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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 7-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. With respect to claim 7, line 6, and claim 14, line 5, “the device housing defined by the rack” lacks proper antecedent basis; and furthermore it is vague and indefinite as to whether or not such “device housing” is referring to the same “a rack housing that is defined by the rack” as recited earlier in the respective claims. Claims 8-13 and 15-20 are also rejected since they depend from rejected independent claims 7 and 14 respectively.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US Publication no. 20180084907) in view of White et al (US Publication no. 20170127552).
With respect to claim 1, Chen discloses a multi-device rack-width-adapted rack system, comprising: a rack (20, figures 2-8) including a first side (S1, FIGURE 6) and a second side (S2, FIGURE 6) that define a rack housing (rack 20 defines an interior housing, figure 2) having a first housing width (W1, FIGURE 6); and a multi-device rack width adapter system (22, 24, figure 6) that is mounted to the rack, wherein the multi-device rack width adapter system includes: a first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (22) that is located in the rack housing and that is mounted to the first side (S1) of the rack (20); a second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (24) that is located in the rack housing, that is mounted to the second side of the rack, and that defines a first device housing (housing defined between 46 and 60 and rails 24 and 28, figure 6); and a plurality of pairs of device coupling elements (rails such as 66, figure 4 attached to each of the assembly 26, 28, figure 6) that each include a first device coupling element (rail such as 66, figure 4 attached to the assembly 26, figure 6) provided on the first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (22) and a second device coupling element (opposite rail to 66, figure 4 attached to the assembly 28, figure 6) provided on the second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (24), wherein each pair of device coupling elements is configured to couple a respective second device (30) to the rack in a second device housing (space where second device 30 occupies) that is defined by that pair of device coupling elements with a second housing width (W2, FIGURE 6) that is smaller than the first housing width (W1, FIGURE 6).
However, Chen does not disclose the first device housing (housing defined between 46 and 60 and rails 24 and 28, figure 6) that is configured to house a first device.
White discloses a multi-device rack-width-adapted rack system, comprising: a rack (not shown) including a first side and a second side that define a rack housing having a first housing width (OCP standard 21 inch, see paragraph [0019] and paragraph [0038]) ; and a multi-device rack width adapter system (100) that is mounted to the rack, wherein the multi-device rack width adapter system includes: a first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (150) that is located in the rack housing and that is mounted to the first side of the rack; a second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (151) that is located in the rack housing, that is mounted to the second side of the rack, and that defines a first device housing (350, figure 3) that is configured to house a first device (360 cables) for “routing the cables from front to back within the adapter” (see paragraph [0038]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to have modify the rack system of Chen such that the first device housing (housing defined between 46 and 60 and rails 24 and 28, figure 6) is configured to house a first device for routing cable from front to back within the adapter as taught to be desirable by White.
With respect to claim 2, Chen and White combined discloses the multi-device rack-width-adapted rack system of claim 1, wherein Chen discloses the first housing width (W1, figure 6) is approximately 21 inches (Chen in paragraph [0034] discloses that “Wherein, the rack 20 is an open rack (OCP-compliant rack) allowing a user to easily access apparatuses in the rack” where OCP compliant rack known to be with housing width of approximately 21 inches).
With respect to claim 3, Chen and White combined discloses the multi-device rack-width-adapted rack system of claim 1, wherein Chen discloses the second housing width (W2, figure 6) is approximately 19 inches (Chen in paragraph [0043] discloses that “As such, the rack 20 with the first width W1 is not able to accommodate the chassis 30 (such as an EIA-310 compliant chassis). Therefore, through respectively mounting the first adapter mechanism 22 and the second adapter mechanism 24 on the first side S1 and the second side S2 of the rack 20, the second width W2 between the first adapter mechanism 22 and the second adapter mechanism 24 allows the rack to accommodate the chassis 30” where EIA-310 compliant rack known to be with housing width of approximately 19 inches).
With respect to claim 4, Chen and White combined discloses the multi-device rack-width-adapted rack system of claim 1, wherein White discloses the first device housing (350, figure 3) is configured to house the first device (cables 360) in a first orientation (a left to right orientation , figure 3), and wherein each second device housing (122, figure 2) is configured to house a respective second device (320 and 380) in a second orientation (one behind the other orientation) that is different than the first orientation.
