Ex Parte Sandkoetter

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Nov 14, 2017

11868606 (P.T.A.B. Nov. 14, 2017)

United States Patent and Trademark Office
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O.Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www.uspto.gov
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
11/868,606 10/08/2007 Wolfgang Sandkoetter 506319 1410
53609 7590 11/16/2017
REINHART BOERNER VAN DEUREN P.C.
2215 PERRYGREEN WAY
ROCKFORD, IL 61107
EXAMINER
ZERPHEY, CHRISTOPHER R
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
3744
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
11/16/2017 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address(es):
RockMail@reinhartlaw.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte WOLFGANG SANDKOETTER
Appeal 2015-007835
Application 11/868,6061
Technology Center 3700
Before HUBERT C. LORIN, JAMES A. WORTH, and
CYNTHIA L. MURPHY, Administrative Patent Judges.
LORIN, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Wolfgang Sandkoetter (Appellant) seeks our review under 35 U.S.C.
§ 134(a) of the Final Rejection of claims 1 and 3—25. We have jurisdiction
under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
SUMMARY OF DECISION
We REVERSE.
1 The Appellant identifies Bitzer Kuehlmaschinenbau GmbH as the real
party in interest. App. Br. 2.
Appeal 2015-007835
Application 11/868,606
THE INVENTION
Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the subject matter on
appeal.
1. Cooling system for in-transit cooling, comprising a
refrigeration circuit, in which a refrigerant compressor, a high-
side heat exchanger, an expansion unit and a low-side heat
exchanger are disposed, the cooling system having a generator
for feeding electric power into an internal electrical supply
system of the cooling system, from which an electric
compressor motor is fed for driving the refrigerant compressor,
an internal combustion engine for driving the generator, a
control unit for controlling a refrigerating output of the
refrigeration circuit wherein the control unit controls a
rotational speed of the internal combustion engine by means of
an engine controller operating the internal combustion engine
only at the rotational speed required to feed into the internal
electrical supply system the electrical power required for
operating the cooling system.
THE REJECTIONS
The Examiner relies upon the following as evidence of
unpatentability:
Nordebo US 4,038,575 July 26, 1977
Murayama US 4,352,642 Oct. 5, 1982
Wakabayashi US 4,748,824 June 7, 1988
Wilkinson US 4,991,400 Feb. 12, 1991
Kim US 6,519,959 B2 Feb. 18,2003
Kishita US 6,530,426 B1 Mar. 11,2003
Kubo US 2004/0025525 A1 Feb. 12, 2004
Williames US 6,773,368 B1 Aug. 10, 2004
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Application 11/868,606
The following rejections are before us for review:
• Claims 1, 6—8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 20-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as being unpatentable over Wakabayashi and Wilkinson
• Claims 3—5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Kishita.
• Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable
over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, Kim, and Nordebo.
• Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable
over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Williames.
• Claims 13, 15, 17, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
being unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Kubo.
• Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable
over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Murayama.
ISSUES
Did the Examiner err in rejecting claims 1, 6—8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and
20-25 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Wakabayashi
and Wilkinson?
Did the Examiner err in rejecting claims 3—5 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
as being unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Kishita?
Did the Examiner err in rejecting claim 9 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
being unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, Kim, and Nordebo?
Did the Examiner err in rejecting claim 11 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
as being unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Williames?
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Application 11/868,606
Did the Examiner err in rejecting claim 13, 15, 17, and 18 under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and
Kubo?
Did the Examiner err in rejecting claim 19 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
as being unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Murayama?
FINDINGS OF FACT
We rely on the Examiner’s factual findings stated in the Answer.
Additional findings of fact may appear in the Analysis below.
ANAFYSIS
The rejection of claims 1, 6—8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 20—25 under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as being unpatentable over Wakabayashi and Wilkinson.
There are two independent claims: claims 1 and 10.
Claim 1 is directed to a cooling system. According to claim 1, the
cooling system comprises a refrigeration circuit. In the refrigeration circuit
are disposed (a) a refrigerant compressor; (b) a high-side heat exchanger; (c)
an expansion unit; and, (d) a low-side heat exchanger.
According to claim 1, an internal combustion engine drives a
generator that feeds electric power to an electric compressor motor that
drives the refrigerant compressor (a); that is, the refrigerant compressor (a)
is driven by a generator-powered electric compressor motor. This is
illustrated in Fig. 3 of the Specification, reproduced below.
