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 § 103
1. 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 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 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 of this title, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Creed et al (U.S. PG Pub No.: 2008/0085672 A1), hereinafter referred to as Creed et al ‘672, in view of Takegami et al (U.S. PG Pub No.: 2006/0123835 A1), hereinafter referred to as Takegami et al ‘835.
Regarding claim 1, Creed et al ‘672 discloses a climate system for conditioning air within a compartment (16) of a vehicle (10), comprising: a refrigerant circuit {as shown in Figs. 1-4: Abstract, ¶ [0033]}; a first compressor (26) fluidly coupled to the refrigerant circuit, where the first compressor includes a first compressor inlet (PS) and a first compressor outlet (PD) {as shown in Fig. 2: ¶¶ [0035] and [0040]}; a second compressor (39) fluidly coupled to the refrigerant circuit, the second compressor including a second compressor inlet (SS) and a second compressor outlet (SD) {as shown in Fig. 2: ¶ [0040]}; a first refrigerant-to-air heat exchanger (30a) fluidly coupled to the first compressor outlet and the second compressor outlet via a first set of one or more refrigerant lines (36), wherein the first refrigerant-to-air heat exchanger is thermally coupled to an exterior of the vehicle and forms part of the refrigerant circuit {see Figs. 2, 4B, 4D and 5: ¶¶ [0015-0016] and [0030-0031]}; a second refrigerant-to-air heat exchanger (30b) (i) fluidly coupled to the first refrigerant-to-air heat exchanger via a second set of one or more refrigerant lines (36) and (ii) fluidly coupled to the first compressor inlet and the second compressor inlet via a third set of one or more refrigerant lines, wherein: the second refrigerant-to-air heat exchanger is thermally coupled to the compartment of the vehicle and forms part of the refrigerant circuit {see Figs. 2, 4B, 4D and 5: ¶ [0031]}, and a controller (35) communicatively coupled to the first and second compressors and including instructions that are configured to selectively activating and deactivating the first and second compressors {see Fig. 2: [0034], [0039], [0042] and [0056]}.
However, Creed et al ‘672 fail to explicitly disclose the limitations of a first refrigerant line of the third set of one or more refrigerant lines includes a first section configured to cause any compressor oil mixed in the refrigerant to flow from a first lower elevation to a first higher elevation before flowing to the first compressor to restrict a flow of compressor oil to the first compressor when the first compressor is inactive; and a second refrigerant line of the third set of one or more refrigerant lines includes a second section configured to cause any compressor oil mixed in the refrigerant to flow from a second lower elevation to a second higher elevation before flowing to the second compressor to restrict a flow of compressor oil to the second compressor when the second compressor is inactive.
Takegami et al ‘835 teach: the concept of a first refrigerant line (32) of the third set (15) of one or more refrigerant lines includes a first section (32a) configured to cause any compressor oil mixed in the refrigerant to flow from a first lower elevation to a first higher elevation before flowing to the first compressor (2A) to restrict a flow of compressor oil to the first compressor when the first compressor is inactive {Fig. 14: ¶ [0239]}; and a second refrigerant line (33) of the third set of one or more refrigerant lines includes a second section (33a) configured to cause any compressor oil mixed in the refrigerant to flow from a second lower elevation to a second higher elevation before flowing to the second compressor (2B) to restrict a flow of compressor oil to the second compressor when the second compressor is inactive {as shown in annotated Fig. 16: ¶ [0254]}.
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Creed et al ‘672 in view of Takegami et al ‘835 to include the use of a first refrigerant line of the third set of one or more refrigerant lines includes a first section configured to cause any compressor oil mixed in the refrigerant to flow from a first lower elevation to a first higher elevation before flowing to the first compressor to restrict a flow of compressor oil to the first compressor when the first compressor is inactive, in order to ensure continued operation if one of the compressors breaks down {Takegami et al ‘835 – ¶ [0298]}.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Creed et al ‘672 in view of Takegami et al ‘835 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 1.
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Conclusion
2. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US-5094598-A to Amata; Atushi.
US-20090229301-A1 to Sakae; Satoru.
US-20150345848-A1 to Him; Aylan.
US-20140241926-A1 to Fraser; Bruce A.
US-4831835-A to Beehler; James R.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EMMANUEL E DUKE whose telephone number is (571)270-5290. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday thru Friday; 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM Monday thru Friday; 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
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.
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/EMMANUEL E DUKE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
07/25/2026
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