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. DE102021205301.7, filed on 05/25/2021.
Specification
The objections to the Specification are withdrawn in view of the amendments to
the Title.
Claim Objections
The objections to the Claims 16-30 are withdrawn in view of the amendments to
the Claims 16-17, 24, 26-30.
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 16-23, 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lippok (US 2013/0208425 - hereinafter, " Lippok ").
With respect to Claim 16, Lippok teaches (in Figure 1-2)
A plug-in module for a module assembly in a vehicle, comprising:
a module housing (2+11+12);
at least one heat-dissipating device (7); and
at least one electrical component (6+6a) arranged on a printed circuit board (5),
wherein the module housing (2+11+12) at least partially surrounds the printed circuit board (5),
wherein the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) has, on a surface (surface of (7) facing the at least one electrical component (6+6a)) facing the at least one electrical component (6+6a), at least one internal thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (6+6a)), which is configured to thermally couple the at least one electrical component (6+6a) to the at least one heat-dissipating device (7),
wherein the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) has, on a surface (surface of (7) facing away from the at least one electrical component (6+6a)) facing away from the at least one electrical component (6+6a), at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)) which is configured to thermally couple the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) to an external heat sink,
wherein the at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)) includes at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8, in paragraph [0020], “In addition, a connecting element 8 that has elastic properties is then fixed to the electrically conductive plate 7, which connecting element produces a connection to a cooling element 9. In so doing, the connecting element 8 is an electrically conductive paste or an electrically conductive film. Since the paste and/or the film have elastic properties, any tolerances can consequently be compensated for”), which is connected to the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) and is configured to be compressed during formation of the at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)), and at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element (9+10+11, in paragraph [0007], “the end piece can be produced completely from a heat-conducting material, in particular a metal material. It is further preferred to connect the end piece directly to the housing, so that, in addition, it is also possible to conduct heat into the housing region” and in paragraph [0025], “As a consequence, insertion housings 2 produced from profile elements can be used and the electronic components that lie on an end of the circuit board 5 can be contacted directly by a cooling element 9 that is integrated in the end piece 11. This renders it possible to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner. Consequently, the present invention is particularly suitable in applications in which the electronic components discharge a relatively large amount of heat”, (9+10+11) is made to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner, thus thermally conductive and the surface is a slidable contact element), which is applied to the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8) and is configured to form a thermal contact surface (surface of (8)) of the at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)) to the external heat sink and compress the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8).
With respect to Claim 17, Lippok further teaches (in Figure 1-2 and as shown in annotated Figure 1-2 below)
wherein the at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)) is arranged in a receiving space (see annotated Figure 1-2 below) of the at least one heat-dissipating device (7), wherein the at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element (9+10+11 as taught in Claim 16 as per above, (9+10+11) is made to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner, thus thermally conductive and the surface is a slidable contact element) entirely projects from the receiving space (see annotated Figure 1-2 below) and the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8) partially projects from the receiving space (see annotated Figure 1-2 below).
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With respect to Claim 18, Lippok further teaches (in Figure 1-2 and as shown in annotated Figure 1-2 above)
wherein the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8) is non-detachably connected (in paragraph [0020], “In addition, a connecting element 8 that has elastic properties is then fixed to the electrically conductive plate 7”) to the at least one heat- dissipating device (8).
With respect to Claim 19, Lippok further teaches (in Figure 1-2 and as shown in annotated Figure 1-2 above)
wherein the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8) is configured as a gap filler (see Figure 1-2).
With respect to Claim 20, Lippok further teaches (in Figure 1-2 and as shown in annotated Figure 1-2 above)
wherein the at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element (9+10+11 as taught in Claim 16 as per above, (9+10+11) is made to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner, thus thermally conductive and the surface is a slidable contact element) is a strip or plate (material of a certain thickness, (11) is an end piece, thin-walled material).
With respect to Claim 21, Lippok further teaches (in Figure 1-2 and as shown in annotated Figure 1-2 above)
wherein at least one hole (see Figure 1-2, (9+10+11) has an opening for PCB (5) and electrical component (6+6a) to connect with (9+10+11) and mates up with (2)) is introduced into the at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element (9+10+11 as taught in Claim 16 as per above, (9+10+11) is made to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner, thus thermally conductive and the surface is a slidable contact element).