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Application 11/868,606
"Figure 3 shows a schematic representation of a drive of a
refrigeration circuit of the first exemplary embodiment of the
cooling system according to the invention with an internal
electrical supply system." Spec., para. 59.
As the Specification explains it,
[t]he electrical generator 76 driven by the internal combustion
engine 74 feeds an internal electrical supply system 80 with
electric power, among the units that are connected to the
internal electrical supply system 80 being an electric
compressor motor 82, which drives the refrigerant compressor
24 and is directly connected to it to form a motor-compressor
unit 90.
Spec., para. 73.
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Application 11/868,606
The claim 1 cooling system further includes a control unit that
controls the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine by means of
an engine controller operating the internal combustion engine only at the
rotational speed required to feed into the internal electrical supply system the
electrical power required for operating the cooling system, thereby
controlling the refrigeration circuit.
The Examiner's position is that Wakabayashi discloses all that is
claimed but "fails to explicitly teach wherein the control unit controls the
rotational speed of the internal combustion engine by means of an engine
controller only at the rotational speed required to feed into the internal
electrical supply system the electrical power required for operating the
cooling system," for which Wilkinson is relied upon. Final Rej. 2—3.
According to the Examiner,
it would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the
time of invention to modify the system of Wakabayashi to
include the control unit controlling the rotational speed of the
internal combustion engine by means of an engine controller
only at the rotational speed required to feed into the internal
electrical supply system the electrical power required for
operating the cooling system in order to provide a more flexible
and reliable system in view of the teachings by Wilkinson.
Final Rej. 3.
The Appellant argues that Wilkinson does not disclose "a compressor
driven from electric power from a generator." App. Br. 5. "Wilkinson does
not teach a generator for a refrigeration unit." Reply Br. 6. See also Reply
Br. 7:
The Examiner cannot show that the control system of
Wilkinson controls engine rotational speed to generate only the
electrical power required to run the cooling system, because the
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refrigeration system of Wilkinson does not run on electrical
power. Further, it cannot be shown that the control system of
Wilkinson regulates a generator to control refrigeration output
because the refrigeration system of Wilkinson does not run via
generator. Furthermore, the generator that is disclosed by
Wilkinson runs at a constant speed regardless of engine speed,
Therefore, it cannot be shown that the control system of
Wilkinson limits the amount of electrical power in any way,
and thus Wilkinson cannot satisfy those limitations of claims 1,
6-8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 20-22 for which it was cited.
The Examiner does not dispute that Wilkinson does not disclose a
compressor driven from electric power fed by a generator. "[I]t was never
stated or suggested that Wilkinson was relied upon for teaching a
compressor driven via electrical power from a generator; the [Final
Rejection, page 3] rejection explicitly states '... However, Wilkinson teaches
an engine driven air conditioning system ... Ans. 16.
Fig. 1 of Wilkinson, reproduced below, supports the view taken by
both the Appellant and the Examiner. It shows an engine (11) driving a
compressor (12) and a generator (17).
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"FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the motive drive system of
this invention showing the relationship of the components."
Wilkinson, col. 4, lines 3—5.
As Wilkinson explains it,
[referring to FIG. 1, a motive drive system 10 of this invention
is schematically shown disclosing an internal combustion
engine in rotatively driving connection to a compressor 12
through shaft means 13, 14 and 15. Shafts 13 and 14 are
connected together through pulley 37 while shafts 14 and 15 are
coupled through the differential transmission 21. The engine 11
is in rotatively driving connection to an electric generator
means 17 through a continuously variable transmission means
18, and shafts 19 and 20.
Col. 4, lines 34—36.
Accordingly, the evidence supports finding that, unlike the claimed
system where a compressor is driven by electrical power via a generator,
Wilkinson discloses a compressor driven by mechanical motion provided by
an internal combustion engine. Wilkinson discloses a generator but it does
not provide electric power to the compressor. Therefore, the claimed system
and Wilkinson's cooling system are different.
Claim 1 further requires "the control unit controls a rotational speed of
the internal combustion engine by means of an engine controller
operating the internal combustion engine . . . ." Emphasis added. See
element 110 in Fig. 1 of the Specification, reproduced above.
