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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention III (Claims 15-20) and Species 2 (Figure 11) in the reply filed on February 12th, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 20-34 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species 1 and/or 3-7, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on February 12th, 2026. Although Applicant indicated claim 20 is directed to the elected Invention III and Species 2, the thermal coupling between a hot spot of the chip package and the cold plate that bypasses the thermoelectric generator of claim 20 is not discussed in the specification in relation to Figure 11 and is hereby withdrawn from consideration. Further, claims 21-34 are withdrawn from consideration as not being drawn to the elected Invention III of a method of thermal management as the method of thermal management of claim 15 only requires a thermoelectric cooler however, the method of cooling a chip package of claims 21 does not include a thermoelectric cooler but rather a thermoelectric generator and the method of cooling a chip package of claim 31 includes both a thermoelectric cooler and a thermoelectric generator.
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.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kuo (US Patent No. 12,402,277), hereinafter Kuo.
Regarding claim 15, Kuo discloses a method of thermal management (Fig. 1, TEC chip refrigeration liquid cooling system 156), the method comprising:
providing a liquid cooling system that includes a thermoelectric cooler, a radiator, a cold plate, a radiator plate, a fluid, and a pump, wherein the pump is configured to circulate the fluid between the cold plate and the radiator plate, and the thermoelectric cooler is between the radiator and the radiator plate (Fig. 1, TEC chip refrigeration liquid cooling system 156, first liquid cooling loop 179, second liquid cooling loop 181, thermoelectric cooling (TEC) chips 166, hot side tank 168, radiator 174, cold plate 160, cold side tank 164, first pump 162, second pump 170; Col. 7, 34-39 and 50-60, This first liquid cooling loop 179 may allow cooling fluid to be passed from the cold plate 160, into the fluid intake orifice of the cold side tank 164, through the cold side tank 164, and out of the fluid discharge orifice and back into the channels formed through the cold plate 160… Similar to the first liquid cooling loop 179, the second liquid cooling loop 181 may include a second pump 170 used to pump the cooling liquid through the second liquid cooling loop 181 described herein. The cooling liquid, in an example embodiment, may be any liquid that can serve as a transmission medium to transmit heat from the cold plate to the cold side tank 164 and from the hot side tank 168 to the radiator 174. In an embodiment, the cooling liquid may be water, polyalkylene glycol, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, and propylene glycol, or a combination thereof; Col. 8, lines 7-8, The TEC chip 166 may be placed between the cold side tank 164 and the hot side tank 168; Further, first pump 162 and second pump 170 have the same structure as the claimed pump and are capable of functioning in the manner claimed);
placing the cold plate against a chip package (Fig. 1, hardware processor 102; Co. 4, lines 42-43, hardware processor 102 such as a central processing unit (CPU); Col. 6, lines 50-66, The heat-generating device may include a hardware processing device such as the hardware processor 102, a CPU, the GPU 154, or other such device. Additionally, the heat-generating component device may include other hardware within the housing of the information handing system such as a battery. Although any of these heat-generating component devices may be cooled using the TEC chip refrigeration liquid cooling system 156, the present specification describes the TEC chip refrigeration liquid cooling system 156 as cooling the hardware processor 102 for ease of description. However, it is appreciated that the TEC chip refrigeration liquid cooling system 156 may be used to cool all of these other heat-generating component devices as well as others. The TEC chip refrigeration liquid cooling system 156 includes a cold plate 160 operatively coupled to the hardware processor 102 using a thermal interface material 158);
operating the chip package (Col. 6, lines 45-50, As described herein, a heat-generating component device may be any device that, through its operation, creates heat. This heat may exceed operational parameters of these heat-generating component device that may damage or destroy these component devices or degrade performance such as due to throttling); and
selectively operating the thermoelectric cooler according to a temperature differential, wherein the temperature differential is driven by heat from the chip package (Col. 8, lines 41-48, Where the temperature data from the thermal sensor 176 indicates that the temperature of the cold side tank 164 and/or the cooling liquid within the cold side tank 164 exceeds a temperature threshold for activation of the TEC chip 166, the EC 104 or other hardware processing resource may send instructions to activate the TEC chip 166 and/or other cooling devices within the TEC chip refrigeration liquid cooling system 156 such as the cooling fan 172).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 16 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuo (US Patent No. 12,402,277), hereinafter Kuo in view of Lu (US Patent No. 8,839,631), hereinafter Lu and Aizawa (JP 2013118794), hereinafter Aizawa.
