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 .
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
[Examiner’s Note: Strikethrough indicates that that limitation is not disclosed by the reference.]
Claims 1, 2, and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Wijaya (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/ 0347146) in view of Katoh (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2013/ 0283835).
Regarding claim 1, Wijaya discloses heater module (Wijaya, storage evaporator) for a heater for a thermal management system for an [[electric]] vehicle ( for use with an “electric vehicle is intended use, and not given patentable weight, this is an energy storage module), the heater module comprising: a module housing (Wijaya, 10, figs. 1-10) having a module inlet (23 connected to 22) and a module outlet (24 connected to 18); a module inlet header (22) that is in fluid communication with the module inlet (22 connected to 23) so as to receive a coolant (refrigerant) from the module inlet; a module outlet header (24) that is in fluid communication with the module outlet so as to transport the coolant to the module outlet; a plurality of module coolant conduits (figs. 9A-10, 26) extending between the module inlet header and the outlet header (the inlet header 22 and the outlet 24 header are both on the top part of 10, but the coolant flow extends between the inlet header and the outlet header, as it moves down from the upper tank 12 to the lower tank 14 and then up again), wherein there is a PCM storage space (54) defined in the module housing between the module coolant conduits (fig. 9); a plurality of thermal conductors (inner and outer walls 46 and 48, ¶0033, tubes made of metal”) extending from the plurality of module coolant conduits into the PCM storage space;
a quantity of phase-change material (56) in the PCM storage space and in contact with the plurality of thermal conductors; and
Wijaya does not disclose wherein the heater module housing is positioned in engagement with an electric heating element. Wijaya does teach that his design is similar in shape to known radiators (¶0004) may be added to conventional energy storage systems (Wijaya, ¶0006, “The storage tubes and the tanks may be added to one side of a generally conventional fin and tube evaporator or may be incorporated into the evaporator itself), the advantage being in the phase-changing material in the fins.
However, Katoh teaches, in his heat exchange system for a vehicle, “wherein the heater module housing is positioned in engagement with an electric heating element (36).” And Katoh uses this heater, in connection with the refrigerant/coolant, to be able to best control the air conditioning and adjusting the temperature. Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to also have an electric heater in positioned in engagement with the thermal module, in order to best heat up the compartment of a vehicle, and having a separate source of heat besides the heat from the engine which may not be enough or available upon immediate need of air conditioning.
Regarding claim 2, Wijaya in view of Katoh teaches all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teaches a heater module wherein the plurality of thermal conductors are fins in the form of an undulating pattern and are contiguous with one another (Wijaya, figs. 9A, 9, 10).
Regarding claim 4, Wijaya in view of Katoh teaches all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teaches a heater module wherein the thermal conductors are monolithically formed with the module coolant conduits (as seen in Wijaya, fig. 9A.).
Claims 5, 6, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Wijaya, (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/ 0347146) in view of Katoh (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2013/ 0283835) and Jang (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/ 0245595).
Regarding claim 5, Wijaya discloses a heater for a thermal management system for an electric vehicle for use with an “electric vehicle is intended use, and not given patentable weight, this is an energy storage module), comprising: Wijaya, 10, figs. 1-10) having a module inlet (23 connected to 22) and a module outlet (24 connected to 18); a module inlet header (Wijaya, 22) that is in fluid communication with the module inlet so as to receive a coolant from the module inlet; a module outlet header (24) that is in fluid communication with the module outlet so as to transport the coolant to the module outlet; a plurality of module coolant conduits (figs. 9A-10, 26) extending between the module inlet header and the outlet header, wherein there is a PCM storage space (54) defined in the module housing between the module coolant conduits; a plurality of thermal conductors (inner and outer walls 46 and 48, ¶0033, tubes made of metal”) extending from the plurality of module coolant conduits (fig. 9) into the PCM storage space; and
a quantity of phase-change material (56)in the PCM storage space and in contact with the plurality of thermal conductors;
Wijaya does not disclose a heater housing having a heater inlet and a heater outlet; a plurality of heater modules contained in the heater housing nor wherein the heater module housing is positioned in engagement with an electric heating element. Wijaya does teach that his design is similar in shape to known radiators (¶0004) may be added to conventional energy storage systems (Wijaya, ¶0006, “The storage tubes and the tanks may be added to one side of a generally conventional fin and tube evaporator or may be incorporated into the evaporator itself), the advantage being in the phase-changing material in the fins.
Regarding the heater housing, this would simply be duplication of parts to have more than one heating module in a housing, and there would necessarily be an inlet and an outlet out of the housing, similar to Wijaya 18 and 19, respectively, and the advantage would be to be able to store heat for a many uses in the electric vehicle (cool the battery and cool the passenger compartment) or to pull off excessive heat when necessary and the stacking or duplicating of radiators (for heating or cooling) is well known, such as in Jang (Jang, ¶0049, radiators 100 and 200) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the assembly to modify Wijaya and duplicate their evaporator in order to create a doubly effective storage evaporator, keeping a plurality in a housing, to be able to store heat for a many uses in the electric vehicle (cool the battery and cool the passenger compartment) or to pull off excessive heat when necessary
And While Wijaya in view of Jang teaches all the limitations above, it still does not teach wherein the heater module housing is positioned in engagement with an electric heating element.