With respect to Claim 22, Lippok further teaches (in Figure 1-2 and as shown in annotated Figure 1-2 above)
wherein the at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element (9+10+11 as taught in Claim 16 as per above, (9+10+11) is made to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner, thus thermally conductive and the surface is a slidable contact element) is connected to the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) at a first end region (see annotated Figure 1-2 above) that is at a front in an insertion direction.
With respect to Claim 23, Lippok further teaches (in Figure 1-2 and as shown in annotated Figure 1-2 above)
wherein the at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element (9+10+11 as taught in Claim 16 as per above, (9+10+11) is made to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner, thus thermally conductive and the surface is a slidable contact element) is connected to the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) at both end regions (see annotated Figure 1-2 above).
With respect to Claim 30, Lippok further teaches (in Figure 1-2 and as shown in annotated Figure 1-2 above)
A method for producing an external thermal interface of a plug-in module, the plug-in module including:
a module housing (2+11+12);
at least one heat-dissipating device (7); and
at least one electrical component (6+6a) arranged on a printed circuit board (5), wherein the module housing (2+11+12) at least partially surrounds the printed circuit board (5),
wherein the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) has, on a surface (surface of (7) facing the at least one electrical component (6+6a)) facing the at least one electrical component (6+6a), at least one internal thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (6+6a)), which is configured to thermally couple the at least one electrical component (6+6a) to the at least one heat-dissipating device (7),
wherein the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) has, on a surface (surface of (7) facing away from the at least one electrical component (6+6a)) facing away from the at least one electrical component (6+6a), at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)) which is configured to thermally couple the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) to an external heat sink,
wherein the at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)) includes at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8, in paragraph [0020], “In addition, a connecting element 8 that has elastic properties is then fixed to the electrically conductive plate 7, which connecting element produces a connection to a cooling element 9. In so doing, the connecting element 8 is an electrically conductive paste or an electrically conductive film. Since the paste and/or the film have elastic properties, any tolerances can consequently be compensated for”), which is connected to the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) and is configured to be compressed during formation of the at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)), and at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element (9+10+11, in paragraph [0007], “the end piece can be produced completely from a heat-conducting material, in particular a metal material. It is further preferred to connect the end piece directly to the housing, so that, in addition, it is also possible to conduct heat into the housing region” and in paragraph [0025], “As a consequence, insertion housings 2 produced from profile elements can be used and the electronic components that lie on an end of the circuit board 5 can be contacted directly by a cooling element 9 that is integrated in the end piece 11. This renders it possible to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner. Consequently, the present invention is particularly suitable in applications in which the electronic components discharge a relatively large amount of heat”, (9+10+11) is made to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner, thus thermally conductive and the surface is a slidable contact element), which is applied to the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8) and is configured to form a thermal contact surface of the at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)) to the external heat sink and compress the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8),
the method comprising the following steps:
providing the plug-in module;
applying the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8) to the surface (surface of (7) facing away from the at least one electrical component (6+6a)) of the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) that faces away from the at least one electrical component (6+6a);
connecting a first end region (see annotated Figure 1-2 above) of the at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element (9+10+11, in paragraph [0007] and in paragraph [0025], (9+10+11) is made to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner, thus thermally conductive and the surface is a slidable contact element) that is at a front in an insertion direction to the at least one heat- dissipating device (7); and
applying the at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element (9+10+11, in paragraph [0007] and in paragraph [0025], (9+10+11) is made to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner, thus thermally conductive and the surface is a slidable contact element) to the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8).
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.
Claims 24-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tatta et al. (US 9,521,782 - hereinafter, "Tatta") in view of Lippok .