With respect to claim 5, Chen and White combined discloses the multi-device rack-width-adapted rack system of claim 1, wherein White teaches the first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem includes a first adapter subsystem width (150, figure 3), and wherein the second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem includes a second adapter subsystem width (151, figure 3) that is greater than the first adapter subsystem width (150, figure 3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to have modify the rack of Chen such that the first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem includes a first adapter subsystem width, and wherein the second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem includes a second adapter subsystem width that is greater than the first adapter subsystem width to meet certain server system requirements.
With respect to claim 6, Chen and White combined discloses the multi-device rack-width-adapted rack system of claim 1, wherein White teaches the first device housing (151, figure 3) that is configured to house at least one cable (360).
With respect to claim 7, Chen discloses a multi-device rack width adapter device, comprising: a first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (22, figure 6) that is configured to be mounted to a first side (S1, figure 6) of a rack (20) and positioned in a rack housing (interior volume of rack 20) that is defined by the rack with a first housing width (W1); a second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (24) that is configured to be mounted to a second side (S2) of the rack and positioned in the device housing defined by the rack, wherein the second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (24) defines a first device housing (housing defined between 46 and 60 and rails 24 and 28, figure 6); and a plurality of pairs of device coupling elements (rails such as 66, figure 4 attached to each of the assembly 26, 28, figure 6) that each include a first device coupling element (rail such as 66, figure 4 attached to the assembly 26, figure 6) provided on the first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (22) and a second device coupling element (opposite rail to 66, figure 4 attached to the assembly 28, figure 6) provided on the second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (24), wherein each pair of device coupling elements is configured to couple a respective second device (30) to the rack in a second device housing (space where second device 30 occupies) that is defined by that pair of device coupling elements with a second housing width (W2, FIGURE 6) that is smaller than the first housing width (W1, FIGURE 6)..
However, Chen does not disclose the first device housing (housing defined between 46 and 60 and rails 24 and 28, figure 6) that is configured to house a first device.
White discloses a multi-device rack-width-adapted rack system, comprising: a rack (not shown) including a first side and a second side that define a rack housing having a first housing width (OCP standard 21 inch, see paragraph [0019] and paragraph [0038]) ; and a multi-device rack width adapter system (100) that is mounted to the rack, wherein the multi-device rack width adapter system includes: a first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (150) that is located in the rack housing and that is mounted to the first side of the rack; a second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (151) that is located in the rack housing, that is mounted to the second side of the rack, and that defines a first device housing (350, figure 3) that is configured to house a first device (360 cables) for “routing the cables from front to back within the adapter” (see paragraph [0038]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to have modify the rack system of Chen such that the first device housing (housing defined between 46 and 60 and rails 24 and 28, figure 6) is configured to house a first device for routing cable from front to back within the adapter as taught to be desirable by White.
With respect to claim 8, Chen and White combined discloses the multi-device rack width adapter system of claim 7, wherein the first housing width is approximately 21 inches (see claim 2 discussion above).
With respect to claim 9, Chen and White combined discloses the multi-device rack width adapter system of claim 7, wherein the second housing width is approximately 19 inches. (see claim 3 discussion above).
With respect to claims 10, Chen and White combined discloses the multi-device rack width adapter system of claim 7, wherein the first device housing is configured to house the first device in a first orientation, and wherein each second device housing is configured to house a respective second device in a second orientation that is different than the first orientation. (see claim 4 discussion above)
With respect to claim 11, Chen and White combined discloses the multi-device rack width adapter system of claim 7, wherein the first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem includes a first adapter subsystem width, and wherein the second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem includes a second adapter subsystem width that is greater than the first adapter subsystem width. (see claim 5 discussion above)
With respect to claim 12, Chen and White combined discloses the multi-device rack width adapter system of claim 7, wherein White teaches the first device housing (151) that is configured to house at least one cable (360).