In that regard, the Examiner found that
[notwithstanding that] Wilkinson teaches an engine driven air
conditioning system [Wilkinson] incorporates] the technique
of controlling the rotational speed of an internal combustion
engine (11) by means of a controller (at least control elements
59 and 40) only at the rotational speed required to feed into the
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internal electrical supply system the electrical power required
for operating the cooling system (at least during cooling mode
power required by compressor and other electrical components;
see Col. 1, lines 6-14; Col. 3, lines 49-59; Col. 5, lines 37-43,
and Col. 6, lines 13-30).
Final Rej. 3 (emphasis added).
Fig. 3 of Wilkinson, reproduced below, depicts control element 59
controlling two electric motors (elements 57 and 63) for driving a pair of
fans (elements 6 and 62, respectively).
"FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the heating and cooling
subsystem of this invention, as it is connected to the
components of the system." Wilkinson, col. 4, lines 9—11.
According to Wilkinson,
[t]he fan 56 is driven by an electric motor 57 by means of a
connection 58, to the control unit 59, which is connected by an
electrical line 60 to the generator 17. In a similar construction, a
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fan 62 is driven by an electric motor 63, which is connected
through a line 64 to the controller 59, and to the generator 17
through the electrical line 60.
Col. 5, lines 22—28. Element 59 does not control the rotational speed of an
internal combustion engine as claim 1 requires.
The Examiner states that
[f]or clarity, since the rotation of the internal combustion engine
varies with the cooling load of the air conditioning system, the
electrical power generated by the generator will correspond
with the electrical power required for operating the cooling
system including the compressor and electrical components (see
again Col. 5, lines 37-43). Wilkinson further teaches (at least
implicitly) that this arrangement provides for a more flexible
and reliable system (see Col. 3, lines 13-30).
Final Rej. 3.
According to col. 5, lines 37-43 of Wilkinson,
[t]he air of the indoor space is induced to pass across the coil 54
by the fan 62, which is driven by the motor 63, through
controller 59, that operates to turn the fans on and off in
accordance with the requirements and thermostatic control of
the system as required by indoor and outdoor temperatures.
While this would suggest to one of ordinary skill to control fan 62 according
to the cooling requirements, this disclosure is insufficient to support finding
"an engine driven air conditioning system incorporating the technique of
controlling the rotational speed of an internal combustion engine (11) by
means of a controller" (Final Rej. 3) as the Examiner found. The
thermostatic control of the system affects the fan 62, turning it on and off.
And one of ordinary skill would understand that this would impact the
engine (11). But this is insufficient to show that, in fact, Wilkinson's
controller 59 "controls" the engine as claimed; that is, it operates as a
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a control unit for controlling a refrigerating output of the
refrigeration circuit wherein the control unit controls a
rotational speed of the internal combustion engine [which
drives a generator for feeding electric power into an internal
electrical supply system of the cooling system, from which an
electric compressor motor is fed for driving the refrigerant
compressor] by means of an engine controller operating the
internal combustion engine only at the rotational speed
required to feed into the internal electrical supply system
the electrical power required for operating the cooling
system [from which an electric compressor motor is fed for
driving the refrigerant compressor].
Claim 1 (emphasis added).
As for element 40, this is illustrated in Fig. 1, supra. It is a speed
sensor. See Wilkinson, col. 6, lines 13—15 ("In the operation of the system
of this invention, the speed sensor 40 provides a signal to the throttle control
42 responsively to changes in the generator shaft speed [i.e., the shaft of
generator 17]."). Element 40 does not control the rotational speed of an
internal combustion engine as claim 1 requires. It simply sends a signal to a
control means 42 on the engine 11 so that the generator speed can be
maintained. See Wilkinson, col. 5, lines 9—15 ("A sensor 40 is operatively
positioned on shaft 19 to sense the speed of shaft 19 and connected
electrically, or otherwise, by a conduit means 41 to a throttle actuator and
control means 42 on the engine 11 to maintain the desired speed of the
generator fixedly rotating with shaft 19.").
The Examiner takes the position that
Wilkinson discloses that the speed sensor 40 causes an increase
or decrease in the speed of the engine based on the load of the
refrigeration system (col 6, lines 13-30). Wilkinson thus meets
the claimed limitation in multiple ways. First, the change in
load causes the engine to receive more or less fuel to
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accommodate an increase or decrease in speed, leading to an
increase or decrease in engine speed. Second, the transmission
18 and 21 being part of the internal combustion engine adjusts
its ratio to ultimately control the output speed of the engine.
