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 response to the restriction requirement dated 1/13/2026 is acknowledged, however, after further consideration, the restriction requirement is hereby withdrawn, and thus Applicant’s remarks are considered moot.
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(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Alissa (US20200305310A1).
Regarding claim 6, Alissa discloses a monitoring device (146, Fig. 4/5) that monitors an abnormality of a cooling device (100; Fig. 4/5), wherein the cooling device includes: a refrigerant tank (106) that accommodates a first refrigerant for removing heat from electronic equipment in a closed space; a dry cooler ("cooling fluid" & "dry cooler" - ¶[0007]) that cools a second refrigerant that has exchanged heat with the first refrigerant using air outside the refrigerant tank; a separate tank (141) that accommodates the first refrigerant independently of the refrigerant tank; and a replenishing pump (142) that is driven to allow the first refrigerant to be supplied from the separate tank to the refrigerant tank through a refrigerant replenishing line; the monitoring device comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires a liquid level (via 140) of the first refrigerant in the refrigerant tank; a determination unit (leak detection - ¶[0017]) that determines whether the first refrigerant is leaking from the refrigerant tank based on the liquid level acquired by the acquisition unit; and a refrigerant replenishing unit that drives the replenishing pump (142) when the determination unit determines that the first refrigerant is leaking from the refrigerant tank.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by over Tung (US20190166726A1).
Regarding claim 1, Tung discloses a monitoring device that monitors an abnormality of a cooling device (Fig. 1), wherein the cooling device includes: a refrigerant tank (liquid storage tank 10) that accommodates a first refrigerant (dielectric fluid 2) for removing heat from electronic equipment (heat source, electronic devices in a server 3) in a closed space; a dry cooler (cooling module 24) that cools a second refrigerant that has exchanged heat with the first refrigerant using air outside the refrigerant tank; and a circulation pump (pump 2411) that causes the second refrigerant to circulate between the refrigerant tank and the dry cooler through a second refrigerant line (tube 21); the monitoring device comprising: an acquisition unit (see sensors 330c,340c & 310c, 320c) that acquires at least one set of a set including a temperature of the second refrigerant flowing into a heat exchanger in the dry cooler and a temperature of the second refrigerant flowing out of the heat exchanger (see sensors 330c,340c), and a set including a temperature of the air flowing into the heat exchanger and a temperature of the air flowing out of the heat exchanger (see sensors 310c, 320c); and a determination unit (¶[0026] & [0033]) that compares an optimal temperature corresponding to an outside temperature and a load of the electronic equipment with each of the temperatures acquired by the acquisition unit to determine whether an abnormality has occurred in one or more of the dry cooler and the circulation pump (determined malfunction - ¶[0033], it is noted while no hardware is per se identified by Tung, a controller is inherent, as the functions are done by some computational machine).
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.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tung (US20190166726A1) and Tsuboi (JP2004122038A).
Regarding claim 3, Tung teaches the limitations of claim 1, and Tung does not teach the cooling device further includes a purification device that accommodates the first refrigerant independently of the refrigerant tank, and a purification pump that is driven to allow the first refrigerant in the refrigerant tank and the first refrigerant in the purification device to be replaceable through a refrigerant purification line, the acquisition unit further acquires a conductivity of the first refrigerant in the refrigerant tank, and the monitoring device further comprises a refrigerant purification unit that drives the purification pump based on the conductivity acquired by the acquisition unit.
Tsuboi teaches cooling device further includes a purification device (ion exchanger 15) that accommodates the first refrigerant independently of the refrigerant tank (tank 2), and a purification pump (pump 12) that is driven to allow the first refrigerant in the refrigerant tank and the first refrigerant in the purification device to be replaceable through a refrigerant purification line (see line thereof), the acquisition unit further acquires a conductivity (via means electrical conductivity 21) of the first refrigerant in the refrigerant tank, and the monitoring device (control unit – abstract) further comprises a refrigerant purification unit that drives the purification pump (controlling the flow rate on the basis of electric conductivity – abstract) based on the conductivity acquired by the acquisition unit.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Tung to include the purification device of Tsuboi, in order to control the quality of the reduce maintenance (¶[0001]).
Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tung (US20190166726A1) in view of Alissa (US20200305310A1).
Regarding claims 4-5, Tung teaches the limitations of claim 1, and Tung does not teach the acquisition unit further acquires a liquid level of the first refrigerant in the refrigerant tank, and the determination unit further determines whether the first refrigerant is leaking from the refrigerant tank based on the liquid level acquired by the acquisition unit; wherein the cooling device further includes a separate tank that accommodates the first refrigerant independently of the refrigerant tank, and a replenishing pump that is driven to allow the first refrigerant to be supplied from the separate tank to the refrigerant tank through a refrigerant replenishing line, and the monitoring device further comprises a refrigerant replenishing unit that drives the replenishing pump when the determination unit determines that the first refrigerant is leaking from the refrigerant tank.
Alissa teaches (see Fig. 4/5) the acquisition unit further acquires a liquid level (140) of the first refrigerant in the refrigerant tank (106), and the determination unit further determines whether the first refrigerant is leaking from the refrigerant tank based on the liquid level (via 140 & ¶[0017]) acquired by the acquisition unit; wherein the cooling device further includes a separate tank (141) that accommodates the first refrigerant independently of the refrigerant tank, and a replenishing pump (142) that is driven to allow the first refrigerant to be supplied from the separate tank to the refrigerant tank through a refrigerant replenishing line, and the monitoring device further comprises a refrigerant replenishing unit (¶[0040]) that drives the replenishing pump when the determination unit determines that the first refrigerant is leaking (leak detection - ¶[0017]) from the refrigerant tank.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Tung to include the refill/leak detection, in order to reduce operating costs (¶[0026]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 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.
Specifically, Tung does not teach or suggest the determination unit determines that an abnormality has occurred in the circulation pump when each of the temperature of the second refrigerant flowing into the heat exchanger and the temperature of the second refrigerant flowing out of the heat exchanger is higher than the optimal temperature, and determines that an abnormality has occurred in the dry cooler when the temperature of the second refrigerant flowing out of the heat exchanger is higher than the optimal temperature.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC S RUPPERT whose telephone number is (571)272-9911. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 4 pm.
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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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/ERIC S RUPPERT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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