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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II and Species A in the reply filed on 2026 January 02 is acknowledged.
Applicant identifies claims 13 and 14 as being drawn to non-elected species. Claim 15 is also drawn to non-elected species because it requires two pumps which is disclosed for example in Species B (Fig. 3). Elected Species A (Fig. 2) utilizes a single dual purpose pump.
Claims 1-10, 13-15, and 20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention and/or species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “DPRC radiator that is positioned on top of the vehicle” recited in claim 16 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
“fluid control unit” which the specification states may be a pump.
“cooling element” which the specification states may be a refrigerator plate.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
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.
Claims 11-12 and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN108346842A (herein “Chen”) in view of US 2019/0316854 A1 (herein “Fain”).
Regarding claim 11. Chen discloses a system for cooling a vehicle battery unit (Fig. 1) comprising:
a radiator cooling unit (11);
a fluid control unit (5 and 16) that is configured such that it is capable of selectively fluidly coupling the cooling unit to a battery unit cooling element (3) that is in fluid communication with the battery unit; and
wherein the cooling unit is configured such that it is capable of cooling the battery unit cooling element while being fluidly coupled to the battery unit cooling element (fluid lines connecting 3 and 11).
Chen does not disclose that the radiator is a DPRC.
Fain discloses a system for cooling comprising a passive radiative cooling unit configured for cooling battery storage and electric vehicles ([0008]), wherein said cooling unit can be located on top of a vehicle (Fig. 6A).
Fain states that the passive radiative cooling can be used to cool surfaces outdoors and can increase efficiencies of systems by offsetting heat sources from various systems/devices ([0008]). Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to modify the system of Chen with the passive radiative cooling teachings of Fain in an attempt to increase system efficiencies.
Regarding claim 12. The combined teachings disclose the system according to claim 11, comprising a DPRC related pump (Chen: 15) that is configured to circulate a cooling fluid between the DPRC based (Fain: passive radiative cooling) cooling unit (Chen: pump 15 is in fluid communication with radiator 11) and the battery unit cooling element (Chen: pump 15 is in fluid communication with cooling element 3).
Regarding claim 16. The combined teachings disclose the system according to claim 11, wherein the DPRC based cooling unit comprises a DPRC radiator that is positioned on top of the vehicle (Fain: Fig. 6A).
Regarding claim 17. The combined teachings disclose the system according to claim 11, comprising a controller (Chen: 17) that is configured to determine to perform the fluidly coupling based on sensed information sensed by one or more sensors (Chen: based on temperature sensors such as 2).
Regarding claim 18. The combined teachings disclose the system according to claim 17, wherein the sensed information comprises a temperature related to the battery unit (Chen: temperature sensor 2).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen in view of Fain and US 2010/0071637 A1 (herein “Shintani”).
Regarding claim 19. The combined teachings disclose the system according to claim 17, but do not disclose that the sensed information comprises a state of the vehicle.
Shintani discloses a cooling system for a vehicle comprising a pump and a controller, wherein the sensed information comprises a state of the vehicle, wherein the state of the vehicle is selected out of multiple states, the multiple states comprise an idle state and a non-idle state (claim 9 discloses controlling the pump based on an idle state and a high engine speed state).
In an attempt to provide an improved cooling system, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the cooling system of the combined teachings of Chen and Fain with the control teachings of Shintani to reduce power consumption by the cooling system during times when heat dissipation requirements are known to be low.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jon T. Schermerhorn Jr. whose telephone number is (571)270-5283. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Len Tran can be reached at (571) 272-1184. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JON T. SCHERMERHORN JR./ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763