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 .
Claim Status
Claims 12 and 13 have been withdrawn.
Claims 2-3 and 6 are canceled.
Claim 1, 4, 7, and 9 have been amended; support for the amendment can be found in original claim 2, 3 and 6.
Claims 1, 4, 5 and 7-11 have been examined on the merits.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 9, 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kubota (US 20040062955 A1) in view of He (US 2022/0126705 A1, previously cited), Nassoiy (US 20120087091 A1) and Ahn (US 20200194854 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kubota discloses a power consumption device (Fig. 1A; 10), comprising:
a passenger compartment (Fig. 1A; 20); and
a box (Fig. 2; external casing of 13) for accommodating a battery cell (Fig. 2; internal elements of 13; “BC”; “secondary battery”; [0034]), the box comprising a thermal management component (annotated Fig. 2; TMC, indicates top surface of 13);
wherein the thermal management component (TMC) adjusts (Fig. 2; [0034] teaches heat transfer between the air of the cabin 20 and 13) a temperature (Fig. 2; temperature of 13) of the battery cell (BC) and the passenger compartment (20); and
wherein the thermal management component (TMC) is configured for a heat conducting connection (Fig. 2; [0034] teaches heat generated by 13 is transferred to the cabin air which must occur through the external surfaces of 13) to the battery cell (BC), and the thermal management component (TMC) is formed as a part (Fig. 2; 13) of a compartment wall (Fig. 2; TMC, 21, ECW; “CW”) of the passenger compartment (20) so as to simultaneously adjust ([0034] teaches heat transfer between the air of the cabin and 13) the temperature (Fig. 2; temperature of 13, temperature of 20) of the battery cell (BC) and the passenger compartment (20);
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Kubota fails to disclose wherein the thermal management component accommodates a liquid to adjust a temperature of the battery cell and the passenger compartment; wherein the box further comprises a box body with an opening;
wherein the power consumption device further comprises a heating element, the heating element being configured to generate heat when the power consumption device is working; and the thermal management component comprises a body portion and an extrusion portion, the body portion being configured to enclose a closing chamber with the box body, the closing chamber is configured to accommodate the battery cell, the extrusion portion being configured to protrude out of a peripheral wall of the box body, and the extrusion portion being attached to the heating element to adjust a temperature of the heating element.
He discloses a power consumption device (“vehicle”; [0002]), comprising:
a box (Fig. 12; element 207-212 and 219) for accommodating a battery cell (“plurality of cells 100”; [0204]),
the box (207-212, 219) comprising a thermal management component (“first panel 212 is a heat exchange plate 219 with a cooling structure disposed inside”; [0246]);
wherein the thermal management (212, 219) component accommodates a liquid (“cooling liquid”; [0246]) to adjust a temperature for the battery cell ([0246]),
wherein the box (207-212, 219) further comprises a box body (He Fig. 12; element 207-211) with an opening (Fig. 12; opening formed by the connection of 207-211 per [0219]), the thermal management component (212, 219) being configured to enclose a closing chamber ( “accommodating space”; [0220]) with the box body (207-211), the closing chamber ( “accommodating space”; [0220]) is configured to accommodate ( “accommodating space”; [0220]) the battery cell ([0220]), and a peripheral wall (Fig. 12, 209) of the box body (207-211).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Kubota by substituting the box, battery cell and thermal management component of Kubota for the box, battery cell and thermal management component of He such that the thermal management component accommodates a liquid to adjust a temperature of the battery cell and the passenger compartment; the thermal management component is formed as a part of the compartment wall and the box further comprises a box body with an opening, the thermal management component being configured to enclose a closing chamber with the box body, and the closing chamber is configured to accommodate the battery cell, because it is known in the art that liquid cooling is generally a more effective means of temperature regulation compared to air cooling (“[u]sing the air as the heat transfer medium may be the simplest approach, but it may not be as effective as heat transfer by liquid.”; pg. 7, para. 3; Pesaran, A., Matthew Keyser, and Steve Burch. An approach for designing thermal management systems for electric and hybrid vehicle battery packs. No. NREL/CP-540-25992. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO (US), 1999) and that different cooling systems including air cooling (Pesaran “air”; pg. 2, para. 3) like that taught by Kubota and liquid cooling (Pesaran “liquid for cooling”; pg. 2, para. 3) like that taught by He, may be combined (pg. 2, para. 3) to achieve temperature regulation of a battery module. Further, by performing this modification, one of ordinary skill in the art would have reasonably expected to maintain the battery cell at an appropriate operating temperature as taught by He ([0246]).
