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 .
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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-3) in the reply filed on 8/20/26 is acknowledged.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Graves et al (US 2020/0136205) in view of and Hoehe et al (US 2021/0021006).
Regarding claim 1, Graves et al teaches a battery case (abstract, heat exchanger for a battery, paragraph [0004], cold plate upon which one or more battery cells and/or modules are supported) comprising:
a refrigerant flow path (figs 1-2, paragraph [0005], plurality of ridges which define fluid flow passages) formed by welding case members (fig 1A-2, modular assembly, fig 12, paragraph [0100], overlapping tabs may be secured together by welding) on which irregularities are formed to each other at mating surfaces facing each other (figs 6, 8, 9a-9b,12, overlapping tabs can be construed as irregularities facing each other at mating surface) and by covering the irregularities with a cover plate (figs 1-2, first plate 12, paragraph [0062], five identical plates 18 can be welded to a single integral first plate 12), wherein
the refrigerant flow path is formed in a direction orthogonal to a plane including the mating surfaces at a position of the mating surfaces (note figs 9A-9B, paragraph [0089], show that the plates can be arranged side-by-side or end-to-end, fig 2 shows plates 18 arranged side-by-side and parallel to the mating surface, whereas an end-to-end arrangement would have the flow path orthogonal to the plane including the mating surface),
each of the case members includes
a first convex portion that extends continuously and flatly without a step along a flow direction of the refrigerant flow path (fig 3, ribs 70, paragraph [0066], elongated legs 72, 74),
a second convex portion that extends continuously and flatly without a step in a direction orthogonal to the flow direction at a position of the mating surfaces (fig 3, paragraph [0066], transverse rib portion 76 is continuous for that transverse portion of the U-shape), and
a concave portion (fig 3, paragraph [0064], planar base 21 of plate 18 between the spaced apart ribs),
the first convex portion and the second convex portion intersect with each other flatly without a step at an intersecting position (fig 3, note elongated legs 72, 74 intersecting with transverse rib portion 76),
the cover plate extends flatly without a step along the flow direction (paragraph [0062], first plate is flat), and
the refrigerant flow path is formed by welding the first convex portions and the cover plate (paragraph [0063], plates 12 and 18 are joined with their inner surfaces opposed facing relation to one another, paragraph [0064], sealing surface of ribs are sealingly joined to inbner surface 14 of first plate 12), and includes
a first space formed between the concave portions of the case members and the cover plate (fig 2, paragraph [0063-0064], inner surface of first plate defines top wall of fluid passage 34, planar base of second plate defines bottom wall).
Graves et al is quiet to the cover plate including a concave portion and a convex portion, such that the convex portion of the cover plate is welded to the first convex portion, the first space is between concave of the case members and the concave portion of the cover plate, and a second space formed between the second convex portions and the concave portion of the cover plate.
Hoehe et al teaches a plate-like fluid container for conducting a fluid, usable for regulating the temperature of an electrochemical system such as batteries (abstract). Hoehe et al discloses a channel plate (2) having embossed depressions 10a,10b,… between lands 16a,16b,16c,… (paragraph [0052]). Hoehe et al teaches in figure 4, that the second layer (3) now has indentations 11 which are directed in the direction of the channel plate 2 (paragraph [0056]). The indentations have allow depth and wide width so that a weld seam 14 is received completely in the indentation (paragraph [0056]). The indentations 11 ensure an increased component rigidity of the second plate as compared to the prior art (paragraph [0057]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Graves et al such that the cover plate includes indentations where the weld seam is received, so as to ensure an increased component rigidity (Hoehe et al, paragraph [0057]).
Note that the indentations of the cover plate correspond to convex portions of the cover plate, and thus the remaining flat portions of the plate correspond to concave portions. As shown in Hoehe et al, figs 4A-4C, the indented/convex portion of the cover is welded to the convex portions of the base plate. A first space (12a,12b) are the channels for the coolant and correspond to the space between concave portions of the base plate and the cover plate. Regarding a second space, note that a small space 19a, 19b (paragraph [0055], [0058]) is still present between a concave portion of the cover and convex portion of the base plate (note that in the combination, similar structure will be present when joining the cover plate to the base plate through the ribs, including through the transverse ribs).
Claim(s) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Graves et al as modified by Hoehe et al as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Mazza et al (US 2020/0227794) and Lee et al (US 2015/0207189).
Regarding claim 2, the combination teaches the second convex portion is formed to be thicker than the concave portion of the case members (Graves, paragraph [0064], ribs 70 extend upwardly out of the plane of planar base, construed as thicker than planar base (concavities being the planar base portions between the ribs), paragraph [0063]), but is quiet to wherein the cover plate is a press-molded product made of a plate material, the case members are die-cast products.
Mazza teaches a cooling plate for a battery cell (paragraph [0059]), where both substrates may include raised portions (12) and that the substrates can be formed by molding, cold extrusion, metal stamping, deep drawing, laminating, or casting (paragraph [0052]).
Lee et al teaches a heat exchange member for a battery pack (abstract), noting that upper and lower plates can be manufactured by die casting (paragraph [0032]).
In view of the collective teachings of Mazza and Lee et al, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the cover plate by press molding and the case member by die casting, as Mazza recognizes that a variety of manufacturing processes can be used to form both substrates (paragraph [0052]), and that Lee et al teaches that die casting is a known process for manufacturing the lower plate (paragraph [0032]).
All the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would yield nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. KSR, 550 U.S. at 416, 82 USPQ2d at 1395. MPEP 2143(I)(A).
Regarding claim 3, the combination teaches wherein a height of the second space is smaller than a height of the first space in the refrigerant flow path (note combination, where Hoehe et al discloses a smaller space 19a, 19b in figures 4A-4C, corresponding to between a concave portion of the cover and convex portion of base).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ge et al (US 2019/0237827) teaches a modular design for a heat exchanger for cooling a battery (abstract), where the flow path is orthogonal to a plane including the mating surface (figs 1 and 6).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACKY YUEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5749. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 - 6:00.
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/JACKY YUEN/
Examiner
Art Unit 1735
/KEITH WALKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1735
