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
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2 and 13-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueda et al [U.S. Publication No. 2018/0254136 A1] (provided in IDS) in view of Schrafel et al. [U.S. Patent No. 2022/0037924 A1] (provided in IDS).
Regarding claim 1, Ueda discloses a ground coil assembly of a wireless power transfer (WPT) system (e.g., 101, Paragraph 0110, as shown in Fig. 12), comprising:
magnetically transparent cover plate (e.g., 7b, Paragraph 0049, 0087, Fig. 9 and 10 similar to Fig. 6) exposed to the environment (e.g., the ground coil assembly installed on a parking lot, Paragraph 0047);
an inductive coil (e.g., coil portion 2 includes conductive wire 10 has extended portions 11, 12, 13, 14, Paragraph 0048, 0087, Fig. 9 and 10), that generates heat during operation;
a backing core layer (e.g., magnetic member 6, Paragraph 0048, Fig. 10) disposed beneath the inductive coil 2 and having a magnetic permeability sufficient to redirect magnetic flux back towards the inductive coil 2; and
a cooling system (e.g., system with cooling flow path 70, Paragraph 0087, Fig. 10) comprising a coolant inlet (e.g., 3, Paragraph 0049-0050, 0090) for receiving coolant, a coolant outlet (e.g., 4, Fig. 9) for emitting coolant that has been heated by at least the inductive coil 2, a first cooling layer (e.g., plurality of cooling inflow portions 71, Paragraph 00788-0090, Fig. 9-10) beneath the cover plate 7b and above the inductive coil 2, the first cooling layer circulating the coolant from the coolant inlet 3, and a second cooling layer (e.g., plurality of outflow portions 73, Paragraph 0088-0090) beneath the inductive coil 2 and connected to the first cooling layer (e.g., plurality of cooling inflow portions 71) and the coolant outlet 4.
Ueda discloses the instant claimed invention discussed above except for the second cooling layer is beneath the backing core layer.
Schrafel discloses a second cooling layer (e.g., comprising coolant pipes 806 in gap layer 804) beneath a backing core layer (e.g., 807, Paragraph 0073-0074, Fig. 8).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the second cooling layer beneath the backing core layer as taught by Schrafel to the second cooling layer of Ueda to provide the ground coil assembly with an intermediate distance between the backing core layer and the bottom layer metal casing to minimize eddy current loss.
Regarding claim 2, Ueda discloses the instant claimed invention discussed above except for the coil assembly further comprising a gap layer between the backing core layer and the second cooling layer, the gap layer comprising a magnetically transparent and thermally conductive material and having a width sufficient to reduce eddy current losses.
Schrafel discloses a gap layer (e.g., 804) between a backing core layer (e.g., 807) and the second cooling layer (e.g., 806, gap layer embedded in the second cooling layer), the gap layer comprising a magnetically transparent and thermally conductive material (e.g., 805, Paragraph 0074) and having a width sufficient to reduce eddy current losses (see Paragraph 0051).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a gap layer between the backing core layer and the second cooling layer as taught by Schrafel to the ground coil assembly of Ueda to provide an appropriate separation of the core from the cooling layer and in turn increase the distance from bottom metal casing to improve efficiency of the device.
Regarding claim 13, Ueda discloses wherein the coolant inlet (e.g., portion 3a, Fig. 9 and 10, Paragraph 0091) is disposed between the cover plate (e.g., 7b) and the inductive coil (e.g., 2, comprising conductive wire 10).
Regarding claim 14, Ueda discloses wherein the inductive coil 2 comprises a plurality of concentric carrier channels of conductors (e.g., groove 21a for conductor wire 10, Paragraph 0087), and wherein spaces in-between conductors within the carrier channels are filled with an electrically insulative (e.g., holding member 20 comprising 21, 22, 23 is insulative, Paragraph 0057), thermally conductive potting compound (e.g., conductive wire surface 10a embedded in thermally conductive, Paragraph 0087, Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 15, Ueda discloses wherein the second cooling layer is split into at least an inner cooling channel and an outer cooling channel (e.g., plurality of outflow portions 73 with corresponding relay portions 72 cools down the inner and outer portions of extending portions 11, 12, 13 , 14 of the coil conductor wire 10, Paragraph 0087, only one cooling portion 73 shown on Fig. 10) separated by at least one rib (e.g., portions of intermediate member 23 of holding member 20 that surrounds surface 10a of conductor 10 and in between relay portions 72, Fig. 10) that provides structural reinforcement when the inner cooling channel and outer cooling channel are pressurized.
Regarding claim 16, Ueda discloses the instant claimed invention discussed above except for further comprising a thermal controller that executes instructions to provide thermal management before, after, and during a charging session.
Schrafel discloses a thermal controller that executes instructions to provide thermal management before, after, and during a charging session (see Paragraph 0006-0007).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a thermal controller that executes instructions to provide thermal management as taught by Schrafel to the ground coil assembly of Ueda to efficiently operate a wireless power transmission.
