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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR10-2022-0164110, filed on 11/30/2022.
Drawings
The objections to the Drawings are withdrawn in view of the amendments to
the Drawings.
Specification
The objections to the Specification are withdrawn in view of the amendments to
the Title.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The amended paragraph [0040] appears to contain an error in the reference character for an “exhaust structure (602)”, per the amended and new drawings provided, the reference character for the “exhaust structure” should be “(620)”, Examiner recommends changing the subject matter and reference character to read ““exhaust structure (620)””
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
The objections to the Claims 2-7, 9 are withdrawn in view of the amendments to
the Claims 2-7, 9.
Claims 1-9 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites
“A power conversion system comprising:
a heat sink;
a first heat emitter provided on an upper surface of the heat sink;
a second heat emitter electrically connected to the first heat emitter and provided on a lower surface of the heat sink;…
wherein the first heat emitter is provided on the upper surface of the heat sink and the second heat emitter, which emits less heat than the first heat emitter during normal operation, is provided on the lower surface of the heat sink so that the second heat emitter is prevented from being affected by heat generated from the first heat emitter” appears to have duplicate limitations, to avoid confusion and antecedent issues, the Examiner recommends changing the limitations to read
“A power conversion system comprising:
a heat sink;
a first heat emitter
a second heat emitter electrically connected to the first heat emitter
wherein the first heat emitter is provided on the upper surface of the heat sink and during normal operation, the second heat emitterand is provided on the lower surface of the heat sink so
Claim 2-9 are also objected to since they depend on Claim ## and inherit the deficiency therein.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-2, 6, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WEN et al. (US 2015/0340961 - hereinafter, "Wen").
With respect to Claim 1, Wen teaches (in Figure 2)
A power conversion system (1) comprising:
a heat sink (104, in paragraph [0034], “The cold air introduced from the first inlet 100 and the second inlet 102 will perform heat exchange with the rectifier bridge arm 120 of the first converter circuit module 12 and the inverter bridge arm 140 of the second converter circuit module 14. After passing through the rectifier bridge arm 120 and the inverter bridge arm 140, the cold air converges at the air passage 104 and then are exhausted out of the cabinet 10 by the blower 18 via the outlet 106 of the cabinet 10”);
a first heat emitter (14)
a second heat emitter (12) electrically connected (in paragraph [0035], the first heat emitter (14) and the second heat emitter (12) are electrically connected through third emitter (16)) to the first heat emitter (14)
a third heat emitter (16) provided on one side of the heat sink (104) and spaced apart by a predetermined distance (see Figure 2) from the heat sink (104); and
a heat dissipation fan (18) provided in a direction facing (see Figure 2) the third heat emitter (16) based on the heat sink (104) and spaced apart by a predetermined interval from the third heat emitter (16),
wherein the first heat emitter (14) is provided on the upper surface (see Figure 2) of the heat sink (104) and during normal operation, the second heat emitter (12) emits less heat (in paragraph [0039], “in the embodiment, the first converter circuit module 12 of the power converter 1 is embodied by a Vienna rectifier circuit, the second converter circuit module 14 is embodied by a NPC three-level inverter circuit, and the first converter circuit module 12 and the second converter circuit module 14 share the DC capacitor module 16” and in paragraph [0046], “By connecting AC terminals at the upper ends of the converter circuit modules to three-phase AC cables of the power grid 2, two sets of medium voltage and high-power NPC three-level SVGs (Static Var Generator) that share the DC capacitor module 16 and are connected in parallel can be obtained, and the capacities of the SVGs can be increased with a guaranteed high power density”, the first heat emitter (14) being a high-power NPC three-level would result in higher heat generation than the second heat emitter (12) which is a Vienna rectifier circuit) than the first heat emitter (14) and is provided on the lower surface (see Figure 2) of the heat sink (104) so that the second heat emitter (12) is prevented from being affected (heat generated by the first heat emitter (14) would have to transfer through the heat sink (104) before the heat generated by the first heat emitter (14) can affect the second heat emitter (12), thus preventing the heat generated by the first heat emitter (14) from affecting the second heat emitter (12)) by heat generated from the first heat emitter (14).