Kubota in view of He still fails to disclose wherein the power consumption device further comprises a heating element, the heating element being configured to generate heat when the power consumption device is working; and the thermal management component comprises a body portion and an extrusion portion, the body portion being configured to enclose the closing chamber with the box body, the extrusion portion being configured to protrude out of the peripheral wall of the box body, and the extrusion portion being attached to the heating element to adjust a temperature of the heating element.
Nassoiy discloses a power consumption device (“vehicle”; [0019]) comprising:
a thermal management component (“heat exchange plate”; [0027]);
a heating element (any one of “components such as a battery disconnect unit, a battery controller module, and a battery sensing module, as well as other controllers, contactors and electrical devices or heat sinks”; [0027]), the heating element ([0027]) being configured to generate heat (“heat” [0027]) when the power consumption device ([0019]) is working; and the thermal management component ([0027]) being attached ([0027]) to the heating element ([0027]) to adjust a temperature (“to facilitate heat transfer”; [0027]) for the heating element ([0027]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Kubota in view of He by adding the heating element of Nassoiy to the invention of Kubota in view of He such that the thermal management component is attached to the heating element to adjust a temperature for the heating element. In doing so, one of ordinary skill in the art would reasonably expect to obtain the function of, for example, a battery disconnect unit as taught by Nassoiy ([0027]), without having to provide an additional thermal management component to cool it.
Kubota in view of He and Nassoiy still fails to disclose wherein the thermal management component comprises a body portion and an extrusion portion, the body portion being configured to enclose the closing chamber with the box body, the extrusion portion being configured to protrude out of the peripheral wall of the box body, and the extrusion portion being attached to the heating element to adjust the temperature of the heating element.
Ahn discloses a thermal management component (“cooling block”; [0012]; Fig. 1; element 13), wherein the thermal management component (Fig. 1; element 13) comprises a body portion (annotated Fig. 1; BP) and an extrusion portion (annotated Fig. 1; element EP), the extrusion portion (EP) being configured to (Fig. 1) protrude out of a peripheral wall (annotated Fig. 1; PW) of a box body (Fig. 1; 11).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Kubota in view of He, and Nassoiy by substituting the shape of the thermal management component of Ahn for the shape of the thermal management component of Kubota in view of He, and Nassoiy such that the component comprised an extrusion portion configured to protrude out of the peripheral wall of the box body. In doing so one of ordinary skill in the art would have been changing the shape of the component of Kubota in view of He, and Nassoiy to a shape known in the art as evidenced by Ahn. It has been held that the configuration or shape of a claimed device is a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular configuration of the claimed device is significant (see MPEP 2144.04).
Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy and Ahn discloses the extrusion portion being attached to the heating element to adjust the temperature of the heating element because the heating element is attached to the thermal management component, which the extrusion portion is a part of, and the extrusion part is in thermal communication with the rest of the thermal management component. Thus, the extrusion portion is at least indirectly attached to the heating element to adjust a temperature of the heating element.
Regarding claim 9, Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy and Ahn discloses wherein the power consumption device (10) is a vehicle ([0028]).
Regarding claim 10, Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy and Ahn discloses wherein the power consumption device (10) further comprises a frame (annotated Fig. 2; CB1/CB2, LB1, LB2, BP; “F”), the frame (F) is located at a bottom (Fig. 1; bottom of 20) of the passenger compartment (20) and the box body ( 207-211) is installed on (Fig. 2; 13 is substituted for He’s body) the
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frame (F).
The examiner notes that CB1 and CB2 indicate two parallel walls (a far wall and a near wall) that a PHOSITA would understand are present as a result of the disclosure of 14 being a “box” ([0028]).
Regarding claim 11, Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy and Ahn discloses wherein the frame (F) comprises two main cross beams (annotated Fig. 2; CB1, CB2), two main longitudinal beams (annotated Fig. 2; LB1, LB2) and a base plate (annotated Fig. 2; BP), and the two main cross beams (CB1, CB2), the two main longitudinal beams (LB1, LB2) and the base plate (BP) enclose the box body (Fig. 2; 13 is replaced in part by He’s box body).
