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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3 and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ahamed (US 12471251 B2).
As to Claim 1, Ahamed discloses:
A pluggable transceiver module (optical transceiver 1; Fig. 7), comprising:
a module shell (case 10), the module shell 10 comprising an upper shell (upper case 11) and a lower shell (lower case 12), the upper shell 11 comprising a planar inner surface 11a and a recessed area (groove 11a1) formed into the planar inner surface 11a (col. 6, Lines 45-47 “The heat pipe 40 includes an accommodation portion 40A accommodated in the groove 11a1 formed in the inner wall surface 11a of the case 10”);
a printed circuit board 20;
a chip 23A mounted on the printed circuit board 20 (col. 3, Lines 27-33 “The heat generating bodies 23A, 23B, and 23C are components mounted on the circuit board 20 and include receiving circuits or transmitting circuits that generate a relatively large amount of heat. Moreover, one of the heat generating bodies 23A, 23B, 23C may include a CPU, a clock data recovery chip (CDR chip), or a transimpedance amplifier chip (TIA chip)”); and
a heat spreader (heat pipe 40) secured within the recessed area 11a1, between the upper shell 11 and the chip 23A (col. 6, Lines 45-47 “The heat pipe 40 includes an accommodation portion 40A accommodated in the groove 11a1 formed in the inner wall surface 11a of the case 10”; see Fig. 7, heat pipe 40 disposed between 11 and 23A).
As to Claim 3, Ahamed discloses:
wherein the heat spreader 40 is secured within the recessed area 11a1 with a surface of the heat spreader 40 being substantially coplanar with the planar inner surface 11a of the upper shell 11 (see Fig. 7, at least a portion of heat pipe 40 is substantially coplanar with inner wall surface 11a).
As to Claim 10, Ahamed discloses:
wherein the heat spreader 40 extends in length over at least half of a length of the upper shell 11, along a longitudinal axis of the upper shell 11 (see Fig. 7, heat pipe 40 extends over at least half the length of upper case 11).
As to Claim 11, Ahamed discloses:
wherein the heat spreader 40 comprises a heat pipe (heat pipe 40).
As to Claim 12, Ahamed discloses:
wherein the heat spreader 40 comprises a vapor chamber (heat pipe 40 is flat and exhibits the same cooling properties as a vapor chamber; col. 4, Lines 7-16 “The heat pipe 40 is a heat transport element that uses latent heat of a working fluid. The heat pipe 40 includes a flat container in which the working fluid is enclosed, and a wick (not shown) provided inside the container. The working fluid is a well-known heat-transporting medium made of a phase-change substance that changes phases between a liquid phase and a gas phase within the container. For example, water (pure water), alcohol, ammonia, or the like can be used as the working fluid”).
As to Claim 13, Ahamed discloses:
wherein:
the recessed area 11a1 comprises a recessed inner surface (inner surface of 11a1); and
the recessed inner surface is substantially coplanar with a planar outer surface 11b of the upper shell 11 (inner surface of 11a1 is substantially coplanar with 11b).
As to Claim 14, Ahamed discloses:
A transceiver module (optical transceiver 1; Fig. 7), comprising:
a module shell (case 10) comprising a planar inner surface 11a and a recessed area (groove 11a1) formed into the planar inner surface 11a (col. 6, Lines 45-47 “The heat pipe 40 includes an accommodation portion 40A accommodated in the groove 11a1 formed in the inner wall surface 11a of the case 10”);
a chip 23A mounted on a printed circuit board 20 (col. 3, Lines 27-33 “The heat generating bodies 23A, 23B, and 23C are components mounted on the circuit board 20 and include receiving circuits or transmitting circuits that generate a relatively large amount of heat. Moreover, one of the heat generating bodies 23A, 23B, 23C may include a CPU, a clock data recovery chip (CDR chip), or a transimpedance amplifier chip (TIA chip)”); and
a heat spreader (heat pipe 40) secured within the recessed area 11a1, between the module shell 10 and the chip 23A (col. 6, Lines 45-47 “The heat pipe 40 includes an accommodation portion 40A accommodated in the groove 11a1 formed in the inner wall surface 11a of the case 10”; see Fig. 7, heat pipe 40 disposed between upper case 11 of case 10 and 23A).
