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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “high” in “high-performance computer” in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “high” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear to one of ordinary skill in the art to ascertain the degree of a computer being high performance.
For examination purposes, “high-performance computer” in claim 1 is construed as any electronic component, computer, processor or controller that generates heat.
Claims 2-15 are also rejected due to their dependency of claim 1.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 14 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Maeda (US PGPub No. 2023/0364969).
Regarding claim 1, Maeda discloses a vehicle thermal management system, comprising:
a control valve (five-way valve 422);
a battery (51) fluidly connected to the control valve (via inlet 422a of the valve 422);
a power electronics component (inverter 52) fluidly connected to the control valve (via inlet 422b of the valve 422);
a radiator (423) fluidly connected to the control valve (via inlet 422e of the valve 422); and
a high-performance computer (ADAS controller 54) fluidly connected to the control valve (via inlet 422e of the valve 422),
wherein the HPC and the battery are connected in parallel to the control valve (the ADAS controller 54 and the battery 51 are connected parallel to the valve 422 through separate inlets), and
the control valve is configured to control a flow of a coolant between the PE component, the radiator, the battery, and the HPC (see different configurations of a coolant flow of the valve 422 in Figs. 7-13).
Regarding claim 14, Maeda further discloses a battery warmer fluidly connected to the battery (condenser 12 that supplies warmed fluid to the battery 51, in a fluid flow in Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 15, Maeda further discloses a reservoir tank fluidly connected to the radiator (tank 46b connecting radiator 423, in Fig. 17).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 3-13 dependent from claim 2 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.
Considering the modes in Figs. 8, 10 and 16 of Maeda:
Meada discloses wherein the control valve includes (in claim 2):
a first port (422d) fluidly communicating with an inlet of the battery and an inlet of the HPC (the port 422d has a fluid communication as a loop with an inlet of the battery 51 at joint 45d),
a second port (422b) fluidly communicating with an inlet of the PE component (the port 422bhas a fluid communication as a loop with an inlet of the inverter 52 at joint 45e),
a third port (422e) fluidly communicating with an inlet of the radiator (the port 422e supplies a fluid to an inlet of the radiator 423), and
a fourth port (422a) fluidly communicating with an outlet of the battery (51) and an outlet of the HPC.
However, the battery fluid loop and the fluid loop with ADAS controller 54 of Maeda in Figs. 8 and 10 operates independently. Therefore, the port 422d fails to disclose or make obvious the limitation that requires a first port fluidly communicating with an inlet of the battery and an inlet of the HPC; and a fourth port fluidly communicating with an outlet of the battery (51) and an outlet of the HPC.
The modes in Figs. 7, 9, 11 and 15 of Maeda also fails to disclose or make obvious the requirement of the first port and fourth port because the battery fluid loop and the fluid loop with ADAS controller 54 also operate independently. Further, the modes in Figs. 7, 9 and 15 fail to disclose or make obvious that a third port fluidly communicating with an inlet of the radiator (423).
The mode in Fig. 12 of Maeda lacks a fluid communication to the inverter 52. Therefore, it fails to disclose or make obvious a second port fluidly communicating with an inlet of the PE component in claim 2.
In summary, none of the operating modes in Maeda has first to fourth ports of the control valve 422 fluidly communicating with the required elements set forth in claim 2.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FOR K LING whose telephone number is (571)272-8752. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 5 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jianying Atkisson can be reached at 571-270-7740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JIANYING C ATKISSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/F.K.L/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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