However, Katoh teaches, in his heat exchange system for a vehicle, “wherein the heater module housing is positioned in engagement with an electric heating element (36).” And Katoh uses this heater, in connection with the refrigerant/coolant, to be able to best control the air conditioning and adjusting the temperature. Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to Modify the teachings of Wijaya in view of Jang with the teaching of Katoh, also have an electric heater in positioned in engagement with the thermal module, in order to best heat up the compartment of a vehicle, and having a separate source of heat besides the heat from the engine which may not be enough or available upon immediate need of air conditioning.
Regarding claim 6, Wijaya in view of Jang and Katoh teach all the limitations of claim 5, as above, and further teaches a heater wherein the plurality of thermal conductors are fins in the form of an undulating pattern and are contiguous with one another (“undulating”, Wijaya, fig. 9).
Regarding claim 9, Wijaya in view of Jang and Katoh teach all the limitations of claim 5, as above, and further teaches a heater wherein the thermal conductors are monolithically formed with the module coolant conduits (Wijaya, fig. 9A).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Mardall (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/ 0193683) in view of Wijaya, (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/ 0347146) Katoh (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2013/ 0283835).
Regarding claim 10, Mardall discloses a thermal management system for an electric vehicle (Mardall, ¶0013), the electric vehicle including a traction motor (¶0013, traction motor), a traction motor battery (Mardall, ¶0013, “traction battery”), and a charger (1529) for use in charging the traction motor battery from an external charge source (¶0050, external power source), the thermal management system comprising:
a vehicle coolant conduit system (Mardall, figs. 15-17) that contains a coolant (Mardall, ¶0055);
a pump (Mardall, 1531, figs. 15-17) that is positioned to drive the coolant to flow through the vehicle coolant conduit to draw heat from the charger during operation of the charger (¶0055);
a controller (Mardall, ¶0052, “The controller may operate automatically based on programming implemented by a processor, or the control system may be manually controlled, or the control system may use some combination of manual and automated control.”) programmed to operate the charger to charge the traction motor battery when the electric vehicle is connected to an external power source,
wherein the controller is programmed to operate the pump to drive the coolant to flow through the vehicle coolant conduit to draw heat from the charger during operation of the charger, thereby heating the coolant (¶0055, the coolant is pumped through the coolant line and thermally coupled to the drive system, including the charger),
wherein, during operation of the charger, the controller is programmed to determine a temperature of the coolant (Mardall, ¶0052, monitor the temperature), and to drive coolant flow through the heater in order to heat the phase-change material if the temperature of the coolant is higher than a selected threshold coolant temperature, and
However, Mardall does not disclose a heater that includes a heater housing having a heater inlet and a heater outlet, wherein the heater inlet and the heater outlet are fluidically connected to the vehicle coolant conduit system; a heater coolant conduit system that fluidically connects the heater inlet and the heater outlet; wherein there is a PCM storage space defined in the heater housing outside the heater coolant conduit system; a quantity of phase-change material in the PCM storage space, positioned to undergo heat exchange with the coolant in the heater coolant conduit system; and
at least one electric heating element positioned to heat the phase-change material; and
wherein, when the electric vehicle is connected to the external power source, the controller is programmed to operate the at least one electric heating element in order to heat the phase-change material at least some of the time.
However, Wijaya, in his heater, teaches a heater that includes a heater housing having a heater inlet (23 connected to 22) and a heater outlet (24 connected to 18), (¶0039); wherein there is a PCM storage space defined in the heater housing outside the heater coolant conduit system; a quantity of phase-change material in the PCM storage space (Wijaya, 54 figs. 9A-10), positioned to undergo heat exchange with the coolant in the heater coolant conduit system.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Mardall with the teaching of Wijaya, to have a heater with phase change material, to heat maintain the temperature within the coolant line in that it takes advantage of the phase change material for storing the energy for adjusting the cooling of the coolant as necessary and for storing the energy to heat fluid or air in a conventional way without unexpected results and this combination would have allowed for “wherein the heater inlet and the heater outlet are fluidically connected to the vehicle coolant conduit system”, as claimed.
And while Mardall in view of Wijaya teaches all the limitations above, it still does not teach at least one electric heating element positioned to heat the phase-change material; and
wherein, when the electric vehicle is connected to the external power source, the controller is programmed to operate the at least one electric heating element in order to heat the phase-change material at least some of the time.
However, Katoh teaches, in his heat exchange system for a vehicle, “at least one electric heating element (36) positioned to heat the be able to best control the air conditioning and adjusting the temperature. Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to Modify the teachings of Mardall in view of Wijaya with the teaching of Katoh, also have an electric heater in positioned in engagement with the thermal module, in order to best heat up components, and/or store energy, and having a separate source of heat besides the heat from the engine which may not be enough or available upon immediate need of heat, and this would also apply to a heat exchanger with the “phase change material”.
And while Mardall in view of Wijaya and Katoh teaches all the limitations above, it still does not explicitly teach wherein, when the electric vehicle is connected to the external power source, the controller is programmed to operate the at least one electric heating element in order to heat the phase-change material at least some of the time. However, in light of the teachings above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to ensure that there is heat stored in the phase change material, to have the external heater heat up some of the phase change material so that the heat may be released upon starting of the vehicle and using the vehicle, obviously not attached to the sources, but having been charged by the external source so that the heat is available for heating the batteries or the compartment.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3, 7 and 8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Briefly, their limitations, inter alia, are not taught or are rendered obvious by the prior art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see attached form PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAWRENCE H SAMUELS whose telephone number is (571)272-2683. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM M-F.
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/LAWRENCE H SAMUELS/ Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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