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 .
DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This is the first Office action on the merits for Application No. 18/849,191, filed 09/20/2024. Claims 1-13 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs’) received on 09/20/2024 and 10/30/2025 have been considered by the examiner.
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 and 3-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oda (JP 2005/332674 A, from IDS filed 09/20/2024, machine translation attached).
Regarding claim 1, Oda discloses an earthwork machine (fig. 1; machine translation attached; paras. [0017], [0023], [0026] and [0028]), comprising:
a vehicle body (paragraphs [0003], [0004], i.e., fuel cell stack constructed...from the vehicle body);
a fuel cell (13);
a housing (14) storing the fuel cell and electrically connected to the vehicle body (fig. 1; para. [0003]); and
a refrigerant pipe (i.e., pipes 2-7) penetrating the housing (14; fig. 1), allowing a refrigerant to flow from an outside of the housing to the fuel cell (13), electrically insulated from the housing (paras. [0003] and [0012]), and
configured such that the refrigerant and the vehicle body are electrically connected to each other on the outside of the housing (14; fig. 1).
Regarding claim 4, Oda discloses the earthwork machine according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerant pipe (2-7) includes an inner pipe made of an insulator and
a shielding part made of metal covering the inner pipe (paragraphs [0004] and [0020], i.e., coat layer includes metal).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oda applied to claim 1 and 4 above.
Regarding claim 2, Oda discloses the earthwork machine according to claim 1, further comprising
a refrigerant pump (para. [0022], i.e., pumps are provided in pipes 2-7) provided on the outside of the housing and configured to pressure-feed the refrigerant of the refrigerant pipe and a motor M but does not specifically teach the motor is driving the pump.
Electric motors are well known in the art for powering or driving accessory equipment, particularly pumps for cooling purposes in motor vehicles.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention for Oda, with reasonable expectation of success, to have the motor configured to drive the refrigerant pump, the pump motor being electrically connected to the vehicle body configured to pressure-feed the refrigerant of the refrigerant pipe in order to properly cooling the fuel cell system.
Regarding claim 3, Oda discloses the earthwork machine according to claim 1, wherein a length of a portion of the refrigerant pipe that is exposed to the outside of the housing (fig. 1) but does not specially teach that it is equal to or greater than a length at which a resistance of the refrigerant passing through the refrigerant pipe reaches a predetermined insulation resistance.
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice for Oda to have a length of a portion of the refrigerant pipe that is exposed to the outside of the housing is equal to or greater than a length at which a resistance of the refrigerant passing through the refrigerant pipe reaches a predetermined insulation resistance in order to cool the fuel cell system and maintain operating temperature, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size and shape of a component. A change in size and shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955).
Regarding claim 6, Oda discloses the earthwork machine according to claim 2, wherein a length of a portion of the refrigerant pipe that is exposed to the outside of the housing (fig. 1) but does not specially teach that it is equal to or greater than a length at which a resistance of the refrigerant passing through the refrigerant pipe reaches a predetermined insulation resistance.
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice for Oda to have a length of a portion of the refrigerant pipe that is exposed to the outside of the housing is equal to or greater than a length at which a resistance of the refrigerant passing through the refrigerant pipe reaches a predetermined insulation resistance in order to cool the fuel cell system and maintain operating temperature, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size and shape of a component. A change in size and shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955).
Regarding claim 7, as modified above, Oda discloses the earthwork machine according to claim 2, wherein the refrigerant pipe includes an inner pipe made of an insulator and a shielding part made of metal covering the inner pipe (paragraphs [0004] and [0020], i.e., coat layer includes metal).
Regarding claim 8, as modified above, Oda discloses the earthwork machine according to claim 3, wherein the refrigerant pipe includes an inner pipe made of an insulator and a shielding part made of metal covering the inner pipe (paragraphs [0004] and [0020], i.e., coat layer includes metal).
Regarding claim 9, as modified above, Oda discloses the earthwork machine according to claim 6, wherein the refrigerant pipe includes an inner pipe made of an insulator and a shielding part made of metal covering the inner pipe (paragraphs [0004] and [0020], i.e., coat layer includes metal).
Claims 5 and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oda applied to claims 1 and 4 above, and further in view of Aoyagi et al. (US 2006/0222910 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Oda discloses the earthwork machine according to claim 1, further comprising
a plurality of fuel cells including the fuel cell (13) and the electric motors M (loads) connected to terminals 15a/15B via inverters or the like (para. [0018]). However, Oda teaches the inverter or the like instead of a plurality of isolated DC/DC converters. Power conversion devices, particularly DC/DC converters are well recognized to a skilled person in the art for converting electric power between an energy storage and electrical machines/devices with improvements in overall system efficiency by providing higher efficiency and safely automate activation/shut-off of the system during operation.
Aoyagi teaches an electric system for fuel cell and method of supplying electric power in fuel cell vehicle having a power supply controller 110 includes a plurality DC-to-DC converters 74,79 for performing chopping operation, lowering the voltage on the first power supply lines and/or lowers the voltage to discharge electric charges from the fuel cell 14, see Figure 1; paragraphs [0092] and [0104].
It would have been obvious to one of an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention for Oda, with reasonable expectation of success, to have a plurality of isolated DC/DC converters instead of the inverter or the like and having primary sides connected to the plurality of fuel cells and secondary sides connected in parallel to each other as taught by Aoyagi in order to decrease a maximum discharging current from the storage battery and/or a maximum charging current to the storage battery. See claim 19. In addition, converters are well known in the electric vehicle art and substituting it for the inverter of Oda would not change the way the overall apparatus functions. Thus, the simple substitution of one known element for another producing a predictable result renders the claim obvious.
Claims 10-13 are rejected for the same rationale as applied to claim 5 above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Aishima (US 2018/0257509 A1) discloses a fuel cell vehicle includes a cooling water system for the fuel cells, see Figures 1-8;
Ohm et al. (US 2024/0072283 A1) discloses a fuel cell vehicle includes a water-cooling unit with insulation, see Figures 1-6;
Lindsey et al. (US 2016/0031328 A1) discloses a power converter for electric hybrid earthmoving machine includes a fuel cell system and a coolant system, see Figures 1-4; and
Hoff et al. (US 2009/0033148 A1) discloses an electrical system architecture having high voltage bus and a cooling unit, see Figures 1-3.
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/TINH T DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655 June 27, 2026
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