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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 8-9, 13-14, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20050093122 (Manz et al) and further in light of US 20230230895 (Teysseyre et al) and US 20200388557 (Yoo et al).
As to Claim 1, Manz teaches a power device comprising:
a main body portion (Fig 1, 50);
a first extending portion (top side of 30 in Fig 1) extending from a first side of the main body portion (top of 50) and having a first curved opening (22), wherein the first curved opening is used to receive a first fastener (Fig 3a, 22 receives fastener 80), the first fastener passes through the first curved opening to be locked (80 locks device), and the main body portion and the first extending portion are formed in a stepped structure (Fig 7, portions 20 stepped from top of housing 70 on 10).
Manz does not explicitly teach the device further comprising a housing having an accommodating space, nor does it teach a sealing tape arranged around the periphery of the accommodating space and forming a surrounding sealing structure wherein the sealing tape is configured to seal a cooling liquid in the accommodating space.
Teysseyre teaches a device similar to that of Manz, explicitly a power device (Teysseyre Fig 12 110, where module can include a power semiconductor die ¶0040) attached to a housing having an accommodating space (housing 120 with space 124) and a sealing tape arranged around the periphery of the accommodating space and forming a sealing structure (sealing mechanism 140 around module 110 and may be an adhesive ¶0048), wherein the sealing tape is configured to seal a cooling liquid in the accommodating space (140 prevents fluid from leaking from space 124 ¶0048).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art at the time, to modify the device of Manz to include the accommodating space and details thereof as taught by Teysseyre in order to further cool the module while reducing the chance of a leak and damage to the module.
The combination of Manz and Teysseyre still fails to explicitly teach wherein the sealing tape is located in the accommodating space.
Yoo teaches a device similar to Manz and Teysseyre, in which a sealing structure is located within an accommodating space and acts to seal a cooling liquid within the accommodating space (Yoo Fig 4E, device within space formed by 300, sealing ring 340 acts to form liquid tight seal ¶0046).
It would have been obvious to combine the device of Manz and Teysseyre with the sealing structure being located within the accommodating space as taught by Yoo. Such a configuration allows the power device to be flush with the body portion which may make the entire device easier to stack and combine.
As to Claim 2, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power device of claim 1. Manz further teaches the first extending portion is elongated (Fig 1, top of 30 outside of 50 elongated along left-right direction), the first extending portion is adjacent to the first side of the main body portion (elongated 30 adjacent to 50), and the first curved opening is near one end of the first extending portion (one 22 near, e.g., right end of extending portion).
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As to Claim 3, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power device of claim 1. Manz further teaches the first extending portion is elongated (Fig 1, top of 30 outside of 50 elongated along left-right direction), the first extending portion is adjacent to the first side of the main body portion (elongated 30 adjacent to 50), and the first curved opening is disposed in a middle of the first extending portion (opening 22 along midline on included annotated figure).
As to Claim 4, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power device of claim 1. Manz teaches the power device further comprises:
a second extending portion (bottom side of 30 in Fig 1) extending from a second side opposite to the first side of the main body portion (bottom of 50 opposite top of 50), wherein the second extending portion has a second curved opening (22) for receiving a second fastener (Fig 3a, 22 receives fastener), the second fastener passes through the second curved opening to be locked (80 locks device), the main body portion and the second extending portion are formed in a stepped structure (Fig 7, portions 20 stepped from top of housing 70 on 10), the first curved opening (top-side 22) and the second curved opening (bottom-side 22) face opposite directions (top 22 concave up; bottom 22 concave down), and the second curved opening of the second extending portion is symmetrically disposed with the first curved opening of the first extending portion (top and bottom openings symmetric to x-axis through center of device 10).
As to Claim 5, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power device of claim 4. Teysseyre, as applied to claim 1, further teaches the sealing tape (Fig 12, 140) below the first and second extending portions of the device (140 below left and right edges having fasteners 125-1 and 125-2).
As to Claim 8, Manz teaches a power module, comprising:
a plurality of first fasteners (fasteners 80); and
a plurality of power devices (Fig 6, 10) disposed adjacently and locked by the first fasteners (devices 10 adjacent, locked by fasteners 80 [0032]), wherein each of the power devices packages a power electronic therein (Fig 1, power electronic 56 in power device 10), each of the power devices includes a first extending portion (20), each of the first extending portions extends from a side of each of the power devices (20 extend on sides of 10), each of the first extending portions includes at least one first curved opening (22) for receiving one of the first fasteners (22 position to fasten 10 to a heat sink [0031]), two of the first curved openings are disposed next to each other (Fig 2, adjacent 22 next to each other) and form a first inserting hole (adjacent 22 form hole 24), and one of the first fasteners passes through the first inserting hole (80 pass through 24, Fig 3a).
