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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/13/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's remarks filed 3/11/2026 have been fully considered.
Regarding the prior 112(b) rejections, Applicant’s amendments overcome all prior rejections.
Regarding the prior art rejection of claim 1, in paragraph 4 of page 10 through paragraph 2 of page 13 of Applicant’s Remarks, Applicant’s arguments are directed to that the prior art fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the amended limitations of amended claim 1.
The arguments are not persuasive because each limitation is mapped to the same prior art of the previous office action. Please see mapping of amended limitations to prior art below for details.
In para 1 of page 13 of Applicant’s Remarks, Applicant’s arguments are directed toward that “if none of the references individually address this problem, the combined references do not suggest a solution either.” It is noted that arguments against prior art references cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986). The related arguments are therefore not persuasive.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 8, 21, 15-20, 22 is/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.
Claim 1 (line 15) recites the limitation “at least one input port connected to the heat exchanger for receiving, from the thermal management system at a location external of the engine nacelle, the working fluid” which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear which of the following mutually exclusive interpretations apply:
the input port is at a location external of the engine nacelle, or
the thermal management system is at a location external of the engine nacelle, or
the working fluid is at a location external of the engine nacelle.
Note that if the interpretation is identified to be option a) above, then this may result in a subsequent new matter rejection because the original disclosure does not appear to identify that the input port is at a location external of the engine nacelle.
Claim 1 (line 16) recites the limitation “a location external of the engine nacelle” which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear if this references the same location external of the engine nacelle previously identified in claim 1 (e.g. line 5) or a different location external of the engine nacelle.
Claim 15 (line 13) recites the limitation “the thermal management system located external of the engine nacelle” which lacks proper antecedent basis and thus renders the claim indefinite. The thermal management system has not been previously identified as “located external of the engine nacelle”.
Claim 15 (line 14) recites the limitation “the at least one outlet port” which lacks proper antecedent basis and thus renders the claim indefinite. It is suggested that the limitation be rewritten as -- at least one outlet port --.
Claim(s) 2-6, 8, 21, 16-20, 22 is/are also rejected by virtue of dependency.
In view of the 112(b) rejections set forth above, the claims are rejected below as best understood.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-5, 8, 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 11815024 B2 (hereinafter Niergarth) in view of US 20240209775 A1 (hereinafter O'Connor) and US 20140333127 A1 (Edwards) and non-patent literature “Compact Air Distribution” (hereinafter DoE).
Examiner’s note: All mapping below (references made to reference characters, figures, paragraphs, etc.) is with regard to the base reference (the first reference identified above) unless otherwise noted.
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Annotated Fig 2a
Regarding claim 1, Niergarth discloses:
A system for cooling a working fluid for an engine (abstract; Figs 1, 2), comprising:
Electronics for the engine (electronics associated with the “electronics cooling system 88” in Fig 1, which per col 7 line 42 – col 8 line 9 corresponds to 106 in Fig 2, and which per col 6 lines 50-54 may be for components of the engine and/or the aircraft);
a thermal management system (abstract; Fig 1; Fig 2) located external of the engine nacelle (Fig 1, the system is external of the material/cross-hatching of the nacelle) configured to circulate the working fluid to the electronics to cool the electronics (Figs 1 and 2 show all this);
at least one fan exit guide vane (52; Fig 1) located aft of a rotor fan (14; Fig 1) of the engine, wherein the at least one fan exit guide vane comprises a heat exchanger (exchanger 108; Fig 2; col 12 lines 31-40 identify that 108 may be integrated into guide vane 52; see Fig 3 for an illustrative example of an exchanger 108 integrated into a guide vane 52) therein configured to cool the working fluid heated by the electronics (Figs 1 and 2 show this);
wherein the thermal management system and the electronics are mounted (Fig 1 indicates that the components at issue are mounted on outer surfaces, wherein outer surfaces are surfaces other than the inner-most surface of the engine’s shaft)
the thermal management system is mounted on a same side of the engine as the at least one fan exit guide vane (Figs 1, 3 show this);
at least one input port (annotated Fig 2a “inlet”) connected to the heat exchanger for receiving, from the thermal management system at a location external of the engine nacelle (see above rejected limitation “a thermal management system located external of the engine nacelle”), the working fluid heated by the electronics (Fig 2 shows this);
at least one outlet port (annotated Fig 2a “outlet”) connected to the heat exchanger for providing the cooled working fluid back to the electronics (Fig 2 shows this);
and wherein the working fluid heated by the electronics passing through the heat exchanger within the at least one fan exit guide vane is cooled by air (58; Fig 1) from the rotor fan passing over the at least one fan exit guide vane (Fig 1 shows this) before being returned to the thermal management system (Figs 1 and 2 show this; the fluid is constantly returned to various components of the thermal management system).
