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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I/Species A in the reply filed on 7/22/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Day US 2007/0291804 Al in view of CN ‘773 CN116466773A and Harker US 20040184494 A1 .
Re claim 1, Day teach an apparatus which temperature stabilizes at least one device (“laser” para 18), the apparatus comprising: a package (4) comprising a package thermal conductor; a thermally activated switch including: a thermo electric cooler (TEC)(22) including a first TEC surface thermally connected to the package thermal conductor, and a second TEC surface;
a thermally activated actuator (TAA) (24, 80 via 10, para 43, 50-51);
and a thermal conductor (TC) (20) including a TC surface;
the at least one device on and/or in the thermal conductor (fig 2a);
and a temperature compensation system on and/or in the thermal conductor (para 43, 50-51), wherein the temperature compensation system includes at least one temperature sensor (10), , and a processing circuitry (para 50), and wherein the at least one temperature sensor each of which is in the package or thermally coupled to the package thermal conductor, and wherein the at least one temperature sensor is configured to measure a first temperature that is a function of (x) a temperature of an interior environment in the package and/or (y) a temperature of the package (para 50); wherein the thermally activated switch is configured to (a) thermally couple the thermal conductor and the thermal electric cooler TEC when the first temperature and/or a temperature of the thermally activated actuator exceeds a second temperature threshold level and (b) thermally decouple the thermal conductor and the thermal electric cooler TEC when the first temperature and/or the temperature of the thermally activated actuator is less than the second temperature threshold level (para 50); wherein the second temperature threshold level is greater than the first temperature threshold level.
Day fail to teach a heater and controls.
CN ‘773 teach a heater (5), wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the heater to heat the at least one device when the first temperature is below a first temperature threshold level and to not heat the at least one device when the first temperature is above the first temperature threshold level (fig 1 ), wherein the thermally activated switch is configured to (a) thermally couple the thermal conductor and the thermal electric cooler TEC when the first temperature and/or a temperature of the thermally activated actuator exceeds a second temperature threshold level and (b) thermally decouple the thermal conductor and the thermal electric cooler TEC when the first temperature and/or the temperature of the thermally activated actuator is less than the second temperature threshold level (para 50); wherein the second temperature threshold level is greater than the first temperature threshold level (fig 1) to add a PID TEC circuit.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include a heater and controls as taught by CN ‘773 in the Day invention in order to advantageously allow for fine laser temperature controls.
Additionally, Harker teach a heater , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the heater to heat the at least one device when the first temperature is below a first temperature threshold level and to not heat the at least one device when the first temperature is above the first temperature threshold level , wherein the thermally activated switch is configured to (a) thermally couple the thermal conductor and the thermal electric cooler TEC when the first temperature and/or a temperature of the thermally activated actuator exceeds a second temperature threshold level and (b) thermally decouple the thermal conductor and the thermal electric cooler TEC when the first temperature and/or the temperature of the thermally activated actuator is less than the second temperature threshold level (para 50); wherein the second temperature threshold level is greater than the first temperature threshold level (para 3) to operate lasers in low ambient temperatures.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include a heater and controls as taught by Harker in the Day, as modified, invention in order to advantageously allow for fine tuning laser temperature controls.
Re claim 2, Day teach wherein the at least one device comprises at least one laser (see the rejection of claim 1).
Re claim 3, Day teach wherein the apparatus is an atomic sensor (noting naming a sensor a term is broad and doesn’t change the structure); wherein the at least one device comprises at least one of: at least one laser, at least one integrated circuit, at least one source of electromagnetic energy, a mechanical structure, an atomic reservoir, and optics (see the rejection of claim 1).
Re claim 4, Harker teach wherein the package further comprises a package thermal insulator (204) partially or wholly covering an interior surface of the package thermal conductor (fig 2) to operate lasers in low ambient temperatures.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include a heater and controls as taught by Harker in the Day, as modified, invention in order to advantageously allow for fine tuning laser temperature controls.
Re claim 6, Day, as modified, teach wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to activate the thermal electric cooler TEC when the thermally activated switch thermally couples the thermal conductor and the thermal electric cooler TEC; wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to deactivate the thermal electric cooler TEC when the thermally activated switch thermally decouples the thermal conductor and the thermal electric cooler TEC (noting the broad terminology is met by turning the circuity on and off).
It is also unclear whether or not the limitations after the phrase “when” actually occur/are required since the term “when” is a conditional phrase.
Re claim 7, Day teach wherein the thermally activated actuator comprises a first thermal conductor portion and a second thermal conductor portion which are thermally isolated from one another by a thermal insulator; wherein the first thermal conductor portion is thermally coupled to the package thermal conductor; wherein the second thermal conductor portion is configured to form a thermal connection between the TC surface and the second TEC surface (noting all parts a thermally connected to a degree, and 24 see fig 2a, 2b is a sub assembly, para 52, are well known to haver components mounted on and chip/substrate which is a semiconductor with insulative properties as compared to a pure metal heat spreader for example).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Day US 2007 /0291804 Al in view of CN ‘773 CN116466773A and Weisensee US 20220042754 A1 .
Re claim 5, Day, as modified, fail to teach actuator details.
Weisensee wherein the thermally activated actuator comprises at least one of a wax motor and a bimetallic strip; wherein the thermally activated switch performs thermal coupling and thermal decoupling based on the temperature of the thermally activated actuator (para 8) to use a particular actuator.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include actuator details as taught by Weisensee in the Day, as modified, invention in order to advantageously allow for use of an actuator known in the art for temperature control which is passive.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 12727122 B1 teach a wax motor..
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/GORDON A JONES/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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