Manz does not explicitly teach the device further comprising a housing having an accommodating space, nor does it teach a plurality of sealing tapes arranged around the periphery of the accommodating spaces and forming a plurality of surrounding sealing structures, wherein the plurality of sealing tapes are configured to respectively seal a cooling liquid in the plurality of accommodating spaces.
Teysseyre teaches a device similar to that of Manz, explicitly having a plurality of power devices (Teysseyre Fig 13, power modules 1310A-C, where modules are analogous to 110 in Fig 12 which may contain semiconductor dies ¶0040) attached to a housing having a plurality of accommodating spaces (Fig 13, plural spaces with rightmost labeled as 124B) and a plurality of sealing tapes arranged around the periphery of the plurality of accommodating spaces and forming a plurality of sealing structures (Fig 13 grooves 1341B-1/2/3 analogous to that of 1226 in Fig 12 and disclosed to includes a sealant, which examiner is interpreting as being analogous to sealing structure 140 in Fig 12, and 140 may be a sealing adhesive ¶0048), wherein the plurality of sealing tapes are configured to seal a cooling liquid in the plurality of accommodating spaces (individual 140 prevents fluid from leaking from spaces 124 ¶0048, and serve analogous purpose for the plurality of spaces shown in Fig 13).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art at the time, to modify the device of Manz to include the plurality of accommodating spaces and details thereof as taught by Teysseyre in order to further cool the module while reducing the chance of a leak and damage to the module.
The combination of Manz and Teysseyre still fails to explicitly teach wherein the sealing tape is located in the accommodating space.
Yoo teaches a device similar to Manz and Teysseyre, in which a sealing structure is located within an accommodating space and acts to seal a cooling liquid within the accommodating space (Yoo Fig 4E, device within space formed by 300, sealing ring 340 acts to form liquid tight seal ¶0046).
It would have been obvious to combine the device of Manz and Teysseyre with the sealing structure being located within the accommodating space as taught by Yoo. Such a configuration allows the power device to be flush with the body portion which may make the entire device easier to stack and combine.
As to Claim 9, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power module of claim 8. Manz further teaches the power devices are a first power device (Fig 6, top device 10) and a second power device (bottom device 10) adjacent to each other, and a top of one of the first fasteners (80) is lower than a top of the first power device and a top of the second power device (fastener reasonably interpreted to be sized such that top surface of fastener sits lower than first and second power devices).
As to Claim 13, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power module of claim 8. Teysseyre, as applied to claim 8, further teaches wherein one of the power devices covers one of the accommodating spaces (Fig 13, 1310C covers space 124B), and the sealing tapes are located below the power devices (tape within groove 1341B-3 sits below 1340C).
As to Claim 14, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power module of claim 8. Teysseyre, as applied to claim 8, further teaches fasteners between adjacent two of the sealing tapes (Fig 13, flanges 1365A/B held by fasteners ¶0095 where the fasteners are between adjacent grooves containing the sealing tapes).
As to Claim 19, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power module of claim 8. The device of Manz, when duplicated and aligned along the y-axis as seen in Manz Fig 1, then teaches plural power devices arranged along a length direction of the housing (Manz Fig 1, y-axis) with each of the first extending portions having an extension direction perpendicular to the length direction (x-axis), a number of first curved openings being plural (left-most and right-most sides of Manz Fig 1), the curved openings arranged along the extension direction (left-most and right-most aligned along x-axis) and one of the first curved openings are arranged along the length direction (along y-axis)
Claims 6-7 and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo as applied to claims 1 and 8 above, and further in view of US 20210233831 (Maleki et al).
As to Claim 6, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power device of claim 4. However, their combination does not explicitly teach a curved opening of a first protruding rib of the housing, nor does it teach an inserting hole being formed by the second curved opening of the power device and the curved opening of the protruding rib.
Maleki teaches a device similar to that taught by Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo, specifically having a housing (24) with a first protruding rib (Maleki Fig 3, protruding rib left part of housing 24 protruding above level of surface 18), where a curved opening in the rib meets with an opening in an extending portion of the device (Fig 1, opening 66 of extending portion comprising 12 and 28) to form an inserting hole (rib must necessarily contain a curved opening in order to match with 66 and form a hole for fastener 30 as seen in Fig 3 of Maleki).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the housing having a protruding rib and forming an inserting hole with a mounted power device as taught by Maleki with the power device having curved openings taught by the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo. The raised rib portion of the housing provides a guide for placing the power device within the housing, simplifying assembly of the final power device.
