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 § 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kazuno et al. (US 2013/0288148), in view of Xiang et al. (US 2020/0100393).
In regard to Claim 1:
Kazuno discloses, in Figure 2, a power control unit for an electric vehicle (Paragraphs 0042-0043), comprising: an inverter (16) configured to control a voltage supplied from a high-voltage battery (20) to a vehicle driving motor (14); a DC/DC converter (22) configured to reduce a voltage level of the high-voltage battery (20) to a voltage level for charging a low-voltage battery (94) that is a power source for an in-vehicle auxiliary equipment (96, 24); a water pump (80) configured to circulate a refrigerant through a refrigerant passage of the heat sink (Paragraph 0064); and a water pump control circuit (40) configured to control an operation of the water pump (Paragraph 0066), but does not disclose a circuit board including a plurality of first electrical circuit devices that constitute one of the inverter and the DC/DC converter; a heat sink configured to cool the plurality of first electrical circuit devices; wherein a plurality of second electric circuit devices that constitute the water pump control circuit is mounted on the circuit board together with the plurality of first electric circuit devices.
Xiang discloses, in Figure 5, a circuit board (81) including a plurality of first electrical circuit devices that constitute one of the inverter and the DC/DC converter (Paragraph 0014); a heat sink (71) configured to cool the plurality of first electrical circuit devices (Paragraph 0013); wherein a plurality of second electric circuit devices (91) that constitute the water pump control circuit is mounted on the circuit board (81) together with the plurality of first electric circuit devices (Paragraph 0014).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was effectively filed to use the circuit board and heat sink taught by Xiang with the power control unit disclosed by Kazuno, in order to improve the heat dissipation effect of the printed circuit board, thereby improving the heat dissipation effect of the motor (Xiang Paragraph 0018).
In regard to Claim 2:
Kazuno further discloses, in Figure 2, the power control unit for the electric vehicle of claim 1, wherein one of pump electric circuit elements that constitute the water pump control circuit (40) is incorporated into a plurality of converter electrical circuit elements that constitute the DC/DC converter (22, Paragraph 0066).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wenger et al. (US 2013/0218385) discloses electric vehicles and a charging system therefore, and in particular, an onboard engine generator for charging the battery packs. The vehicle has extended operating range with coupled combustion engine, whereby it concerns a serial hybrid electric vehicle according to the EC-Directives.
Kwon (US 2016/00006060) discloses a method of controlling the operation of a fuel cell system is provided. The method includes diagnosing a water shortage state in a fuel cell stack based on degradation of cooling performance and deterioration of the fuel cell stack and determining a diagnosis level of the fuel cell system based on the diagnosed water shortage state of the fuel cell stack. In addition, a regenerative operation is performed by selecting a regenerative operation mode which corresponds to the determined diagnosis level.
Morinaga (US 2021/0194023) discloses a fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack, a first discharger, an opening-and-closing valve, a second discharger, a voltage detector, and a controller.
Kim et al. (US 2021/0323396) discloses a cooling system for an electric power system for a vehicle capable of selectively cooling a power component used while the vehicle travels or is charged.
Aso (US 2009/029622) discloses when a temporary abnormality occurs in a voltage converter, a recovery of the voltage converter, and minimizes the inadequacy of the drive power. In a fuel cell system comprising an electric storage device disposed with a voltage converter, in the case where an abnormality occurs in the voltage converter, the voltage converter is stopped once, an attempt is made to recover the voltage converter to a normal state after the voltage converter is stopped, and drive power is generated in at least a fuel cell until the voltage converter recovers to the normal state. It is preferred that an upper limit of the power which can be generated when the voltage converter recovers to the normal state be set to a value lower than an upper limit of power obtained prior to the occurrence of the abnormality. Further, it is preferred that the limit be canceled step by step when recovering the voltage converter to a normal state.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to John W Poos whose telephone number is (571)270-5077. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jessica Han can be reached at 571-272-2078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN W POOS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896