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.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 11-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 04/10/2026. Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-10, in the reply filed on 4/10/2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/09/2024 was filed before first Office action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “60” has been used to designate both a valve and a second heat exchanger, see 0047 of Applicant Specification. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the use of “may” where “the present invention may include a manifold plate…” lacks clarity. Further, the first line of the abstract repeats information given in the title A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding Claim 9, the recitation “father away” should be - - farther away – for clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
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 7 and 9 is 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 7, the terms “high” and “low” are relative terms which renders the claims indefinite.
In particular, the terms “high” and “low” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Thus, as used to qualify the temperature of the first fluid, the terms render the same indeterminate and the claim (and all claims depending therefrom) indefinite with regard to the scope of protection sought thereby.
Regarding Claim 9, The recitation “the first outlet port being formed on one side close the first expansion valve or the second expansion valve, the first outlet port being formed on the other side father away from the first expansion valve or the second expansion valve” renders the claims indefinite.
In particular, the claim recites where the outlet port is both close and far away to the first or second expansion valve, where the terms close and “father” are relative terms which renders the claims indefinite. The terms close and farther are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Thus, as used to qualify the position of the first outlet port, the terms render the same indeterminate and the claim (and all claims depending therefrom) indefinite with regard to the scope of protection sought thereby.
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.
(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 1-3 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xia (CN113650528A).
Regarding Claim 1, Xia discloses a manifold fluid module comprising [thermal management module 1, Figure 1; 0055]:
a manifold plate [base 10, Figure 1] comprising fluid passages formed internally [where base 10 has multiple pipes 40 inside, Figure 4; 0055];
a first heat exchanger [condenser 24, Figure 3] coupled to the manifold plate [via interface 4203 and 4301, Figure 5; 0064-0065] and configured to exchange heat between a first fluid [where refrigerant flows through water-cooled condenser; 0080] and a second fluid [where condenser 24 is a water-cooled condenser; 0080];
a second heat exchanger [chiller unit 29, Figure 2] coupled to the manifold plate [via interface 4403 and 4303, Figure 5; 0065-0066] configured to exchange heat between the first fluid discharged from the first heat exchanger [where refrigerant flows from the water-cooled condenser and into the chiller unit; 0081-0083] and the second fluid [where a cooling water circuit port is provided on the first side 11 of base 10 with chiller 29 at connection ports 111 realizing the cooling of the battery and the second side of base 10 with water-cooled condenser 24 is provided with the hot water circuit realizing the heating of the battery, Figure 4; 0075]; and
a plurality of valves [where air conditioning components 20 include check valves, expansion valves, and shut-off valves, Figure 1; 0056] configured to control expansion or direction of the first fluid entering the first heat exchanger or the second heat exchanger [where the second expansion valve 22 is upstream water cooled condenser 24; 0080; where first check valve and fourth expansion valve are upstream chiller unit 29; 0081], wherein the plurality of valves are clustered on an upper part of the manifold plate [where expansion valve 23, expansion valve 28 and check valve 26 are above chiller 29 on base 10, Figure 1 and Figure 2].
Regarding Claim 2, Xia discloses the invention of claim 2 and further discloses where the first heat exchanger [condenser 24, Figure 3] is arranged on one side of the manifold plate [a second surface of base 10, Figure 3; 0069], and the second heat exchanger [chiller 29, Figure 2] is arranged laterally to the first heat exchanger [where the condenser 24 and chiller 29 are arranged laterally through the thickness of base 10, Figure 1].
