DETAILED ACTION
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 18 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: In combination with all the other recited elements in the claims from which it depends, the prior art does not appear to teach or fairly suggest the use of rails or dovetail joints for the lateral adjustability of the insert.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Macall (US 9,818,670).
Regarding claim 1, Macall teaches an adjustable heat spreader comprising: a mounting body (110) for mounting to a support surface (140) having at least one element (130) to be cooled; and at least one heat spreading insert (122) adjustably fitted with the mounting body (see Fig. 4; there is room for lateral adjustment between 122 and the opening in 110) so that an insert contact surface (bottom surface of 122) is brought into contact with the at least one element to be cooled (Fig. 4), wherein the at least one heat spready insert is adjustable along an axis of movement lateral to an element contact surface of the at least one element to be cooled (again, see Fig. 4; there is clearance for lateral movement between 122 and the opening in 110).
Macall further teaches that: the at least one heat spreading insert is adjustably fitted into an opening through the mounting body (see Fig. 4), per claim 3; the insert is adjustably moveable by slidable lateral movement within the opening (see claim 1 above), per claim 4; the mounting body includes fastening features (Fig. 2; mounting holes) for fastening with the support surface, per claim 5; the insert includes a gripping means for assisting the at least one heat spreading insert to be adjusted within the mounting body relatie to the support surface (e.g. the fins 124 can be gripped for such purposes), per claim 6; multiple inserts (Fig. 1a-b) are taught, per claim 7; the support surface may be a PCB (Col. 3:22-24) with the element to be cooled being electronic components, per claim 15.
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) 8-12, 14, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Macall in view of Suzuki (US 5,862,038).
Regarding claims 17 and 8, Macall teaches the application of a secondary heat sink (124) directly to the insert (122) rather than to the mounting body (110).
Suzuki teaches an adjustable heat spreader comprising a mounting body (35) for mounting to a support surface (34) having at least one element (33) to be cooled; and at least one heat spreading insert (38) adjustably (e.g. Figs. 12a/b) fitted with the mounting body so that an insert contact surface (bottom of 37) is brought into contact (see Fig. 12b) with the element to be cooled; wherein the mounting body includes a mount contact surface (upper surface of 35) for interfacing with a separable heat sink (41).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to provide the device of Macall with a separate heat sink mounted to the mounting body, as taught by Suzuki, rather than the individual heat sinks, in order to allow for heat dissipation from the surfaces between contact surfaces and thus increase the thermal capacity of the device.
Suzuki further teaches that: contact is via a first layer (40) of TIM, per claim 9; a second layer of TIM (39) is applied at an opposite side of the insert in proximity to or contacting the heat sink (see Fig. 12a), per claim 10; the second layer (39) of TIM is substantially thicker than the first layer (40; see Figs. 12a/b), per claim 11; a TIM is present between the heat sink (41) and the mount contact surface (Col. 11:57-59), per claim 12.
Regarding claim 14, Macall further teaches that the support surface may be a PCB (Col. 3:22-24) with the element to be cooled being electronic components.
Claim(s) 13 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Macall in view of Suzuki and Rademacher (US 2022/0377945).
Suzuki does not specify use of the device with a heat sink forming part of the body of a vehicle.
Rademacher teaches that such heat sinks are commonly used with vehicles (Para. [0050] and [0051]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to utilize the device of Suzuki with a vehicle having a body, as taught by Rademacher, as such vehicles are known to require cooling.
It is noted that the term “body” in the claim is interpreted to encompass all of the physical structures of the vehicle as no positive or negative limitations have been recited to clarify or define it.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to Daikoku being constrained by the spring from lateral motion is accepted as it is not made clear enough in the figures that the clearance is present to allow for such motion when the spring 9 is located in its mounting space.
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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jerry-Daryl Fletcher can be reached at 571.270.5054. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DEVON LANE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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