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.
Claim(s) 1 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2012/0218711 to KASHIRAJIMA et al. (hereafter Kash) in view of US 2015/0068702 to SO et al.
As to claim 1, Kash discloses a liquid cooling system (34, 36, 38, 40) for a data center (FIG. 3), comprising: an outdoor condenser (38), an indoor evaporator (34), a temperature sensor (65), wherein the outdoor condenser and the indoor evaporator are connected through a pipeline (40) to form a loop, and the outdoor condenser is arranged higher than the indoor evaporator (para [0059] Meanwhile, a cooling tower 38 is provided on the roof of the building 12); and the temperature sensor is arranged on an outlet pipeline of the outdoor condenser. Kash fails to disclose a heating sleeve, and the heating sleeve arranged on an outlet pipeline of the outdoor condenser. SO teaches in a liquid cooling system (FIG. 10) a heating sleeve (80) arranged on an outlet pipeline of cold water supply apparatus (12). As the outdoor condenser of Kash is essentially a cold water supply apparatus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the outlet pipeline of Kash with the heating sleeve of SO in order to raise the temperature of a coolant entering an electronic device so as to prevent condensation on or near the device as taught by SO (para [0080]).
As to claim 10, Kash discloses a control method for a liquid cooling system (para [0003]), wherein the control method is applied to a liquid cooling system (FIG. 3, 34, 36, 38, 40) comprising an outdoor condenser (38), an indoor evaporator (34), a temperature sensor (65), the control method comprising: detecting a current outlet temperature of the outdoor condenser by means of a temperature sensor (para [0068] temperature sensors 65 and 67 are provided at a cooling tower outlet port); comparing the current outlet temperature with a preset operating condition (para [0068] The measurement results of the respective temperature sensors 63, 65 and 67 are sequentially input in a parallel control part 71, and the parallel control part 71 controls the respective valves 59, 61 and 69 based on the measurement result, that is to say the readings of temperature sensor 65 is used to determine a function of the system based off of a preset operating condition). Kash fails to disclose a heating sleeve, and determining whether to heat a refrigerant by means of a heating sleeve according to a temperature comparison result. SO teaches a heating sleeve (80) used in an evaporative system (FIG. 10), as well as determining whether to heat a refrigerant (para [0080] The heater 80 is provided for raising the temperature of the cold water entering the electronic device 10) by means of a heating sleeve (80) according to a temperature comparison result (para [0082] if the temperature of the warm water becomes extremely low, a dew condensation in the electronic device 10 is suppressed by raising the temperature of the cold water supplied to the electronic device 10 by driving the heater 80 to heat the cold water by the heat generated by the heater 80). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the outlet pipeline of Kash with the heating sleeve of SO in order to raise the temperature of a coolant entering an electronic device so as to prevent condensation on or near the device as taught by SO (para [0080]).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2012/0218711 to KASHIRAJIMA et al. (hereafter Kash) in view of US 2015/0068702 to SO et al. and further in view of US 7,511,959 to Belady.
As to claim 7, Kash discloses a data center comprising a server cabinet (26) and a liquid cooling system (FIG. 3, 34, 36, 38, 40); the liquid cooling system comprises: an outdoor condenser (38), an indoor evaporator (34), a temperature sensor (65), the outdoor condenser and the indoor evaporator are connected through a pipeline (40) to form a loop, and the outdoor condenser is arranged higher than the indoor evaporator (on the roof); and the temperature sensor is arranged (65) on an outlet pipeline of the outdoor condenser. Kash fails to disclose a heating sleeve, and the heating sleeve arranged on an outlet pipeline of the outdoor condenser. SO teaches in a liquid cooling system (FIG. 10) a heating sleeve (80) arranged on an outlet pipeline of cold water supply apparatus (12). As the outdoor condenser of Kash is essentially a cold water supply apparatus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the outlet pipeline of Kash with the heating sleeve of SO in order to raise the temperature of a coolant entering an electronic device so as to prevent condensation on or near the device as taught by SO (para [0080]). Kash also fails to disclose an edge data center comprising a container shell. Belady teaches an edge data center (10, Fig. 3) with an outdoor condenser (16) and a liquid cooling system (14, 15), and comprising a container shell (11). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the cooling system of Kash to be contained in a shell as taught by Belady in order to allow mobility to the system.
Claim(s) 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2012/0218711 to KASHIRAJIMA et al. (hereafter Kash) in view of US 2015/0068702 to SO et al. and US 7,511,959 to Belady and further in view of US 2015/0134123 to Obinelo.
As to claim 8, modified Kash teach the edge data center as claimed in claim 7. Kash further discloses an air cooling system (78). Kash and SO fail to disclose further comprising an indoor inter-row air conditioner and a power distribution monitoring unit wherein the power distribution monitoring unit is configured to monitor and control an operating state of the inter-row air conditioner. Obinelo teaches an indoor inter-row air conditioner (121) and a power distribution monitoring unit (213) wherein the power distribution monitoring unit is configured to monitor and control an operating state of the inter-row air conditioner ([0028], “In an example, a CFD circuit can be used for live-monitoring or control of HVAC or other air-handling systems, such as to maximize energy efficiency in an environment.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the edge data center of modified Kash with the inter-row air conditioner and power distribution monitoring unit of Obinelo in order to maximize energy efficiency as taught by Obinelo.
As to claim 9, modified Kash teach the edge data center as claimed in claim 8. Kash fails to disclose wherein the inter-row air conditioner is a fluorine pump air-cooled inter-row air conditioner. Belady teaches the use of fluorine (col. 2, ll. 33-34, “The coolant may be water, or a refrigerant, such as r134a” (tetrafluoroethene as disclosed by Applicant para [0068])) pumped air conditioner (21, Fig. 2) in a similar endeavor. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the coolant being pumped by Kash to use fluorine as fluorine is known in the art as known method of refrigerant as taught by Belady.