With respect to claim 13, Chen and White combined discloses the multi-device rack width adapter system of claim 7, except wherein the plurality of pairs of device coupling elements are provided by 10 pairs of device coupling elements that are configured, when the first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem is mounted to the first side of a rack and the second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem is mounted to the second side of a rack, to couple 10 devices to the rack. Chen discloses a rack with rack housing to house plurality of devices. Chen is silent as to the number of pairs of coupling elements for the number of devices to be held therebetween. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have provided 10 pairs of coupling elements for mounting 10 devices, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). Furthermore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to provide 10 pairs of coupling to hold 10 devices since applicant has not disclosed any criticality for having 10 pairs of coupling to hold 10 devices. It appears other number of pair of coupling elements would perform as well.
With respect to claim 14, Chen discloses a method for adapting a width of a rack to house devices, comprising:
mounting, by a first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (22, figures 2-8), to a first side (S1, figure 6) of a rack and in a rack housing (interior volume of rack 20) that is defined by the rack with a first housing width (W1, figure 6);
mounting, by a second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (24, figure 6), to a second side (S2, figure 6) of the rack and in the device housing defined by the rack;
providing a housing, in a first device housing (housing defined between 46 and 60 and rails 24 and 28, figure 6) that is defined by the second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (24), and
coupling, by each of a plurality of pairs of device coupling elements (rails such as 66, figure 4 attached to each of the assembly 26, 28, figure 6) that each include a first device coupling element (rail such as 66, figure 4 attached to the assembly 26, figure 6) provided on the first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (22) and a second device coupling element element (opposite rail to 66, figure 4 attached to the assembly 28, figure 6) provided on the second multi-device rack width the subsystem (24), a respective device (30) to the rack in a device housing (space occupied by 30) that is defined by that pair of device coupling elements with a second housing width (W2, figure 6) that is smaller than the first housing width (W1, figure 6).
that each include a first device coupling element (rail such as 66, figure 4 attached to the assembly 26, figure 6) provided on the first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (22) and a second device coupling element (opposite rail to 66, figure 4 attached to the assembly 28, figure 6).
However, Chen does not disclose the first device housing (housing defined between 46 and 60 and rails 24 and 28, figure 6) that is configured to house a first device.
White discloses a multi-device rack-width-adapted rack system, comprising: a rack (not shown) including a first side and a second side that define a rack housing having a first housing width (OCP standard 21 inch, see paragraph [0019] and paragraph [0038]) ; and a multi-device rack width adapter system (100) that is mounted to the rack, wherein the multi-device rack width adapter system includes: a first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (150) that is located in the rack housing and that is mounted to the first side of the rack; a second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem (151) that is located in the rack housing, that is mounted to the second side of the rack, and that defines a first device housing (350, figure 3) that is configured to house a first device (360 cables) for “routing the cables from front to back within the adapter” (see paragraph [0038]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to have modify the rack system of Chen such that the first device housing (housing defined between 46 and 60 and rails 24 and 28, figure 6) is configured to house a first device for routing cable from front to back within the adapter as taught to be desirable by White.
With respect to claim 15, Chen and White combined discloses the method of claim 14, wherein the first housing width is approximately 21 inches. (see claim 2 discussion above).
With respect to claim 16, Chen and White combined discloses the method of claim 14, wherein the second housing width is approximately 19 inches. (see claim 3 discussion above).
With respect to claim 17, Chen and White combined discloses the method of claim 14, further comprising: housing, by the first device housing, the first device in a first orientation; and housing, by each second device housing, a respective second device in a second orientation that is different than the first orientation. (see claim 4 discussion above)
With respect to claim 18, Chen and White combined discloses the method of claim 14, wherein the first multi-device rack width adapter subsystem includes a first adapter subsystem width, and wherein the second multi-device rack width adapter subsystem includes a second adapter subsystem width that is greater than the first adapter subsystem width. (see claim 5, discussion above)
With respect to claim 19, Chen and White combined discloses the method of claim 14, further White teaches comprising: housing, by first device housing (151, figure 3, at least one cable (350, figure 3).
With respect to claim 20, Chen and White combined discloses the method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of pairs of device coupling elements are provided by 10 pairs of device coupling elements that couple 10 devices to the rack. (see claim 13 discussion above).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art of record further demonstrate computing racks of interest.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ko (Korie) H Chan whose telephone number is (571)272-6816. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday -Friday, 8:00 - 5:00 EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Liu can be reached on 571-272-8227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Ko H Chan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631
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