Niergarth may not explicitly disclose:
The engine is a hybrid electric engine.
However, O'Connor, in the same field of endeavor, turbine engines, teaches:
In paragraph 0032 and Fig 1, an analogous turbine engine which also comprises an electric machine, thereby making the engine a hybrid electric engine.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Niergarth to include O'Connor’s teachings as described above, having the engine be a hybrid electric engine, in order to benefit the operation and efficiency of a turbine engine (paragraph 0022).
Niergarth as modified above may not explicitly disclose:
The electronics are power electronics located external of an engine nacelle.
However, Edwards, in the same field of endeavor, turbine engines, teaches:
In para 0059 power electronics for the engine mounted on the nacelle in order to place the power electronics in a location away from high temperatures of the engine core (para 0059).
The limitation is essentially partially directed to the environment of use, wherein the electronics to be cooled are required to be power electronics of an engine, Niergarth discloses electronics to be cooled, and Edwards teaches electronics which are specifically power electronics of an engine which require thermal management considerations.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Niergarth as modified above to include Edwards’s teachings as described above, having the electronics be power electronics for the engine located external of an engine nacelle of the hybrid electric engine, in order to place the power electronics in a location away from high temperatures of the engine core (para 0059).
This modification also reinforces the limitation “a thermal management system located external of the engine nacelle”, because Edwards teaches that the power electronics, and therefore also the working fluid interacting with the power electronics, are located external of the engine nacelle.
Niergarth as modified above may not explicitly disclose:
the power electronics of the engine are mounted on a same side of the engine as the thermal management system
However, DoE, in the same field of endeavor, thermodynamics, teaches:
A general teaching (page 1, 2), which one having ordinary skill in the art would know applies to all fluid thermal systems, that items to be cooled should generally be placed as close as possible to the cooling source for numerous advantages and best possible performance including for example to reduce system material cost, decrease conductive losses and number of connections and chance of system damage (page 1, 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Niergarth as modified above to include DoE’s teachings as described above, having the power electronics to be cooled of the engine be mounted as close as possible to, on a same side of the engine as, the thermal management system which performs the cooling, in order to leverage numerous advantages and best possible performance including for example to reduce materials cost, decrease conductive losses and number of connections and chance of system damage (page 1, 2).
Regarding claim 3, Niergarth, as modified above, further discloses:
at least one first check valve (annotated Fig 2a; 118) associated with the at least one input port to prevent backflow of the working fluid (Fig 2 shows this);
and at least one second check valve (annotated Fig 2a; 118) associated with the at least one outlet port to prevent backflow of the working fluid (Fig 2 shows this).
Regarding claim 4, Niergarth, as modified above, further discloses:
the thermal management system further comprises
a controller (115; Fig 2) for controlling a flow of the working fluid into the heat exchanger within the at least one fan exit guide vane (Fig 2 shows this)
and for controlling the flow of the working fluid out of the heat exchanger and to the power electronics (Fig 2 shows this).
Regarding claim 5, Niergarth, as modified above, further discloses:
the thermal management system further comprises
a pump (104; Fig 2) for pumping the working fluid from the power electronics of the hybrid electric engine to the at least one input port of the heat exchanger (Fig 2 shows this).
Regarding claim 8, Niergarth, as modified above, further discloses:
the at least one fan exit guide vane comprises a plurality of fan exit guide vanes (Fig 2 clearly shows this),
each of the plurality of fan exit guide vanes located on a same bifurcation of the hybrid electric engine as the thermal management system (Fig 1).
