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 .
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.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-5 and 7-10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claims 2-5, line 1, respectively; the phrase “a refrigerant into a heat transferring apparatus” should be changed to --the refrigerant into the heat transferring apparatus-- for proper antecedent basis.
In claim 3, line 8; the phrase “the pump” should be changed to --a pump-- for proper antecedent basis.
In claims 7-10, line 1, respectively; the phrase “a heat transferring apparatus” should be changed to --the heat transferring apparatus-- for proper antecedent basis.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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.
Claims 1, 4 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kurihara et al (U.S. PG Pub No.: 2009/0320502 A1), hereinafter referred to as Kurihara et al ‘502.
Regarding claim 1, Kurihara et al ‘502 disclose a method for charging a refrigerant (carbon dioxide) into a heat transferring apparatus (1), the method comprising: a pre-charging step (S1) of charging an inert gas (Nitrogen) into a refrigerant flow path (7) of the heat transferring apparatus to bring a pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to a predetermined pressure {as shown in Figs. 1 and 4: Abstract; ¶¶ [0013], [0079], [0142-0143]}; and a main charging step (S10) of charging the refrigerant into the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to a predetermined amount required for the heat transferring apparatus to operate after the pre-charging step {see ¶¶ [0123] and [0144-0145}.
Regarding claim 4, Kurihara et al ‘502 disclose the method for charging the refrigerant into the heat transferring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein nitrogen as the inert gas is charged to bring the pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to the predetermined pressure in the pre-charging step {see ¶¶ [0142-0144}.
Regarding claim 6, Kurihara et al ‘502 disclose a refrigerant-charging control apparatus for a heat transferring apparatus (1) comprising a controller (70) performing control to acquire a pressure in a refrigerant flow path (7) of the heat transferring apparatus detected by a pressure detector (P), wherein if conducting pre-charging to charge an inert gas (Nitrogen) into the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to bring a pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to a predetermined pressure before conducting main charging (S10) to charge a refrigerant (Carbon dioxide) into the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to a predetermined amount required for the heat transferring apparatus to operate, the controller performs control to determine whether the charging of the inert gas is completed based on the pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus detected by the pressure detector {as shown in Figs. 2 and 4: ¶¶ [0081], [0102], [0104], [0119], [0124], [0141-0145] and [0156]}.
Regarding claim 7, Kurihara et al ‘502 disclose the refrigerant-charging control apparatus for the heat transferring apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the controller performs control to stop (END) the charging of the inert gas if determining that the charging of the inert gas is completed {as shown in Fig. 4: ¶¶ [0049-0050], [0055-0056], [0071], [0074], [0126] and [01430]}.
Regarding claim 8, Kurihara et al ‘502 disclose the refrigerant-charging control apparatus for the heat transferring apparatus according to claim 6 further comprising a notifier (73) providing notification of information about the charging of the refrigerant into the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus, wherein the controller provides notification of information indicating that the charging of the inert gas is completed through the notifier if determining that the charging of the inert gas is completed {as shown in Fi. 2: ¶¶ [0104], [0122], [0126], [0143] and [0147]}.
Regarding claim 9, Kurihara et al ‘502 disclose the refrigerant-charging control apparatus for the heat transferring apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the controller performs control to provide notification (76) of the pressure acquired in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus as the information indicating that charging of the inert gas is completed through the notifier {see Fig. 2: ¶¶ [0104], [0119], [0122], [0124], [0143] and [0145]}.
Regarding claim 10, Kurihara et al ‘502 disclose the refrigerant-charging control apparatus for the heat transferring apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the controller (70) performs control relating to the main charging to charge (S10) the refrigerant into the refrigerant flow path (7) of the heat transferring apparatus (1) to the predetermined amount required for the heat transferring apparatus to operate if determining that the pre-charging is completed based on the pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus detected by the pressure detector {as shown in Figs. 1-2 and 4: ¶¶ [0123-0124] and [0144-0145]}.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurihara et al ‘502, in view of SMAGUE (U.S. PG Pub No.: 2015/0300210 A1), hereinafter referred to as SMAGUE ‘210.
Regarding claim 2, Kurihara et al ‘502 disclose the method for charging the refrigerant into the heat transferring apparatus according to claim 1, EXCEPT for the limitations of wherein the inert gas is charged to the predetermined pressure at which no cavitation occurs and no gas is produced in a pump arranged on the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus during operation of the heat transferring apparatus in the pre-charging step.
