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 § 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) 1-6 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ENDIGE BOATING. "Sunlight readable monitors for boating and marine applications.” 10 December to Endige Boating (hereinafter, “Endige”) in view of CN 115604986 to Yang et al.
As to claim 1, Endige discloses a watercraft comprising a display (display would be used indoors or outdoors as a chart plotter or other marine device display (e.g. engine data display or NMEA 2000 data display) [i.e. a display] on a boat or a yacht (pg. 2 para 1); wherein the display has a brightness of at least 500 nits (marine chart plotter display used outdoors should have a brightness of 1000 nits (1000 Cd/m2) or more, many of the commercial chart plotters are in 1500 nits [i.e. the display has a brightness of at least 500 nits] (pg. 3 para 2). Endige fails to disclose a liquid cooling system coupled to the display and configured to cool the display.
Yang teaches a vehicle-mounted display (see e.g. Fig. 2) and a liquid cooling system (18-27) coupled to the display and configured to cool the display. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the display of Endige with the cooling system of Yang in order to prolong the life of the display by preventing over heating from extended use as taught by Yang (“…long time use of the control screen will generate a large amount of heat in the interior, so as to cause damage” Background para 2).
As to claim 2, modified Endige further teaches the watercraft of claim 1, wherein the display is a touch screen (“Touchscreen is not built into the display but another layer bonded to the top of the display [i.e. display is a touch screen]. There are resistive and capacitive touchscreens. Capacitive is more sensitive” (Endige, pg. 3 para 5)).
As to claim 3, modified Endige further teaches the watercraft of claim 2, wherein the display is a capacitive touch screen (“Touchscreen is not built into the display but another layer bonded to the top of the display [i.e. display is a touch screen]. There are resistive and capacitive touchscreens. Capacitive is more sensitive [i.e. display is a touch screen]” (Endige pg. 3 para 5)).
As to claim 4, modified Endige fail to explicitly teach wherein the display does not include a reflective coating. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to omit the reflective coating, for instance if it was desirable to cut back on production cost, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, the omission of any elements that are not desired or needed to perform the function requires only routine skill in the art. In re Larson, 340 F.2d 965, 144 USPQ 347
As to claim 5, modified Endige further teach wherein the brightness is at least 1,000 nits (“marine chart plotter display used outdoors should have a brightness of 1000 nits (1000 Cd/m2) or more, many of the commercial chart plotters are in 1500 nits “(Endige pg. 3 para 2)).
As to claim 6, modified Endige further teach wherein the brightness is at least 1,500 nits (“marine chart plotter display used outdoors should have a brightness of 1000 nits (1000 Cd/m2) or more, many of the commercial chart plotters are in 1500 nits” (Endige pg. 3 para 2)).
As to claim 17, modified Endige further teach the watercraft of claim 1, wherein the liquid cooling system (see Yang Fig. 2) further includes a heat exchanger (23) configured to expel heat generated by the display to an environment. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the display of Endige with the cooling system of Yang in order to prolong the life of the display by preventing over heating from extended use as taught by Yang (“…long time use of the control screen will generate a large amount of heat in the interior, so as to cause damage” Background para 2).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ENDIGE BOATING. "Sunlight readable monitors for boating and marine applications.” 10 December to Endige Boating (hereinafter, “Endige”) in view of CN 115604986 to Yang et al., further in view of CN 1410954 to Zhang.
As to claim 7, modified Endige discloses the watercraft of claim 1, including (see Yang Fig. 1) a housing (1) for the display. Modified Endige fails to explicitly disclose wherein the display includes a circuit board, and a glass panel. Zhang teaches a display (see Fig. 4) including a circuit board (2) and a glass panel (11). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the display of modified Endige to include a glass panel and circuit board as taught by Zhang in order to provide a means for operating and viewing the contents of the display as is well known in the art.
Claim(s) 8-13 and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ENDIGE BOATING. "Sunlight readable monitors for boating and marine applications.” 10 December to Endige Boating (hereinafter, “Endige”) in view of CN 115604986 to Yang et al. in view of US 2023/0089178 to Pascualinotto Junior et al. (hereafter Pasc).
As to claim 8, modified Endige disclose the watercraft of claim 1. In addition, Yang teaches wherein the liquid cooling system includes a block (8), a channel (25), and a liquid configured to flow through the channel (via water inlet 18). Modified Endige fail to disclose a channel formed in the block. Pasc teaches a heat transfer means with block (102) and channel (104) formed in block (102), having a liquid configured to flow through the channel (via inlet 106). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the block of Yang have the channel formed therewithin as taught by Pasc in order to create a larger heat transfer surface area in the block which as Pasc shows is well known in the art.
As to claims 9-11, modified Endige further teach the watercraft of claim 8. Endige fails to disclose wherein the channel forms a serpentine fluid flow path (claim 9), wherein the liquid cooling system further includes a cover, and wherein the cover is coupled to the block such that the cover encloses the channel in the block (claim 10) and wherein an inlet formed in the cover is in fluid communication with the channel and an outlet formed in the cover is in fluid communication with the channel (claim 11). Yang discloses wherein the channel forms a serpentine fluid flow path (Fig. 3 of Yang) (claim 9), wherein the liquid cooling system (Fig. 2/3 of Yang) further includes a cover (9), and wherein the cover is coupled to the block (8) such that the cover encloses the channel (25) in the block (claim 10), and wherein an inlet (18) (see Fig.2 of Yang) formed in the cover (9) is in fluid communication with the channel and an outlet (19) formed in the cover is in fluid communication with the channel (claim 11). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the display of Endige with the cooling system of Yang in order to prolong the life of the display by preventing over heating from extended use as taught by Yang (“…long time use of the control screen will generate a large amount of heat in the interior, so as to cause damage” Background para 2).