With respect to Claim 2, Wen further teaches (in Figure 2)
further comprising: a case (casing of Cabinet (10) and casing of heat dissipation fan (18)) accommodating the heat sink (104), the first heat emitter (14), the second heat emitter (12), the third heat emitter (16), and the heat dissipation fan (18).
With respect to Claim 6, Wen further teaches (in Figure 2)
wherein the case (casing of Cabinet (10) and casing of heat dissipation fan (18)) includes both an intake structure (100+102) for intaking air (see Figure 2) into an inside of the case (casing of Cabinet (10) and casing of heat dissipation fan (18)) and an exhaust structure (vents of casing of heat dissipation fan (18), see Figure 1B and 2) for discharging air in a direction (see Figure 2) opposite to an intaking direction (see Figure 2).
With respect to Claim 9, Wen further teaches (in Figure 2)
wherein the third heat emitter (16) includes a plurality of capacitors (in paragraph [0043], “in the embodiment, the DC capacitor module 16 includes a capacitor array 160 and a connection bus bar 162. The capacitor array 160 is constituted by a plurality of arranged capacitor units”), and the plurality of capacitors are cylindrical high-voltage film capacitors provided in parallel (see Figure 3, capacitors are arranged in parallel, and in paragraph [0043], “The three-phase convert circuits are located over the connection bus bar 162 of the DC capacitor module 16 and arranged side by side in parallel”).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wen in view of SONG (US 2025/0185221 - hereinafter, "Song").
With respect to Claim 3, Wen teaches the limitations of Claim 1 as per above, Wen further teaches (in Figure 2)
wherein each of three phases of the first heat emitter (14) and the second heat emitter (12) is connected by a plurality of busbars (162, in paragraph [0043], “The capacitor units of the capacitor array 160 are electrically connected to the rectifier bridge arm 120 of the first converter circuit module 12 and the inverter bridge arm 140 of the second converter circuit module 14 via the connection bus bar 162”) or a cable and is connected to the heat sink (104) and the heat dissipation fan (18).
Wen fails to specifically teach or suggest a busbar connected to a space between the heatsink and the heat dissipation fan.
Song, however, teaches (in Figure 1 and 6) a busbar (172) connected to a space (see Figure 1, bus bar (172) is within apparatus (100) and is located between the heat sink (130) and heat dissipation fan (13)) between a heatsink (130) and a heat dissipation fan (13).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Song with Wen, such that a busbar connected to a space between a heatsink and a heat dissipation fan as taught by Song since doing so would allow the location and arrangement1 of the busbar to be placed in a certain area or space of the apparatus to allow for ease of access or connection.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wen in view of Song in view of Chien-An et al. (US 2021/0226467 - hereinafter, "Chien").
With respect to Claim 4, Wen as modified by Song teaches the limitations of Claim 3 as per above, Wen further teaches (in Figure 2)
wherein the first heat emitter (14) and the second heat emitter (12) are connected to each other through the plurality of busbars (162),
a first busbar (162), which is a busbar of the plurality of busbars (162, see Figure 5) located in the middle of the three busbars (see Figure 5, first busbar (one of the three busbar that is sandwiched in between the three busbars), is disposed so that a width directional end of the first busbar (18) faces the heat dissipation fan (18), and
each of the second (see Figure 5, one of the plurality of busbar (162) to the side of the first busbar (162, middle)) and the third busbars (see Figure 5, one of the plurality of busbar (162) that is not the first busbar (middle) or the second busbar (one of the busbar to a side of the first busbar) of the plurality of busbar), which are the other busbars among the plurality of busbars (the plurality of busbar (162), see Figure 5), is disposed so that a side surface adjacent to the first busbar (Busbar (162, middle)), among two side surfaces, faces the heat dissipation fan (18) to a degree to guide air (the busbars are parallel to the third heat emitter as shown in Figure 2 and would direct the air flow towards the heat sink by providing reducing airflow to go towards the third heat emitter) moving from the heat dissipation fan (18) toward the heat sink (104).
Wen fails to specifically teach or suggest the heat sink includes at least one heat dissipation fin in which a width directional end of the at least one heat dissipation fin faces the heat dissipation fan.
