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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The Information Disclosure Statement filed on May 3, 2024 has been considered. An initialed copy of the Form 1449 is enclosed herewith.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
4. Claims 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bizon et al (2023/0299512), hereinafter Bizon.
With respect to claim 13, Bizon teaches a system, comprising: a charge inlet (EV charging inlet 100, including connector housing 102: paragraph 0049; figures 1 and 2) including a first pin and a second pin extending outward from a back face of a protruding assembly (connector housing 102 containing DC terminals 108A and 108B; paragraph 0049; figures 1 and 2) of the charge inlet (DC terminals 108A and 108B, connected to busbars 110A and 110B; paragraphs 0049-0050; figure 2); an interface plate coupled to the charge inlet (modular faceplate 524 attached to the charging inlet; paragraph 0053; figure 6) on a front face of the interface plate, the interface plate including an inlet recess surrounding the protruding assembly (figure 6) and a charge inlet aperture through which the first pin and the second pin extend (housing opening 106, through which busbars 110A and 110B extend; paragraph 0049; figures 1-2); and a pair of busbars coupled to the interface plate on a back face of the interface plate (busbars 110A and 110B extending outside the housing 102; paragraphs 0049-0050; figures 1-2), the pair of busbars including a first busbar electrically coupled to the first pin and a second busbar electrically coupled to the second pin (busbars 110A and 110B electrically and mechanically connected to DC terminals 108A and 108B).
With respect to claim 14, Bizon teaches the system, wherein the first busbar is coupled to the back face between a first side face of the interface plate and the charge inlet aperture, and the second busbar is coupled to the back face between a second side face of the interface plate and the charge inlet aperture (pair of busbars 110A and 110B connected to respective DC terminals 108A and 108B of charging inlet 100; paragraph 0049; figures 1-2).
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 1-12 are allowable over prior art and claims 15-18 are 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 reason for allowance: Although the prior art of record teaches various aspects of electric vehicle charge inlet cooling arrangements and associated electrical connections, including a vehicle charge port having an associated cold plate assembly for cooling the charge port; a cooling plate thermally associated with busbars, a vehicle charging inlet having electrical terminals connected to busbars, and a thermal component having integrated cooling channels, and thermally coupled to busbars, the above identified prior art of record, taken alone, or in combination with any other prior art, fails to teach or fairly suggest the specific features of claims 1-12 and 15-16 of the present claimed invention. Specifically, prior art fails to teach the particular interface plate configuration recited in claim 1, including an inlet recess surrounding a charge inlet aperture and having a recessed surface relative to the front face of the interface plate, wherein the charge inlet aperture is defined by an inner surface comprising a plurality of aperture segments extending from the recessed surface to the back face of the interface plate, in combination with a colling channel integrated into the same interface plate. Furthermore, although prior art teaches busbars electrically connected to charging inlet terminals and busbars thermally associated with cooling structures, it fails to teach or suggest the arrangement recited in claim 7, including a pair of busbars coupled to the back face of an interface plate having a recessed aperture configuration and integrated cooling channel. Prior art additionally fails to teach the claimed the system, wherein the first busbar includes a rectangular base and a rectangular protrusion extending outward from the rectangular base and perpendicular to the rectangular base, wherein the rectangular base includes a semicircular protrusion having a first pin aperture accommodating the first pin of the charge inlet, and wherein the semicircular protrusion extends partially across the charge inlet aperture; wherein the first busbar is coupled to the back face via a first layer of thermal interface material and the second busbar is coupled to the back face via a second layer of thermal interface material; wherein the interface plate further comprises a first cooling channel and a second cooling channel integrated within the interface plate, wherein the first cooling channel is integrated within the interface plate between the first side face and the charge inlet aperture, and wherein the second cooling channel is integrated within the interface plate between the second side face and the charge inlet aperture; and lastly wherein the interface plate further includes a bottom face opposite a top face of the interface plate, and wherein the first cooling channel includes a first inlet and a first outlet each positioned on the bottom face and the second cooling channel includes a second inlet and a second outlet each positioned on the bottom face. The above limitations are not disclosed in prior art and moreover, one of ordinary skill in the art would not have been motivated to come to the claimed invention.
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure: See attached PTO form 892, Refence Cited.
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Allyson N. Trail whose telephone number is (571) 272-2406. The examiner can normally be reached between the hours of 7:30AM to 4:00PM Monday thru Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Pham, can be reached on (571) 272-3689. The fax phone number for this Group is (571) 273-8300.
Communications via Internet e-mail regarding this application, other than those under 35 U.S.C. 132 or which otherwise require a signature, may be used by the applicant and should be addressed to [allyson.trail@uspto.gov].
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/ALLYSON N TRAIL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
October 13, 2026
