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 2, claims 12-18, in the reply filed on 9/24/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-11 and 19-20 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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) 12-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Strickler (US 6563706 B1) in view of Hanson (US 20030209945 A1).
As to claim 12, Strickler discloses: An information processing system (Fig. 1) comprising:
an electronic circuit comprising a primary circuit board 25 of the information processing system;
at least two power supplies A, B, each power supply providing electrical energy to the electronic circuit according to a power sharing ratio (even load sharing; col. 3, lines 4-6), each power supply being cooled by a set of fans 45, 50; and
a controller 95, 105, coupled to the set of power supplies and the set of fans, the controller detecting a failure of one of the power supplies and adjusting the power sharing ratio from a default ratio to an adjusted ratio in response to detecting the failure of the one of the power supplies.
Strickler does not explicitly disclose:
the controller detecting a failure of one of the fans and adjusting the power sharing ratio from a default ratio to an adjusted ratio in response to detecting the failure of the one of the fans.
However, Hanson discloses:
a controller (par. 0047) coupled to the set of power supplies and the set of fans (par. 0044-0045), the controller detecting a failure of one of the fans and adjusting the power sharing ratio from a default ratio to an adjusted ratio in response to detecting the failure of the one of the fans (par. 0044-0045);
in order to adjust the electrical load of a power supply with a failed fan, providing proper cooling and better power handling (par. 0045).
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 Strickler as suggested by Hanson, e.g., providing:
the controller detecting a failure of one of the fans and adjusting the power sharing ratio from a default ratio to an adjusted ratio in response to detecting the failure of the one of the fans;
in order to adjust the electrical load of a power supply with a failed fan, providing proper cooling and better power handling.
Additionally, all claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined/modified the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination/modification would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.___, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
As to claim 13, Strickler in view of Hanson discloses:
wherein the controller adjusts the power sharing ratio by applying an offset to a characteristic of the at least two power supplies (adjusting the percentage, ratio, load; par. 0044-0045; Hanson).
As to claim 14, Strickler in view of Hanson discloses:
wherein the controller further identifies a given power supply which is associated with the one of the fans that has failed and adjusts the electrical energy provided by the given power supply to be less than the electrical energy supplied by each of the remainder of the power supplies (par. 0044-0045; Hanson).
As to claim 15, Strickler in view of Hanson discloses:
wherein the power supplies are two power supplies A, B (Strickler), wherein the set of fans are four fans with each of the two power supplies cooled by two of the four fans (see Fig. 1; Strickler), and wherein the default ratio is 50:50 (see par. 0044; Hanson)
Strickler in view of Hanson does not explicitly disclose:
and the adjusted ratio is 33:67.
However, Hanson suggests that after failure of one fan, three fans cool the two power supplies, with a 33% margin for each fan to ensure normal operation with one failed fan (par. 0056) and in order to adjust the electrical load of a power supply with a failed fan, providing proper cooling and better power handling (par. 0045).
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 Strickler and Hanson as suggested by Hanson, e.g., providing:
the adjusted ratio is 33:67;
in order to provide a margin of power/cooling to ensure normal operation with one failed fan, and in order to adjust the electrical load of a power supply with a failed fan, providing proper cooling and better power handling.
It has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
It has also been held that discovering an optimum value of a result-effective variable (e.g., the adjusted ratio of power supply power sharing for effecting the desired results of power supply performance, proper cooling, and power handling) involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Additionally, all claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined/modified the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination/modification would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.___, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
As to claim 16, Strickler in view of Hanson discloses:
wherein the fans provide cooling to each of the power supplies by generating a flow of air over components included in each of the power supplies (the fans 45, 50, are provided within the power supply modules; Strickler).
As to claim 17, Strickler in view of Hanson does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the information processing system comprises at least one of a network switch and a server.
However, Hanson discloses that servers require high reliability and short downtime (par. 0004).
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 Strickler and Hanson as suggested by Hanson, e.g., providing:
wherein the information system comprises a server;
in order to provide a server with a high reliability cooling system and short downtime.
As to claim 18, Strickler in view of Hanson does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the controller detects if one of the fans providing cooling to the power supplies has failed by at least one of determining at least one of whether a rotational speed for the one of the fans is less than a programmed rotational speed by more than a threshold value, determining whether one of the fans returns an error signal, determining whether the one of fans does return an expected status signal, and determining whether one of the fans is not drawing electric current.
However, Hanson further discloses:
wherein the controller detects if one of the fans providing cooling to the power supplies has failed by at least one of determining at least one of whether a rotational speed for the one of the fans is less than a programmed rotational speed by more than a threshold value (see claim 1, Fig. 6; par. 0013-0015, 0036-0040);
in order to detect failure of a fan (claim 1, par. 0013).
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 Strickler and Hanson as suggested by Hanson, e.g., providing:
wherein the controller detects if one of the fans providing cooling to the power supplies has failed by at least one of determining at least one of whether a rotational speed for the one of the fans is less than a programmed rotational speed by more than a threshold value;
in order to detect failure of a fan.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Aldridge (US 20030122430 A1), Chen (US 20210396237 A1), and Humphrey (US 9918410 B2) disclose conventional power supply and fan control systems.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB R CRUM whose telephone number is (571)270-7665. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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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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/JACOB R CRUM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2835
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