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 Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Lines 16-17: “the second air intake” and “the first air intake” should be amended to recite “the second air intake port” and “the first air intake port”.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6, 8 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Scherler (US 11516946 B2).
As to Claim 1, Scherler discloses:
A control apparatus (generator 10, see Fig. 4; col. 1, Lines 28-30 “generators include relatively low-power control circuitry for providing control signals to one or more high-power amplifier circuits”) comprising:
a first chamber (see Fig. below) into which air is configured to flow from an outside of the control apparatus 10 and which has a cross-sectional area of flow (see cross sectional area in Fig. below; col. 6, Lines 23-29 “The front panel 46 is shown from a front view of the generator 10 in FIG. 2. The fan can operate in either direction (it can be bidirectional). The front panel 46 includes a fan inlet/outlet 30 comprising holes through the front panel through which air can be sucked into/expelled from the housing 18 of the generator 10 by operation of the fan 34”; air enters from outside 10);
a second chamber (see Fig. below) which communicates with the first chamber such that the air flows from the first chamber to the second chamber and which has a cross-sectional area of flow smaller than the cross-sectional area of flow of the first chamber (air flows from defined first chamber to second chamber, cross sectional area of defined second chamber smaller than first chamber); and
a third chamber (see Fig. below) which communicates with the second chamber such that the air flows from the second chamber to the third chamber and which has a cross-sectional area of flow smaller than the cross-sectional area of flow of the second chamber (air flows from defined second chamber to third chamber, cross sectional area of defined third chamber smaller than second chamber; col. 5, Lines 58-64 “the duct 50 is such as to have a reducing cross-sectional area from a higher cross-sectional area region 36 at one end of the high-power compartment 20 adjacent the power amplifier 14 to a reduced cross-sectional area region 38 at an opposed end of the high-power compartment 20 adjacent the low-power circuit 24”).
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As to Claim 2, Scherler discloses:
further comprising:
a first fan 34 provided in at least one of the first chamber (34 disposed in highlighted first chamber) and the third chamber and configured to allow the air to flow into the second chamber from the first chamber (col. 6, Lines 23-29 “The front panel 46 is shown from a front view of the generator 10 in FIG. 2. The fan can operate in either direction (it can be bidirectional). The front panel 46 includes a fan inlet/outlet 30 comprising holes through the front panel through which air can be sucked into/expelled from the housing 18 of the generator 10 by operation of the fan 34”; air enters from outside 10, into first chamber, then second chamber),
wherein the second chamber houses a component to be cooled (cooling fins 44 disposed in defined second chamber), and
wherein the air is discharged from the third chamber to the outside (air expelled from highlighted third chamber via 32, col. 6, Lines 34-36 “a cooling air inlet/outlet 32, which includes holes through the back panel 48 allowing air to be expelled from/sucked into the housing 18 of the generator 10 by operation of the fan 34”).
As to Claim 3, Scherler discloses:
wherein the first chamber comprises
a first intake port via which the air flows into the first chamber from the outside (see Fig. below), and
a first exhaust port via which the air flows out to the second chamber from the first chamber (see Fig. below),
wherein the second chamber comprises
a second intake port via which the air flows into the second chamber from the first chamber (see Fig. below), and
a second exhaust port via which the air flows out to the third chamber from the second chamber (see Fig. below),
wherein the second intake port has a cross-sectional area of flow which is smaller than a cross-sectional area of flow of the first intake port (highlighted second intake port has a smaller cross-sectional area of flow than highlighted first intake port), and
wherein the second exhaust port has a cross-sectional area of flow which is smaller than the cross-sectional area of flow of the second intake port (highlighted second exhaust port has a smaller cross-sectional area than highlighted second intake port).
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As to Claim 4, Scherler discloses:
wherein the third chamber comprises
a third intake port via which the air flows into the third chamber from the second chamber (see Fig. below), and
a third exhaust port via which the air flows out to the outside from the third chamber (see Fig. below),
wherein the third exhaust port includes a cross-sectional area of flow which is smaller than a cross-sectional area of flow of the third intake port (highlighted third exhaust port has a smaller cross-sectional area than highlighted third intake port).
