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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 10-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Hu et al. (US 2023/0226877 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Hu discloses (Figure 7A-9H) a heat pump system for a vehicle, comprising: a valve module having at least one inlet port and at least one outlet port (the nine way valve seen in figure 7A with inlet and outlets at ends b27-b29 for coolant flowing into or out of the valve), through which a first coolant is respectively introduced or discharged; a first line having a first end and a second end connected to the valve module to flow the first coolant (the loop of piping from end b29 to b27 including the cooler/radiator at the front end cooling module and the electrical driver as seen in figure 7A) , the first line provided with a radiator and an electrical component (the cooler/radiator at the front end cooling module and the electrical driver respectively as seen in figure 7A, where the electrical driver is an electrical component in the form of a power distribution unit (PDU), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a mapped diagnostic context (MDC), a motor, and the like per paragraph 0082); a second line having a first end and a second end connected to the valve module to flow the first coolant (the loop of piping from end b26 to b25 including the battery as seen in figure 7A), the second line provided with a battery module (the battery as seen in figure 7A); a third line having a first end and a second end connected to the valve module to flow the first coolant (the loop of piping from end b21 to b24 including the water cooled condenser and the heater core as seen in figure 7A), the third line provided with a condenser and a heating core (at the water cooled condenser and the heater core as seen in figure 7A); and a fourth line having a first end and a second end connected to the valve module to flow the first coolant (the loop of piping from end b23 to b22 including the battery chiller as seen in figure 7A), the fourth line provided with a chiller (the battery chiller as seen in figure 7A), wherein the valve module is configured to selectively connect the first to fourth lines based on at least one mode for temperature adjustment of a vehicle interior and temperature adjustment of the battery module and is configured to control a flowing movement of the first coolant (as seen by the flow connections in figure 9A-9H where at least figure 9A provides for refrigerating the passenger compartment and battery simultaneously per paragraph 0177).
Regarding claim 10, Hu discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Hu further discloses the valve module comprises: a first port connected to a first end of the first line (at the port to the valve at end b27 for coolant into the valve in figure 9A); a second port connected to a second end of the first line (at the port to the valve at end b29 for coolant out of the valve in figure 9A); a third port connected to a first end of the second line (at the port to the valve at end b25 for coolant into the valve in figure 9A); a fourth port connected to a second end of the second line (at the port to the valve at end b26 for coolant out of the valve in figure 9A); a third inlet port connected to a first end of the third line (at the port to the valve at end b24 for coolant into the valve in figure 9A); a third outlet port connected to a second end of the third line (at the port to the valve at end b21 for coolant out of the valve in figure 9A); a fourth inlet port connected to a first end of the fourth line (at the port to the valve at end b22 for coolant into the valve in figure 9A); and a fourth outlet port connected to a second end of the fourth line (at the port to the valve at end b23 for coolant out of the valve in figure 9A).
Regarding claim 11, Hu discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Hu further discloses a first water pump provided on the third line (at water pump 20 as seen in figure 7A); and a second water pump provided on the fourth line ( pump 21 provides fluid flow to the fourth line with the battery chiller as seen in figure 9A and 9C where ethe pump is at least indirectly on the fourth line as it provides fluid flow to the fourth line) .
Regarding claim 12, Hu discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Hu further discloses an electric heater is further provided on the third line (at the water heater in figure 7A which appears to be an electric water heater per paragraph 0191 and 0229) such that the first coolant may sequentially pass through the condenser and the electric heater (the water heater is provided between the water cooled conders and the heater core as seen in figure 7A).
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.
Claim(s) 2 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 2023/0226877 A1) in view of Oh et al. (US 2020/0353796 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Hu discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above and Hu further discloses a fifth line configured to flow a second coolant and interconnect an evaporator (At evaporator in figure 7a).
However Hu does not disclose a fifth line configured to flow a second coolant and interconnect an evaporator and a cooling core such that the second coolant is cooled while passing through the evaporator and is selectively supplied to the cooling core. As Hu is silent as to the cooling core.
Oh teaches, (Figure 1-8) a heat pump thermal management system for a battery vehicle with cooling loops for a radiator (R1), a battery (battery core B), a condenser (23) and a heating core (42), and chiller with a fifth line configured to flow a second coolant (the cooling line 30 connecting evaporator 24 and cooling core 32 per paragraph 0038) and interconnect an evaporator (24) and a cooling core (32) such that the second coolant is cooled while passing through the evaporator and is selectively supplied to the cooling core.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have modified the evaporator of Hu to be a water/coolant cooling evaporator as opposed to an air cooling evaporator. Doing so would allow for the evaporator to either provide cooling to a cooling core or provide additional cooling to a battery as needed as recognized by Oh (per paragraph 0059 or alternatively just provide cooling to the indoor air as is the case in figure 3 and per paragraph 0063).
Regarding claim 14, Hu discloses the claim limitations of claim 2 above and Oh further discloses a third water pump (pump P2) is provided on the fifth line (the cooling line 30 connecting evaporator 24 and cooling core 32 per paragraph 0038).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 2023/0226877 A1) in view of Mancini et al. (US 2019/0070924 A1)
Regarding claim 13, Hu discloses the claim limitations of claim 1 above however Hu does not further disclose an autonomous driving controller is provided on the second line. As Hu is silent as to an autonomous driving controller.
Mancini teaches (Figure 11) a heat pump thermal management system for a battery vehicle with a battery cooling loop ( a loop 1014 with battery system 106 and autopilot ECU 1006 as seen in figure 11 and per paragraph 0105).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have modified the battery cooling loop of Hu to include an autonomous driving controller as taught by Mancini. Doing so would allow for cooling of an autonomous driving controller in a battery cooling loop as recognized by Mancini ( per paragraph 0105).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The above named prior art of Hu, Oh and Mancini disclose the closest prior art of record however while Hu discloses a valve configured to selectively connect the first to fourth lines based on at least one mode for temperature adjustment of a vehicle interior and temperature adjustment of the battery module and is configured to control a flowing movement of the first coolant (as seen by the flow connections in figure 9A-9H where at least figure 9A provides for refrigerating the passenger compartment and battery simultaneously per paragraph 0177) and Further disclose some of the modes in claim 3 such as a second mode for cooling the vehicle interior and cooling the electrical component and the battery module; which is disclosed in Figure 9A of Hu. The additional modes are all not clearly defined as they would require the additional structure incorporated by Oh in the rejection of claim 2 above. One singe valve does not clearly map to all of the claimed modes in the combination of Hu and Oh as there is no one single valve in Oh that combines those features and the additional prior art of Mancini also does not appear to discloses all of the claimed modes clearly. Therefore for at least these reasons claim 3 papers to present grounds for potentially allowable subject matter. Claims 4-9 would be potentially allowable for their dependency from claim 3.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Li et al. (US 20250187399 A1), Michikawauchi (US 20240190210 A1), Suzuki (US 20240131919 A1) and Oh et al. (US 20200338956 A1) all disclose relevant battery cooling systems for vehicles.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HANS R. WEILAND whose telephone number is (571)272-9847. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6-3 EST and alternating Fridays.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Len Tran can be reached at 571-272-1184. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HANS R WEILAND/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/ERIC S RUPPERT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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