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 .
Acknowledgment is made of the response filed on August 3, 2026 where:
Figure 1 has been replaced.
Claims 4 and 11-13 have been amended;
Claims 2, 5 and 10 have been Cancelled;
Claims 1, 3, 4, 6-9 and 11-13 pending in this Office Action.
Applicant’s cancellation of Claims 2 and 10 has obviated the 35 USC 112(d) rejections made in the Office Action filed on 5/11/2026.
Applicant’s amendment to Claim11 has obviated the 35 USC 112(b) rejection made in the Office Action filed on 5/11/2026.
Regarding Applicant’s arguments, beginning on page 6 of the response, directed to the limitation “a hydraulic inlet connector comprising a heating element configured to heat the thermoregulation liquid flowing through the hydraulic inlet connector”.
As disclosed below, Hickey does not disclose the feature of a inlet connector configured to heat the liquid and this feature and the teachings of Cheadle et al are relied upon. Cheadle et al. teaches of an active thermal management system that includes teaching of locating a heating element located at the inlet for battery heat exchanger.
The hydraulic inlet connector is now considered to be the first manifold (44) which includes elements (40 the first fluid port, see at least paragraph [0068]) and heating element (52; see at least paragraph [0073]).
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, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0318118 issued to Hickey in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2019/0366876 issued to Cheadle et al.
Regarding Claims 1, 2 and 13, Hickey. teach in Figures 1-4 and respective portions of the specification of: a vehicle (10) comprising:
at least one electric machine (78);
a battery (200; Figure 4) provided with a container (202) and with a plurality of electrochemical cells (274) arranged inside the container (202);
a thermoregulation circuit (“the thermal fluid loop” disclosed in paragraph [0038 and shown in Figure 4 with the inlet 248 and outlet conduits 252), which is arranged inside the battery (200), is configured to have a thermoregulation liquid (“dielectric liquid coolant” first disclosed in paragraph [0005]) flow within the battery (see at least paragraphs [0036-0037]) and has an inlet (the coolant inlet manifold 246, see Figure 4 and at least paragraph [0038]) for the thermoregulation liquid in the area of a hydraulic inlet connector (see Figure 4) and an outlet (the coolant outlet manifold 250, see Figure 4 and at least paragraph [0038]) for the thermoregulation liquid in the area of a hydraulic outlet connector (see Figure 4); and
a thermoregulation system (204), which is configured to have the thermoregulation liquid flow in the thermoregulation circuit (Figure 4) of the battery (200) by introducing the thermoregulation liquid in the hydraulic inlet connector and by receiving the thermoregulation liquid from the hydraulic outlet connector (see Figure 4 and paragraphs [0036-);
Hickey teaches of a heating element (244) located in the coolant reservoir (240) for heating the thermoregulation liquid flowing into the hydraulic inlet connector (the inlet manifold 246) but does not teach that the hydraulic inlet connector comprises the heating element.
Cheadle et al. teaches of an active thermal management system that includes teaching of locating a heating element (52) located at the inlet connector (intake manifold 44—which includes element (40 the first fluid port, see at least paragraph [0068]) and heating element (52; see at least paragraph [0073])—is taken to be the inlet connector) for battery heat exchanger (10).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to locate the heating element at the inlet connector so that the electric heating element will heat the fluid as it passes through the inlet manifold, as suggested by Cheadle et al. in paragraph [0075], for the invention of Hickey to provide the advantage of not having any heating losses between the reservoir and entering the battery case.
Regarding Claim 3, in the modified invention of Hickey teaches of the hydraulic inlet connector comprises a duct (the intake manifold 44 taught by Cheadle et al. is taken to be a duct), through which the thermoregulation liquid flows; and the heating element (the heating element 244 taught by Hickey) is arranged inside the duct in direct contact with the thermoregulation liquid—in the manner “the electric heating element will heat the fluid as it passes through the inlet manifold” disclosed by Cheadle et al. in paragraph [0075] for the modified invention.
Regarding Claim 4, in the modified invention of Hickey, Cheadle et al. teaches the hydraulic inlet connector comprises a duct (manifold 44), through which the thermoregulation liquid flows; and the heating element (52) is arranged inside the duct (18) and is configured to heat a wall (54) of the duct (18).
Regarding Claim 6, Hickey as modified teaches of the duct (the intake manifold) has a first end and a second ends and the heating element (244) is interposed between the first end and the second end of the duct and is configured to heat the thermoregulation liquid while the thermoregulation liquid is inside the duct (intake manifold).
Regarding Claim 7, Hickey as modified teaches of a control device (active thermal management (ATM) system) configured to adjust the power of the heating element.
Regarding Claims 9 and 11-12, Hickey as modified is silent if the heating element (244) is electric and is electrically connected so as to receive electric energy from at least part of the electrochemical cells of the battery (200). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to electrically power the heating element with the battery. One would be motivated to use the battery (200) as the power source to utilize the power source already provided on the vehicle. Regarding Claim 11, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed utilize the closest batteries to the cell for the heating element to power the heating element. Such an arrangement would be advantageous to power the heating element without degrading the entire battery pack. Regarding Claim 12, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to connect the electrical leads for the heating element to the positive and negative terminals for the battery to provide power to the battery.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the primary reason for the indication of allowable subject matter in this case is the inclusion of: in re claim 8 the hydraulic inlet connector including a casing which accommodates a control device to adjust the power of the heating element, in combination with the other elements recited, not found in the prior art of record.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN L SWENSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5572. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday (9-5).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Allen Shriver can be reached at (303) 297-4337. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
BRIAN SWENSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3618
/BRIAN L SWENSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3613
Prosecution Insights