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 .
Status of the Application
This Office action is in response to the amendment of November 19, 2025 which amended claims 1-9.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in lines 5 and 6 “a compression chamber that compresses a refrigerant being formed by the first scroll and the second scroll” should be “a compression chamber being formed by the first scroll and the second scroll, the refrigerant being compressed in the compression chamber”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: in lines 4 and 5 the limitation “the case has a return flow path that returns the lubricating oil in the case to a portion having a lower pressure than the discharge chamber in the housing” should be “the case has a return flow path that returns the lubricating oil in the case to a portion in the housing having a lower pressure than the discharge chamber”. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-9 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is vague and indefinite because the limitation “the case is supported by the housing via a bearing in a rotatable manner in the housing” is confusing. In particular it is unclear if the recitation of “in the housing” is a redundant recitation of the case being supported “by the housing” or if it is intended to set forth a location of the bearing. This limitation will be considered as “the case is rotatably supported by the housing via a bearing, the bearing being mounted to the housing”.
Claim 3 is vague and indefinite because in lines 3 and 4 the phrase “the second scroll rotationally follows around a driven axis by the first scroll and a driven mechanism while being eccentric with respect to the first scroll” is confusing. In particular the exact meaning of “rotationally follows around a driven axis” is unclear, what the source of the drive force is that makes the second scroll rotationally follow as claimed (i.e., the first scroll, the driven mechanism or both) and whether it is the second scroll, the driven axis or the driven mechanism that is eccentric to the first scroll. Claim 5 is similarly confusing at lines 3 and 4.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the driven mechanism" in lines 3 and 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims not specifically mentioned are indefinite since they depend from one of the above claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 7 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Zhuge et al (USPN 12,571,392).
With regards to claim 1, Zhuge et al disclose scroll compressor (see for example Fig. 6) comprising: a housing (11, 12, 14), a drive mechanism (2, 21), a first scroll (32), and a second scroll (31), the drive mechanism, the first scroll, and the second scroll being accommodated in the housing (see Fig. 6), a compression chamber (3a) that compresses a refrigerant being formed by the first scroll and the second scroll, wherein a case (labeled in annotated Fig. 6 below) is fixed to at least one of the first scroll (they are integrally formed in Fig. 6), the second scroll, and the drive mechanism, the case being provided therein with a discharge chamber (labeled in annotated Fig. 6 below) that communicates with the compression chamber (labeled “communication from the compression chamber” in the annotated Fig. 6) and from which a refrigerant compressed in the compression chamber is discharged (via 14b), the case is supported by the housing via a bearing (35, labeled in annotated Fig. 6) in a rotatable manner in the housing, and the discharge chamber is formed to have a diameter larger (labeled in annotated Fig. 6 below) than an outer diameter of the bearing.
With regards to claim 3, Zhuge et al disclose scroll compressor according to claim 1, wherein the first scroll is rotationally driven around a drive axis by the drive mechanism (the first scroll 32 is indirectly driven by the drive mechanism 2, 21), the second scroll (31) rotationally follows around a driven axis (the axis of shaft 2,21) by the first scroll and a driven mechanism (elements 34a, 34c, 34d) while being eccentric with respect to the first scroll (the axis defined by the boss labeled in annotated Fig. 6), and the case is fixed to the first scroll (as noted in claim 1 the case and the first scroll are integral).
With regards to claim 7, Zhuge et al disclose scroll compressor according to claim 1, wherein the discharge chamber is disposed between the bearing (35) and the compression chamber (3a) in a direction of a drive axis of the drive mechanism (clearly shown in Fig. 6).
With regards to claim 8, Zhuge et al disclose scroll compressor according to claim 7, wherein the case includes a boss (labeled in annotated Fig. 6) rotatably supported by the housing via the bearing, a discharge passage (33b) communicating with the discharge chamber is formed in the boss, and the discharge passage is smaller in diameter than the discharge chamber (clearly shown in Fig. 6).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4-6 and 9 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: with regards to claim 2 the prior art neither discloses nor makes obvious a compressor as claimed where the case includes a return flow path to a portion of the housing having a lower pressure than the discharge chamber; with regards to claims 4 and 5 the prior art neither discloses nor makes obvious a compressor as claimed where the drive mechanism includes aa stator fixed to the housing and a rotor in a tubular shape and having either the casing or the first scroll disposed inside thereof; with regards to claim 6 the prior art does not disclose the drive mechanism including a stator fixed to the housing and a tubular rotor fixed to a hollow shaft which drives the first and second scrolls at one end and has the case fixed to the other end of the drive shaft; and, with regards to claim 9 the prior art neither discloses nor makes obvious a the scroll compressor of claim 8 where the case is a bottomed cylindrical member having the boss integrally formed at the center of the front wall.
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ignatiev et al ‘366 discloses a compressor having a motor mounted on a hollow shaft and driving a scroll compressor mechanism at one end the hollow shaft forms the suction passage having a widen portion delivering the suctioned fluid to the outside of the scrolls; Ignatiev et a; ‘362 discloses scroll compressor having a discharge chamber 51 including a boss 60, the discharge chamber receives lubricant from a pumping channel64 located in the boss/shaft and thus the discharge chamber does not include a return flow path; and Hashizume et al disclose a scroll compressor having a drive mechanism, a first scroll, a second scroll and a hollow shaft within a housing, the hollow shaft delivering compressed gas to the outside of the housing.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES G FREAY whose telephone number is (571)272-4827. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri: 8:00 - 5:00.
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/CHARLES G FREAY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
CGF
September 29, 2026