Regarding claim 21, Niergarth, as modified above, further discloses:
the at least one fan exit guide vane further comprises only a predetermined portion of a plurality of fan exit guide vanes (Figs 1, 3 show this).
Claim(s) 15, 17-19, 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niergarth in view of O'Connor and Edwards and non-patent literature DoE (these are all the same references used for the claim 1 rejection above).
Regarding claim 15, Niergarth discloses:
A method for cooling working fluid of a thermal management system for cooling electronics of an engine (abstract; Figs 1, 2), comprising:
receiving working fluid (Figs 1, 2 show this) heated by the electronics (electronics associated with the “electronics cooling system 88” in Fig 1, which per col 7 line 42 – col 8 line 9 corresponds to 106 in Fig 2, and which per col 6 lines 50-54 may be for components of the engine and/or the aircraft) through at least one input port (annotated Fig 2a “inlet”) connected to a heat exchanger (exchanger 108; Fig 2; col 12 lines 31-40 identify that 108 may be integrated into guide vane 52; see Fig 3 for an illustrative example of an exchanger 108 integrated into a guide vane 52) within at least one fan exit guide vane (52; Fig 1) of the engine;
passing the working fluid heated by the electronics through the heat exchanger within the at least one fan exit guide vane located aft of a rotor fan (14; Fig 1) of the engine (Figs 1 and 2 show all this);
cooling the working fluid heated by the electronics passing through the heat exchanger within the at least one fan exit guide vane by air (58; Fig 1) from the rotor fan passing over the at least one fan exit guide vane to provide a cooled working fluid (Figs 1 and 2 show all this);
providing the cooled working fluid to the thermal management system (the fluid is constantly provided to components of the thermal management system) located external of the engine nacelle (Fig 1, the system is external of the material/cross-hatching of the nacelle) via the at least one outlet port (annotated Fig 2a “outlet”) connected to the heat exchanger;
and providing the cooled working fluid from the thermal management system to the electronics (Figs 1 and 2 show this) of the engine.
Niergarth may not explicitly disclose:
The engine is a hybrid electric engine.
However, O'Connor, in the same field of endeavor, turbine engines, teaches:
In paragraph 0032 and Fig 1, an analogous turbine engine which also comprises an electric machine, thereby making the engine a hybrid electric engine.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Niergarth to include O'Connor’s teachings as described above, having the engine be a hybrid electric engine, in order to benefit the operation and efficiency of a turbine engine (paragraph 0022).
Niergarth as modified above may not explicitly disclose:
The electronics are power electronics located external of the engine nacelle.
However, Edwards, in the same field of endeavor, turbine engines, teaches:
In para 0059 power electronics for the engine mounted on the nacelle in order to place the power electronics in a location away from high temperatures of the engine core (para 0059).
The limitation is essentially partially directed to the environment of use, wherein the electronics to be cooled are power electronics of an engine, and Edwards teaches electronics which are power electronics of an engine which require thermal management considerations.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Niergarth as modified above to include Edwards’s teachings as described above, having the electronics be power electronics for the engine located external of the engine nacelle, in order to place the power electronics in a location away from high temperatures of the engine core (para 0059).
Regarding claim 17, Niergarth, as modified above, further discloses:
preventing backflow of the working fluid from the at least one input port using at least one first check valve (annotated Fig 2a; 118) associated with the at least one input port; and
preventing backflow of the cooled working fluid from the at least one outlet port using at least one second check valve (annotated Fig 2a; 118) associated with the at least one outlet port.
Regarding claim 18, Niergarth, as modified above, further discloses:
controlling a flow of the working fluid into the heat exchanger within the fan exit guide vane using a control module (115; Fig 2) (Fig 2 shows this); and
controlling the flow of the cooled working fluid out of the heat exchanger and to the power electronics using the control module (Fig 2 shows this).
