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 6-7 and 11 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 6 recites the limitation "the air deflector" which renders the claim indefinite. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because none of claims 6, 5, and 1 disclose “an air deflector”. Because claim 3 recites “an air deflector”, it is believed that claim 6 is intended to depend from claim 3, in addition to claims 5 and 1 from which it currently depends, and the claims will be examined as such.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the first and second edges" in which renders the claim indefinite. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because none of claims 7, 6, 5, and 1 disclose “a first edge” nor do they disclose “a second edge”. Because claims 2 and 4 discloses the first and second edges, it is believed that claim 7 is intended to depend from claim 4, in addition to claims 6, 5, 3, 2, and 1 from which it currently depends, and the claims will be examined as such.
Claim 11 recites the limitation "the first surface area" in which renders the claim indefinite. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because none of claims 11, 9, and 1 disclose “a first surface area”. Because claim 10 discloses “a first surface rea”, it is believed that claim 11 is intended to depend from claim 10, in addition to claims 9 and 1 from which it currently depends, and the claim will be examined as such
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.
(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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 11,246,241 B1 (herein “Ross”).
Regarding claim 1. Ross discloses an air-to-liquid heat exchanger (Fig. 1A) capable of being disposed on a support surface (bottom/floor at 102), the air-to-liquid heat exchanger comprising:
a frame (102);
a heat exchanger panel (122 and 124) mounted to the frame, the heat exchanger panel being configured to circulate a channelized cooling liquid from a liquid inlet to a liquid outlet (shown in Figs. 9A, 9B, and 9C), the heat exchanger panel extending substantially orthogonally to the support surface (shown in Figs. 1A and 1B); and
a fan assembly (120) mounted to the frame, the fan assembly comprising at least one fan configured to pull ambient air through the heat exchanger panel (shown in Fig. 1B), each of the at least one fan being rotatable about a rotation axis, the rotation axis extending substantially parallel to the support surface and at an angle with respect to a normal of the heat exchanger panel (shown in Fig. 1A – fan axle parallel to floor surface and at an angle to surface of heat exchangers 122 and 124).
Regarding claim 2. Ross discloses the air-to-liquid heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein:
the frame defines a plurality of edges (Fig. 1 – edges shown by dashed lines of 102), and
the at least one fan is disposed along a first one of the plurality of edges (Fig. 1 – fans 120 disposed along edges including 116 and 112).
Regarding claim 3. Ross discloses the air-to-liquid heat exchanger of claim 2, wherein the fan assembly further comprises an air deflector (plates 108 adjacent surface of 120) configured to convey the ambient air from the heat exchanger panel to the at least one fan.
Regarding claim 4. Ross discloses the air-to-liquid heat exchanger of claim 3, wherein the air deflector extends from a second one of the plurality of edges opposed to the first edge to the fan assembly (plate 108 extends from top edge of fan surface 120).
Regarding claim 5. Ross discloses the air-to-liquid heat exchanger of claim 1, wherein the angle is between 45° and 90° (shown in Figs. 1B and 1C – the angle can range from 45 to 90 degrees).
Regarding claim 6. Ross discloses the air-to-liquid heat exchanger of claim 5, wherein the air deflector has a triangular shape (the deflector ceiling surface 108 forms a triangular shape between top edge of surface 120, top edge of 122, and top edge of 124).
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.
Claims 8-11 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ross in view of US 2025/0071930 A1 (herein “Kolar”).
Regarding claims 8 and 9.
Ross does not disclose modular data center including a second air-to-liquid heat exchanger.
Kolar discloses a modular data center (Figs. 1 and 10) including first and second cooling units (104) (Fig. 10 – multiple stacks 100 adjacent to one another) being disposed in a side-by-side configuration.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combined the modular structure of Ross with the modular stacked data center teachings of Kolar in order to provide as many cooling structures as may be required while also providing walkable connections between the floors so as to allow the multiple units to be traversed and serviced more easily.
Regarding claim 8. The combined teachings of Ross and Kolar disclose an air cooling assembly comprising: a first air-to-liquid heat exchanger according to claim 1 (Ross); and a second air-to-liquid heat exchanger according to claim 1 (heat exchanger of Ross) (multiple units taught by Kolar), the second air-to-liquid heat exchanger being disposed in a side-by-side configuration with the first air-to-liquid heat exchanger such that the heat exchanger panel of the first and second air-to-liquid heat exchanger are parallel and face a same direction (Fig. 10 – all units are adjacent one another in the same orientation), wherein: an intake area of the second air-to-liquid heat exchanger for pulling ambient air by the at least one fan thereof is distinct from an exhaustion area of the at least one fan of the first air-to-liquid heat exchanger (Ross discloses that the air intake and exhaust are on opposite longitudinal sides while Kolar discloses that the multiple units are adjacent to one another in their width direction, thereby keepings the intake of one unit distinct from an exhaustion are of the adjacent).
Regarding claim 9. The combined teachings of Ross and Kolar disclose a modular datacenter (Kolar: Fig. 1) comprising: a containment unit configured to house electronic devices (Kolar: 103); a pad structure platform (Ross: bottom/floor at 102) mounted on a top surface of the containment unit (Kolar: 104 mounted on top of 103); and an air-to-liquid heat exchanger according to claim 1 (Ross), mounted on the pad structure platform and configured to cool channelized cooling liquid by discharging thermal energy thereof into a vicinity of an outside of the containment unit (Ross: Fig. 2) (Kolar: [0050] cooling fluid provided to other module in the stack), the pad structure platform being configured to permit circulation of a human operator along a circulation path (Kolar: Fig. 6A), the circulation path extending along at least a portion of the fan assembly and at least a portion of the heat exchanger panel air-to-liquid heat exchanger (Kolar: Fig. 6A – the walking surface area extends the entire distance of the cooling unit 601).
Regarding claim 10. The combined teachings of Ross and Kolar disclose the modular data center of claim 9, wherein: the pad structure platform occupies a first surface area (Kolar: shown in Fig. 6A) on the top surface of the containment unit, and the air-to-liquid heat exchanger occupying a second surface area (area 601) on the pad structure platform, a size of the second surface being smaller than a size of the first surface area (shown in Fig. 6A, the area of 601 is smaller than the first surface area).
Regarding claim 11. The combined teachings of Ross and Kolar disclose the modular datacenter of claim 9, wherein the first surface area is smaller than a surface of the top surface (Kolar: Fig. 10 – area 602 extends upward from below unit 104, therefore the first surface is smaller than the top surface).
Regarding claim 14. The combined teachings of Ross and Kolar disclose a that the modular datacenter further comprises a second containment unit, a second cooling loop, a second pad structure, and a second heat exchanger according to claim 1 (Kolar: Fig. 10 shown multiple full stacks), wherein the first and second pad structure platforms being configured to enable passage of the human operator from the first pad structure platform to the second pad structure platform (Kolar: Fig. 10 shows the walkways between stacks).
Regarding claim 15. The combined teachings of Ross and Kolar disclose the modular datacenter of claim 14, wherein the first and second pad structure platforms respectively include a first fence defining a first door and a second fence defining a second door, the first and second doors being, in use, aligned with one another to face one another, the first and second doors being selectively open or close to enable passage of the human operator (Kolar: [0057]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 12-13 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 as well as being rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jon T. Schermerhorn Jr. whose telephone number is (571)270-5283. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Len Tran can be reached at (571) 272-1184. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JON T. SCHERMERHORN JR./ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763