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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claim 1-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4/21/26.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 15-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Borghi et al. (US 2022/0169125.
With respect to claims 15 and 24, Borghi et al. discloses a battery pack assembly for an electric vehicle having a plurality of battery modules (Figures 5C-5E, para 0090). The reference teaches a manifold system (400) for cooling the battery modules (300) as shown in the following annotated figure:
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With respect to claims 16-17, the plurality of battery modules (300) are arranged in a row with distinct, contiguous battery modules(see Fig 5C-5E).
With regard to claims 18-22, see figure number 408A in Fig 6B and Fig 6A. As shown therein, the tertiary conduits branching from the secondary conduits are substantially orthogonal to the secondary conduits. The secondary conduits include two secondary conduits and the primary conduit is connected to the secondary conduits via a splitter (408A). The fluid flow is divided evenly amongst the secondary conduits via the manifold body (408A) which reads on the claimed splitter. Likewise, two tertiary conduits branch from the secondary conduits via a splitter, as shown in Fig 6A. The splitter in the secondary conduits evenly divides the coolant flow between two tertiary conduits.
With regard to claim 23, each of the battery modules taught by Borghi et al. has a supply conduit manifold system and a coolant outlet manifold system, as shown in annotated Fig 6A, above. Manifold (402B) is the coolant outlet manifold and can receive coolant from the various battery modules (300) and return the coolant to vehicle thermal system (128)- see para 0091. The vehicle thermal system corresponds to the claimed “coolant sink.” The limitations directed to the primary, secondary and tertiary conduits are met as shown in the following annotated figure:
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOLLY RICKMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-1514. The examiner can normally be reached Tues, Thurs, Fri 10-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Ruthkosky can be reached at 571-272-1291. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Holly Rickman/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1785
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