Regarding Claim 3, Xia discloses the invention of claim 1 and further discloses where the plurality of valves [where air conditioning components 20 include check valves, expansion valves, and shut-off valves, Figure 1; 0056] comprise a first expansion valve [expansion valve 22, Figure 2] configured to expand the first fluid entering the first heat exchanger [where the second expansion valve 23 is upstream water cooled condenser 24; 0080], and a second expansion valve [expansion valve 28] configured to expand the first fluid entering the second heat exchanger [where fourth expansion valve is upstream chiller unit 29; 0081], the first expansion valve being arranged above the first heat exchanger [where expansion valve 22 is above condenser 24, Figure 1 and Figure 2], the second expansion valve being arranged above the second heat exchanger [where expansion valve 28 is above chiller 29, Figure 2], the first fluid entering the first and second heat exchangers moving from the top to the bottom [where expansion valve 28 is connected to interface 4302 that connects to interface 4303 with chiller 29 through passage 433, Figure 4; 0065; where expansion valve 22 is connected to interface 4201 that connects to interface 4203 with condenser 24 through passage 423, Figure 4; 0064].
Regarding Claim 10, Xia discloses wherein the first heat exchanger is a water-cooled condenser [water-cooled condenser 24, Figure 3; 0069], and the second heat exchanger is a chiller [chiller 29, Figure 2; 0069].
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 4-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xia (CN113650528A) as applied to claim 3 above and in further view of Li (US20240017593A1).
Regarding Claim 4, Xia discloses the invention of claim 3, and does not teach where the plurality of valves comprise a first direction switching valve and a second direction switching valve configured to control the direction of the first fluid discharged from the first heat exchanger, the first direction switching valve and the second direction switching valve being clustered above the second heat exchanger.
However, Li teaches a valve group integration module [0002] where the plurality of valves [expansion valves 32 and 33 and switching valves 21-23 and 26, Figure 5] comprise a first direction switching valve [switching valve 21, Figure 5] and a second direction switching valve [switching valve 26, Figure 5] configured to control the direction of the first fluid discharged from the first heat exchanger [where switching valve 21 and switching valve 26 are downstream interior condenser 200 to form different fluid paths depending on operational mode, Figure 7; 0077-0083], the first direction switching valve and the second direction switching valve being clustered above the second heat exchanger [where switching valves 21 and 26 are above motor heat exchanger 700, Figure 5 and Figure 6] where one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods and that in combination, each element would perform the same function as it did separately and one of ordinary skills would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable i.e., regulating fluid flow to different fluid paths for different operational modes.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly of Xia to have where the plurality of valves comprise a first direction switching valve and a second direction switching valve configured to control the direction of the first fluid discharged from the first heat exchanger, the first direction switching valve and the second direction switching valve being clustered above the second heat exchange in view of the teachings of Li where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results i.e., regulating fluid flow to different fluid paths for different operational modes.
Regarding Claim 5, Xia, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 4 and further teaches where the first expansion valve and second expansion valve [expansion valve 28 and expansion valve 22, Figure 2] are arranged on the upper part of the manifold plate and the first heat exchanger [condenser 24, Figure 3] is arranged on one side of the lower part of the manifold plate [where expansion valve 28 and expansion valve 22 on a first part 11 of base 10 are above condenser 24 which is on second part 12 of base 10, Figure 2-Figure 4] and the second heat exchanger [chiller 29, Figure 2] is arranged on the other side of the lower part of the manifold plate [where chiller 29 is below expansion valve 28 and expansion valve 22 on part 11 of base 10, Figure 2 and Figure 4] but Xia does not teach where the first direction switching valve and second direction switching valve, is arranged on the upper part of the manifold plate.
However, Li teaches a valve group integration module [0002] where the first direction switching valve and second direction switching valve are arranged on the upper part of the manifold plate [where switching valves 21 and 26 are above motor heat exchanger 700 on body 10, Figure 5 and Figure 6, refer to the rejection of claim 4 in view of Li above]
Regarding Claim 6, Xia, as modified, teaches the invention of claim 4 where the first heat exchanger [condenser 24, Figure 3] and first expansion valve [second expansion valve 22, Figure 2] are arranged on one side of an imaginary reference line [annotated Figure 2] formed on the manifold plate [on the right side of base 10 as viewed in Figure 2], and the second heat exchanger [chiller 29, Figure 2] and second expansion valve [expansion valve 28, Figure 2] are arranged on the other side [the left side of base 10 as viewed in Figure 2] but does not teach where the first direction switching valve, and second direction switching valve are arranged on the one side of an imaginary reference line formed on the manifold plate.