Regarding claim 16, Kuo discloses the method of claim 15 (see the rejection of claim 15 above).
However, Kuo does not disclose a relay coupling the thermoelectric cooler to a power source.
Lu teaches a relay coupling the thermoelectric cooler to a power source (Fig. 3, power input 303, relay 316, TED array 344; Col. 8, lines 53-55, The power from the filter 304 to the VDC BUS2 power supply 314 may be selectively connected or disconnected by a controllable relay 316; Col. 11, lines 53-67, The control module 308 may control the relay 316 to connect and disconnect the VDC BUS2 power supply 314 with the power input 302. For example, when the thermoelectric cooling system controlled by the thermoelectric cooling system 300 is on standby mode, turned off, or safety conditions such as over-current, over-heat, etc. necessitate the disconnection of power from the TED array 344, the control module 308 may control the relay 316 via an isolator 318 to electrically disconnect the VDC BUS2 power supply 314 from the electrical input power provided by the power input 302. When the control module 308 determines that power should be provided to the TED array 344, the control module 308 may control the relay 316 to electrically connect the VDC BUS2 power supply 314 to the electrical input power provided by the power input 302).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Kuo of claim 15 to include a relay coupling the thermoelectric cooler to a power source as taught by Lu. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to provide increased control over the thermoelectric device to improve overall system safety (Lu, Col. 11, lines 53-67).
Further, Kuo as modified does not disclose wherein selectively operating the thermoelectric cooler according to the temperature differential comprises using a thermoelectric generator to produce a current from the temperature differential and using the current to control the thermoelectric cooler.
Aizawa teaches wherein selectively operating the thermoelectric cooler according to the temperature differential comprises using a thermoelectric generator to produce a current from the temperature differential and using the current to control the thermoelectric cooler (Fig. 1, thermoelectric conversion element 31, Peltier element 21; Pg. 4, In the embodiment, the thermoelectric conversion element 31 and the Peltier element 21 may be electrically connected, and the by power generated by the thermoelectric conversion element 31 may be used as power for driving the Peltier element 21; Further, thermoelectric conversion element 31 is depicted to be positioned between the waste heat source (engine 11) and the cold plate (first surface 31a) and would maintain this configuration when modified as described herein).
Kuo as modified fails to teach wherein selectively operating the thermoelectric cooler according to the temperature differential comprises using a thermoelectric generator to produce a current from the temperature differential and using the current to control the thermoelectric cooler, however Aizawa teaches that it is a known method in the art of thermoelectric thermal management to include wherein selectively operating the thermoelectric cooler according to the temperature differential comprises using a thermoelectric generator to produce a current from the temperature differential and using the current to control the thermoelectric cooler. This is strong evidence that modifying Kuo as modified as claimed would produce predictable results (i.e. efficiently utilizing system waste heat to improve overall system efficiencies). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kuo as modified by Aizawa and arrive at the claimed invention since all claimed elements were known in the art and one having ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no changes in their respective functions and the combination would have yielded the predictable result of efficiently utilizing system waste heat to improve overall system efficiencies.
Regarding claim 19, Kuo as modified discloses the method of claim 16 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 16 above), wherein using the thermoelectric generator to produce the current from the temperature differential comprises positioning the thermoelectric generator between the chip package and the cold plate (Fig. 1 of Aizawa depicts the thermoelectric conversion element 31 to be positioned between the waste heat source (engine 11), which corresponds to the chip package when modified as described herein, and the cold plate (first surface 31a) and would maintain this configuration when modified as described herein). Further, the limitations of claim 19 are the result of the modification of references used in the rejection of claim 16 above.
Claims 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuo as modified by Lu and Aizawa as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of Matthews (US Patent No. 2,969,224), hereinafter Matthews.