As to Claim 15, Ahamed discloses:
wherein the heat spreader 40 is secured within the recessed area 11a1 with a surface of the heat spreader 40 being substantially coplanar with the planar inner surface 11a of the module shell 10 (see Fig. 7, at least a portion of heat pipe 40 is substantially coplanar with inner wall surface 11a of upper shell 11).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahamed (US 12471251 B2) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yu (US 10212859 B2).
As to Claim 2, Ahamed discloses:
further comprising a thermal material (TIM 31) positioned between the chip 23A and the heat spreader 40 (col. 6, Lines 54-56 “The metal plate 42 is in thermal contact with the upper surface of the heat generating body 23A via the TIM such as the heat dissipation sheet 31”).
Ahamed does not disclose:
further comprising a thermal pad positioned between the chip and the heat spreader.
However, Yu discloses:
further comprising a thermal pad (elastic thermal pad 43) positioned between the chip and the heat spreader 3 (col. 7, Lines 23-34 “When the heat transfer blocks 3 are abutted against respective heat sources of the circuit board of the computer, notebook, server, embedded system, or other computer equipment, the elastic thermal pads 43 provides an elastic supporting force to the heat transfer blocks 3 against the heat sources of the circuit board of the computer, notebook, server, embedded system or other computer equipment, keeping the heat transfer blocks 3 in close contact with the respective heat sources and minimizing the thermal resistance therebetween, and thus, the overall heat dissipation performance of the cooling mechanism of high mounting flexibility is greatly enhanced”);
in order to minimize thermal resistance and improve the overall heat dissipation performance (col. 7, Lines 23-34).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Ahamed as further suggested by Yu e.g., providing:
further comprising a thermal pad positioned between the chip and the heat spreader;
in order to minimize thermal resistance and improve the overall heat dissipation performance.
Claims 4 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahamed (US 12471251 B2) as applied to claims 1 and 14 above, and further in view of Li (US 20110100607 A1).
As to Claim 4, Ahamed does not disclose:
wherein the heat spreader is welded to the upper shell.
However, Li discloses:
wherein the heat spreader (heat pipe 3) is welded to the upper shell (heat pipe groove 202; corresponds to groove 11a1 of Ahamed; Par. 0022 “On the inner base of the cavity is disposed a looped heat pipe groove 202, which corresponds to the shape of the looped heat pipe's pipeline and its cross-section so that the looped heat pipe 3 can be adhered to the groove by welding”);
in order to securely adhere the heat pipe 3 to the heat pipe groove 202 (Par. 0022).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Ahamed as further suggested by Li e.g., providing:
wherein the heat spreader is welded to the upper shell;
in order to securely adhere the heat pipe to the heat pipe groove/upper shell.
As to Claim 16, Ahamed does not disclose:
wherein the heat spreader is welded within the recessed area of the module shell.
However, Li discloses:
wherein the heat spreader (heat pipe 3) is welded within the recessed area of the module shell (heat pipe groove 202; corresponds to groove 11a1 of Ahamed; Par. 0022 “On the inner base of the cavity is disposed a looped heat pipe groove 202, which corresponds to the shape of the looped heat pipe's pipeline and its cross-section so that the looped heat pipe 3 can be adhered to the groove by welding”);
in order to securely adhere the heat pipe 3 to the heat pipe groove 202 (Par. 0022).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Ahamed as further suggested by Li e.g., providing:
wherein the heat spreader is welded within the recessed area of the module shell;
in order to securely adhere the heat pipe to the heat pipe groove/upper shell.
Claims 5 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahamed (US 12471251 B2) as applied to claims 1 and 14 above, and further in view of Sugiura (US 20190006268 A1).
As to Claim 5, Ahamed does not disclose:
wherein the heat spreader is sintered to the upper shell with silver sinter die attach.
However, Sugiura discloses:
wherein the heat spreader (chip 2; Par. 0069 “the semiconductor chip 2 acts as a heat dissipation path”; corresponds to 40 of Ahamed) is sintered to the upper shell (chip mounting part 1c) with silver sinter die attach (Par. 0068 “the rear surface 2b (the drain-use electrode 2e) of the semiconductor chip 2 and the upper surface 1ca of the chip mounting part 1c are fixedly attached (mechanically coupled) to each other and electrically coupled to each other with the sintered silver 6 and the silver paste 7 being interposed”; Par. 0069 “the rear surface 2b side of the semiconductor chip 2 acts as a heat dissipation path by using the sintered silver 6 and the silver paste 7 as the bonding materials (the die bonding materials). That is, the power device 5 has a structure that it is possible to transfer heat from the rear surface 2b side of the semiconductor chip 2 to the chip mounting part 1c via the sintered silver 6 and the silver paste 7 and the lower surface 1cb of the chip mounting part 1c is exposed to the lower surface 3b of the sealing body 3”);
in order to provide a mechanical connection capable of transferring heat (Par. 0068-0069).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Ahamed as further suggested by Sugiura e.g., providing:
wherein the heat spreader is sintered to the upper shell with silver sinter die attach;
in order to provide a mechanical connection capable of transferring heat.
