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 04/23/2025 was filed on the filing date of the instant application. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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, 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.
Claim(s) 5-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Izumo (JP S61-71821 A, refer to attached translation) in view of Ebine (JP 2012-024665 A, refer to attached translation).
Regarding claim 5, Izumo discloses a dehumidifying system (refer to fig.1) that feeds process air to a sorbent rotor to cause moisture within the process air to be adsorbed onto a sorbent of the sorbent rotor to dehumidify the process air, and causes regenerating air to flow onto the sorbent of the sorbent rotor which has adsorbed moisture to regenerate the sorbent, the dehumidifying system comprising:
a sorbent rotor for a first processing step (1) that dehumidifies the process air;
a sorbent rotor for a second processing step (2) that receives processed air which has been dehumidified by the sorbent rotor for the first processing step (1) and dehumidifies the processed air as the process air;
a circulating purging channel (channel passing through purge gas passage 40); and
a regenerating air channel (channel passing through regeneration gas passage 35), wherein
the sorbent rotor for the second processing step (2) comprises a sorbent rotor having a rotational passage region that is sectioned into three regions including a processing region (30) where the process air is dehumidified, a regenerating region (35) where the sorbent is regenerated, a first purging region (40) provided between the regenerating region (35) and the processing region (30) upstream from the regenerating region with respect to a rotational direction of the sorbent rotor (refer to the solid lined arrow representing the rotational direction of the sorbent rotor for a second processing step), and
the regenerating air channel (channel passing through regeneration gas passage 35) feeds at least a portion of the processed air which is processed by the sorbent rotor for the first processing step (passing through 1) to the regenerating region (35) of the sorbent rotor for the second processing step as regenerating air.
While Izumo discloses the sorbent rotor for the second processing step comprising a sorbent rotor having a rotational passage region that is sectioned into three regions, Izumo fails to explicitly disclose wherein the rotational passage region is sectioned into four regions, including a second purging region provided between the regenerating region and the processing region downstream from the regenerating region in the rotational direction of the sorbent rotor, wherein the circulating purging channel circulates air such that the air alternately passes through the first purging region and the second purging region.
However, Ebine teaches a gas removal system, comprising a sorbent rotor for a processing step including a rotational passage region sectioned into four regions. The four regions including a processing region (2c) where process air is dehumidified, a regenerating region (2a) where the sorbent is regenerated, a first purging region (2b) provided between the regenerating region (2a) and the processing region (2c) upstream from the regenerating region with respect to a rotational direction of the sorbent rotor (refer to fig.5), and a second purging region (2d) provided between the regenerating region (2a) and the processing region (2c) downstream from the regenerating region in the rotational direction of the sorbent rotor (refer to fig.5), wherein the circulating purging channel circulates air such that the air alternately passes through the first purging region and the second purging region (refer to fig.1), in order for purge air to be used effectively, cooling efficiency is good, and processing air with a lower dew point and less water vapor or other gas content can be obtained (refer to par.29).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Izumo such that the rotational passage region is sectioned into four regions, including a second purging region provided between the regenerating region and the processing region downstream from the regenerating region in the rotational direction of the sorbent rotor, wherein the circulating purging channel circulates air such that the air alternately passes through the first purging region and the second purging region in view of the teachings by Ebine, in order for purge air to be used effectively, cooling efficiency is good, and processing air with a lower dew point and less water vapor or other gas content can be obtained.
Regarding claim 6, Izumo as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 5. Further, Izumo as modified discloses a second regenerating air channel (61) that feeds at least a portion of the processed air which has passed through the regenerating region of the sorbent rotor for the second processing step as regenerating air to the regenerating region of the sorbent rotor for the first processing step.
Regarding claim 7, Izumo discloses a dehumidifying system (refer to fig.1) that feeds process air to a sorbent rotor to cause moisture within the process air to be adsorbed onto a sorbent of the sorbent rotor to dehumidify the process air, and causes regenerating air to flow onto the sorbent of the sorbent rotor which has adsorbed moisture to regenerate the sorbent, the dehumidifying system comprising:
a sorbent rotor for a first processing step (1) that dehumidifies the process air;
a sorbent rotor for a second processing step (2) that receives processed air which has been dehumidified by the sorbent rotor for the first processing step (1) and dehumidifies the processed air as the process air;
a circulating purging channel (channel passing through purge gas passage 40); and
a regenerating air channel (channel passing through regeneration gas passage 35), wherein
the sorbent rotor for the second processing step (2) comprises a sorbent rotor having a rotational passage region that is sectioned into three regions including a processing region (30) where the process air is dehumidified, a regenerating region (35) where the sorbent is regenerated, a first purging region (40) provided between the regenerating region (35) and the processing region (30) upstream from the regenerating region with respect to a rotational direction of the sorbent rotor (refer to the solid lined arrow representing the rotational direction of the sorbent rotor for a second processing step),
the sorbent rotor for the first processing step (1) comprises a sorbent rotor having a rotational passage region that is sectioned into a processing region (15) where the process air is dehumidified, a regenerating region (20) where the sorbent is regenerated, and a purging region (25) provided between the regenerating region and the processing region where the sorbent is precooled (by means of first cooling heat exchanger 3) prior to entering the processing region (15), and
the regenerating air channel (channel passing through regeneration gas passage 35) feeds at least a portion of air at a purge outlet which has passed through the purging region of the sorbent rotor for the first processing step (1) to the regenerating region of the sorbent rotor for the second processing step (2) as regenerating air.
Regarding claim 8, Izumo as modified meets the claim limitations as disclosed above in the rejection of claim 7. Further, Izumo as modified discloses a second regenerating air channel (61) that feeds at least a portion of the air at the purge outlet which has passed through the regenerating region (35) of the sorbent rotor for the second processing step (2) as regenerating air to the regenerating region of the sorbent rotor for the first processing step.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANA M VAZQUEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-0611. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7-4.
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/ANA M VAZQUEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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