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Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kubota (US 20040062955 A1) in view of He (US 2022/0126705 A1, previously cited), Nassoiy (US 20120087091 A1) and Ahn (US 20200194854 A1), as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Groebl (US10476061B1).
Regarding claim 4, Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy and Ahn discloses wherein the compartment wall (CW) comprises a bottom wall (annotated Fig. 2; 21, ECW) and the thermal management component (annotated Fig. 2; TMC indicates He 212, 219 modified by Ahn) but fails to disclose is in a heat conducting connection to the bottom wall.
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Groebl teaches that a bottom wall (“cabin floor”; col. 3, ln. 40) may be made of sheet metal (col. 3, ln. 40).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy and Ahn by substituting the undisclosed material of the bottom wall of Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy and Ahn for the sheet metal of Groebl because Groebl teaches that such a material is suitable for use as a bottom wall material of a vehicle.
Thus, Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy, Ahn and Groebl discloses in a heat conducting connection to the bottom wall, because the material of the bottom wall is a heat conducting material.
Regarding claim 5, Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy, Ahn and Groebl discloses wherein the box body (He 207-211) is located under the bottom wall (21, ECW).
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kubota (US 20040062955 A1) in view of He (US 2022/0126705 A1, previously cited), Nassoiy (US 20120087091 A1) and Ahn (US 20200194854 A1), as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Groebl (US10476061B1).
Regarding claim 7, Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy and Ahn discloses an intersection (Ahn annotated Fig. 1; I) between the body portion (Ahn BP) and the extrusion portion (Ahn EP), a direction (Ahn annotated Fig. 1; Z) perpendicular to the body portion (Ahn BP) and the extrusion portion (Ahn EP), the thermal management component (He 212, 219) is
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connected to the peripheral wall (He 209) of the box body (He 207-211).
Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy and Ahn fails to disclose wherein the thermal management component further comprises a fixing portion, the fixing portion is provided at an intersection between the body portion and the extrusion portion and extends in a direction perpendicular to the body portion and/or the extrusion portion, and the thermal management component is connected to the peripheral wall of the box body through the fixing portion.
Maguire discloses a thermal management component (“heat exchanger plate 264”; [0064]; Fig. 9; 264) comprising a fixing portion (“clip arm 274”; [0064]), the fixing portion (264) is provided at an intersection (annotated Fig. 9; I) between a body portion (annotated Fig. 9; BP) and an extrusion portion (annotated Fig. 9; EP) and extends in a direction (annotated Fig. 9; Z) perpendicular to the body portion (BP) and the extension portion (EP) of the thermal management component (264), and the thermal management component (264) is connected to a peripheral wall (Fig. 9; element 257) of a box body (Fig. 9; 225) through the fixing portion (274), wherein the peripheral wall (257) of the box body (225) is provided with a groove (Fig. 9; element 284) corresponding to the fixing portion (274), and the fixing portion (274) is configured to be (Fig. 9) embedded into the groove (284).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy and Ahn by adding Maguire’s fixing portion and groove to the invention of Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy and Ahn such that the fixing portion is provided at an intersection between the body portion and the extrusion portion and extends in a direction perpendicular to the body portion and/or the extrusion portion, and the thermal management component is connected to the peripheral wall of the box body through the fixing portion, the peripheral wall of the box body is provided with a groove corresponding to the fixing portion, and the fixing portion is configured to be embedded into the groove. In doing so, one of ordinary skill in the art would predictably expect to mechanically secure and thermally couple the thermal management component and box body as taught by Maguire ([0001]).
Regarding claim 8, Kubota in view of He, Nassoiy, Ahn and Maguire discloses wherein the peripheral wall (He 209) of the box body (He 207-211) is provided with a groove (Maguire 284) corresponding to the fixing portion (Maguire 274), and the fixing portion (Maguire 274) is configured to be (Maguire Fig. 9) embedded into the groove (Maguire 284).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GRACE A KENLAW whose telephone number is (571)272-1253. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 AM-6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tiffany Legette-Thompson can be reached at (571) 270-7078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/G.A.K./Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723
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