DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 Objections
Claim 7 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 7 L. 2, “onboard an aircraft or aerospace vessel” should be “onboard of an aircraft or aerospace vessel”;
Claim 17 L. 2, “onboard an aircraft or aerospace vessel” should be “onboard of an aircraft or aerospace vessel”;
Appropriate correction required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims
particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the
inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 3, 6, 13, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 3: Claim 3 recites the term “a thin and flexible”, which render the claim indefinite because it is unknown the range encompassed by the term "thin" from the context of the term as it is used in the specification and claims of the application. To further advance prosecution the term “a thin and flexible” is interpreted as “a film”.
Regarding Claim 6: Claim 6 recites the term “a mini-heater”, which render the claim indefinite because it is unknown the range encompassed by the term "mini" from the context of the term as it is used in the specification and claims of the application. To further advance prosecution the term “a mini-heater” is interpreted as “a heater”.
Regarding Claim 13: Claim 13 recites the term “a thin and flexible”, which render the claim indefinite because it is unknown the range encompassed by the term "thin" from the context of the term as it is used in the specification and claims of the application. To further advance prosecution the term “a thin and flexible” is interpreted as “a film”.
Regarding Claim 16: Claim 16 recites the term “a mini-heater”, which render the claim indefinite because it is unknown the range encompassed by the term "mini" from the context of the term as it is used in the specification and claims of the application. To further advance prosecution the term “a mini-heater” is interpreted as “a heater”.
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.
Claims 1-6; 10-16; and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Winter (US 6,084,219) in view of Xiao (US 2021/0009840).
Regarding Claim 1: Winter discloses a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater assembly (assembly of Fig. 1) comprising: a plurality of PTC patches (20; Fig. 1) deposed on a base substrate (2; Fig. 1); a conductive trace (8, 9, 16, and 17; Fig. 1) disposed on the base substrate, the conductive trace in communication with the plurality of PTC ink patches (see Fig. 1); and wherein the plurality of PTC ink patches includes at least one PTC ink patch that is non-square-shaped or non-rectangular-shaped (see Fig. 2), but does not explicitly recite the patches being ink patches printed on the substrate, although the patches are applied on the substrate (see Claim 13).
However, Xiao teaches a PTC heater assembly (system in Fig. 3) with PTC ink patches (380; Fig. 3; see Abstract) being printed (see Abstract) on a substrate (“substrate”; Abstract).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Winter, to have the patches being ink patches printed on the substrate, as taught by Xiao. Such a modification would enable to easily applied the patches on the substrate.
Regarding Claim 2: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 1, as stated above, and Xiao further teaches wherein the plurality of PTC ink patches are printed from PTC ink (see Abstract).
Regarding Claim 3: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 1, as stated above, and Xiao further teaches wherein the base substrate is a thin and flexible substrate with a polymer base. (see [0024] wherein the substrate is a film, i.e. thin and flexible, formed by a base of polymer, and [0016]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Winter, to have the base substrate is a thin and flexible substrate with a polymer base, as taught by Xiao. Such a modification would enable to have a multi-resin substrate that provides different PTC effects at different temperature range, as recognized by Xiao, (see [0016]).
Regarding Claim 4: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 1, as stated above, and Winter further discloses wherein the plurality of PTC ink patches includes two or more PTC ink patches that are non-square-shaped or non-rectangular-shaped (see Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 5: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 1, as stated above, and Winter further discloses wherein the at least one PTC ink patch that is non-square-shaped or non-rectangular-shaped has a shape selected from the group consisting of L-shaped, S-shaped, V-shaped, Z-shaped, U-shaped, C-shaped, M-shaped, N-shaped, oval-shaped, circular-shaped, curved-shaped, triangular-shaped, trapezoidal-shaped, parallel-pillar-shaped arrangement, trapezoidal-shaped with loop arrangement, square-shaped with loop arrangement, S-shaped loop arrangement, random-shape arrangement and tapered-shaped (see Fig. 2, e.g. 20-3 that is curved shaped).
Regarding Claim 6: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 1, as stated above, and Winter further discloses wherein each PTC ink patch of the plurality of PTC ink patches is configured to operate as a mini-heater (see Abstract wherein the system is used as a heater, and Col. 2 L. 17-28 wherein the elements are small points and thus the heater is heater of small size).
Regarding Claim 10: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 1, as stated above, and Winter further discloses wherein the conductive trace includes a line (8; Fig. 1) and a return (9; Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 11: Winter discloses a method for fabricating (see Claim 13) a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater (Assembly of Fig. 1) comprising: deposit a plurality of PTC patches (20; Fig. 1) on a base substrate (2; Fig. 1); disposing a conductive trace (8, 9, 16, and 17; Fig. 1) on the base substrate, the conductive trace in communication with the plurality of PTC patches (see Fig. 1); and wherein the plurality of PTC ink patches includes at least one PTC ink patch that is non-square-shaped or non-rectangular-shaped (see Fig. 2), but does not explicitly recite the patches being ink patches and printing the ink patches on the substrate, although the patches are applied on the substrate (see Claim 13).
However, Xiao teaches a PTC heater assembly (system in Fig. 3) with PTC ink patches (380; Fig. 3; see Abstract) being and printing the ink patches (see Abstract) on a substrate (“substrate”; Abstract).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Winter, to have the patches being ink patches and printing the ink patches on the substrate, as taught by Xiao. Such a modification would enable to easily applied the patches on the substrate.
