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 Group I, claims 1-9 in the reply filed on 4/30/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 5, “fluid:” should be “fluid;”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-2 and 4-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Stautner et al. (U.S. Publication No. 20190025387).
Regarding claim 1, Stautner teaches a cooling system associated with a dynamic nuclear polarization system, wherein the cooling system is configured to cool a sample to a temperature suitable for dynamic nuclear polarization to be carried out on the sample while the sample is in the cooling system (Abstract), and wherein the cooling system comprises: a cryogenic chamber (Fig.1, 16) comprising a cryogenic fluid (Fig.1, 32): a pot (Fig.1, 34) positioned within the cryogenic chamber, the pot being at least partially surrounded by the cryogenic fluid (Claim 4); a removable sample sleeve inserted into the pot so that a lower portion of the removable sample sleeve is positioned in the pot and an upper portion of the removable sample sleeve protrudes out of the pot (Abstract and paragraph 27), and wherein the removable sample sleeve is configured to define a sample path for the sample within the cryogenic chamber that is isolated from other parts of the cooling system (Abstract); and a liquid thermal switch (Fig.1, 36+42) configured to be disposed between and directly contact an inner surface of a bottom of the pot and a bottom surface of the lower portion of the removable sample sleeve, wherein the liquid thermal switch comprises superfluid helium (Paragraph 41).
Regarding claim 2, Stautner teaches wherein the liquid thermal switch (Fig.1, 36+42) is configured to be disposed within a gap between the inner surface of the bottom of the pot (Fig.1, 34) and the bottom surface of the lower portion of the removable sample sleeve (Fig.1, 14).
Regarding claim 4, Stautner teaches wherein the liquid thermal switch is configured to keep a same temperature at the inner surface of the bottom of the pot and at the bottom surface of the lower portion of the removable sample sleeve by providing infinite thermal conductivity between the inner surface of the bottom of the pot and the bottom surface of the lower portion of the removable sample sleeve at a temperature below 2.5 Kelvin (Paragraphs 24, 41 and 45, since liquid helium is used as the thermal switch, liquid helium has infinite thermal conductivity below 2.5 Kelvin).
Regarding claim 5, Stautner teaches wherein the liquid thermal switch is configured to compensate for surface irregularities that cause the inner surface of the bottom of the pot and the bottom surface of the lower portion of the removable sample sleeve to not be perfectly parallel along a length of interface between the inner surface and the bottom surface, and wherein the liquid thermal switch is configured to compensate for build tolerances between the inner surface of the bottom of the pot and the bottom surface of the lower portion of the removable sample sleeve (Paragraph 41, liquid helium is used as the thermal switch, it is inherent that liquid helium could compensate for surface irregularities).
Regarding claim 6, Stautner teaches wherein the liquid thermal switch is configured to provide near zero thermal resistance between the inner surface of the bottom of the pot and the bottom surface of the lower portion of the removable sample sleeve (Paragraphs 24, 41 and 45, since liquid helium is used as the thermal switch, liquid helium has near zero thermal resistance).
Regarding claim 7, Stautner teaches wherein the cooling system is configured to remove the liquid thermal switch to decouple the inner surface of the bottom of the pot and the bottom surface of the lower portion of the removable sample sleeve (Paragraphs 35-41).
Regarding claim 8, Stautner teaches wherein the cooling system is configured to allow the bottom surface of the lower portion of the removable sample sleeve to reach at least 300 Kelvin for servicing when the liquid thermal switch is removed (Paragraph 34).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stautner et al. (U.S. Publication No. 20190025387).
Regarding claim 3, Stautner teaches all the features of claim 2 as outlined above, Stautner is silent about wherein gap is between 1 to 3 millimeters.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to make Stautner’s gap between 1 to 3 millimeters, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 (CCPA 1955).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 is 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The primary reasons for allowance of dependent claim 9 is the inclusion of the specific limitations of “wherein the removable sample sleeve comprises a wall and one or more thermal radiation baffles disposed about and extending away from the wall toward the pot, wherein the one or more thermal radiation baffles are disposed on the lower portion of the removable sample sleeve above where the liquid thermal switch is located and are configured to keep superfluid helium of the liquid thermal switch between the inner surface of the bottom of the pot and the bottom surface of the lower portion of the removable sample sleeve.”, in combination of with all other recited (method steps/associated elements) in a cooling system associated with a dynamic nuclear polarization system.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIN Y ZHONG whose telephone number is (571)272-3798. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 a.m. - 6 p.m..
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/XIN Y ZHONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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