Regarding claim 17, Kuo as modified discloses the method of claim 16 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 16 above).
However, Kuo as modified does not disclose wherein using the thermoelectric generator to produce the current from the temperature differential comprises connecting a plurality of thermoelectric modules in series.
Lu teaches connecting a plurality of thermoelectric modules in series and connecting additional thermoelectric modules in parallel (Fig. 3, TED array 344, TEDs 345-360; Col. 11, lines 4-13, The TED array 344 may support normal operations at various electrical voltages depending upon the series and parallel arrangement of thermoelectric devices within the TED array 344 (e.g., in some embodiments up to 64 VDC). The TED array 344 may include one or more thermoelectric devices (TEDs). The TEDs may be arranged in a first group and a second group which are electrically coupled in parallel within one another, and one or more TEDs may be electrically connected in series with one another in each of the first group and the second group).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the thermoelectric generator of the method of Kuo as modified include connecting a plurality of thermoelectric modules in series and connecting additional thermoelectric modules in parallel as taught by Lu. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so the system may support normal operations at various electrical voltages depending upon the series and parallel arrangement of thermoelectric devices within the TED array (Lu, Col. 11, lines 4-7).
Further, Kuo as modified does not disclose the thermoelectric generator closes the relay when a predetermined temperature differential is reached.
Matthews teaches the thermoelectric generator closes the relay when a predetermined temperature differential is reached (Fig. 3, relay 344, generator 98”; Col.10, lines 28-39, Such heating of the cold junctions of generator 98" provides a temperature differential between the hot and cold junctions thereof to cause sufficient current flow through relay 344, by means of lead wires 94" and 96", for effecting attractive movement of contact member 344a into engagement with stationary contact 344b. I prefer to utilize an electromagnetically operated relay 344 which is responsive to energization above a given level to afford movement of contact member 344a into engagement with contact member 344b and responsive to energization below a predetermined level to effect separation
of contacts 344a and 344b).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Kuo as modified to include the step or limitation of wherein the thermoelectric generator closes the relay when a predetermined temperature differential is reached as taught by Matthews. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to provide increased control over the thermoelectric devices to improve overall system efficiencies.
Regarding claim 18, Kuo as modified discloses the method of claim 16 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 16 above), wherein using the thermoelectric generator to produce the current from the temperature differential further comprises connecting additional thermoelectric modules in parallel so that the thermoelectric generator provides enough current to switch the relay when the predetermined temperature differential is reached (Lu, Fig. 3, TED array 344, TEDs 345-360; Col. 11, lines 4-13, The TED array 344 may support normal operations at various electrical voltages depending upon the series and parallel arrangement of thermoelectric devices within the TED array 344 (e.g., in some embodiments up to 64 VDC). The TED array 344 may include one or more thermoelectric devices (TEDs). The TEDs may be arranged in a first group and a second group which are electrically coupled in parallel within one another, and one or more TEDs may be electrically connected in series with one another in each of the first group and the second group; Matthews, Fig. 3, relay 344, generator 98”; Col.10, lines 28-39, Such heating of the cold junctions of generator 98" provides a temperature differential between the hot and cold junctions thereof to cause sufficient current flow through relay 344, by means of lead wires 94" and 96", for effecting attractive movement of contact member 344a into engagement with stationary contact 344b. I prefer to utilize an electromagnetically operated relay 344 which is responsive to energization above a given level to afford movement of contact member 344a into engagement with contact member 344b and responsive to energization below a predetermined level to effect separation of contacts 344a and 344b). Further, the limitations of claim 18 are the result of the modification of references used in the rejection of claim 17 above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Gao et al. (CN 110931439) discloses a similar method of thermal management that uses a thermoelectric cooler and a thermoelectric generator.
Gao et al. (US 20120240882) discloses a similar method of thermal management that uses a thermoelectric cooler and a thermoelectric generator.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEVON T MOORE whose telephone number is 571-272-6555. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7:30-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Frantz Jules can be reached at 571-272-6681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DEVON MOORE/Examiner, Art Unit 3763 March 23rd, 2026
/FRANTZ F JULES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763