Chien, however, teaches (in Figure 2) a heat sink (22) includes at least one heat dissipation fin (26) in which a width directional end of the at least one heat dissipation fin (26, see Figure 2) faces a heat dissipation fan (24).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Chien with Wen, such that a heat sink includes at least one heat dissipation fin in which a width directional end of the at least one heat dissipation fin faces a heat dissipation fan as taught by Chien since doing so would improve heat dissipation by increasing the surface area over which heat can be conducted, thereby increasing the rate of heat transfer. (in paragraph [0034])
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wen in view of HATTORI et al. (US 2024/0422952 - hereinafter, "Hattori").
With respect to Claim 5, Wen teaches the limitations of Claim 2 as per above, but fails to specifically teach or suggest the limitations of Claim 5.
Hattori, however, teaches (in paragraph [0056]) wherein a case (30) comprises one of aluminum (in paragraph [0056], “Case 30 is made of a metal material, for example. Case 30 is made of copper (Cu), a copper alloy, aluminum (Al), an aluminum alloy, iron (Fe) and an iron alloy, etc. Case 30 may be made of a resin material”), copper, and tungsten.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Hattori with Wen, such that a case comprises one of aluminum, copper, and tungsten as taught by Hattori since doing so would allow the case of Wen to be made of various rigid material. (in paragraph [0056])
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wen in view of Fujioka et al. (US 11,778,793 - hereinafter, "Fujioka").
With respect to Claim 7, Wen teaches the limitations of Claim 1 as per above, Wen further teaches (in Figure 2)
wherein the first heat emitter (14) includes at least one power module (power device, in paragraph [0041]), and the power module (power device) is a module in which a three-phase structure is internally integrated or includes three or more modules of respective phases (in paragraph [0041], “the second converter circuit module 14 is a NPC three-level inverter circuit based on power devices (e.g., IGBT/Diode) tandem technology, in which each of the power devices are made by connecting several low-voltage devices (e.g., there are six low-voltage devices shown in FIG. 4) in series”).
Wen fails to specifically teach or suggest the power module is a SiC power module
Fujioka, however, teaches (in column 6, line 54 to column 7, line 9) a power module (170) is a SiC power module (in column 6, line 54 to column 7, line 9, power module (170) may be formed from SiC)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Fujioka with Wen, such that a power module is a SiC power module as taught by Fujioka since doing so would allow the power module of Wen to be made by various suitable material and not limited to one in particular to meet the desired characteristic. (in column 6, line 54 to column 7, line 9)
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wen in view of LEE (US 2024/0380333 - hereinafter, "Lee").
With respect to Claim 8, Wen teaches the limitations of Claim 1 as per above, Wen further teaches (in Figure 2)
wherein the second heat emitter (12) includes an inductor module (See Figure 3, there are (3) inductor (L) that are part of second heat emitter circuitry).
Wen fails to specifically teach or suggest an inductor case and inductors provided inside the inductor case, and the inductor is molded and fixed inside the inductor case by a molding liquid.
Lee, however, teaches (in paragraph [0052], and in Figure FDSA) an inductor case (130) and inductors (131) provided inside the inductor case (130), and the inductor (131) is molded and fixed inside the inductor case (130) by a molding liquid (molding, in paragraph [0052], “For heat dissipation, after placing the inductor 131 in the inductor accommodating groove 130, in order to increase thermal conductivity, molding is performed after placing the inductor 131 in the inductor accommodating groove 130. Molding is the process of filling and solidifying a liquid material into a mold of a certain shape, in which the inductor 131 is disposed in an inductor accommodating groove 130 corresponding to the frame, and after connecting to other elements and the like, it can be filled with a material with high thermal conductivity and solidified for heat dissipation”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Lee with Wen, such that an inductor case and inductors provided inside the inductor case, and the inductor is molded and fixed inside the inductor case by a molding liquid as taught by Lee since doing so would improve the heat dissipation of the second heat emitter and the inductors of the second heat emitters through molding the inductors to increase the thermal conductivity and heat dissipation or transfer. (in paragraph [0052])
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/23/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to Applicant’s remark to Claim 1
“Support for the amendments to claim 1 may be found in at least original paragraph [0028] and FIG. 1 and its corresponding description in Applicant's specification…
That is, Wen does not disclose any structure in which the first and second modules are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the heat sink, respectively. Moreover, Wen does not suggest, even implicitly, the concept of disposing the component having the higher heat emission on an upper surface of the heat sink and disposing the component having a smaller heat emission on a lower surface thereof, as required by amended claim 1. The "lateral sides" of the heat sink in Wen are based on a cooling architecture in which cooling air flows in parallel from the left and right directions, which is fundamentally different from the vertical cooling structure of the present disclosure in which cooling air flows along the gravitational direction from the upper side toward the lower side” (Present remarks page 8-9) The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
The Examiner notes that recitation of direction or orientation without a frame of reference is relative terminology and can be given little to no patentable weight, the Examiner also notes that Applicant’s argument appears to argue that the “the vertical cooling structure of the present disclosure in which cooling air flows along the gravitational direction from the upper side toward the lower side” which appears to be further limiting than the limitations as claimed in claim 1 and Claim 1 does not claim a “cooling air flows along the gravitational direction from the upper side toward the lower side”.