As to claim 12, modified Endige further teach the watercraft of claim 8, wherein the block (see Fig. 2 of Yang) (8) includes an aperture (17). Modified Endige fails to disclose an electrical connection extending through the aperture (17). Yang describes aperture (17) as a ”wiring” hole. While the electrical connection is not explicitly disclosed in Yang, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the wiring hole (17) of Yang, with an electrical connection extending therethrough as that is the intended use of a “wiring hole.”
As to claim 13, modified Endige further teach the watercraft of claim 8. Endige fails to disclose wherein the liquid cooling system further includes a pump configured to circulate the liquid through the channel. Yang further teaches a liquid cooling system (Fig. 2 of Yang) further includes a pump (23) configured to circulate the liquid through the channel. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify Endige with the pump of Yang in order to efficiently circulate liquid through the system.
As to claim 15, modified Endige further teach the watercraft of claim 8. Endige fails to disclose wherein the liquid cooling system is a closed-loop system. Yang teaches a liquid cooling system (see Fig. 2/3 of Yang) that is a closed-loop system (i.e. one fluidly connected circuit). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify Endige with a closed loop cooling system as taught by Yang in order to conserve the amount of cooling fluid used in the system.
As to claim 16, modified Endige teach the watercraft of 12. Modified Endige fail to disclose that the coolant liquid includes ethylene glycol and deionized water. Pasc in para [0026] further teaches that “The coolant is a suitable material configured to convey thermal energy, such as water, deionized water, inhibited glycol and water solutions, dielectric fluids and the like.” It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the cooling system of Endige with ethylene glycol and deionized water as taught by Pasc, as these are well known liquids in the art as shown by Pasc which have a good thermal conductivity.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ENDIGE BOATING. "Sunlight readable monitors for boating and marine applications.” 10 December to Endige Boating (hereinafter, “Endige”) in view of CN 115604986 to Yang et al., in view of US 2023/0089178 to Pascualinotto Junior et al. (hereafter Pasc) and further in view of US 2021/0268869 to Chen et al.
As to claim 14, modified Endige teach all of the limitations of claim 13. Modified Endige fail to disclose wherein the liquid cooling system further includes a reservoir. Chen teaches (see e.g. Fig. 1) a liquid cooled display (1) with a liquid cooling system (10) which includes a reservoir (11). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify Endige with the reservoir of Chen in order to allow more time for water in the coolant system to dissipate heat as there would be a larger volume of water, increasing the cycle time of the water in the system.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ENDIGE BOATING. "Sunlight readable monitors for boating and marine applications.” 10 December to Endige Boating (hereinafter, “Endige”) in view of CN 115604986 to Yang et al. and further in view of 2020/0255112 to Doremus et al.
As to claim 18, modified Endige teach all of the limitations of claim 1. Modified Endige fails to disclose an electric drive and a battery electrically coupled to the electric drive; wherein the liquid cooling system is coupled to the electric drive and the battery and is configured to cool the electric drive and the battery. Doremus teaches (see Fig. 1) a watercraft (10) including an electric drive, the electric drive including electric motor (14) and power converter (70), and a battery (24) electrically coupled to the electric drive; wherein a liquid cooling system (see Doremus Fig. 4), (beginning e.g. with coolant in the chine cooler (50a), flowing then through coolant passage (66) via pump (76) to power converter (70), power module (68), onboard charging module (72), and finally motor (14); similarly coolant from chine cooler (50b) flows through coolant passage (66) via pump (76) to cool battery (24)) is coupled to the electric drive (power converter (70) and motor (14)) and the battery (24). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify Endige with the cooling and propulsion system of Doremus to provide an efficient and fuel effective means of cooling electrical components.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ENDIGE BOATING. "Sunlight readable monitors for boating and marine applications.” 10 December to Endige Boating (hereinafter, “Endige”) in view of CN 115604986 to Yang et al. and further in view of US 2003/0109184 to Kanno.
As to claim 19, modified Endige teach all of the claim limitations of claim 1. Modified Endige fail to disclose a dash, and a steering wheel extending from the dash, wherein the display is positioned on the dash. Kanno teaches (see Fig. 1) a watercraft (10) including a dash (the part of the watercraft which seats components (42), (13), (41), and (20)) a steering wheel (30) extending from the dash, and a display (41) positioned on the dash. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify Endige with the dash configuration of Kanno in order to allow the drive of the watercraft convenient access to instruments including the monitor (41).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 2012/0210730 to Pruett et al. shows a liquid cooling system for electronics in a vehicle. US 2008/0180594 to Pierce et al. discloses an LCD in an aircraft with extremely bright display for reading in sunlight. US 2017/0374716 to Hathaway discloses an adjustable LED for outdoor applications. CN
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/JAMIL ALEXANDER DECKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2835
/ROBERT J HOFFBERG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2835