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 .
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is in response to the amendment filed 2/24/26. Claim 1 is amended. The rejection of claim 1 over Reeder in light of the amendment; however, a new rejection over Seo and Baek is made, below. Claims 1-4 are rejected finally.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo (US 2021/0036342) in view of Baek et al. (“Reconfigurable Thermoelectric Generators for Vehicle Radiators Energy Harvesting”).
Seo teaches an energy recovery system, i.e. heat recovery via heat exchangers (141, 142), for a fuel cell vehicle ([0006]), the system comprising:
a first cooling water circulation path, or stack cooling line (119), for allowing circulation of the first cooling water, or Ws, to a fuel cell (S) (Figure 1, [0018]);
a first radiator, or stack heat exchanger (140), that cools the first cooling water and is provided in the first circulation path (Figure 1, [0018]).
Seo teaches that the first radiator (140) is provided with first and second heat exchangers (141, 142), which may be radiators, but fails to teach a first thermoelectric converter.
Baek teaches thermoelectric generators for vehicle radiators energy harvesting. Specifically, Baek teaches that the use of radiator cooling consumes additional energy for cooling vehicle engines (I. Introduction), and that the use of thermoelectric generators as part of the radiator to reclaim wasted heat energy increase fuel efficiency of a vehicle (abstract, Fig. 6).
Baek is considered analogous art because it is reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor, i.e. providing an energy recovery system for a fuel cell vehicle capable of effectively recovering energy that would be wasted.
It would have been obvious to the skilled artisan at the time of the invention to provide a thermoelectric generator as part of the radiator of Seo as suggested by Baek in order to reclaim wasted heat energy increase fuel efficiency of a vehicle.
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo in view of Baek as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Tang et al. (US 2015/0053491).
The teachings of Seo and Baek as discussed above are incorporated herein.
Regarding claim 2, Seo in view of Baek teaches the energy recovery system according to claim 1, and further teaches a first cooling water pump, or first coolant pump (150) that circulates the cooling water, a second cooling water circulation path (120), and a second radiator (143), that cools the second cooling water (Seo Fig. 1).
With further regard to claim 2, Seo in view of Baek fails to teach that the first cooling water pump includes a drive motor and that the second cooling water circulation path allows for circulation of the second cooling water to supply the second cooling water to the first cooling water pump drive motor.
Tang teaches an energy recovery system, or thermal management system, for a fuel cell vehicle, wherein the system includes liquid pumps (2, 3), through which cooling liquid flows, and liquid pump cooling systems (4, 5) for cooling the heat generated by the pump motors (Figures 4-5, [0058], [0063]).
It would have been obvious to the skilled artisan at the time of the invention to use the second coolant loop of Seo in view of Baek to cool the pump motors such as suggested by Tang in order to ensure that the pump motors do not overheat and therefore function properly.
Further regarding claim 2, Seo in view of Baek fails to teach a second thermoelectric converter provided in the second radiator. However, it would have been obvious to the skilled artisan at the time of the invention to provide an additional thermoelectric generator in the second radiator, as it is provided in the first radiator, in order to convert heat from the second radiator to electric power. It has been held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. MPEP 2144.04 VI B
As for claim 3, Tang further teaches a second pump motor that is cooled by coolant from the path through which the coolant passes (see, e.g., 3 and 5 of Figure 4 of Tang).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo in view of Baek as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Cao et al. (US 2023/0213005).
The teachings of Seo and Baek as discussed above are incorporated herein.
Seo in view of Baek teaches the energy recovery system of claim 1 but fails to teach an exhaust gas supply path as required by claim 4.
Cao teaches an emission control system of a fuel cell vehicle including an exhaust gas supply path, or exhaust pipe (21) connected to intercooler (9) to electric air compressor (8) to high pressure gas cylinder (7), for supplying compressed exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell (3) to an air brake, i.e. meeting vehicle braking demands (Figure 1, [0033]).
It would have been obvious to the skilled artisan at the time of the invention to use fuel cell exhaust from the system of Seo in view of Baek such as suggested by Cao in order to provide compressed exhaust gas to meet vehicle braking demands.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 2/24/26, with respect to the rejection(s) of newly amended claim(s) 1 under Reeder in view of Naganuma 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, above.
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 ALIX ECHELMEYER EGGERDING whose telephone number is (571)272-1101. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am - 4:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ula Ruddock can be reached at 571-272-1481. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ALIX E EGGERDING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1729
Prosecution Insights