Regarding claim 19, Niergarth, as modified above, further discloses:
the step of receiving further comprises pumping the working fluid from the power electronics of the hybrid electric engine to the at least one input port of the heat exchanger using a pump (104; Fig 2).
Regarding claim 22, Niergarth, as modified above, further discloses:
the at least one fan exit guide vane further comprises only a predetermined portion of a plurality of fan exit guide vanes (Figs 1, 3 show this).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the prior art reference(s) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 8333552 B2 (hereinafter Wood).
Regarding claim 2, Niergarth, as modified above, discloses all claim limitations (see above) except:
the heat exchanger comprises a channel defined within an interior of the at least one fan exit guide vane,
the channel having a first end connected to the at least one input port and a second end connected to the at least one outlet port.
However, Wood, in the same field of endeavor, turbine engines, teaches:
A system of heat exchanging outlet guide vanes in Fig 1 wherein the out let guide vanes (72; Fig 3) have a plurality of tubes 64 disposed inside the guide vanes (col 6 line 56 – col 7 line 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Niergarth to include Wood’s teachings as described above, having channels inside the guide vanes, in order to cool fluid which is then carried back parts of the engine (col 6 line 56 – col 7 line 6). This modification would result in the configuration:
the heat exchanger comprises a channel defined within an interior of the at least one fan exit guide vane,
the channel having a first end connected to the at least one input port and a second end connected to the at least one outlet port.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the prior art reference(s) as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of US 8333552 B2 (hereinafter Wood).
Regarding claim 16, Niergarth, as modified above, discloses all claim limitations (see above) except:
step of passing further comprises passing the heated fluid from the thermal management system of the hybrid electric engine through a channel defined within the at least one fan exit guide vane located aft of the rotor fan of the hybrid electric engine.
However, Wood, in the same field of endeavor, turbine engines, teaches:
A system of heat exchanging outlet guide vanes in Fig 1 wherein the out let guide vanes (72; Fig 3) have a plurality of tubes 64 disposed inside the guide vanes (col 6 line 56 – col 7 line 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Niergarth to include Wood’s teachings as described above, having channels inside the guide vanes, in order to cool fluid which is then carried back parts of the engine (col 6 line 56 – col 7 line 6). This modification would result in the configuration:
step of passing further comprises passing the heated fluid from the thermal management system of the hybrid electric engine through a channel defined within the at least one fan exit guide vane located aft of the rotor fan of the hybrid electric engine.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the prior art reference(s) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 20160131036 A1 (hereinafter Bintz).
Regarding claim 6, Niergarth, as modified above, discloses all claim limitations (see above) except:
the thermal management system further comprises a tank for storing the working fluid received from the at least one outlet port and cooled by the heat exchanger.
However, Bintz, in the same field of endeavor, turbine engines, teaches:
A thermal management system (Fig 2) which comprises a tank (140; Fig 2) for storing the working fluid received from the at least one outlet port and cooled by the heat exchanger (note that the tank is shown downstream of the heat source which is where Applicant’s tank is shown).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Niergarth to include Bintz’s teachings as described above, having the thermal management system further comprise a tank for storing the working fluid received from the at least one outlet port and cooled by the heat exchanger, in order to accumulate and store heated liquid coolant prior to cooling (paragraph 0038).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the prior art reference(s) as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of US 20160131036 A1 (hereinafter Bintz).
Regarding claim 20, Niergarth, as modified above, discloses all claim limitations (see above) except:
the step of providing further comprises storing the cooled working fluid received from the at least one outlet port connected to the heat exchanger in a tank.
However, Bintz, in the same field of endeavor, turbine engines, teaches:
A thermal management system (Fig 2) which comprises a tank (140; Fig 2) for storing the working fluid received from the at least one outlet port and cooled by the heat exchanger (note that the tank is shown downstream of the heat source which is where Applicant’s tank is shown).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Niergarth to include Bintz’s teachings as described above, having the step of providing further comprises storing the cooled working fluid received from the at least one outlet port connected to the heat exchanger in a tank, in order to accumulate and store heated liquid coolant prior to cooling (paragraph 0038).
Conclusion
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/Art Golik/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
/COURTNEY D HEINLE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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