As to Claim 7, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, Yoo, and Maleki teaches the power device of claim 6. Maleki does not explicitly disclose a second protruding rib opposite to the first protruding rib. However, the device taught by Maleki has the same extending portion structure on the opposite side of the device ([0144]), which the examiner is reasonably interpreting to also imply an analogous protruding rib structure on the opposite end of the housing. Explicitly, the disclosure of Maleki implies the housing has a second protruding rib opposite to the first protruding rib, and therefore a curved opening of the second protruding rib corresponds to the first curved opening of the first extending portion.
As to Claim 10, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power module of claim 8, and further teaches a second fastener (80) passing through a second inserting hole (an edge portion 22 not adjacent to another power module), wherein the second inserting hole is located at a second extending portion of one of the power devices (second extending portion being that not adjacent to another power module).
However, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo does not explicitly teach wherein a bottom of one of the first fasteners is fixed in the housing, nor does it teach the second fastener having a bottom fixed in the housing.
Maleki teaches a device similar to that of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo having a power module (10) within a housing (24) and wherein the fasteners (30) are fixed in the housing (Fig 3, fastener 30 fixed in housing 24). Any additional fasteners not shown in Maleki are reasonably expected to also have a bottom fixed within the housing.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the housing for the power modules, where first and second fasteners are fixed in the power module taught by Maleki with the plurality of power modules forming holes for fasteners taught by Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo in order to affix the power modules into the housing. In this case of Maleki, fixing the power devices to the heat sink housing acts to improve thermal conduction between the devices and the heat sink, thereby improving heat dissipation and performance of the devices.
As to Claim 11, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, Yoo, and Maleki teaches the power module of claim 10. Maleki, as applied to claim 10, further teaches the housing includes a protruding rib (Maleki Fig 3, left-side of housing 24), the protruding rib is adjacent to the second extending portion (side of 24 adjacent to extending portion, which comprises 12 and 28), and a second curved opening of the second extending portion (66 in 12) corresponds to a curved opening of the protruding rib to form the second inserting hole (rib must necessarily contain a curved opening in order to match with 66 and form a hole for fastener 30), and the second fastener is locked to the second extending portion and the protruding rib of the housing (30 locking to 24 and to 12).
As to Claim 12, the combination of Manz, Teysseyre, Yoo, and Maleki teaches the power module of claim 11. Maleki, as applied to claim 11, further teaches the protruding rib of the housing (comprising left-side of housing 24) is coplanar with the second extending portion (top of 24 coplanar with 28).
Claim(s) 15-18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maleki and further in view of Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo.
As to Claim 15, Maleki teaches a power module, comprising:
a housing (24) having two protruding ribs opposite to each other (Fig 3, protruding rib being the raised portion of 24. While Maleki only explicitly teaches one such rib, examiner is reasonably interpreting the housing 24 as having another rib feature on an opposite end of the housing);
a plurality of fasteners fixed in the housing (30 in 24); and
a power device located between the two protruding ribs of the housing (10 between opposite sides of housing 24), each of the power devices includes two extending portions opposite to each other (Fig 1 shows one set of extending portions 26, but device 10 disclosed to have the same features on the opposite side of 10 [0144]), wherein the two extending portions are adjacent to the two protruding ribs, second inserting holes are formed by curved openings of the extending portions (curved portions 66 of extending portions comprising 12 and 28) and curved openings of the two protruding ribs of the housing (protruding ribs must necessarily contain a curved opening in order to match with 66 and form a hole for fastener 30), and the power device is locked by the fasteners through the second inserting holes (10 locked to 24 via fasteners 30).
However, Maleki does not explicitly teach a plurality of power devices within the housing, and therefore also does not explicitly teach the plurality of power devices being adjacently arranged, two of the power devices being adjacent to the two protruding ribs of the housing, first inserting holes being formed by curved openings of two adjacent power devices, that the plurality of power devices are then locked by fasteners in the first and second inserting holes, or a plurality of sealing tapes arranged around the periphery of a plurality of accommodating spaces of the housing and forming a plurality of surrounding sealing structures, wherein the plurality of sealing tapes are configured to respectively seal a cooling liquid in the plurality of accommodating spaces.
