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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-10 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Objections
Claims 20-21 are objected to because of the following informalities: “height one” in Claim 20-21 should be “height of one”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The test for obviousness is not whether the features of a secondary reference may be bodily incorporated into the structure of the primary reference; nor is it that the claimed invention must be expressly suggested in any one or all of the references. Rather, the test is what the combined teachings of the references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981).
Claim(s) 1-4, 7-10, and 20-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TAMATANI (WO2014021046) in view of BAEK (KR20050092284).
Regarding Claim 1. TAMATANI teaches, in Fig. 4-5, a barrier wall assembly (101) comprising: a sheet (140) that extends from a first end to a second end , the sheet including a first surface and a second surface (see Fig. 4); a first dielectric material coating (141) on the first surface, and a second dielectric material coating (142) on the second surface; wherein the sheet includes at least one embossed feature extending from the sheet (see Fig. 4); and wherein the sheet is configured to be positioned between electrical components (51,52,53) so that a fault in one section or component functional group will not affect adjacent areas of the components (prevent a fault such as overheating of an electrical component) (page 8 paragraph 5), but does not teach the at least one embossed feature extending from the sheet is configured to surround one of the electrical components.
BAEK teaches, Fig. 6, at least one embossed feature (53a,53b) extending from the sheet is configured to surround one of the electrical components (32a).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the barrier wall assembly as disclosed by TAMITANI with the surrounding sheet as disclosed by BAEK in order that the heat dissipation effect in the component is further improved (translation page 6, second to last paragraph).
Regarding Claim 10. TAMATANI teaches, in Fig. 4-5, a method for fabricating a barrier wall assembly (101) comprising: providing a sheet (140) that extends from a first end to a second end, the sheet including a first surface and a second surface (Fig. 4); coating a first dielectric material coating (141) on the first surface, and coating a second dielectric material coating (142) on the second surface; embossing at least one embossed feature on the sheet (See Fig. 4), the at least one embossed feature extending from the sheet (see Fig. 4); and positioning the sheet between electrical components (see Fig. 4) so that a fault in one section or component functional group will not affect adjacent areas of the components (page 8 paragraph 4), but does not teach the at least one embossed feature that extends from the sheet surrounds one of the electrical components.
BAEK teaches, in Fig. 6, the at least one embossed feature (53a, 53b) that extends from the sheet surrounds one of the electrical components (32a).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the barrier wall assembly as disclosed by TAMITANI with the surrounding sheet as disclosed by BAEK in order that the heat dissipation effect in the component is further improved (translation page 6, second to last paragraph).
Regarding Claim 20. TAMATANI and BAEK teaches the assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one embossed feature that extends from the sheet surrounds a height one of the electrical components (BAEK, FIG.6).
Regarding Claim 21. (New) TAMATANI and BAEK teaches the method of claim 10, wherein that the at least one embossed feature that extends from the sheet surrounds a height one of the electrical components (BAEK, FIG. 6).
Regarding Claim 2. TAMATANI and BAEK teaches the assembly of claim 1, wherein the sheet comprises aluminum (TAMATANI, page 7 paragraph 2).
Regarding Claim 3. TAMATANI and BAEK teaches the assembly of claim 1, wherein the first dielectric material coating comprises a thermally conductive insulator to allow the sheet to assist in conduction cooling of the components, while still having voltage protection for preventing fault propagation (TAMATANI, page 7 paragraph 5).
Regarding Claim 4. TAMATANI and BAEK teaches the assembly of claim 1, wherein the second dielectric material coating comprises a liquid or film applied insulation coating that is cured to allow uniform coating thickness on the at least one embossed feature of the sheet, and the liquid or film applied insulation coating provides an arc barrier (TAMATANI, page 6 last paragraph – page 7 first paragraph) (TAMATANI, page 7 paragraph 7).
Regarding Claim 7. TAMATANI and BAEK teaches the assembly of claim 1, wherein the sheet includes a plurality of embossed features extending from the sheet and wherein at least one of the plurality of embossed features is configured to surround one of the electrical components (TAMATANI, Fig. 4) (TAMATANI, see also K in Fig. 12) (it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working part of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8).
Regarding Claim 8. TAMATANI and BAEK teaches the assembly of claim 1, wherein the sheet is free from vent holes (TAMATANI, see Fig. 4 has no holes).
Regarding Claim 9. TAMATANI and BAEK teaches the assembly of claim 1, in combination with the electrical components, wherein the electrical components comprise power distribution components or equipment, embedded controls, power conversion components, or high voltage motor controllers (TAMATANI, page 3 4th paragraph before last paragraph).
Claim(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TAMATANI and BAEK in view of Case Law.
Regarding Claim 5. TAMATANI and BAEK teaches the assembly of claim 1, wherein the sheet includes a plurality of embossed features extending from the sheet and wherein at least one of the plurality of embossed features includes a pocket (151,152) having a thermal pad therein to assist in component heat sink cooling (Fig. 4) (page 6 paragraph 2- paragraph 5) but does not disclose the thermal pad.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add in a thermal pad in order to increase the amount of heat absorbed or dissipated from the components as it is known in the art, since it has been held that omission of an element and its function in a combination where the remaining elements perform the same function as before involves only routine skill in the art. In re Karlson, 136 USPQ 184.
Regarding Claim 6. TAMATANI and BAEK teaches the assembly of claim 1, in combination with the electrical components (5-53), but does not disclose the electrical components include components of different voltages or different criticality.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to select electrical components to include components of different voltages and different criticality in order to have the components perform different functions. However, it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations Ex parte Masham 2 USPQ2d 1647 1987).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is presented in the Notice of References Cited.
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 MUHAMMED AZAM whose telephone number is (571)270-0593. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 11:00am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Timothy Dole can be reached at (571) 272-2229. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MA/Examiner, Art Unit 2848
/Timothy J. Dole/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2848