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 .
Email Communication
Applicant is encouraged to authorize the Examiner to communicate via email by filing form PTO/SB/439 either via USPS, Central Fax, or EFS-Web. See MPEP 502.01, 502, 502.05.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the:
Limitations of claim 2; and
Limitations of claim 3;
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 3 recites, “wherein a thermal conductive coating is provided between a heating element and the indoor evaporative liquid cooling cold plate” which appears to be incorrect. It appears it should be changed to read, “wherein a thermal conductive coating is provided between the computer device and the evaporative liquid cooling cold plate”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gao (US 11,116,114).
With respect to claim 1, Gao teaches (In Figs 1, 2 and 7) an air-conditioning system for a data center (Title), comprising: a heat exchange unit (110), a flow distribution unit (201), an evaporative liquid cooling cold plate (720 + 730), and an air-cooled air conditioner (121); wherein the heat exchange unit (110) is arranged outside a data center computer room (120, see Fig 1), and the flow distribution unit (201 within 122) and the air-cooled air conditioner (121) are arranged inside the data center computer room (See Fig 1); the heat exchange unit (110) is connected to the flow distribution unit (201) by means of a refrigerant pipe (112) and is mounted higher than the flow distribution unit (See Fig 1); and the evaporative liquid cooling cold plate (720 + 730) is contact-mounted on a computer device (710) in the data center computer room (See Figs 1, 2, 7).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao in view of Gao (US 11,627,687 – hereinafter, “Gao-687”).
With respect to claim 2, Gao teaches the limitations of claim 1 as per above but fails to specifically teach or suggest wherein the flow distribution unit comprises a manifold, a hose, and a quick coupler; and a first end of the hose is connected to the evaporative liquid cooling cold plate by means of the quick coupler, and a second end of the hose is connected to the manifold.
Gao-687, however, teaches (In Fig 2) wherein a flow distribution unit comprises a manifold (See Fig 2, “manifolds”), a hose (128), and a quick coupler and a first end of the hose is connected to an evaporative liquid cooling cold plate (400) by means of the quick coupler (Col. 9, ll. 22-27, “In another embodiment, each server chassis is coupled to the cooling liquid manifold through a quick-release coupling assembly having a server liquid intake connector and a server liquid outlet connector coupled to a flexible hose to distribute the cooling liquid to cold plates to which the processors are coupled.”, where, here Gao-687 is describing that the hose has two quick connect couplers, one which couples to 400 and another which couples to the manifold), and a second end of the hose is connected to the manifold (See Fig 2).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Gao-687 with that of Gao such that, in Gao, the flow distribution unit comprises a manifold, a hose, and a quick coupler; and a first end of the hose is connected to the evaporative liquid cooling cold plate by means of the quick coupler, and a second end of the hose is connected to the manifold, as taught by Gao-687, since doing so would allow for easy disassembly of the cold plate from the manifold in the event that maintenance needs to be performed on elements of the IT device and/or flow distribution unit.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao in view of Berenholz et al. (US 5,168,919 – hereinafter, “Berenholz”).
With respect to claim 3, Gao teaches the limitations of claim 1 as per above but fails to specifically teach or suggest wherein a thermal conductive coating is provided between the computing device and the evaporative liquid cooling cold plate.
Berenholz, however, teaches a thermal conductive coating is provided between a computing device (14) and an evaporative liquid cooling cold plate (20, Col. 4, ll. 54-56, “Alternatively, the electrical isolation could be provided by coating the cold plate with a surface dielectric”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Berenholz with that of Gao such that, in Gao, a thermal conductive coating is provided between the computing device and the evaporative liquid cooling cold plate, as taught by Berenholz, since doing so would provide electrical isolation between the cold plate and the computing device (Berenholz: Col. 4, ll. 54-56).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao in view of Wang et al. (CN 111246713 – hereinafter, “Wang”).
With respect to claim 4, Gao teaches the limitations of claim 1 as per above and further teaches that the air conditioner is an inter-row air conditioner (See Fig 1) but fails to specifically teach or suggest wherein the air-cooled air conditioner is a fluorine pump air-cooled air conditioner.
Wang, however, teaches an air-cooled air conditioner which is a fluorine pump air-cooled air conditioner (“the fluorine pump air conditioner system comprises respectively set on the top and the bottom of the cabinet of the cooling module and the heat exchange module of the data centre top part”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Wang with that of Gao such that, in Gao, the air-cooled air conditioner is a fluorine pump air-cooled inter-row air conditioner, as taught by Wang, since doing so would provide for an air conditioner which has good efficiency.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao in view of Morales et al. (US 8,639,459 – hereinafter, “Morales”) and further in view of Ishizaka (US 2021/0190357).
With respect to claim 5, Gao teaches the limitations of claim 1 as per above but fails to specifically teach or suggest a power distribution monitoring unit arranged inside the data center computer room, wherein the power distribution monitoring unit is configured to monitor and control an operating state of the air-cooled air conditioner.
Morales, however, teaches (In Fig 2) a power distribution monitoring unit (108) arranged inside a data center computer room (160, see Fig 2).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Morales with that of Gao such that, in Gao, a power distribution monitoring unit is arranged inside the data center computer room, as taught by Morales, since doing so would allow for power monitoring of the devices within the room.
With respect to the limitations that the power distribution monitoring unit is configured to monitor and control an operating state of the air-cooled air conditioner, Ishizaka teaches a monitoring unit (30) which is configured to monitor and control an operating state of an air conditioner (¶ 0055, 0067).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Ishizaka with that of Gao as modified by Morales such that, in modified Gao, the power distribution monitoring unit is modified to be configured to monitor and control an operating state of the air-cooled air conditioner, as taught by Ishizaka, since doing so would allow for the monitoring unit of modified Gao to have additional air conditioning management and control functionality so as to be able to provide control to the air conditioner of Gao.
Conclusion
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/ZACHARY PAPE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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