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 . The rejections from the Office Action of 2/11/2026 are hereby withdrawn. New grounds for rejection are presented below.
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) 1-3 and 5-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mansouri et al., Characterization of an Embedded Heat Pipe Heat Sink for Multiple Heat Sources for Power Electronics Applications, IEEE, 2019 [hereinafter “Mansouri”]; Wang et al. (US 20110122915 A1)[hereinafter “Wang”]; and Singh et al., Thermal Potential of Flat Evaporator Miniature Loop Heat Pipes for Notebook Cooling, IEEE, 2010 [hereinafter “Singh”].
Regarding Claim 1, Mansouri discloses a performance testing device for testing performance of each of heat pipes of a heat pipe heatsink [Abstract – “The experimental study was performed to compare the effect of heat spreading for multiple heat dissipating sources on the embedded heat pipe heat sink with copper-water heat pipes vs. a blank heat sink.”], the heat pipe heatsink comprising the heat pipes [Fig. 2, the 7 heat pipes], a substrate and radiating fins [Figs. 2 and 4 depict the heat sink comprising a substrate containing the heat pipes with fins attached], the substrate being provided with heat pipe grooves, and the heat pipes being embedded in the heat pipe grooves [Fig. 2, corresponding grooves holding the heat pipes.Per Cambridge Disctionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/embedded), “embedded – fixed into the surface of something”], wherein the performance testing device comprises:
a heating simulation assembly configured to simulate heat generation of a heating element [Page 3, 1st column – “The second heat sink, embedded heat pipe heat sink (EHP-HS), had seven 8 mm diameter copper-water heat pipes with 180 mm length. The heat pipes were embedded on the mounting surface of the base plate parallel to the 200 mm heat sink length, Figure 2-B. The heat pipes were pressed and machined flat with the mounting surface into machined grooves with a thin thermal epoxy interface, Figure 2-A. In this experiment, the power load provided by the two cartridge heaters, were placed on the center of the aluminum heater block with a size of 132 mm x 62 mm (Figure 3). This heater block was designed to represent a typical IGBT module.”], wherein the heating simulation assembly has a heat conduction end face [Fig. 3, heater block] configured to be fitted to and transfer heat with evaporation pipe sections of heat pipes of the heat pipe heatsink [Fig. 4, heater block fitted to heat sink. Fig. 2, heat sink with seven heat pipes. Fig. 1, “Heat In” applied to evaporator section of heat pipe.]; and
first temperature sensors configured to detect a temperature of the heat conduction end face [Page 3, 1st column – “To measure the temperature of the heater blocks on surface of the heat sink, five thermocouples were installed on mounting surface of the heater block as shown in Figure 3.”],
wherein the heating simulation assembly comprises a heating block and heating rods [Page 3, 1st column – “The second heat sink, embedded heat pipe heat sink (EHP-HS), had seven 8 mm diameter copper-water heat pipes with 180 mm length. The heat pipes were embedded on the mounting surface of the base plate parallel to the 200 mm heat sink length, Figure 2-B. The heat pipes were pressed and machined flat with the mounting surface into machined grooves with a thin thermal epoxy interface, Figure 2-A. In this experiment, the power load provided by the two cartridge heaters, were placed on the center of the aluminum heater block with a size of 132 mm x 62 mm (Figure 3). This heater block was designed to represent a typical IGBT module.”].
Mansouri fails to disclose that the first temperature sensors are configured to be arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the evaporation pipe sections of the heat pipes; and second temperature sensors, wherein the second temperature sensors are configured to be arranged at condensing pipe sections of the heat pipes.
However, Wang discloses the use of temperature sensors at each of the condenser and evaporator sections of a heat pipe [See Fig. 4, sections 502 and 504 of heat pipe 500.Paragraph [0030] – “the temperature change of the end portion 502 and the end portion 504 of the heat pipe 500 is measured.”] for evaluating the thermal operating characteristics of the heat pipe [Paragraph [0030] – “A heat resistance R (.degree. C./W) of the heat pipe 500 changed with the heat Q is then calculated, in which
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”]. It would have been obvious to place temperature sensors at each end of each heat pipe in order to evaluate the thermal operating characteristics of each of the heat pipes.