As to Claim 17, Ahamed does not disclose:
wherein the heat spreader is sintered within the recessed area of the module shell with silver sinter die attach.
However, Sugiura discloses:
wherein the heat spreader (chip 2; Par. 0069 “the semiconductor chip 2 acts as a heat dissipation path”) is sintered within the recessed area of the module shell (chip mounting part 1c; wherein 1c corresponds to 11a1 of Ahamed where 40 is attached) with silver sinter die attach (Par. 0068 “the rear surface 2b (the drain-use electrode 2e) of the semiconductor chip 2 and the upper surface 1ca of the chip mounting part 1c are fixedly attached (mechanically coupled) to each other and electrically coupled to each other with the sintered silver 6 and the silver paste 7 being interposed”; Par. 0069 “the rear surface 2b side of the semiconductor chip 2 acts as a heat dissipation path by using the sintered silver 6 and the silver paste 7 as the bonding materials (the die bonding materials). That is, the power device 5 has a structure that it is possible to transfer heat from the rear surface 2b side of the semiconductor chip 2 to the chip mounting part 1c via the sintered silver 6 and the silver paste 7 and the lower surface 1cb of the chip mounting part 1c is exposed to the lower surface 3b of the sealing body 3”);
in order to provide a mechanical connection capable of transferring heat (Par. 0068-0069).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Ahamed as further suggested by Sugiura e.g., providing:
wherein the heat spreader is sintered within the recessed area of the module shell with silver sinter die attach;
in order to provide a mechanical connection capable of transferring heat.
Claims 6 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahamed (US 12471251 B2) as applied to claims 1 and 14 above, and further in view of Cheng (US 20230314736 A1).
As to Claim 6, Ahamed does not disclose:
wherein:
the upper shell comprises a die cast upper shell; and
the heat spreader is a die cast insert in the die cast upper shell.
However, Cheng discloses:
wherein:
the upper shell 111 comprises a die cast upper shell (Par. 0026 “the housing portion 111 may be die-cast”); and
the heat spreader (vapor chamber 120) is a die cast insert in the die cast upper shell 111 (Par. 0026 “the housing portion 111 may be die-cast with the vapor chamber 120 overmolded with the housing portion 111”; “With the vapor chamber 120 fixed in the die or overmold tooling, the material used to form the housing portion 111 is forced into a cavity formed by the die and around the edge tabs 129, 129 of the vapor chamber 120 to form the housing portion 111. The housing portion 111 with integrated vapor chamber 120 may then be removed from the die or tooling”);
in order to integrate the vapor chamber 120 with the housing portion 111 (Par. 0026) to provide significantly improved heat transfer (Par. 0029).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Ahamed as further suggested by Cheng e.g., providing:
wherein:
the upper shell comprises a die cast upper shell; and
the heat spreader is a die cast insert in the die cast upper shell;
in order to integrate the vapor chamber/heat spreader with the housing portion/upper shell to provide significantly improved heat transfer.
As to Claim 18, Ahamed does not disclose:
wherein:
the module shell comprises a die cast module shell; and
the heat spreader is a die cast insert in the die cast module shell.
However, Cheng discloses:
wherein:
the module shell 111 comprises a die cast module shell (Par. 0026 “the housing portion 111 may be die-cast”); and
the heat spreader (vapor chamber 120) is a die cast insert in the die cast module shell 111 (Par. 0026 “the housing portion 111 may be die-cast with the vapor chamber 120 overmolded with the housing portion 111”; “With the vapor chamber 120 fixed in the die or overmold tooling, the material used to form the housing portion 111 is forced into a cavity formed by the die and around the edge tabs 129, 129 of the vapor chamber 120 to form the housing portion 111. The housing portion 111 with integrated vapor chamber 120 may then be removed from the die or tooling”);
in order to integrate the vapor chamber 120 with the housing portion 111 (Par. 0026) to provide significantly improved heat transfer (Par. 0029).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Ahamed as further suggested by Cheng e.g., providing:
wherein:
the module shell comprises a die cast module shell; and
the heat spreader is a die cast insert in the die cast module shell;
in order to integrate the vapor chamber/heat spreader with the housing portion/upper shell to provide significantly improved heat transfer.
