DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 9-15, 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Chainer (US 2019/0271513) in view of Karidis (US 2013/0199767).
Regarding claim 1, Chainer teaches an apparatus for a compliant counter-flow cold plate for component cooling comprising: a manifold body (100) configured to be thermally coupled to a heat generating component (708) and configured to be compliant under a distributed pressure load (as no structural description is disclosed as to what the ‘configuration’ is which enables this, it is presumed to be the rest of the recited structures which comprise the ‘configuration’); and a plurality of expanding channels (218, 220) within the manifold body, at least one of the expanding channels extending from an inlet portion of the manifold body (210) to an outlet portion (214).
Chainer does not teach the elastomer and load.
Karidis teaches that it is old and well-known to provide such compliant cold plates (34; Fig. 1) for component (12; Fig. 1) cooling with an elastomer (14; Para. [0037]) disposed on a top surface (30) of the compliant cold plate (Fig. 1) and a load (18) to apply pressure to the elastomer.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to provide the device of Chainer with the elastomer and load, as taught by Karidis, to ensure even pressure between the cold plate and heat source for increased thermal transfer properties.
Regarding claim 18, Chainer teaches a method for compliant counter-flow cooling for a component comprising: providing a manifold body (100) configured to be thermally coupled to a heat generating component (708) and configured to be compliant under distributed pressure load (as no structural description is disclosed as to what the ‘configuration’ is which enables this, it is presumed to be the rest of the recited structures which comprise the ‘configuration’); and forming a plurality of expanding channels within the manifold body (218, 220) at least one extending from an inlet portion of the manifold body (210) to an outlet (214).
Chainer does not teach the elastomer and load.
Karidis teaches that it is old and well-known to provide such compliant cold plates (34; Fig. 1) for component (12; Fig. 1) cooling with an elastomer (14; Para. [0037]) disposed on a top surface (30) of the compliant cold plate (Fig. 1) and a load (18) to apply pressure to the elastomer.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to provide the device of Chainer with the elastomer and load, as taught by Karidis, to ensure even pressure between the cold plate and heat source for increased thermal transfer properties.
Chainer further teaches that: the channels have a smaller cross-section at the inlet portions than at the outlet portions (see Figs. 3a/b), per claims 2 and 19; the plurality of expanding channels include first (218) and second (220) channels having first and second directions in counterflow, respectively (see Figs. 3a/b), per claim 4; the plurality of channels are defined by sidewalls arranged in a zig-zag configuration (see Fig. 3a), per claim 9; the manifold body includes first and second body portions coupled together and stacked in layers (see Fig. 1), per claims 10-11; the inlet portion comprises an inlet channel (e.g. 210) coupled to an inlet orifice (rightmost side of 218; Fig. 3a) of an expanding channel, per claim 12; the inlet channel (210, 506, 212) may comprise a loop configuration within the manifold body (see Fig. 5), per claim 13; the outlet portion comprises an outlet channel (214, 510, 216) coupled to one or more outlet orifices of each expanding channel, per claim 14; the outlet channel is arranged in a loop configuration within the manifold body (see Fig. 5), per claim 15.
Claim(s) 3, 16-17, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chainer in view of Karidis and Schultz (US 10,504,814).
Regarding claim 16, Chainer teaches an apparatus for a compliant counter-flow cold plate for component cooling comprising: a manifold body (100) configured to be thermally coupled to a heat generating component (708); and a plurality of expanding channels (218, 220) within the manifold body, at least one of the expanding channels extending from an inlet portion of the manifold body (210) to an outlet portion (214); the plurality of expanding channels include first (218) and second (220) channels having first and second directions in counterflow, respectively (see Figs. 3a/b).
Chainer does not teach the elastomer and load.
Karidis teaches that it is old and well-known to provide such compliant cold plates (34; Fig. 1) for component (12; Fig. 1) cooling with an elastomer (14; Para. [0037]) disposed on a top surface (30) of the compliant cold plate (Fig. 1) and a load (18) to apply pressure to the elastomer.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to provide the device of Chainer with the elastomer and load, as taught by Karidis, to ensure even pressure between the cold plate and heat source for increased thermal transfer properties.
Chainer does not specify the use of pins.
Schultz teaches that it is old and well-known to utilize pins (102, 103) in the flow regions of a cold plate.
It would have been obvious to incorporate the pins of Schultz in the cold plate of Chainer in order to assist with thermal transfer to the fluid.
Regarding claim 17, Chainer further teaches that the channels have a smaller cross-section at the inlet portions than at the outlet portions (see Figs. 3a/b).
Regarding claims 3 and 20, Chainer does not specify the use of pins.
Schultz teaches that it is old and well-known to utilize pins (102, 103) in the flow regions of a cold plate.
It would have been obvious to incorporate the pins of Schultz in the cold plate of Chainer in order to assist with thermal transfer to the fluid.
Claim(s) 5-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chainer in view of Karidis and Joshi (US 2005/0200001).
Regarding claim 5, Chainer does not specify that the manifold body includes a return plenum in a center portion.
Joshi teaches that it is old and well-known to provide a return plenum (Fig. 8; from 560 to 556) in a center portion of the manifold body.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to provide the device of Chainer, as modified, with the central return plenum, as taught by Joshi, in order to maximize the cooling potential of the cooling fluid.
Joshi further teaches that: such return plenums incorporate a matrix of heat dissipating structures (584), per claim 6; which are load carrying (they contact the adjacent layers; see Fig. 8), per claim 7; and the outlet portion of the manifold body further includes a manifold outlet coupled to the return plenum (528), per claim 8.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/12/25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Remarks rely entirely upon the newly entered claim limitations which are addressed 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 Devon Lane whose telephone number is (571)270-1858. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, 9-4.
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/DEVON LANE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763