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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
1. In the event that 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 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(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shelnutt et al. US2017/0181328 in view of Williams et al. US2007/0270735.
Per claim 1 Shelnutt et al. teaches a liquid cooling system (1172, see fig.12A) comprising: an inlet cooling manifold (1230, see fig.12A) for disturbing liquid coolant to a plurality of liquid cooled information handling systems housed in a data center facility (1150a-d, see fig.12A; [0099]); a temperature sensor (1184b, see fig.12A) in the inlet cooling manifold and configured to generate a temperature signal representing a temperature of the liquid coolant; a pressure sensor (184c, see fig.12A) in the inlet cooling manifold and configured to generate a pressure signal representing a pressure of the liquid coolant; and a flow meter (1182) in the inlet cooling manifold and configured to generate a flow rate signal representing a flow rate of the liquid coolant (see fig.12A; [0112]-[0113]).
Shelnutt et al. does not explicitly teach a temperature sensor, pressure sensor, and flow meter embedded in the inlet cooling manifold.
Williams et al. however discloses sensors embedded in a cooling manifold ([0022]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to embedded the temperature, pressure and flow meter sensors on the cooling manifold because it ensures that the temperature, pressure and flow meter sensors work efficiently to sense the required parameters.
Per claim 2 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the liquid cooling system of Claim 1, further comprising a data acquisition device configured to convert the temperature signal, the pressure signal, and the flow meter signal into digital data ([0112]-[0113]).
Per claim 3 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the liquid cooling system of Claim 2, wherein the digital data is transmitted to a building management system ([0113], “IT manager or system administrator”).
Per claim 4 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the liquid cooling system of Claim 2, wherein the digital data is transmitted to a power distribution unit ([0007]).
Per claim 5 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the liquid cooling system of Claim 4, wherein the digital data is transmitted to a building management system ([0113], “IT manager or system administrator”).
Per claim 6 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the liquid cooling system of Claim 1, further comprising a leak detector embedded in the inlet cooling manifold and configurated to generate a leak alert signal in the event of a leak in the cooling manifold ([0112]-[0113]).
Per claim 7 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the liquid cooling system of Claim 6, further comprising a data acquisition device configured to convert the temperature signal, the pressure signal, the flow meter signal, and the leak alert signal into digital data ([0112]-[0114]).
Per claim 8 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the liquid cooling system of Claim 7, wherein the digital data is transmitted to a building management system ([0113], “IT manager or system administrator”). .
Per claim 9 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the liquid cooling system of Claim 7, wherein the digital data is transmitted to a power distribution unit ([0007]).
Per claim 10 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the liquid cooling system of Claim 9, wherein the digital data is transmitted to a building management system ([0113], “IT manager or system administrator”).
Per claim 11 Shelnutt et al. teaches an information handling system support rack comprising: a plurality of liquid cooled information handling systems (1150a-d, see fig.3-5; [0099]); a power distribution unit for managing power for the plurality of information handling systems ([0007]); and an inlet cooling manifold (1230; [0109]) for distributing liquid coolant to each of the information handling systems ([0109]), the manifold comprising: a temperature sensor (1184b) in the inlet cooling manifold and configured to generate a temperature signal representing a temperature of the liquid coolant; a pressure sensor cin the inlet cooling manifold and configured to generate a pressure signal representing a temperature of the liquid coolant; and a flow meter in the inlet cooling manifold and configured to generate a flow rate signal representing a flow rate of the liquid coolant ([0112]-[0113]).
Shelnutt et al. does not explicitly teach a temperature sensor, pressure sensor, and flow meter embedded in the inlet cooling manifold.
Williams et al. however discloses sensors embedded in a cooling manifold ([0022]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to embedded the temperature, pressure and flow meter sensors on the cooling manifold because it ensures that the temperature, pressure and flow meter sensors work efficiently to sense the required parameters.
Per claim 12 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the information handling system support rack of Claim 11, further comprising a data acquisition device configured to convert the temperature signal, the pressure signal, and the flow meter signal into digital data ([0112]-[0113]).
Per claim 13 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the information handling system support rack of Claim 12, wherein the digital data is transmitted to the power distribution unit ([0007]).
Per claim 14 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the cooling manifold of Claim 13, wherein the digital data is transmitted to the building management system ([0113], “IT manager or system administrator”).
Per claim 15 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the cooling manifold of Claim 12, wherein the inlet cooling manifold further comprises a leak detector embedded in the inlet cooling manifold and configured to generate a leak alert signal in the event of a leak in the cooling manifold; and wherein the data acquisition device is further configured to convert the leak alert signal into digital data; and wherein the digital data is transmitted to the building management system via one of the power distribution unit, an information handling system, and a network switch ([0055], [0112]-[0114]).
Per claim 16 Shelnutt et al. teaches a method for cooling a plurality of liquid cooled information handling systems ([0012], [0057], [0094], [0112]-[0113]) comprising the steps of: associating an inlet cooling manifold with the plurality of information handling systems, the manifold configured to distribute liquid coolant to each of the plurality of information handling systems ([0012], [0057], [0094], [0112]-[0113]) and comprising a plurality of sensors, each of the plurality of sensors in the inlet cooling manifold and configured to generate a signal representing one of coolant temperature, coolant pressure, and coolant flow rate; and generating the signal representing one of coolant temperature, coolant pressure, and coolant flow rate ([0112]-[0113]).
Shelnutt et al. does not explicitly teach sensors embedded in the inlet cooling manifold.
Williams et al. however discloses sensors embedded in a cooling manifold ([0022]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to embedded the temperature, pressure and flow meter sensors on the cooling manifold because it ensures that the temperature, pressure and flow meter sensors work efficiently to sense the required parameters.
Per claim 17 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the method of Claim 16, further comprising: converting the signal to a digital data signal; and transmitting the digital data signal to a management system ([0112]-[0113]).
Per claim 18 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the teaches the method of Claim 17,
Shelnutt does not explicitly teach further comprising: throttling performance of the information handling systems based upon the digital data signal.
Official notice is taken that throttling the performance of an information handling system based upon digital data signal is well known in the art.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to throttle the performance of the information handling system because it enables control of the information handling system as needed.
Per claim 19 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the method of Claim 17, further comprising: shutting down the information handling systems based upon the digital data signal ([0084]-[0085]).
Per claim 20 Shelnutt et al. in view of Williams et al. teaches the method of Claim 17, wherein the inlet cooling manifold is configured with at least one leak detector, and further comprising the steps of: upon encountering a leak, generating a signal indicative of the leak; converting the signal indicative of the leak to a digital signal; and transmitting the digital signal to the management system ([0084]-[0085], [0112]-[0113]).
Email Communication
2. Applicant is encouraged to authorize the Examiner to communicate via email by filing form PTO/SB/439 either via USPS, Central Fax, or EFS-Web. See MPEP 502.01, 502, 502.05.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 11 & 16 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
4. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL A MATEY whose telephone number is (571)270-5648. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8-5 EST.
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, JAYPRAKASH GANDHI can be reached at 5712723740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL A MATEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2835
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