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
Claims 16-30 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 2/11/2026.
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 2/11/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the method claims of Group III “recite much of the same physical features of the claims of Group I”. This is not found persuasive because the method does not merely recite a structure and its physical features, but also requires further limitations. Furthermore, as stated in the previous Office action, the method/process is useable to cool power modules that are not part of an uninterruptible power supply like the apparatus requires
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 3/04/2024, 7/25/2024, & 1/14/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner has considered the information disclosure statements.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-7 & 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hartel et al. (US Patent # 7,635,020).
Regarding Claim 1, Hartel discloses a liquid cooling manifold, comprising:
a manifold body (i.e. coolant-conducting element 20) including an inlet flow channel (i.e. inflow conduit 21.1), an outlet flow channel (i.e. outflow conduit 21.2) and an expansion channel (i.e. separation wall 21.3/hollow chamber 11);
a plurality of distribution inlet connectors (i.e. access openings 22 on the right which can contain connecting elements) coupled to the manifold body and in fluid communication with the inlet flow channel;
a plurality of distribution outlet connectors (i.e. access openings 22 on the left which can contain connecting elements) coupled to the manifold body and in fluid communication with the outlet flow channel; and
a heat exchanger (i.e. water/water heat exchanger 36/air/water heat exchanger 38) coupled (i.e. through inflow branch 35.2 and outflow branch 35.3) to the manifold body (Fig. 1-4; Abstract; Column 1, lines 28-52, 56-57; Column 2, lines 44-52; Column 3, lines 15-41; Column 3, line 65- Column 4, line 15; Column 4, lines 50-52; Column 5, lines 6-30).
Regarding Claim 2, Hartel discloses that the expansion channel (i.e. separation wall 21.3) includes at least one pressurized shape (i.e. insulator 21.4) disposed within the expansion channel, the at least one pressurized shape being configured to expand and contract (Column 1, lines 43-52; Column 3, lines 15-38).
Regarding Claim 3, Hartel discloses that the manifold body (i.e. coolant-conducting element 20) is an elongated structure having the heat exchanger (i.e. water/water heat exchanger 36/air/water heat exchanger 38) provided at an end of the manifold body (Fig. 4; Column 5, line 6-38).
Regarding Claim 4, Hartel discloses that an inlet connector of the plurality of inlet connectors and an outlet connector of the plurality of outlet connectors are configured to be secured to mating connectors of a cold plate (i.e. cooling elements 34) (Fig. 4; Column 5, line 6-23).
Regarding Claim 5, Hartel discloses that the cold plate (i.e. cooling elements 34) is configured to support components (i.e. plurality of electronic components 31) of a power module (Fig. 4; Column 5, line 6-38).
Regarding Claim 6, Hartel discloses that the cold plate (i.e. cooling elements 34) includes a pump (i.e. pump or ventilator) to distribute and disperse cooling fluid within the cold plate (Column 3, line 65- Column 4, line 15).
Regarding Claim 7, Hartel discloses that the cold plate plate (i.e. cooling elements 34) is a generally rectangular, planar structure that includes a corner having a structure including the inlet connector and the outlet connector (Fig. 4; Column 5, line 6-38).
Regarding Claim 9, Hartel discloses that the inlet flow channel (i.e. inflow conduit 21.1) is configured to receive cooled fluid (i.e. coolant or air) and the outlet flow channel (i.e. outflow conduit 21.2) is configured to receive heated fluid (i.e. heated coolant or air) (Column 4, line 2-7).
Regarding Claim 10, Hartel discloses that the expansion channel (i.e. separation wall 21.3) is disposed between the inlet flow channel (i.e. inflow conduit 21.1) and the outlet flow channel (i.e. outflow conduit 21.2) (Fig. 1-3; Column 1, lines 43-52; Column 3, lines 15-38).
Regarding Claim 11, Hartel discloses that the inlet flow channel (i.e. inflow conduit 21.1) and the outlet flow channel (i.e. outflow conduit 21.2) of the manifold are configured to seal a fluid (i.e. liquid coolant) including at least one of water, glycol or a water/glycol mixture (Column 3, lines 29-33).
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 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hartel et al. (US Patent # 7,635,020) in view of Wang et al. (US Patent Application Publication # 2023/0039526).
Regarding Claim 8, Hartel does not explicitly disclose that the manifold includes a receiving member configured to mate with an alignment pin of a cold plate.
Wang teaches that the manifold includes a receiving member (i.e. hole 31) configured to mate with an alignment pin (i.e. guide part 11) of a cold plate (Fig. 2-6; Paragraphs 0029-0034).
Wang teaches that it is well known in the art of cooling structures/manifolds to have an alignment pin and a receiving member/hole which mate together when connecting or coupling the cooling structure and the server body or component in order to ensure alignment and facilitate connection. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to use such an alignment pin with a corresponding receiving member in the liquid cooling system of Hartel, as taught by Wang, in order to ensure alignment and facilitate connection between the components.
Claims 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hartel et al. (US Patent # 7,635020) in view of Tilton et al. (US Patent Application Publication # 2008/0093054) in further view of REFERENCE3 (REFERENCE3 #)>.
Regarding Claim 12, Hartel discloses a cooling system (i.e. liquid cooling system) comprising manifolds, each manifold including the liquid cooling manifold of claim 1 (Column 4, line 64- Column 5, line 38).
Hartel does not explicitly disclose that the cooling system comprises three manifolds.
Tilton teaches the cooling system comprises multiple manifolds (Paragraph 0054).
Tilton teaches that it is well known in the art of cooling systems for servers to use multiple manifolds in order to cool multiple arrays of servers. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to use three manifolds in the cooling system of Hartel, as taught by Tilton, in order to cool multiple arrays of servers. It has been held that a mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Regarding Claim 13, Hartel in view of Tilton discloses that the heat exchanger (i.e. water/water heat exchanger 36) of each manifold is connected to lines (i.e. inflow branch 35.2 and outflow branch 35.3) to provide cooled fluid to and return heated fluid from the heat exchanger (Fig. 4; Column 5, line 6-23).
Regarding Claim 14, Hartel in view of Tilton discloses that the lines are connected to an external chiller (i.e. re-cooling installation 37) configured to cool the heated fluid delivered to the chiller by a first line and to return cooled fluid to the heat exchangers of the manifold by a second line (Fig. 4; Column 5, line 6-38).
Regarding Claim 15, Hartel in view of Tilton discloses that the cooling system is configured to cool an uninterruptable power supply (Fig. 4; Column 5, line 6-38). Although Hartel does not explicitly mention a power supply, the liquid cooling system is used for a server cabinet/ rack 32 which includes a plurality of electronic components 31 which each comprise at least one CPU which would require a power supply.
Relevant Cited Art
The cited art in PTO-892 was found during the examiner's search, but was not relied upon for this office action. However, it is still considered pertinent to the applicant's disclosure.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RHADAMES J ALONZO MILLER whose telephone number is (571)270-7829. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10am-6pm PST.
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/RJA/Examiner, Art Unit 2847
/TIMOTHY J THOMPSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2847