SMAGUE ‘210 teaches: the concept of the inert gas (Nitrogen) is charged to the predetermined pressure at which no cavitation occurs and no gas is produced in a pump (12) arranged on the refrigerant flow path (16) of the heat transferring apparatus (10) during operation of the heat transferring apparatus in the pre-charging step {as shown in Figure, ¶¶ [0016-0017], [0019], [0030], [0046], [0048] and [0053]}.
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 Kurihara et al ‘502 method in view of SMAGUE ‘210 to include inert gas is charged to the predetermined pressure at which no cavitation occurs and no gas is produced in a pump arranged on the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus during operation of the heat transferring apparatus in the pre-charging step, in order to facilitate temperature decrease while guaranteeing an absence of cavitation risk at the inlet of the pump, even during transient operation thereof {SMAGUE ‘210 – ¶¶[0019] and [0046]}.
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 Kurihara et al ‘502 method in view of SMAGUE ‘210 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 2.
Regarding claim 3, Kurihara et al ‘502 disclose the method for charging the refrigerant into the heat transferring apparatus according to claim 1, EXCEPT for the limitations of wherein the inert gas is charged to bring the pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to the predetermined pressure so as to bring the pressure of the refrigerant to not smaller than a saturation vapor pressure of the refrigerant before the refrigerant flows into the pump arranged on the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus during operation of the heat transferring apparatus in the pre-charging step.
SMAGUE ‘210 teaches: the concept of the inert gas (Nitrogen) is charged to bring the pressure in the refrigerant flow path (16) of the heat transferring apparatus (10) to the predetermined pressure so as to bring the pressure of the refrigerant to not smaller than a saturation vapor pressure of the refrigerant before the refrigerant flows into the pump (12) arranged on the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus during operation of the heat transferring apparatus in the pre-charging step {as shown in Figure: ¶¶ [0020], [0026], [0030], [0037], [0044-0046], [0051] and [0055-0056]}.
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 Kurihara et al ‘502 method in view of SMAGUE ‘210 to include the inert gas being charged to bring the pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to the predetermined pressure so as to bring the pressure of the refrigerant to not smaller than a saturation vapor pressure of the refrigerant before the refrigerant flows into the pump arranged on the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus during operation of the heat transferring apparatus in the pre-charging step, in order to ensures that the fluid at the pump inlet has a sufficient subcooling level with nearly total absence of fluid in the vapor or gas phase, which avoids cavitation risks at the pump{SMAGUE ‘210 – ¶ [0046]}.
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 Kurihara et al ‘502 method in view of SMAGUE ‘210 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 3.
Claim 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurihara et al ‘502, in view of Matsuoka et al (U.S PG Pub No.: 2009/0133413 A1), hereinafter referred to as Matsuoka et al ‘413.
Regarding claim 5, Kurihara et al ‘502 disclose the method for charging the refrigerant into the heat transferring apparatus according to claim 1, EXCEPT for the limitations of wherein the refrigerant is charged into the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus at a charging rate preventing that a solid of the refrigerant is produced to bring the pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to not smaller than a triple point pressure of the refrigerant after the inert gas is previously charged into the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to bring the pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to the predetermined pressure in the pre-charging step {see .
Matsuoka et al ‘413 teach: the concept of a charging rate preventing that a solid of the refrigerant is produced to bring the pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to not smaller than a triple point pressure of the refrigerant after the inert gas is previously charged into the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to bring the pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to the predetermined pressure in the pre-charging step {see Fig. 3: ¶¶ [0020], [0022], [0024], [0026], [0028], [0030], [0055], [0077], [0079], [0083-0085], [0087-0088], [0098], [0100], [0104-0106] and [0109]}.
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 Kurihara et al ‘502 method in view of MATSUOKA et al ‘480 to include a charging rate preventing that a solid of the refrigerant is produced to bring the pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to not smaller than a triple point pressure of the refrigerant after the inert gas is previously charged into the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to bring the pressure in the refrigerant flow path of the heat transferring apparatus to the predetermined pressure in the pre-charging step, in order to reliably avoid the phase change of the refrigerant to the solid state due to the pressure drop when filling the refrigerant {MATSUOKA et al ‘480 - ¶ [0015]}.
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 Kurihara et al ‘502 method in view of MATSUOKA et al ‘480 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 5.
Conclusion
4. 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
09/28/2026
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