Claims 7-8 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahamed (US 12471251 B2) as applied to claims 1 and 14 above, and further in view of Huang (CN 104349651 A).
As to Claims 7 and 19, Ahamed does not disclose:
wherein:
the heat spreader comprises an interlocking ledge; and
the upper shell secures the heat spreader within the recessed area by mechanical interference with the interlocking ledge.
However, Huang discloses:
wherein:
the heat spreader (heat pipe 2; Fig. 4) comprises an interlocking ledge (highlighted in Fig. below); and
the upper/module shell (heat conducting plate 1) secures the heat spreader 2 within the recessed area (groove 11) by mechanical interference with the interlocking ledge (Par. 0069 “The heat pipe 2 is disposed in the groove 11 and engages with the protruding piece 13”; Par. 0071 “when the heat pipe 2 is first placed in the groove 11 and then formed by stamping, the heat pipe 2 will be tightly positioned in the groove 11, and the heat pipe 2 will be tightly attached to the inner ring wall 12 and the protruding piece 13”);
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in order to be tightly positioned in the groove (Par. 0071), improving the structural stability of the heat dissipation structure (Par. 0024).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Ahamed as further suggested by Huang e.g., providing:
wherein:
the heat spreader comprises an interlocking ledge; and
the upper/module shell secures the heat spreader within the recessed area by mechanical interference with the interlocking ledge;
in order to be tightly positioned in the groove, improving the structural stability of the heat dissipation structure.
As to Claims 8 and 20, Ahamed does not disclose:
wherein:
the heat spreader comprises a positioning detent;
the upper/module shell comprises a recess notch; and
the heat spreader is secured within the recessed area with the positioning detent extending into the recess notch.
However, Huang discloses:
wherein:
the heat spreader (heat pipe 2; Fig. 4) comprises a positioning detent (highlighted in Fig. below);
the upper/module shell (heat conducting plate 1) comprises a recess notch (recessed portion of 1 in which highlighted detent is positioned); and
the heat spreader 2 is secured within the recessed area with the positioning detent extending into the recess notch (Par. 0069 “The heat pipe 2 is disposed in the groove 11 and engages with the protruding piece 13”; Par. 0071 “when the heat pipe 2 is first placed in the groove 11 and then formed by stamping, the heat pipe 2 will be tightly positioned in the groove 11, and the heat pipe 2 will be tightly attached to the inner ring wall 12 and the protruding piece 13”);
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in order to be tightly positioned in the groove (Par. 0071), improving the structural stability of the heat dissipation structure (Par. 0024).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Ahamed as further suggested by Huang e.g., providing:
wherein:
the heat spreader comprises a positioning detent;
the upper/module shell comprises a recess notch; and
the heat spreader is secured within the recessed area with the positioning detent extending into the recess notch;
in order to be tightly positioned in the groove, improving the structural stability of the heat dissipation structure.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahamed (US 12471251 B2) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Singh (US 20240353270 A1).
As to Claim 9, Ahamed does not disclose:
further comprising an insulating sheet extending over at least a portion of the heat spreader.
However, Singh discloses:
further comprising an insulating sheet (insulating layer 42; Fig. 2) extending over at least a portion of the heat spreader (heat pipe 10; Par. 0047 “The insulating layer 42 is located between the plurality of heat sources 100 and the heat pipe 10. The insulating layer 42 has a plate shape and extends to be orthogonal to the thickness direction”);
in order to prevent an electrical short circuit through the heat pipe 10 (Par. 0047).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Ahamed as further suggested by Singh e.g., providing:
further comprising an insulating sheet extending over at least a portion of the heat spreader;
in order to prevent an electrical short circuit through the heat pipe/heat spreader.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hubahib Gaviola (US 10617034 B2) discloses a cooling assembly for a pluggable module.
Kung (US 11848705 B2) and Hsiao (US 11523538 B2) disclose a heat pipe within an optical transceiver/module.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW S MUIR whose telephone number is (571)270-1329. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm.
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, Jayprakash Gandhi can be reached at (571)272-3740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW SINCLAIR MUIR/ Examiner, Art Unit 2835
/Jayprakash N Gandhi/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2835