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 1-14, 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. Regarding Claim 1; in 3rd line from bottom, “a coolant” shall be presented as “the coolant”; whereas a coolant is already asserted in line 9, and the last two lines constitutes the respective flow chambers as fluidly connected. Further, “the at least one relay (16) of the battery disconnect unit (18) or” asserted in line 12 shall be removed from the claim; whereas the or-conditioned defines a different claim construction that is not deemed as allowable. Going further, “a cooling plate (10) for cooling at least one component (12) … wherein the at least one component (12) can be arranged on the component portion (30) of the first plate (26)” is hereby deemed to read on more than one plausible claim construction which read on different inventive structures; whereas the one component may be construed as i.e. a heat generating device (examined claim construction) or otherwise as a bus bar or heat spreader (non-examined claim construction) etc. Regarding Claim(s) 9-12; varying asserted structures including but not limited to a battery disconnect unit (see subsequent spelling error in claim 9 line 2), a battery unit, at least one consumer, a cooling plate, atleast one component, atleast one relay, a drive system etc. are already asserted in claim 1, and thus shall asserted with proper antecedence or otherwise properly asserted in addition to and/or connected thereto that which is already asserted. In re: claims 1-14; the office hereby notes that all item-to-item citations shall be removed from each claim. Due to the outstanding number of informalities, the Office notes that the above objections are a non-exhaustive list, and thus requests Applicant’s cooperation with reviewing the claims and correcting all remaining informalities present in the claims, but not made of record above. Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14, are hereby deemed as allowed, assuming all deficiencies are corrected; and each claim construction as constructively elected is presented (including the atleast one component as a heat generating device; and only presenting the or-condition defined by: wherein at least one fastening element (36) of the at least one relay (16) of the battery disconnect unit).
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: whereas the office herein notes that “can be arranged” is herein interpreted as “is arranged” in atleast one plausible claim construction either directly or indirectly; whereas “can be arranged on the component portion of the first plate” in line 8 is only construed as arranged on an outside of the component portion; “can be arranged on the relay portion” is only construed as arranged on an outside of the relay portion and the office further notes the inventive structure is defined by the underlined claim construction, and the combination of bolded limitations thereof is not found in the prior art of record and/or the cited references below:
Regarding Claim 1; a cooling plate (10) for cooling at least one component (12) and at least one power electronics unit (14), and for cooling at least one relay (16) of a battery disconnect unit (18) used for disconnecting a battery unit (20) from at least one consumer (22) of a drive system (24), the cooling plate comprising: a first plate (26), and a second plate (28), wherein the first plate (26) and the second plate (28) comprise a component portion (30), wherein the at least one component (12) can be arranged on the component portion (30) of the first plate (26), and wherein a first flow chamber (32) for a coolant is provided in the component portion (30) between the first plate (26) and the second plate (28), wherein the first plate (26) and the second plate (28) comprise a relay portion (34), wherein at least one fastening element (36) of the at least one relay (16) of the battery disconnect unit (18) can be arranged on the relay portion (34), and wherein a second flow chamber (38) for a coolant is provided in the relay portion (34) between the first plate (26) and the second plate (28), wherein the first flow chamber (32) and the second flow chamber (38) are fluidically connected. Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20250266526 A1
Schmitt; Markus
Fig.’s 3, 5
DE 102023207456 A1
SCHMITT MARKUS et al.
Fig.’s 1-3
US 20110013365 A1
OOTA; Shinsuke
Fig. 1
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to COURTNEY SMITH whose telephone number is (571)272-9094. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5p.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jayprakash Gandhi can be reached at 571-272-3740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/COURTNEY L SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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