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As to Claim 6, Scherler discloses:
a housing (housing 18) containing the first chamber, the second chamber, and the third chamber (highlighted first, second and third chamber disposed within housing 18);
wherein the first chamber comprises
a first intake port via which the air flows into the first chamber from the outside (see Fig. below), and
a first exhaust port via which the air flows out to the second chamber from the first chamber (see Fig. below),
wherein the second chamber comprises
a second intake port via which the air flows into the second chamber from the first chamber (see Fig. below), and
a second exhaust port via which the air flows out to the third chamber from the second chamber (see Fig. below),
wherein the third chamber comprises
a third intake port via which the air flows into the third chamber from the second chamber (see Fig. below), and
a third exhaust port via which the air flows out to the outside from the third chamber (see Fig. below), and
wherein the first intake port (highlighted intake port below, e.g., 30 on front panel 46) is provided on a side surface 46 of the housing 18 and the third exhaust port (highlighted third exhaust, e.g., 32 on back panel 48) is provided on a back surface 48 of the housing 18.
As to Claim 8, Scherler discloses:
a plurality of support members (fins 64) provided in the second chamber (fins 64 disposed within highlighted second chamber) to support an electric component or electric components (power amplifier 14, including transistors 26; heat sink 42, including fins 64 on bottom, supports high-power circuit 12 including 14 and 26, col. 5, Lines 44-47 “The heat sink 42 has the high-power circuit 12 mounted thereon and is operative to draw heat away from the high-power circuit 12, particularly the at least one transistor 26”), the plurality of support members 64 forming an air duct in the second chamber (air flows through fins 64 within highlighted second chamber).
As to Claim 12, Scherler discloses:
A cooling method of a control apparatus (generator 10, see cooling in Fig. 4; col. 1, Lines 28-30 “generators include relatively low-power control circuitry for providing control signals to one or more high-power amplifier circuits”), comprising:
letting air flow from an outside of the control apparatus 10 into a first chamber (see Fig. below) which has a cross-sectional area of flow (see cross sectional area in Fig. below; col. 6, Lines 23-29 “The front panel 46 is shown from a front view of the generator 10 in FIG. 2. The fan can operate in either direction (it can be bidirectional). The front panel 46 includes a fan inlet/outlet 30 comprising holes through the front panel through which air can be sucked into/expelled from the housing 18 of the generator 10 by operation of the fan 34”; air enters from outside 10);
letting the air flow from the first chamber to a second chamber (see Fig. below) which has a cross-sectional area of flow smaller than the cross-sectional area of flow of the first chamber (air flows from defined first chamber to second chamber, cross sectional area of defined second chamber smaller than first chamber); and
letting the air flow from the second chamber to a third chamber (see Fig. below) which has a cross-sectional area of flow smaller than the cross-sectional area of flow of the second chamber (air flows from defined second chamber to third chamber, cross sectional area of defined third chamber smaller than second chamber; col. 5, Lines 58-64 “the duct 50 is such as to have a reducing cross-sectional area from a higher cross-sectional area region 36 at one end of the high-power compartment 20 adjacent the power amplifier 14 to a reduced cross-sectional area region 38 at an opposed end of the high-power compartment 20 adjacent the low-power circuit 24”).
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Claims 1 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Loth (US 9192079 B2).
As to Claim 1, Loth discloses:
A control apparatus (motor drive unit 56; see Fig. 2, comprising control circuitry 50) comprising:
a first chamber (highlighted in Fig. below) into which air is configured to flow from an outside of the control apparatus 56 and which has a cross-sectional area of flow (cross-sectional area in Fig. below, air flows into channel 58 from outside; col. 3, Lines 15-17 “The motor drive unit 56 also includes a set of fans 60 to provide a flow of cooling air through the cooling channel 58”);
a second chamber (highlighted in Fig. below) which communicates with the first chamber such that the air flows from the first chamber to the second chamber and which has a cross-sectional area of flow smaller than the cross-sectional area of flow of the first chamber (highlighted second chamber has smaller cross-sectional area than highlighted first chamber); and
a third chamber (highlighted in Fig. below) which communicates with the second chamber such that the air flows from the second chamber to the third chamber and which has a cross-sectional area of flow smaller than the cross-sectional area of flow of the second chamber (highlighted third chamber has smaller cross-sectional area than highlighted first chamber).
