Appeal No. 1999-1083 Page 3
Application No. 08/759,394
considering for purposes of this explanation that the objective is to cool a space, in a first
heat exchanger 4 in the Des Champs system the incoming air from the outside is cooled
and dehumidified by a heat exchange relationship with the air exhausting from the space to
be cooled, which at this point is cooler than the incoming air. This provides pre-cooling for
refrigerant coil 5, which subsequently functions as the primary means for lowering the
temperature and the humidity of the incoming airstream. Then, to achieve the precise
conditions desired in the space to be cooled, the temperature of the incoming air is raised
by heat exchange with the warmer exhaust air in second heat exchanger 7.
Bussjager discloses two air conditioning systems. In the first (Figure 1), described
as the prior art, raising of the temperature of the incoming air downstream of the refrigerant
coil is accomplished in the same fashion as in Des Champs, that is, by heat exchange with
the warmer exhaust air, except that the details of the heat exchanger are disclosed. The
invention set forth in the Bussjager patent is illustrated in Figure 2. It differs from the prior
art embodiment in that rather than increase the temperature of the incoming air by heating
it with the exhaust air, it does so by extracting heat in subcooler 44 by means of the
refrigerant, which then is circulated back through the primary cooler, in essence, having
been pre-cooled. The effect on the incoming air is the same in both embodiments.
Bussjager considers the invention to be an improvement over the prior art (column 5, lines
47-52), which in our view would have provided the necessary suggestion for one of
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