Regarding claim 17, Schrafel discloses further comprising a database and at least one temperature sensor (such as 909, Paragraph 0076, Fig. 9), wherein the thermal controller receives current temperature readings from the at least one temperature sensor and executes instructions to compare the current temperature readings with a temperature model uploaded from database (see Paragraph 0006-0007).
Regarding claim 18, Schrafel discloses further comprising at least one cooling element (e.g., 806), wherein the thermal controller executes instructions to set a cooling profile in accordance with charging request parameters, to activate the at least one cooling element, and to signal the inductive coil to commence charging in a charging session (see Paragraph 0006-0007).
Regarding claim 19, Schrafel discloses wherein during the charging session the thermal controller executes instructions to monitor current temperature readings from the at least one temperature sensor (Paragraph 0007), compare the current temperature readings to the cooling profile, and activate or deactivate the at least one cooling element (Paragraph 0006-0007), in accordance with a result of the comparison of the current temperature readings to the cooling profile.
Regarding claim 20, Schrafel discloses wherein the thermal controller executes instructions to provide data regarding the charging session to the database (e.g., data in managing coolant circulation to manage hysteresis loss reduction, Paragraph 0006).
Regarding claim 21, Schrafel discloses wherein the thermal controller executes instructions to implement machine learning algorithms to create or modify the cooling profile (e.g., analyze temperature reading from core layer to anticipate cooling requirement, Paragraph 007).
Regarding claim 22, Ueda discloses wherein the cover plate 7b is thermally isolated from the inductive coil, backing coil layer, and cooling system (e.g., 7b is made of insulating material and spaced away from the coil 2, magnetic core 6 and cooling system, Paragraph 0049, Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 23, Ueda discloses wherein the inductive coil 2 is disposed in a magnetically transparent polymer coil carrier (e.g., 20) that is chemically inert with respect to the coolant (e.g., holding member 20 comprising portions 21, 22, 23 is made of a nonmagnetic and insulating material such as polyphenylene sulfide resin in contact with coolant passing through, Paragraph 0057, Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 24, Ueda discloses wherein the polymer coil carrier (e.g., 20) is electrically non-conductive, magnetically transparent (Paragraph 0057).
Ueda discloses the instant claimed invention discussed above except for an explicit disclosure that the polymer coil carrier has an operating temperature range of -40° C to 125° C, and exhibits greater than 1 W/m- K in a primary direction of heat transfer.
However, Ueda discloses the polymer coil carrier (e.g., portion 22 of holding member 20 or 122 in Paragraph 0152) that heat generated in the conductive wire 10 of the coil 2 is transmitted to the coolant through the holding member. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made that the polymer coil carrier has an operating temperature range of -40° C to 125° C, and exhibits greater than 1 W/m- K in a primary direction of heat transfer, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Please note that in the instant application, Paragraph 0078-0079, Specification, applicant has not disclosed any criticality for the claimed limitations.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the polymer coil carrier has an operating temperature range of -40° C to 125° C, and exhibits greater than 1 W/m- K in a primary direction of heat transfer to support the coil and the cooling structure at the desired operating characteristic for an efficient wireless power transfer.
Regarding claim 25, Ueda discloses wherein the second cooling layers (which includes relay portions 72) includes at least one geometric 3-dimensional shape (e.g., through holes of relay portion 72 have different diameter at different locations along the coolant passageways, Paragraph 0090, 0095, Fig. 10) that impinges upon coolant flow to generate turbulence in the coolant.
Regarding claim 26, Ueda discloses wherein the at least one of the first and second cooling layers comprises a plurality of geometric 3- dimensional shapes distributed over a length and width of a cooling channel for coolant flow (e.g., through holes of relay portion 72 along the coolant passageways, Paragraph 0090, 0095, Fig. 10) in the at least one cooling layer (e.g., outflow portion 73 with corresponding relay portions 72), a size and distribution (e.g., relay portion 72 has different diameter size in different locations), number (e.g., plurality of outflow portions 73 and relay portions 72) of the geometric 3-dimensional shapes being selected to create a desired turbulence and pressure drop in the cooling channel.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueda in view of Schrafel as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Yuasa [U.S. Publication No. 2018/0374624 A1].
Regarding claim 3, Ueda in view of Schrafel discloses the instant claimed invention discussed above except for the ground coil assembly further comprising an electronics board beneath the second cooling layer.
Yuasa discloses an electronics board (e.g., 113, comprising filters includes coil 127 and capacitors 126, Paragraph 0081, Fig. 5) beneath cooling layer (e.g., 112, Paragraph 0074, Fig. 5).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have electronics board beneath the cooling layer as taught by Yuasa to the ground coil assembly of Ueda in view of Schrafel to help cool down the coil component of the filter device on the electronic board.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Reason for allowable subject matter:
Claim 4 recites, inter alia,
a third cooling layer beneath the electronics board and connected to receive the coolant from the second cooling layer and adapted to circulate the coolant to cool the electronics board before providing the coolant to the coolant outlet.
The references of record do not teach or suggest the aforementioned limitation, would it be obvious to modify those references to include such limitation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please refer to form PTO-892.
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/J.S.B/ Examiner, Art Unit 2837
/SHAWKI S ISMAIL/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2837