With respect to Claim 24, Tatta teaches (in Figure 2-3)
A module assembly for a vehicle, comprising:
a housing (15), in which a rear-wall circuit board (47), at least one external heat sink (44) and at least one slot (see Figure 2, area or space (14) occupies) are arranged; and
at least one plug-in module (14);
wherein the at least one plug-in module (14) is inserted at a corresponding slot (see Figure 2, area or space (14) occupies) into a corresponding receiving opening (102) of the housing (15) in such a way that the at least one plug-in module (14) is held in a form-fitting and force-fitting manner between a first contact surface (contact surface wherein a (40, see Figure 5) is for each plug-in module (14)) and a second contact surface (contact surface wherein an other (40, see Figure 5) is for each plug-in module (14)) of the corresponding receiving opening (102),
wherein the heat generated by the at least one electrical component (12) of the at least one plug-in module (14) can be dissipated directly into the at least one external heat sink (44, in column 5, lines 16-27, “a thermal dissipation system 42 is disposed within the electrical rack 10 to facilitate heat transfer away from one or more heat generating electrical components (e.g., electrical units 12, electrical modules 14) disposed within the rack 10, as further explained with respect to FIGS. 3-6. Specifically, the thermal dissipation system 42 includes a heat sink 44 and a heat spreader (illustrated in FIGS. 3-4). Particularly, the heat sink 44 is disposed along the back end 18 of the rack 10, proximate to the backplane assembly 46, and is configured to be operatively coupled with the heat spreader coupled to the electrical module 14”).
Tatta fails to specifically teach or suggest at least one plug-in module, including: a module housing, at least one heat-dissipating device, and at least one electrical component arranged on a printed circuit board, wherein the module housing at least partially surrounds the printed circuit board, wherein the at least one heat-dissipating device has, on a surface facing the at least one electrical component, at least one internal thermal interface, which is configured to thermally couple the at least one electrical component to the at least one heat-dissipating device, wherein the at least one heat-dissipating device has, on a surface facing away from the at least one electrical component, at least one external thermal interface which is configured to thermally couple the at least one heat-dissipating device to an external heat sink, wherein the at least one external thermal interface includes at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element, which is connected to the at least one heat- dissipating device and is configured to be compressed during formation of the at least one external thermal interface, and at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element, which is applied to the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element and is configured to form a thermal contact surface of the at least one external thermal interface to the external heat sink and compress the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element; wherein the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element compressed by an insertion movement together with the at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element form the at least one external thermal interface to the at least one external heat sink, the heat can be dissipated directly via the at least one internal thermal interface and the at least one heat-dissipating device and the at least one external thermal interface.
Lippok, however, teaches (in Figure 1-2 and as shown in annotated Figure 1-2 above)
at least one plug-in module, including:
a module housing (2+11+12),
at least one heat-dissipating device (7), and
at least one electrical component (6+6a) arranged on a printed circuit board (5),
wherein the module housing (2+11+12) at least partially surrounds the printed circuit board (5),
wherein the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) has, on a surface (surface of (7) facing the at least one electrical component (6+6a)) facing the at least one electrical component (3), at least one internal thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (6+6a)), which is configured to thermally couple the at least one electrical component (6+6a) to the at least one heat-dissipating device (7),
wherein the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) has, on a surface (surface of (7) facing away from the at least one electrical component (6+6a)) facing away from the at least one electrical component (6+6a), at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)) which is configured to thermally couple the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) to an external heat sink,
wherein the at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)) includes at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8, in paragraph [0020], “In addition, a connecting element 8 that has elastic properties is then fixed to the electrically conductive plate 7, which connecting element produces a connection to a cooling element 9. In so doing, the connecting element 8 is an electrically conductive paste or an electrically conductive film. Since the paste and/or the film have elastic properties, any tolerances can consequently be compensated for), which is connected to the at least one heat- dissipating device (7) and is configured to be compressed during formation of the at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)), and at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element (9+10+11, in paragraph [0007], “the end piece can be produced completely from a heat-conducting material, in particular a metal material. It is further preferred to connect the end piece directly to the housing, so that, in addition, it is also possible to conduct heat into the housing region” and in paragraph [0025], “As a consequence, insertion housings 2 produced from profile elements can be used and the electronic components that lie on an end of the circuit board 5 can be contacted directly by a cooling element 9 that is integrated in the end piece 11. This renders it possible to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner. Consequently, the present invention is particularly suitable in applications in which the electronic components discharge a relatively large amount of heat”, (9+10+11) is made to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner, thus thermally conductive and the surface is a slidable contact element), which is applied to the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8) and is configured to form a thermal contact surface of the at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)) to the external heat sink and compress the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8);
wherein the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element (8) compressed by an insertion movement together with the at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element (9+10+11, in paragraph [0007] and in paragraph [0025], (9+10+11) is made to discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner, thus thermally conductive and the surface is a slidable contact element) form the at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)), the heat can be dissipated directly via the at least one internal thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (6+6a)) and the at least one heat-dissipating device (7) and the at least one external thermal interface (surface interface that is between (7) and (8)).