With respect to Applicant’s further remark to Claim 1
“Further, because Wen adopts a parallel cooling structure where cooling air is introduced simultaneously from both the first inlet (100) and the second inlet (102), Wen does not form a sequential (serial) cooling flow in which cooling air first cools one heat-emitting component and subsequently cools another. Consequently, Wen does not ensure that the component generating the greatest amount of heat is cooled preferentially, and because the cooling air is distributed across multiple inlets, the overall cooling efficiency is reduced and temperature balancing between heat-emitting components becomes difficult” (Present remarks page 9) The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
The Examiner notes that Applicant’s argument “Wen does not form a sequential (serial) cooling flow in which cooling air first cools one heat-emitting component and subsequently cools another” appears to be further limiting than the limitations as claimed in claim 1 and Claim 1 does not claim “a sequential (serial) cooling flow in which cooling air first cools one heat-emitting component and subsequently cools another”.
With respect to Applicant’s further remark to Claim 1
“In contrast, in the present invention, cooling air introduced into the interior of the case (600), by the heat dissipation fan (500), first cools the first heat emitter (200), which generates the higher amount of heat, on the upper surface of the heat sink (100). The cooling air then subsequently cools the second heat emitter (300) on the lower surface of the heat sink (100), and finally cools the third heat emitter (400) after passing through the first and second heat emitters. As a result, a single-path, serial cooling flow-namely, first heat emitter (200) --second heat emitter (300) --third heat emitter (400)-is established.
Through this structure, the present invention minimizes thermal degradation and thermal damage by cooling the highest heat-emitting component first (Effect 1), reduces thermal influence from high-temperature components on the overall system (Effect 2), and enhances cooling efficiency progressively as the cooling air passes sequentially through components of decreasing heat emission. This serial cooling mechanism reduces the load on the heat dissipation fan and enables the same cooling performance at a lower fan speed, thereby reducing power consumption (Effect 3)” (Present remarks page 9) The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
The Examiner notes Claim 1 does not claim a situation or scenario in which “cooling air introduced into the interior of the case (600), by the heat dissipation fan (500), first cools the first heat emitter (200), which generates the higher amount of heat, on the upper surface of the heat sink (100). The cooling air then subsequently cools the second heat emitter (300) on the lower surface of the heat sink (100), and finally cools the third heat emitter (400) after passing through the first and second heat emitters. As a result, a single-path, serial cooling flow-namely, first heat emitter (200) --second heat emitter (300) --third heat emitter (400)-is established” or “the present invention minimizes thermal degradation and thermal damage by cooling the highest heat-emitting component first (Effect 1), reduces thermal influence from high-temperature components on the overall system (Effect 2), and enhances cooling efficiency progressively as the cooling air passes sequentially through components of decreasing heat emission. This serial cooling mechanism reduces the load on the heat dissipation fan and enables the same cooling performance at a lower fan speed, thereby reducing power consumption (Effect 3)”, the Examiner notes that Applicant’s argument appears to be further limiting than the limitations as claimed in claim 1.
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 Steven Ngo whose telephone number is (571)272-4295. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30AM - 4:00PM EST.
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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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/S.N./Examiner , Art Unit 2835
/Jayprakash N Gandhi/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2835
1 In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950)