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 § 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) 1-3, 5, 7, and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mishkinis (European Patent Publication EP3376148A1).
Regarding claim 1, Mishkinis discloses an evaporator assembly (fig 3b) comprising: at least one compensation chamber (9a, 9b) and at least one capillary pump (see annotated fig 3b below) comprising a primary wick (4), the evaporator assembly including a secondary wick (5) extending through the at least one compensation chamber and the at least one capillary pump and contacting the primary wick thereof, characterized in that the at least one compensation chamber and the at least one capillary pump are arranged parallel to one another along respective distinct axes (see annotated fig 3b below).
PNG
media_image1.png
348
741
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 2, Mishkinis further discloses a plurality of compensation chambers (9a, 9b) and a plurality of capillary pumps (see annotated fig 3b above) arranged parallel to one another.
Regarding claim 3, Mishkinis further discloses a plurality of parallel branches (see annotated fig 5a below), each branch including two capillary pumps (see annotated fig 5a below).
PNG
media_image2.png
430
668
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 5, Mishkinis further discloses wherein the compensation chambers (9a, 9b) are disposed at opposite sides of the evaporator assembly, the capillary pumps (see annotated fig 3b below) being arranged between the compensation chambers.
PNG
media_image3.png
348
741
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Hou, Hoang, and Uchida discloses all previous claim limitations. Hou, as modified, further discloses the capillary pumps (see annotated fig 3b below) form a tube bundle connected by common thermally conductive plates (3, connected via 12, 14) configured to extract heat from an extended surface area.
PNG
media_image4.png
283
624
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Hou, Hoang, and Uchida discloses all previous claim limitations. Hou, as modified, further discloses wherein vapor outlet ports (12) of the capillary pumps (see annotated fig 3b above) are connected to a common vapor outlet manifold (14).
Claim(s) *** is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hou (U.S. Patent Publication 2011/0000646).
Regarding claim 1, Hou discloses an evaporator assembly (fig 1 and fig 2) comprising: at least one compensation chamber (114) and at least one capillary pump (112) comprising a primary wick (133), the evaporator assembly including a secondary wick (131) extending through the at least one compensation chamber and the at least one capillary pump and contacting the primary wick thereof, characterized in that the at least one compensation chamber and the at least one capillary pump are arranged parallel to one another along respective distinct axes (see annotated fig 1 below).
PNG
media_image5.png
682
743
media_image5.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 9, Hou further discloses at least one evaporator assembly as claimed in claim 1 and at least one condenser (30).
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hoang (U.S. Patent Publication No 2013/0306278).
Regarding claim 2, Hou discloses all previous claim limitations. However, Hou does not explicitly disclose a plurality of compensation chambers and a plurality of capillary pumps arranged parallel to one another. Hoang, however, discloses an evaporator assembly having a plurality of compensation chambers (8, 9) and a plurality of capillary pumps (3, 4) arranged parallel to one another. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention for Han to provide a plurality of compensation chambers and a plurality of capillary pumps such as taught by Hoang in order to allow for cooling of multiple heat sources.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou and Hoang as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Uchida (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0160974).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Hou and Hoang discloses all previous claim limitations. Han, as modified, further discloses a plurality of parallel branches (see annotated fig 1 of Hoang).
PNG
media_image6.png
775
596
media_image6.png
Greyscale
However, they do not explicitly disclose wherein in each branch includes at least two compensation chambers or capillary pumps. Uchida, however, discloses an evaporator assembly (Fig 3A-D) wherein a branch includes two compensation chambers and capillary pumps (see annotated fig 3D below). Uchida teaches this maintains capillary force within the wick thus allowing the optimal evaporation (see ¶0089). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention for Hou, as modified, to provide two compensation chambers and capillary pumps such as taught by Uchida in order to provide optimal evaporation.
PNG
media_image7.png
508
566
media_image7.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Hou, Hoang, and Uchida discloses all previous claim limitations. Hou, as modified, further discloses a first manifold (see annotated fig 1 below of Hoang) connected to a liquid inlet port (142, Uchida) and to first ends of the compensation chambers and a second manifold (see annotated fig 1 below of Hoang) connecting respective second ends of the compensation chambers (see annotated fig 1 below of Hoang) and first ends of the capillary pumps (see annotated fig 1 below of Hoang).
PNG
media_image8.png
820
644
media_image8.png
Greyscale
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mishkinis as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of An (Korean Patent Publication KR20170026205A).
Regarding claim 6, Mishkinis discloses all previous claim limitations. However, Mishkinis does not explicitly disclose wherein the capillary pumps form a tube bundle of a finned heat exchanger configured to extract heat from a gas flow. An, however, discloses an evaporator assembly wherein a capillary pump (17) is a finned heat exchanger configured to extract heat from a gas flow. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention for Mishkinis to provide the fins of An in order to allow for heat exchange with a gas flow. This would result in the capillary pumps forming a tube bundle of a finned heat exchanger.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HARRY E ARANT whose telephone number is (571)272-1105. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10-6 ET.
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, Jianying Atkisson can be reached at (571)270-7740. 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.
/HARRY E ARANT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763