With respect to the limitation requiring wherein the at least one external thermal interface to the at least one external heat sink.
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, such that Lippok’s at least one plug-in module wherein the at least one external thermal interface is thermally connected to the at least one external heat sink of Tatta.
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 Lippok with Tatta, such that at least one plug-in module, including: a module housing, at least one heat-dissipating device, and at least one electrical component arranged on a printed circuit board, wherein the module housing at least partially surrounds the printed circuit board, wherein the at least one heat-dissipating device has, on a surface facing the at least one electrical component, at least one internal thermal interface, which is configured to thermally couple the at least one electrical component to the at least one heat-dissipating device, wherein the at least one heat-dissipating device has, on a surface facing away from the at least one electrical component, at least one external thermal interface which is configured to thermally couple the at least one heat-dissipating device to an external heat sink, wherein the at least one external thermal interface includes at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element, which is connected to the at least one heat- dissipating device and is configured to be compressed during formation of the at least one external thermal interface, and at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element, which is applied to the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element and is configured to form a thermal contact surface of the at least one external thermal interface to the external heat sink and compress the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element; wherein the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element compressed by an insertion movement together with the at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element form the at least one external thermal interface to the at least one external heat sink, the heat can be dissipated directly via the at least one internal thermal interface and the at least one heat-dissipating device and the at least one external thermal interface as taught by Lippok since doing so would discharge heat in a particularly efficient manner and is particularly suitable in applications in which the electronic components discharge a relatively large amount of heat. (in paragraph [0025])
With respect to Claim 25, Tatta as modified by Lippok teaches the limitations of Claim 24 as per above, Tatta further teaches (in Figure 2-3)
wherein the at least one external heat sink (44) is a cooling device (in column 5, lines 27-38, “In certain embodiments, each module 14 may include an associated heat sink 44, and in other embodiments, one or more heat sinks 44 may be utilized to couple one or more modules 14. In this manner, when the electrical module 14 is inserted into the chassis 16, the heat spreader operatively couples with the heat sink 44 and facilitates the transfer of heat away from the electrical module 14 (as further described below). In some embodiments, the heat spreader operatively couples with the heat sink 44 to transfer heat from the electrical module 14 when electrical module 14 forms an electrical connection with the backplane”).
With respect to Claim 26, Tatta as modified by Lippok teaches the limitations of Claim 25 as per above, Tatta further teaches (in Figure 2-3 and 5)
wherein the corresponding receiving opening (102) is formed in the cooling device (44).
With respect to Claim 27, Tatta as modified by Lippok teaches the limitations of Claim 24 as per above, Tatta further teaches (in Figure 2-3 and 5)
where the at least one external heat sink (44) is at least one cooling device (see Figure 5) and the at least one cooling device (44) has a plurality of cooling elements (70), wherein the corresponding opening (102, see Figure 5) comprises a plurality of corresponding openings (102), wherein at least one of the plurality of cooling element (70) is arranged between two of the plurality of corresponding openings (102) arranged adjacent to one another (see Figure 5).
With respect to Claim 28, Tatta as modified by Lippok teaches the limitations of Claim 27 as per above, Tatta further teaches (in Figure 2-3)
wherein the at least one of the plurality of cooling element (70) is a metal plate into which at least one cooling channel (the spacing between each (70)) is introduced.