Mansouri fails to disclose that the heating rods are embedded in the heating block because the cartridge heaters are merely mounted to the side of the heater block. However, Wang discloses embedding a heating rod within a heater block on the top of the heating block [See heater 616 of Fig. 5 and Paragraph [0028]] and, also, the use of a heating rod for heat pipe temperature regulation [Paragraph [0022]]. It would have been obvious to embed rod heaters within the heater block in such a manner in order to more accurately control the amount of applied heat and also to avoid wasting applied heat to the environment external to the heater block.
Mansouri fails to disclose that the heating rods are configured to be in one-to-one correspondence and arranged in parallel with the evaporation pipe sections of the heat pipes. However, Wang discloses such an arrangement where a parallel heating rod and heat pipe evaporator section are paired for controlled heating and evaluation of the heat pipe [See Figs. 4 and 5, heater 616 coupled with heat pipe end 502]. It would have been obvious to use such an arrangement in order to allow for controlled heating and evaluation of the thermal operating characteristics of a particular heat pipe.
Mansouri discloses that the heating block is placed in the center of the heat sink where heat would be transferred by the heat pipes from the center to the edges [See Figs. 2 and 4], but fails to explicitly disclose that, in an axial direction of each of the heat pipes, the evaporation pipe section is located at a middle of the heat pipe, and the condensing pipe section is located at each of two ends of the heat pipe.
However, Singh discloses the use of a heat pipe that functions in such a manner [See Figs. 7(b) and 7(d). In Fig. 7(d), the condensers are the outer edges while the heat source (i.e., evaporator section) is located in the middle of the heat pipe.]. It would have been obvious to use such a heat pipe in order to more effectively move heat away from a centrally-located heat source and it would have been obvious to test the use of such a heat pipe in order to verify its performance.
Regarding Claim 2, Mansouri discloses that the heating simulation assembly comprises a heating block, a side of the heating block configured to be fitted to and transfer heat with the evaporation pipe sections forms the heat conduction end face [See Figs. 2 and 3.See layout (a) of Fig. 5, with the heater block corresponding to the evaporator end of the heat pipes, as explained per Page 5, 2nd column – “Increasing the number of the heater blocks and increasing the length of the evaporate section while decreasing the adiabatic and condense length of the heat pipe shows a decrease in thermal performance of the heat pipes.”], and the heating rods are configured to heat the heating block, to allow the heating block to simulate the heat generation of the heating element [Page 3, 1st column – “The second heat sink, embedded heat pipe heat sink (EHP-HS), had seven 8 mm diameter copper-water heat pipes with 180 mm length. The heat pipes were embedded on the mounting surface of the base plate parallel to the 200 mm heat sink length, Figure 2-B. The heat pipes were pressed and machined flat with the mounting surface into machined grooves with a thin thermal epoxy interface, Figure 2-A. In this experiment, the power load provided by the two cartridge heaters, were placed on the center of the aluminum heater block with a size of 132 mm x 62 mm (Figure 3). This heater block was designed to represent a typical IGBT module.”].
Regarding Claim 3, Mansouri discloses that a thermal interface material coating is formed in an embedding gap between each of the heating rods and the heating block [Page 3, 1st column – “The heat pipes were pressed and machined flat with the mounting surface into machined grooves with a thin thermal epoxy interface, Figure 2-A.”].
Regarding Claim 5, the combination would disclose that each of the first temperature sensors is embedded in the heating block [Page 3, 1st column of Mansouri – “To measure the temperature of the heater blocks on surface of the heat sink, five thermocouples were installed on mounting surface of the heater block as shown in Figure 3.”] and located between a corresponding heating rod of the heating rods and the heat conduction end face [Heating rods attached to the top of the heater block of Mansouri per the scheme of Wang – heater 616 of Fig. 5 and Paragraph [0028]].
Regarding Claim 6, Wang discloses that the heating block is of an integrated structure and is configured to match the size of the heating element [Fig. 5], and a heat insulation structure is provided [Fig. 5, heat insulating block 612 and heat conducting block 614].
Mansouri fails to disclose that the heat insulation structure is provided between each two adjacent heating rods. However, Wang discloses an arrangement where a parallel heating rod and heat pipe evaporator section are paired for controlled heating and evaluation of the heat pipe [See Figs. 4 and 5, heater 616 coupled with heat pipe end 502]. It would have been obvious to use such an arrangement in order to allow for controlled heating and evaluation of the thermal operating characteristics of particular heat pipes (i.e., to duplicate the arrangement for the evaluation of multiple heat pipes). Doing so would read on the limitation that the heat insulation structure is provided between each two adjacent heating rods because each heating block 616 would have a corresponding heat insulating block 612 and heat conducting block 614 for applying heat specifically to the intended heat pipe.
