Appeal No. 2003-0669
Application 09/407,116
THE INVENTION
The invention relates to “heat exchanger evaporators and
condensers, particularly those used in HVAC applications”
(specification, page 1). Representative claim 1 reads as
follows:
1. An evaporator for transferring heat between a heat
transfer fluid and a refrigerant, comprising:
a tube including a first end, a second end, an inner surface
with surface irregularities, and an outer surface, the surface
irregularities having sharp points; and
an electrode located inside and spaced from the tube, the
electrode including a smooth outer surface and having a voltage
applied to produce an electric field, the refrigerant flowing
through the tube in the space between the outer surface of the
electrode and the inner surface of the tube, and the heat
transfer fluid flowing over the outer surface of the tube,
wherein the outer surface of the electrode and the inner
surface of the tube are spaced apart from each other such that
the electric field produced by the applied voltage of the
electrode is intensified around the sharp points of the surface
irregularities and presses the refrigerant against the surface
irregularities on the inner surface of the tube in order to
increase the heat transfer rate between the refrigerant and the
heat transfer fluid.
THE PRIOR ART
The references relied on by the examiner to support the
final rejection are:
Daily et al. (Daily) 3,370,644 Feb. 27, 1968
Onishi et al. (Onishi) 4,480,684 Nov. 6, 1984
2
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