Appeal 2006-1849
Application 10/387,139
Christians’ integrated environmental control system that requires either a
lower final temperature or separate rotation speeds (Br. 7).
The Examiner responds that “one of ordinary skill in the art would be
led from the teachings of Hipsky to modify the dual cooling system [i.e.,
integrated environmental control system having two air cycle machines] of
Christians . . . by using two turbine cooling systems [i.e., environmental
control system in Hipsky] to improve the control over the final temperature
of the air fed to the cabin” (Answer 3-4). The Examiner finds that
“improved control over the final conditions of the treated air is always
desirable” and that Hipsky teaches at column 4, line 65 to column 5, line 29
that an air cycle machine that “controls the feed to serially arranged turbines
. . . provide[s] improved control over the final temperature while still
preventing icing of the heat exchangers” (Answer 4).
Moreover, the Examiner states that “one of ordinary skill in the art
would be taught by Hipsky that the use of separate turbines with controllable
valves between them provides an efficient cooling system [i.e.,
environmental control system] which is easily and safely controlled”
(Answer 4). The Examiner points to Hipsky’s teachings “beginning in line
50 of column 5, that the separate control of the bypass valves between the
turbines enables the delivery of air at the desired conditions at improved
efficiency by bypassing the condenser when the inlet air is relatively less
humid” (Answer 4). Also, the Examiner indicates that Hipsky in column 5
teaches that separate powering of the fan and compressor using separate
turbines improves control over the system during different inlet conditions
(Answer 4). Based on these teachings the Examiner concludes that it would
have been obvious to “add a second turbine which is fed by the outlet of the
5
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