Regarding Claim 7, Wang discloses that the heat insulation structure is a heat insulation groove [Fig. 5, groove at the top of heat conducting block 614] or a heat insulation material layer [Fig. 5, heat insulating block 612].
Regarding Claim 8, Wang discloses that the heating block is of a split-type structure [Fig. 5], the heating block comprises sub-heating blocks arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the evaporation pipe sections [Fig. 5, heat insulating block 612 and heat conducting block 614], the heating rods are arranged in the corresponding sub-heating blocks [Fig. 5, heating block 616], and a preset heat insulation gap is kept between each adjacent two of the sub-heating blocks [See Fig. 4, a heat insulation gap between adjacent heaters created by the larger footprint of heat insulating block 612 relative to heating block 616 and heat conducting block 614].
Regarding Claim 9, Mansouri discloses that the heat conduction end face and/or a heat pipe mounting end face of the heat pipe heatsink is provided with a thermal interface material coating [Page 3, 1st column – “The heat pipes were pressed and machined flat with the mounting surface into machined grooves with a thin thermal epoxy interface, Figure 2-A.”].
Regarding Claim 10, Mansouri discloses an air-cooling simulation system configured for simulating an air-cooling environment of the heat pipe heatsink [“Figure 4: Heat sink inside the in the wind tunnel”].
Regarding Claim 11, Mansouri discloses that the air-cooling simulation system comprises a fan and an air duct cavity for blowing cold airflow from the fan to the heat pipe heatsink; or, the air-cooling simulation system is an air tunnel for providing cold airflow to the heat pipe heatsink [“Figure 4: Heat sink inside the in the wind tunnel”].
Regarding Claim 12, Mansouri fails to disclose that each of the second temperature sensors is arranged at a preset distance from the corresponding end of the heat pipe.
However, Wang discloses the use of temperature sensors at each of the condenser and evaporator sections of a heat pipe [See Fig. 4, sections 502 and 504 of heat pipe 500.Paragraph [0030] – “the temperature change of the end portion 502 and the end portion 504 of the heat pipe 500 is measured.”] for evaluating the thermal operating characteristics of the heat pipe [Paragraph [0030] – “A heat resistance R (.degree. C./W) of the heat pipe 500 changed with the heat Q is then calculated, in which
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”]. It would have been obvious to place temperature sensors at each end of each of the heat pipes depicted in Fig. 16 of Mansouri or the heat pipe of Singh (where the center of the heat pipe is being heated) in order to evaluate the thermal operating characteristics of each of the heat pipes at their ends; doing so would have allowed for evaluating the evaporator sections of the ends.
Regarding Claim 13, the combination would disclose a performance testing assembly, comprising the performance testing device according to claim 1 and the heat pipe heatsink [Fig. 4 of Mansouri], wherein the performance testing device is configured for testing performance of each of the heat pipes of the heat pipe heatsink [per Wang].
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues:
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Examiner’s Response:
The Examiner agrees. New grounds for rejection are presented above.
Applicant argues:
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Examiner’s Response:
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Extension of the teachings of Wang to the heat sink of Mansouri would result in multiple heating blocks/rods for the multiple heat pipes.
Applicant argues:
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Examiner’s Response:
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Wang discloses an arrangement where a parallel heating rod and heat pipe evaporator section are paired for controlled heating and evaluation of the heat pipe [See Figs. 4 and 5, heater 616 coupled with heat pipe end 502]. It would have been obvious to use such an arrangement in order to allow for controlled heating and evaluation of the thermal operating characteristics of particular heat pipes (i.e., to duplicate the arrangement for the evaluation of multiple heat pipes). Doing so would read on the limitation that the heat insulation structure is provided between each two adjacent heating rods because each heating block 616 would have a corresponding heat insulating block 612 and heat conducting block 614 for applying heat specifically to the intended heat pipe.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Mansouri et al., Characterization of a Heat Sink with Embedded Heat Pipe with Variable Heat Dissipating Source Placement for Power Electronics Applications, IEEE, 2018
Mooney et al., Effect of Multiple Heat Sources and Bend Angle on the Performance of Sintered Wicked Heat Pipes, IEEE, 2020
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 KYLE ROBERT QUIGLEY whose telephone number is (313)446-4879. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arleen Vazquez can be reached at (571) 272-2619. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KYLE R QUIGLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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