Claim(s) 2, 11, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2012/0218711 to KASHIRAJIMA et al. (hereafter Kash) in view of US 2015/0068702 to SO et al. and further in view of US 2019/0127253 to Thomas et al.
As to claim 2, Kash in view of SO discloses the liquid cooling system as claimed in claim 1. Kash fails to disclose wherein a pressure sensor and a frequency converter are further arranged on the outlet pipeline of the outdoor condenser. Thomas teaches the use of a pressure sensor (para [0137-138]) located at a condenser outlet to stabilize the temperature of the condenser through the use of fans connected to a frequency converter. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the cooling system of Kash with the pressure sensor and frequency drive of Thomas in order to control the flow rate of the condenser as a function of pressure as taught by Thomas.
As to claim 11, modified Kash discloses the method of claim 10. Kash and SO fail to disclose further comprising: detecting a current outlet pressure of the outdoor condenser by means of a pressure sensor; comparing the current outlet pressure with the preset operating condition; and determining whether to regulate a liquid supply pressure of the condenser by means of a frequency converter according to a pressure comparison result. Thomas teaches detecting a current outlet pressure of a condenser by means of a pressure sensor (para [0137] a pressure sensor measures the gas pressure at the condenser outlet); comparing the current outlet pressure with the preset operating condition (para [0138] When the temperature of the coolant is too high, this results in the measurement of a higher pressure by the pressure sensor. “Higher pressure” indicating the pressure has exceeded a predetermined value); and determining whether to regulate a liquid supply pressure of the condenser by means of a frequency converter according to a pressure comparison result (para [0139] According to the option selected by the user, the microcontroller adapts, with frequency converters, the speed of fan 18 (and of the fan(s) of the condenser, if any) and the power of the compressor that controls the refrigerant fluid/gas flow rate.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the cooling system of Kash and SO with the pressure sensor and frequency drive of Thomas in order to control the flow rate of the condenser as a function of pressure as taught by Thomas.
As to claim 12, modified Kash discloses the method of claim 10. Kash further discloses a preset operating condition comprising a preset temperature (para [0068] The measurement results of the respective temperature sensors 63, 65 and 67 are sequentially input in a parallel control part 71, and the parallel control part 71 controls the respective valves 59, 61 and 69 based on the measurement result, that is to say the readings of temperature sensor 65 is used to determine a function of the system based off of a preset operating). Kash further teaches pressure sensors (para [0068] both the liquid temperature sensors 65 and 67 and the pressure sensors may be provided). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the preset operating condition of Kash to be based off of an input of a pressure sensor or a temperature sensor as these are obvious variants of each other as is well known in the art and taught by Kash.
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2012/0218711 to KASHIRAJIMA et al. (hereafter Kash) in view of US 2015/0068702 to SO et al. and further in view of US 2023/0389236 to Amalfi et al.
As to claim 3, Kash in view of SO discloses the liquid cooling system as claimed in claim 1. Kash and SO fail to disclose wherein a pressure sensor and a temperature sensor are arranged on an inlet pipeline of the outdoor condenser. Amalfi teaches a liquid cooling system (see annotated FIG. 3 below) comprising a pressure sensor (221) and a temperature sensor (223) arranged on an inlet pipeline of condenser (105). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify inlet pipeline of the condenser of Kash with pressure and temperature sensors as taught by Amalfi in order to accurately monitor the state of the cooling system.
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As to claim 4, modified Kash discloses the liquid cooling system as claimed in claim 1. Kash and SO fail to disclose wherein a valve is arranged on the outlet pipeline and the inlet pipeline of the indoor evaporator, respectively. Amalfi teaches valves (705, FIG. 7) located on the outlet pipeline (para [0117], line 3) and inlet pipeline (para [0117] line 2) of evaporator (103, para [0117] lines 1-3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the inlet and outlet of the evaporator of Kash with valves as taught by Amalfi to allow cutoff of fluid to the evaporator in the instance of repair needs (para 0117]).
Claim(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2012/0218711 to KASHIRAJIMA et al. (hereafter Kash) in view of US 2015/0068702 to SO et al. and further in view of US 2006/0005980 to Garner.
As to claim 5, Kash in view of SO disclose the liquid cooling system as claimed in claim 1. Kash further teaches the use of a server in a data center (para [0005] line 6). Kash and SO fail to disclose wherein the indoor evaporator comprises an evaporative liquid cooling cold plate attached to a heating element of a server in the data center. Garner teaches an evaporator (FIG. 4) comprising an evaporative liquid cooling cold plate (70) attached to a heating element (15,16) of a server (8, FIG. 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the liquid cooled system of Kash with a cold plate based system as taught by Garner to facilitate superior conductive cooling to the electronic components.
As to claim 6, modified Kash disclose the liquid cooling system as claimed in claim 5. Kash and SO fail to disclose wherein a thermal conductive coating is provided between the heating element and the evaporative liquid cooling cold plate. Garner teaches a thermal conductive coating (72) provided between the heating element (15,16) and the evaporative liquid cold plate (70). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the filing to modify the liquid cooled system of Kash and SO with a cold plate based system as taught by Garner to facilitate superior conductive cooling to the electronic components.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 2017/0205131 to Yun et al. teaches a heater on an outlet pipe of a condenser. US 5,632,919 to MacCracken et al. discloses a heated sleeve for condensation prevention.
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/JAMIL ALEXANDER DECKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2841
/ROBERT J HOFFBERG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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