Manz teaches a device similar to that of Maleki, specifically teaching a plurality of power device being adjacently arranged (Fig 2, devices 10) and first inserting holes being formed by curved openings of two adjacent devices (first holes 24 formed by openings 22 of two adjacent devices) wherein the inserting holes receive first fasteners to lock the devices (Fig 3a, fastener 80 within first holes 24). Further, the curved openings of devices not adjacent to another device thereby form the curved openings to match with the protruding ribs taught by Maleki.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the housing for a power device having the described protruding ribs and arrangement for fastening taught by Maleki with the plurality of devices forming further fastening holes with adjacent curved openings taught by Manz in order to increase the number of devices within a single housing, increasing the density of devices made and thereby reducing space needed by the final device.
Still, the combination of Maleki and Manz does not explicitly teach the module further comprising a housing having an accommodating space, nor does it teach a plurality of sealing tapes arranged around the periphery of the accommodating spaces and forming a plurality of surrounding sealing structures, wherein the plurality of sealing tapes are configured to respectively seal a cooling liquid in the plurality of accommodating spaces.
Teysseyre teaches a device similar to that of Maleki and Manz, explicitly having a plurality of power devices (Teysseyre Fig 13, power modules 1310A-C, where modules are analogous to 110 in Fig 12 which may contain semiconductor dies ¶0040) attached to a housing having a plurality of accommodating spaces (Fig 13, plural spaces with rightmost labeled as 124B) and a plurality of sealing tapes arranged around the periphery of the plurality of accommodating spaces and forming a plurality of sealing structures (Fig 13 grooves 1341B-1/2/3 analogous to that of 1226 in Fig 12 and disclosed to includes a sealant, which examiner is interpreting as being analogous to sealing structure 140 in Fig 12, and 140 may be a sealing adhesive ¶0048), wherein the plurality of sealing tapes are configured to seal a cooling liquid in the plurality of accommodating spaces (individual 140 prevents fluid from leaking from spaces 124 ¶0048, and serve analogous purpose for the plurality of spaces shown in Fig 13).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art at the time, to modify the device of Maleki and Manz to include the plurality of accommodating spaces and details thereof as taught by Teysseyre in order to further cool the module while reducing the chance of a leak and damage to the module.
Maleki, Manz, and Teysseyre fail to explicitly teach wherein the sealing tape is located in the accommodating space.
Yoo teaches a device similar to Maleki, Manz, and Teysseyre, in which a sealing structure is located within an accommodating space and acts to seal a cooling liquid within the accommodating space (Yoo Fig 4E, device within space formed by 300, sealing ring 340 acts to form liquid tight seal ¶0046).
It would have been obvious to combine the device of Maleki, Manz, and Teysseyre with the sealing structure being located within the accommodating space as taught by Yoo. Such a configuration allows the power device to be flush with the body portion which may make the entire device easier to stack and combine.
As to Claim 16, the combination of Maleki, Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power module of claim 15. Teysseyre, as applied to claim 15, further teaches fasteners between adjacent two of the sealing tapes (Fig 13, flanges 1365A/B held by fasteners ¶0095 where the fasteners are between adjacent grooves containing the sealing tapes).
As to Claim 17, the combination of Maleki, Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power module of claim 15. Teysseyre, as applied to claim 15, further teaches fasteners between adjacent two of the sealing tapes (Fig 13, flanges 1365A/B held by fasteners ¶0095 where the fasteners are between adjacent grooves containing the sealing tapes).
As to Claim 18, the combination of Maleki, Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power module of claim 15. Maleki further teaches that one of the two protruding ribs of the housing (Maleki Fig 3, left-side of 24) is coplanar with one of the extending portions of said two of the power devices (rib coplanar with extending portion comprising 12 and 28). As stated in the claim 15 rejection, the examiner is interpreting the housing taught by Maleki to have a second corresponding protruding rib, satisfying this claim limitation.
As to Claim 20, the combination of Maleki, Manz, Teysseyre, and Yoo teaches the power module of claim 15. The device of Manz, when duplicated and aligned along the y-axis as seen in Manz Fig 1, then teaches plural power devices arranged along a length direction of the housing (Manz Fig 1, y-axis) with each of the first extending portions having an extension direction perpendicular to the length direction (x-axis), a number of first curved openings being plural (left-most and right-most sides of Manz Fig 1), the curved openings arranged along the extension direction (left-most and right-most aligned along x-axis) and one of the first curved openings are arranged along the length direction (along y-axis).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 16 January 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-18 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of newly cited prior art Yoo.
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 Corbyn D Mellinger whose telephone number is (703)756-5683. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-6 Eastern.
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/Corbyn D Mellinger/Examiner, Art Unit 2899
/ZANDRA V SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2899
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