heat of a refrigerant; a refrigerant-to-cooling water heat exchanger (161) having a first side thermally connected to the heat pump unit (100) to be cooled or heated by the refrigerant of the heat pump unit (100); and a thermal management unit (electric part cooling circuit 160) thermally connected to a second side of the refrigerant-to-cooling water heat exchanger (130/163), the thermal management unit (160) being configured to regulate a thermal of at least one of a battery pack (par. 112; Figs. 8-9) and an electrical component by using cooling water that is cooled or heated by the refrigerant-to-cooling water heat exchanger (161), wherein the heat pump unit (100) comprises: a compressor (110) configured to compress the refrigerant; an expansion valve (170/191) configured to expand the refrigerant compressed by the compressor (110); a refrigerant switching valve (120) disposed between the expansion valve (170/191) and the compressor (110) and configured to selectively switch a flow direction of the refrigerant flowing between the expansion valve (170/191) and the compressor (110); and a refrigerant circulation passage configured to circulate the refrigerant along the compressor (110), the refrigerant switching valve (120), the expansion valve (170/191), and the refrigerant-to-cooling water heat exchanger (161), wherein the refrigerant circulation passage comprises: a first refrigerant passage connecting an outlet of the compressor (110) to a first refrigerant port (121) of the refrigerant switching valve (120); a second refrigerant passage connecting a second refrigerant port (122) of the refrigerant switching valve (120) to a first inlet/outlet of the expansion valve (170).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARTHA TADESSE whose telephone number is (571)272-0590. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:30am-5:00pm EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Frantz Jules can be reached on 571-272-6681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR)system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For
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/M.T/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/FRANTZ F JULES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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