With respect to Claim 29, Tatta as modified by Lippok teaches the limitations of Claim 24 as per above, Tatta further teaches (in Figure 2-3)
wherein the at least one plug-in module (14) has at least one plug (52) which, in an inserted state, is plugged into a corresponding plug receptacle (48) of the rear-wall circuit board (47).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/24/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to Applicant’s remarks to Claim 16,
“Claims 16-23 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 as being anticipated by Lippok (US 2013/0208425). Claims 24-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tatta et al. (US 9,521,782) in view of Lippok.
Nowhere do the cited references disclose or suggest a thermally conductive slidable contact element. For example, in Lippok, the elastic connecting element (8) directly contacts the cooling element (9), which is fixed within the end piece (11). Cooling element
(9) is not a separate slidable element, nor does Lippok disclose a component that both (a) forms a thermal contact surface to an external heat sink and (b) compresses the elastic element during interface formation.” (Present remark page 8) The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Lippok’s (9+10+11) does teach or suggest a thermally conductive slidable contact element, as stated in rejection, in paragraph [0007], “the end piece can be produced completely from a heat-conducting material, in particular a metal material. It is further preferred to connect the end piece directly to the housing, so that, in addition, it is also possible to conduct heat into the housing region”, thus (9+10+11) is thermally conductive and as for “slidable contact element”, Examiner respectfully notes that Merriam-Webster defines several definitions for “slidable” and “contact” and “element”. For example, Merriam-Webster provides one of the several definitions of “slidable” as “capable of sliding or of being slid” and “contact” as “union or junction of surfaces” and “element” as “a distinct part of a composite device”. Accordingly, the limitation “slidable contact element” can be viewed in the broadest reasonable interpretation that a “union or junction of surfaces of a composite device capable of sliding or of being slid” thus “the surface of (9+10+11)“ can be viewed as a “thermally conductive slidable contact element”.
Furthermore, the Examiner notes that Applicant’s argument appears to argue that the “thermally conductive slidable contact element” are “separable” which appears to be further limiting than the limitations as claimed in claim 1.
With respect to Applicant’s further remark to Claim 16 (a) which recites “nor does Lippok disclose a component that both (a) forms a thermal contact surface to an external heat sink” (Present remark page 8) The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Per the limitations of Claim 16, “and at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element,… and is configured to form a thermal contact surface of the at least one external thermal interface to the external heat sink and compress the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element”, the Examiner notes “the external heat sink” is not positively recited in the claim and the “at least one thermally conductive slidable contact element” must show it is capable to perform the function “to form a thermal contact surface of the at least one external thermal interface to the external heat sink and compress the at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element” which (the surface of (9+10+11)) is able to perform heat dissipation as per paragraph [0007] stated and (the surface of (9+10+11)) is a contact surface of the at least one external thermal interface to an external heat sink, if an external heat sink is applied to (the surface of (9+10+11)).
Furthermore, the Examiner notes that Applicant’s argument appears to argue that the “thermally conductive slidable contact element” is “to form a thermal contact surface of the at least one external thermal interface to the external heat sink” which appears to be further limiting than the limitations as claimed in claim 1.
With respect to Applicant’s further remark to Claim 16 (b) which recites “nor does Lippok disclose a component that both… and (b) compresses the elastic element during interface formation” (Present remark page 8) The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Per the limitations of Claim 16, “wherein the at least one external thermal interface includes at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element, which is connected to the at least one heat-dissipating device and is configured to be compressed during formation of the at least one external thermal interface”, the Examiner notes “to be compressed during formation of the at least one external thermal interface” is not positively recited in the claim and the “at least one thermally conductive elastic compensating element” (8) must show it is capable to perform the function “to be compressed during formation of the at least one external thermal interface” and per Lippok’s paragraph [0020], “In addition, a connecting element 8 that has elastic properties is then fixed to the electrically conductive plate 7, which connecting element produces a connection to a cooling element 9. In so doing, the connecting element 8 is an electrically conductive paste or an electrically conductive film. Since the paste and/or the film have elastic properties, any tolerances can consequently be compensated for”, Lippok’s elastic connecting element (8) is able to perform the function “to be compressed during formation of the at least one external thermal interface”.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/S.N./Examiner , Art Unit 2835
/Jayprakash N Gandhi/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2835