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 § 102
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) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mitsui et al. (JP 2020176628), hereinafter referred to as Mitsui.
Re claim 1, Mitsui teaches a heat exchanger formed by stacking a plurality of heat transfer plates (e.g. description, “The plate laminate 1 may be a stack of liquefied gas plates 6 and hot water plates 7 alternately. The plate laminate 1 may be formed by repeatedly laminating a set of two layers including a liquefied gas plate 6-hot water plate 7 or a hot water plate 7-liquefied gas plate 6-hot water plate 7-hot water plate 7”), wherein the plurality of heat transfer plates includes a first heat transfer plate (7) and a second heat transfer plate (6) and the first heat transfer plate and the second heat transfer plate are alternately stacked,
a first flow path (e.g. see Fig 5) is formed in the first heat transfer plate and a second flow path (e.g. see Fig 5) is formed in the second heat transfer plate, and
the second flow path has a flow path cross-sectional area smaller than a flow path cross-sectional area of the first flow path (e.g. description, “Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the thickness of the liquefied gas plate 6 is provided to be thinner than the thickness of the hot water plate 7 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. The liquefied gas plate 6 may have the same thickness as the hot water plate 7, or may be provided to be thicker than the hot water plate 7”).
Re claim 2, Mitsui teaches the heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the second heat transfer plate has a plate thickness different from a plate thickness of the first heat transfer plate (e.g. description, “Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the thickness of the liquefied gas plate 6 is provided to be thinner than the thickness of the hot water plate 7 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. The liquefied gas plate 6 may have the same thickness as the hot water plate 7, or may be provided to be thicker than the hot water plate 7”).
Re claim 3, Mitsui teaches the heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the second heat transfer plate has a plate thickness smaller than a plate thickness of the first heat transfer plate (e.g. description, “Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the thickness of the liquefied gas plate 6 is provided to be thinner than the thickness of the hot water plate 7 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. The liquefied gas plate 6 may have the same thickness as the hot water plate 7, or may be provided to be thicker than the hot water plate 7”).
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Swift (US Pat No. 4,516,632), hereinafter referred to as Swift.
Re claim 1, Swift teaches a heat exchanger formed by stacking a plurality of heat transfer plates (e.g. 14, 12, 16), wherein the plurality of heat transfer plates includes a first heat transfer plate (14) and a second heat transfer plate (16) and the first heat transfer plate and the second heat transfer plate are alternately stacked (see Fig 3),
a first flow path (e.g. abstract “Each of the slotted sheets includes multiple parallel slots which form fluid flow channels when sandwiched between the unslotted sheets”) is formed in the first heat transfer plate and a second flow path (e.g. abstract “Each of the slotted sheets includes multiple parallel slots which form fluid flow channels when sandwiched between the unslotted sheets”) is formed in the second heat transfer plate, and
the second flow path has a flow path cross-sectional area smaller than a flow path cross-sectional area of the first flow path (e.g. C3-lns 35-40, “The thicknesses of the three types of sheets 12, 14 and 16 are 0.005, 0.008 and 0.002 inch, respectively”).
Re claim 2, Swift teaches the heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the second heat transfer plate has a plate thickness different from a plate thickness of the first heat transfer plate (e.g. C3-lns 35-40, “The thicknesses of the three types of sheets 12, 14 and 16 are 0.005, 0.008 and 0.002 inch, respectively”).
Re claim 3, Mitsui teaches the heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the second heat transfer plate has a plate thickness smaller than a plate thickness of the first heat transfer plate (e.g. C3-lns 35-40, “The thicknesses of the three types of sheets 12, 14 and 16 are 0.005, 0.008 and 0.002 inch, respectively”).
Re claim 4, Swift teaches the heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein each of the first heat transfer plate and the second heat transfer plate includes a bottom plate portion, the bottom plate is a partition between the first flow path and the second flow path, and the bottom plate portion has a thickness equal to or larger than a predetermined thickness (e.g. C3-lns 35-40, “The thicknesses of the three types of sheets 12, 14 and 16 are 0.005, 0.008 and 0.002 inch, respectively”).
Re claim 5, Swift teaches the heat exchanger according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined thickness is 0.1 mm or more (e.g. C3-lns 35-40, “The thicknesses of the three types of sheets 12, 14 and 16 are 0.005, 0.008 and 0.002 inch, respectively”).
Re claim 6, Swift teaches the heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein the first flow path has a depth that is 40% or more and 70% or less of a plate thickness of the first heat transfer plate, and the second flow path has a depth that is 40% or more and 70% or less of a plate thickness of the second heat transfer plate (e.g. C3-lns 35-40, “The thicknesses of the three types of sheets 12, 14 and 16 are 0.005, 0.008 and 0.002 inch, respectively. The slots 14a in sheets 14 are 0.016 inch wide and 0.016 inch apart. The slots 16a in sheets 16 are 0.020 inch wide and 0.010 inch apart”).
Re claim 7, Swift teaches the heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein a through-hole (34a) is formed in each of the first heat transfer plate and the second heat transfer plate (see Fig 8).
Re claim 8, Swift teaches a manufacturing method for a heat exchanger according to claim 1, comprising forming the first flow path and the second flow path by etching (e.g. C2-lns 30-50, “In the preferred embodiment, the heat exchanger is formed of stainless steel sheets which are bonded together with copper by furnace brazing in a hydrogen atmosphere. The slots in the sheets are preferably formed by chemical milling so as to result in fluid flow channels of uniform cross-sectional dimension and thereby also resulting in uniform fluid flow impedance. Additionally, by appropriate layout during the chemical etching step it is possible to provide internal manifold channels which simplify fabrication and facilitate installation of the heat exchanger”).
Re claim 9, see rejection of claim 4 by Swift.
Re claim 10, see rejection of claim 7 by Swift.
Re claim 11, Swift teaches the manufacturing method for a heat exchanger according to claim 10, further comprising forming the first flow path, the second flow path, the first through-holes, and the second through-holes by a same etching process (e.g. C2-lns 30-50, “In the preferred embodiment, the heat exchanger is formed of stainless steel sheets which are bonded together with copper by furnace brazing in a hydrogen atmosphere. The slots in the sheets are preferably formed by chemical milling so as to result in fluid flow channels of uniform cross-sectional dimension and thereby also resulting in uniform fluid flow impedance. Additionally, by appropriate layout during the chemical etching step it is possible to provide internal manifold channels which simplify fabrication and facilitate installation of the heat exchanger”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. (see PTO-892).
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/NELSON J NIEVES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763 09/30/2026
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