However, Li teaches a valve group integration module [0002] where the first direction switching valve and second direction switching valve [where switching valves 21 and 26, Figure 5] are arranged on the one side of an imaginary reference line [annotated Figure 6] formed on the manifold plate [where switching valves 21 and 26 are on the left side of the plate as seen in Figure 6 on the other side of the reference line to the second heat exchanger, motor heat exchanger 700, Figure 6] where one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods and that in combination, each element would perform the same function as it did separately and one of ordinary skills would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable i.e., regulating fluid flow to different fluid paths for different operational modes.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the assembly of Xia to have where the first direction switching valve, and second direction switching valve are arranged on the one side of an imaginary reference line formed on the manifold plate in view of the teachings of Li where the elements could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results i.e., regulating fluid flow to different fluid paths for different operational modes.
PNG
media_image1.png
723
856
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
799
848
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 7, Xia, as modified, in light of indefiniteness, teaches the invention of claim 4 and further teaches where the manifold plate is divided by an imaginary reference line [annotated Figure 5] into a high-temperature zone [where compressor discharge connects to interface 4205 and flows into condenser at interface 4206, annotated Figure 5; 0071; 0083] where the first fluid at a high temperature [refrigerant discharged from the compressor; 0083] flows through the first heat exchanger [where in battery heating mode, the refrigerant flows from the compressor discharge to the water-cooled condenser 24; 0083] and a low-temperature zone [where fourth expansion valve connects to interface 4302 and chiller connects to interfaces 4303 and 4403 where refrigerant returns to compressor suction at interface 4102,annotated Figure 5;0065-0066;0071] where the first fluid at a low temperature [refrigerant cooled by the water-cooled condenser; 0083] flows through the second heat exchanger [where after passing through the water cooled condenser the refrigerant passes through chiller unit 29 before returning to compressor suction; 0083].
PNG
media_image3.png
797
673
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 8, Xia, as modified teaches the invention of claim 4 and further teaches where first heat exchanger [condenser 24, Figure 2] comprises a first fluid port for inlet and outlet of the first fluid [where condenser 24 is connected to interface 4301 and 4203 of refrigerant pipelines on base 10, Figure 5; 0064-0065] and a second fluid port for inlet and outlet of the second fluid [where condenser 24 is a water-cooled condenser, where the second side of the base 10 is provided with two hot water circuit connection ports, one of which is a water outlet and the other is a water return port; 0075], the first fluid port and the second fluid port being separately arranged [where the hot water circuit connection port is provided on the second side 12 of the base 10, Figure 4; 0075; where interface 4301 and 4203 are on line 432 of base 10, Figure 5].
Regarding Claim 9, Xia, as modified, in light of indefiniteness, teaches the invention of claim 8 and further teaches where the first fluid port comprises a first inlet port [interface 4203, Figure 5] where the first fluid is introduced [where condenser 24 is connected to interface 4203 where expansion valve 22 is connected to interface 201 and is upstream condenser 24 via pipeline 42; 0064;0081] and a first outlet port [interface 4301, Figure 5] where the first fluid is discharged [where condenser 24 is connected to interface 4301 on pipeline branch 432 where the check valve 26 is provided in the middle of pipeline 432;0064; where check valve 26 is downstream condenser 24; 0081], the first outlet port being formed on one side close to the first expansion valve or the second expansion valve, the first outlet port being formed on the other side farther away from the first expansion valve or the second expansion valve [where the interface 4301 is closer to the expansion valve 22, connected at interface 4201, than expansion valve 28, connected to interface 4302, Figure 5; 0065].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEONA LAUREN BANKS whose telephone number is (571)270-0426. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:30- 5:00 EST.
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, Jerry-Daryl Fletcher can be reached at 5712705054. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KEONA LAUREN BANKS/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/ELIZABETH J MARTIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
Prosecution Insights