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As to Claim 5, Loth discloses:
a housing containing the first chamber, the second chamber, and the third chamber (plates and air directing structure 70 house channel 58 comprising highlighted first, second and third chambers); and
a first fan 60 having a rotation axis (see Fig. below) and provided in the first chamber to allow the air to flow into the second chamber from the first chamber (fans 60 disposed in highlighted first chamber, direct air toward highlighted second chamber),
wherein the first chamber comprises
a first intake port via which the air flows into the first chamber from the outside (see Fig. below), and
a first exhaust port via which the air flows into the second chamber from the first chamber (see Fig. below),
wherein the second chamber comprises
a second intake port via which the air flows into the second chamber from the first chamber (see Fig. below),
a second exhaust port via which the air flows into the third chamber from the second chamber (see Fig. below), and
wherein the first fan 60 is provided such that a direction of the rotation axis faces toward the second air intake port (rotational axis of 60 faces highlighted second air intake) and is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a direction perpendicular to a wall portion of the housing where the first air intake port is provided (see Fig. below, ends of each panel where first intake port is are angled; axis of rotation is inclined with respect to direction perpendicular to end of panel).
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Claims 1 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Aoki (US 20120261100 A1).
As to Claim 1, Aoki discloses:
A control apparatus (inverter 1; Par. 0014 “Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the inverter 1 (the power converter) of the present embodiment is a device for controlling the operation of a motor not shown in the drawing”) comprising:
a first chamber (see Fig. below) into which air is configured to flow from an outside of the control apparatus 1 and which has a cross-sectional area of flow (Par. 0020 “The outer duct 3 and the inner duct 4 are opened at the lower ends and the upper front ends thereof to communicate with the ambient air”);
a second chamber (highlighted in Fig. below) which communicates with the first chamber such that the air flows from the first chamber to the second chamber and which has a cross-sectional area of flow smaller than the cross-sectional area of flow of the first chamber (air flows from highlighted first chamber to highlighted second chamber, second chamber has smaller cross-sectional area than first chamber); and
a third chamber (highlighted in Fig. below) which communicates with the second chamber such that the air flows from the second chamber to the third chamber and which has a cross-sectional area of flow smaller than the cross-sectional area of flow of the second chamber (air flows from highlighted second chamber to highlighted third chamber, third chamber has smaller cross-sectional area than second chamber).
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As to Claim 6, Aoki discloses:
further comprising:
a housing 2 containing the first chamber, the second chamber, and the third chamber (highlighted first, second, third chambers part of duct 3, duct 3 within housing 2; Par. 0015 “the housing 2 is formed into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape by joining metal plates as outer wall portions together”; Par. 0016 “When the housing cover 2b is attached to the housing body 2a, the inside of the housing 2 as a whole becomes a hollow structure in which different components can be stored. In the present embodiment, a wind tunnel portion 5 through which a cooling air flows is provided within the housing body 2a. The wind tunnel portion 5 includes two ducts, i.e., an outer duct 3 and an inner duct 4, which are provided independently of each other so as not to communicate with each other”);
wherein the first chamber comprises
a first intake port via which the air flows into the first chamber from the outside (see Fig. below, at 31oA of Fig. 4), and
a first exhaust port via which the air flows out to the second chamber from the first chamber (see Fig. below, air flows into first chamber via first intake port and to second chamber from first exhaust port),
wherein the second chamber comprises
a second intake port via which the air flows into the second chamber from the first chamber (see Fig. below), and
a second exhaust port via which the air flows out to the third chamber from the second chamber (see Fig. below, air flows from first chamber to second chamber through second intake port, flows out of second chamber and to third chamber via second exhaust port),
wherein the third chamber comprises
a third intake port via which the air flows into the third chamber from the second chamber (see Fig. below), and
a third exhaust port via which the air flows out to the outside from the third chamber (see Fig. below, at 32oA of Fig. 4, air flows into third chamber via third intake port and to the outside via third exhaust port), and
wherein the first intake port is provided on a side surface of the housing 2 (first intake port 31oA disposed on bottom side of housing 2, see port 31o in Fig. 1A) and the third exhaust port is provided on a back surface of the housing 2 (third exhaust port 32oA disposed on side surface of housing, can be interpreted as the back of housing 2, see 32o in Fig. 1A).
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As to Claim 7, Aoki discloses:
wherein the housing 2 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape (Par. 0015 “the housing 2 is formed into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape by joining metal plates as outer wall portions together”), and
wherein the side surface (bottom side of 2) and the back surface (side where 32oA/32o of Fig. 1A is located) of the housing 2 are provided to be adjacent to each other such that the side surface is substantially perpendicular to the back surface (bottom side of 2 and side of 32oA/32o of Fig. 1A are adjacent and perpendicular to each other).