Thus the speed of the engine of Wilkinson is adjusted both in
an overall drive speed (by way of the transmission 18 and 21)
and by the rate of combustion (by controlling the rate of
delivery of fuel to the engine).
Ans. 15.
The difficulty with the Examiner's position is that, as we stated
earlier, unlike the claimed system where a compressor is driven via a
generator, Wilkinson's compressor is not driven by a generator. This is an
important difference because claim 1 requires controlling the rotational
speed of the internal combustion engine only at the rotational speed required
to feed into the internal electrical supply system "the electrical power
required for operating the cooling system." And "the electrical power
required for operating the cooling system" "driv[es] the refrigerant
compressor" (claim 1). While the Examiner fairly reads col. 6, lines 13—30
of Wilkinson as "disclos[ing] that the speed sensor 40 causes an increase or
decrease in the speed of the engine [via the throttle actuator] based on the
load of the refrigeration system" (Ans. 15 (emphasis added)), this disclosure
is insufficient to support finding further that element 40 of Wilkinson
controls the engine's rotational speed so as to feed electric power to the
cooling system to operate it as claimed. It is true that Wilkinson's "control
function originates by sensing [via sensor 40] the deviations from standard
speed of the generator shaft" and thus,
the compressor may be controlled to operate at different and
more optimum speed and power settings in response to the load
requirements of the comfort conditioning system while still
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maintaining the generator speed constant, the variable
transmission 18 [see Fig. 1 supra] moves to change the drive
ratio between the engine and the generator which indirectly
changes the compressor speed
(col. 6, lines 13—30), but Wilkinson's compressor is not driven by electric
power from the generator. See Fig. 1 supra. As pointed out earlier, the
claimed cooling system comprises a circuit with an internal combustion
engine driving a generator that feeds electric power to an electric compressor
motor that drives a refrigerant compressor. Wilkinson's sensor 40 does not
control the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine only at the
rotational speed required to feed into the internal electrical supply system
"the electrical power required for operating the cooling system" (claim 1).
Arguably, Wilkinson's speed sensor 40 can indirectly affect an engine's
rotational speed but one of ordinary skill in the art would not be led further
to use speed sensor 40 as a means for controlling the engine's rotational
speed so that electric power is fed to the cooling system to operate it as
claimed.
For the foregoing reasons, a prima facie case of obviousness for the
subject matter of claim 1 has not been made out in the first instance by a
preponderance of the evidence.
The other independent claim — claim 23 — similarly requires "an
electric compressor motor for driving the refrigerant compressor," "a
generator for feeding electric power into an internal electrical supply system
of the cooling system, from which the compressor motor is fed, and an
internal combustion engine for driving the generator," and "a rotational
speed of the internal combustion engine and generator being regulated by the
control unit to control the refrigeration output." Accordingly, for similar
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reasons, a prima facie case of obviousness for the subject matter of claim 23
has not been made out in the first instance by a preponderance of the
evidence.
The rejection as to the dependent claims is not sustained for the
reasons discussed for sustaining the rejection of the corresponding
independent claims from which they depend.
The rejection of claims 3—5 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable
over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Kishita.
The rejection of claim 9 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable
over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, Kim, and Nordebo.
The rejection of claim 11 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable
over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Williames.
The rejection of claim 13, 15, 17, and 18 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Kubo.
The rejection of claim 19 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable
over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Murayama.
These rejections of dependent claims are not sustained for the reasons
discussed for sustaining the rejection of the corresponding independent
claims from which they depend.
CONCLUSIONS
The rejection of claims 1, 6—8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 20—25 under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Wakabayashi and Wilkinson
is reversed.
The rejection of claims 3—5 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Kishita is reversed.
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The rejection of claim 9 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, Kim, and Nordebo is reversed.
The rejection of claim 11 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Williames is reversed.
The rejection of claim 13, 15, 17, and 18 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
being unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Kubo is reversed.
The rejection of claim 19 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Wakabayashi, Wilkinson, and Murayama is reversed.
DECISION
The decision of the Examiner to reject claims 1 and 3—25 is reversed.
REVERSED
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