Regarding Claim 12: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 11, as stated above, and Xiao further teaches wherein the plurality of PTC ink patches are printed from PTC ink (see Abstract).
Regarding Claim 13: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 1, as stated above, and Xiao further teaches wherein the base substrate is a thin and flexible substrate with a polymer base. (see [0024] wherein the substrate is a film, i.e. thin and flexible, formed by a base of polymer, and [0016]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Winter, to have the base substrate being a thin and flexible substrate with a polymer base, as taught by Xiao. Such a modification would enable to have a multi-resin substrate that provides different PTC effects at different temperature range, as recognized by Xiao, (see [0016]).
Regarding Claim 14: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 11, as stated above, and Winter further discloses wherein the plurality of PTC ink patches includes two or more PTC ink patches that are non-square-shaped or non-rectangular-shaped (see Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 15: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 11, as stated above, and Winter further discloses wherein the at least one PTC ink patch that is non-square-shaped or non-rectangular-shaped has a shape selected from the group consisting of L-shaped, S-shaped, V-shaped, Z-shaped, U-shaped, C-shaped, M-shaped, N-shaped, oval-shaped, circular-shaped, curved-shaped, triangular-shaped, trapezoidal-shaped, parallel-pillar-shaped arrangement, trapezoidal-shaped with loop arrangement, square-shaped with loop arrangement, S-shaped loop arrangement, random-shape arrangement and tapered-shaped (see Fig. 2, e.g. 20-3 that is curved shaped).
Regarding Claim 16: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 11, as stated above, and Winter further discloses operating each PTC ink patch of the plurality of PTC ink patches as a mini-heater (see Abstract wherein the system is used as a heater, and Col. 2 L. 17-28 wherein the elements are small points and thus the heater is heater of small size).
Regarding Claim 20: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 11, as stated above, and Winter further discloses wherein the conductive trace includes a line (8; Fig. 1) and a return (9; Fig. 1).
Claims 7 and 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Winter (US 6,084,219) in view of Xiao (US 2021/0009840), and further in view of Hu (US 2020/0011543).
Regarding Claim 7: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 1, as stated above, but is silent regarding the PTC heater assembly onboard an aircraft or aerospace vessel.
However, Hu teaches a PTC heater assembly (“PTC” [0003]) onboard an aircraft or aerospace vessel (see [0003]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Winter, to have the PTC heater assembly onboard an aircraft or aerospace vessel, as taught by Hu. Such a modification would enable to have a heater with intrinsic temperature limiter which provide a necessary safety feature in an aircraft, as recognized by hu, (see [0003]).
Regarding Claim 17: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 11, as stated above, but is silent regarding utilizing the PTC heater assembly onboard an aircraft or aerospace vessel.
However, Hu teaches a PTC heater assembly (“PTC” [0003]) and utilizing the PTC heater assembly onboard an aircraft or aerospace vessel (see [0003]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Winter, to have utilizing the PTC heater assembly onboard an aircraft or aerospace vessel, as taught by Hu. Such a modification would enable to have a heater with intrinsic temperature limiter which provide a necessary safety feature in an aircraft, as recognized by hu, (see [0003]).
Claims 8-9; and 18-19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Winter (US 6,084,219) in view of Xiao (US 2021/0009840), and further in view of Chen (US 2022/0208420).
Regarding Claim 8: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 1, as stated above, but is silent regarding wherein the PTC heater assembly is a PTC heater assembly for freeze protection applications.
However, Wang teaches a PTC heater for freeze protection applications (see [0004]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Winter, to have the PTC heater assembly for freeze protection applications, as taught by Chen. Such a modification would enable to avoid frost and damage occurring in water injection system.
Regarding Claim 9: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 1, as stated above, but is silent regarding wherein the PTC heater assembly is a PTC heater assembly for a tank, pipe, vessel or a valve.
However, Chen teaches a PTC heater assembly (see title) for a tank (see title), pipe, vessel or a valve.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Winter, to have the PTC heater assembly for a tank, pipe, vessel or a valve, as taught by Chen. Such a modification would enable to protect from freezing, as recognized by Chen (see [0004]).
Regarding Claim 18: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 11, as stated above, but is silent regarding utilizing the PTC heater assembly is a PTC heater assembly for freeze protection applications.
However, Wang teaches a PTC heater and utilizing the PTC heater for freeze protection applications (see [0004]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Winter, to have utilizing the PTC heater assembly for freeze protection applications, as taught by Chen. Such a modification would enable to avoid frost and damage occurring in water injection system, as recognized by Chen ([0004])
Regarding Claim 19: Winter in view of Xiao teaches all the limitations of Claim 11, as stated above, but is silent regarding wherein utilizing the PTC heater assembly to heat a tank, pipe, vessel or a valve.
However, Chen teaches a PTC heater assembly (see title) and utilizing the PTC heater assembly to heat a tank (see title), pipe, vessel or a valve.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Winter, to have utilizing the PTC heater assembly to heat a tank, pipe, vessel or a valve, as taught by Chen. Such a modification would enable to protect from freezing, as recognized by Chen (see [0004]).
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see notice of references cited.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RODOLPHE ANDRE CHABREYRIE whose telephone number is (571)272-3482. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30-18:30.
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/RODOLPHE ANDRE CHABREYRIE/Examiner, Art Unit 3741