Claims 1 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takasou (US 20080151501 A1).
As to Claim 1, Takasou discloses:
A control apparatus (apparatus of Fig. 1 including navigation board 11, comprises components capable of control, e.g., CPU) comprising:
a first chamber into which air is configured to flow from an outside of the control apparatus and which has a cross-sectional area of flow (see highlighted first chamber with cross-sectional area of flow, Par. 0025 “cooling air is drawn into space between the heat spreader 12 and the board 13 from outside through the air inlet 22”);
a second chamber which communicates with the first chamber such that the air flows from the first chamber to the second chamber and which has a cross-sectional area of flow smaller than the cross-sectional area of flow of the first chamber (see highlighted second chamber, air flows from first chamber to second chamber, wherein highlighted second chamber has smaller cross-sectional area than highlighted first chamber); and
a third chamber which communicates with the second chamber such that the air flows from the second chamber to the third chamber and which has a cross-sectional area of flow smaller than the cross-sectional area of flow of the second chamber (see highlighted third chamber, air flows from second chamber to third chamber, wherein highlighted third chamber has smaller cross-sectional area than highlighted second chamber).
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As to Claim 9, Takasou discloses:
wherein the second chamber (highlighted in Fig. below) houses one electric component (circuit element 15) and a fin 19 of a heat sink 12 of another electric component 14 (wherein fin 19 of heat spreader 12 is in thermal contact with CPU 14), and the one electric component 15 and the another electric component 14 are provided such that the fin 19 faces the one electric component 15 to form an air duct between the fin 19 and the one electric component 15 (see Fig. below, 19 faces 15, air flows between 19 and 15).
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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 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Scherler (US 11516946 B2) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gupta (US 20200015386 A1).
As to Claim 10, Scherler discloses:
a housing 18 containing the first chamber, the second chamber, and the third chamber (highlighted first, second and third chambers are disposed within 18);
a first fan 34 provided in at least one of the first chamber (34 disposed within highlighted first chamber) and the third chamber and configured to allow the air to flow into the second chamber from the first chamber (col. 6, Lines 23-29 “The front panel 46 is shown from a front view of the generator 10 in FIG. 2. The fan can operate in either direction (it can be bidirectional). The front panel 46 includes a fan inlet/outlet 30 comprising holes through the front panel through which air can be sucked into/expelled from the housing 18 of the generator 10 by operation of the fan 34”; air enters from outside 10, into first chamber, then second chamber).
Scherler does not disclose:
a second fan provided in an internal space of the housing other than the first chamber, the second chamber, and the third chamber and configured to circulate air in the internal space.
However, Gupta discloses:
a housing (chassis 10, see Figs. 1-2);
a first fan (Par. 0044 “The power supply modules 22 may be cooled by separate internal fans (not shown), which may provide airflow in the front-to-back direction”; wherein power supply 22 corresponds to generator 10 of Scherler);
a second fan 27 provided in an internal space of the housing (disposed within 10) other than the first chamber, the second chamber, and the third chamber and configured to circulate air in the internal space (fans provide system airflow within 10; Par. 0044 “As shown in FIG. 2, the fan tray 26 is positioned within the same plane in which it is inserted, at a location behind the optical modules 24 (in a row generally parallel to front panel 30) to cool the optical modules with air flowing from a front side of the modular electronic system 20 towards a back side of the system (front-to-back airflow) as indicated by the arrows labeled system airflow in FIG. 2”);
in order to provide efficient cooling to components within an electronic system (Par. 0035-0036).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Scherler as further suggested by Gupta e.g., providing:
a second fan provided in an internal space of the housing other than the first chamber, the second chamber, and the third chamber and configured to circulate air in the internal space;
in order to provide efficient cooling to components within an electronic system.
As to Claim 11, the obvious modification of Scherler in view of Gupta discloses:
wherein an electric component (optical modules 24 of Gupta) is provided in the internal space (within chassis 10 of Gupta).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cao (US 20230217624 A1) discloses a charger device with a flow channel having a varying cross-sectional area.
Zurowski (US 20120181003 A1) discloses an internal cooling system with a flow channel having a varying cross-sectional area.
Hatada (US 5077601 A) discloses a cooling system with a flow channel having a varying cross-sectional area.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW S MUIR whose telephone number is (571)270-1329. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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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/MATTHEW SINCLAIR MUIR/ Examiner, Art Unit 2841
