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 § 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 1-2 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is directed to an exhaust air path structure of a power converter. However, the claim fails to delineate between the preamble and body of the claim and thus fails to clearly define the structural elements of the claimed exhaust air path. The metes and bounds of the claim are thus unclear rendering the claim indefinite.
Claim 2 is also rejected by virtue of its dependence on claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2018114788 A to Minami (Minami).
In reference to independent claim 1, Minami discloses: An exhaust air path structure (outlet of fan 29, see Fig. 5) of a power converter (charger 28) configured to discharge an exhaust air after cooling a power converter (28) provided in a vehicle cabin (luggage room 20) by an air cooling device (29) into the vehicle cabin (20), a member having high thermal insulation (21) is provided inside the vehicle cabin (20) (see [0016] and Fig. 1), a member having high heat conductivity (31) is provided outside the vehicle cabin (20) (see [0021] and Fig. 1), and the exhaust air path is configured to be sandwiched between the member having high thermal insulation and the member having high heat conductivity (the fan 29 being sandwiched between the two member, see Fig. 1).
Minami is silent regarding a duct connected to the air cooling device, the high thermal insulation member being provided outside the vehicle cabin and high heat conductivity member is provided outside the vehicle cabin for at least a part of an exhaust air path provided on a downstream side of an outlet portion of the duct in a flow direction of the exhaust air.
Though Minami does not reference a duct connecting the outlet of the fan (29) to the luggage room (29), Minami discloses that the fan (29) is located in the same space (51) as the charger (28) in the luggage room (20) (see Figs. 1 and 5 and [0036]), i.e. the outlet of the fan exhausts cooling air into the same space. Moreover, the duct portion of the outlet of the fan of Minami for conducting cooling air from the blower/impeller of the fan to the outside, i.e. into the space (51) of the luggage room (20) where the charger (28) is housed, would then be the duct of the claimed exhaust path structure. It would be otherwise obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have to added a duct section to the outlet of the fan of Minami in order to convey cooling air from the fan to other portions of the space containing the charger.
In reference to dependent claim 2, Minami further discloses: the member having high heat conductivity (31) is made of steel (see [0021]). Even though Minami discloses that the body (31) is made of a steel plate and not stainless steel, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the prior art that usage of stainless steel would be beneficial to prevent rusting and corrosion.
Minami is silent regarding the member having high thermal insulation (21, see [0016]) is made of expanded polypropylene. Nonetheless, usage of this material would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art because expanded polypropylene is well-known for its insulation capabilities.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ngoc T Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)272-7176. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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/NGOC T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799