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 .
This Office Action is in response to papers filed on 4/27/2026. Amendments made to the claims and the Applicant's remarks have been entered and considered.
Claims 16-33 have been withdrawn.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 16-33 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to nonelected embodiments, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 4/27/2026.
Applicant's election with traverse of claims 14-15 in the reply filed on 4/27/2026 is acknowledged.
The first ground of traversal is that Paek (WO2015102388A1) does not show the features of claims 14 or 28.
This argument is persuasive because Paek does not show the hollow pipes 41 are embodied as plate heat exchangers, and Paek is not applied in the current rejection.
The Applicant also argued that Thode (US 4,348,604 A) neither discloses a central channel nor any kind of module, which is received in a receiving opening and which would be removable without resulting in a bypass/shortcut. Thode only discloses single heat exchanger plates (which are called "plate modules"), which are principally removeable individually but a removing of a plate would set the cooler non-operable.
This argument is moot because Klimt (US 2004/0222711 A1) shows all of the features of claims 14 and 28 as demonstrated in the rejection below.
Regarding Klimt, the Applicant argued that Klimt discloses a plate heat exchanger for an electric machine wherein single plates of the heat exchanger are changeable. However, neither does Klimt disclose a central channel nor any kind of removeable module, which are inserted into receiving openings. If a plate is removed, a bypass/shortcut result and the heat exchanger is set non-operable. Also, Klimt does not disclose that waste air from the secondary circuit is discharged to a side of the cooler.
This is not found persuasive because, regarding annotated FIG. 6 below, Klimt shows a central channel A in a heat exchanger 29 between OP and 40Z. Individual modules are made of plates 6 and mechanically connected together which implies that they are inserted into openings in the casing of the heat exchanger 29 and they can also be removed (FIG. 6, para [0048]). The modules do not require additional interior air guides para [0059] so there is no flow bypass created by an unoccupied receiving opening, nor is a bypass disclosed. Klimt shows waste air exiting the heat exchanger 29 at 40Z (annotated FIG. 6 below).
Therefore, Groups I-XIV lack unity of invention because claims 14 and 28 do not recite special technical features as all recited features are shown by Klimt (US 2004/0222711 A1).
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Klimt (US 2004/0222711 A1 of record).
As to claim 14, Klimt shows (FIG. 7, 6):
PNG
media_image1.png
932
793
media_image1.png
Greyscale
An attachment cooler 29 of a dynamo-electric machine 23,24, said attachment cooler 29 being embodied as a heat exchanger and comprising:
a primary circuit B for flow of a medium;
a secondary circuit L separate from the primary circuit B for flow of a medium, said secondary circuit including a central channel A and a waste air channel Z;
a casing K including receiving openings OP and designed to accommodate the central channel A and the waste channel 40Z of the secondary circuit L, with the waste channel 40Z leading out to a side of the casing K; and
exchangeable modules 42 embodied as plate heat exchangers and insertable in the receiving openings of the casing K, each of the modules 42 designed for individual removal, without a flow bypass being created by unoccupied ones of the receiving openings (para [0022], modules 42 of plate heat exchangers para [0055]; the modules do not require additional interior air guides para [0059] so there is no flow bypass created by an unoccupied receiving opening, nor is a bypass disclosed).
As to claim 15/14, Klimt further shows (FIG. 7, 6 above) wherein the central channel A extends parallel to an axis of the casing K (parallel to the axis of the machine the shaft 36).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT E MATES whose telephone number is (571)270-5293. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 12:00pm to 8pm.
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, TULSIDAS PATEL can be reached at (571)272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ROBERT E MATES/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/TULSIDAS C PATEL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
Prosecution Insights