DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-17 were filed with the Preliminary Amendment dated 0925/2024.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 09/25/2024 and 10/17/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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 1-17 are 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.
With regard to claim 1, the phrase “at least either at least one” (line 8) renders the claim indefinite. It is not clear what is being required by this phrase. As best understood and for purposes of examination, the phrase will be construed as if it is written as: “
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the inflow spare chambers and of the outflow spare chambers" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 2 depends from claim 1. Claim 1 only requires one inflow spare chamber or one outflow spare chamber, not plural of each. For purposes of examination, the claim 2 will be construed as if lines 1-2 recite: “in at least one of chamber chamber
With regard to claim 6, the phrase “at least one of the outflow channel communicates with another the channel” (lines 1-2) renders the claim confusing and, therefore, indefinite. It is not clear if the phrase is requiring singular outflow channel or plural outflow channels and it is not known what “another the channel” is requiring. As best understood, the phrase will be construed as if it is written as: “inflow channel.”
With regard to claim 10, the phrase “all the inflow channels” renders the claim confusing and lacks antecedent basis. Claim 10 depends from claim 1. Claim 1 only recites a singular “an inflow channel” (line 2). It is not clear if claim 10 is requiring additional inflow channels or if claim 10 intended to refer to the inflow channel of claim 1. For purposes of examination, claim 10 will be construed as if it is written as: “[[all]] the inflow channel .”
With regard to claim 10, the phrase “all the outflow channels” renders the claim confusing and lacks antecedent basis. Claim 10 depends from claim 1. Claim 1 only requires a singular “outflow channel” (line 2). It is not clear if claim 10 is requiring additional outflow channels or if claim 10 is intended to refer to the outflow channel of claim 1. For purposes of examination, claim 10 will be construed as if it is written as: “[[all]] the outflow channel
With regard to claim 11, the phrase “the resin housing” (lines 10 and 11) renders the claim indefinite. Claim 11, line 2 recites a manifold formed by a plurality of “resin housings.” It is not clear if the “resin housing” of lines 10 and 11 is referring to just one of the resin housings or if claim 11 intended to recite “the manifold” or “the plurality of resin housings.” For purposes of examination, claim 11 will be construed as if “the resin housing” is written as “the plurality of resin housings.”
With regard to claim 11, the phrase “the resin housing includes solely the channels, the valve chamber, the spare chamber, the vortex chamber, and a partition wall partitioning the channels, the valve chamber, the spare chamber, and the vortex chamber” renders the claim confusing because it is not clear how the resin housings only (i.e., solely) include the listed features. As is clear in the specification and drawings that the resin housings also include the valve body and the water pump (see also claim 11, line 10). Therefore, the phrase is indefinite. For purposes of examination, claim 11 will be construed as if the term “solely” is deleted.
With regard to claim 12, the phrase “the resin housing” (lines 8 and 11) renders the claim indefinite. Claim 12, line 2 recites a manifold formed by a “plurality of resin housings.” It is not clear if the “resin housing” of lines 8 and 11 is referring to just one of the resin housings or if claim 12 intended to recite “the manifold” or “the plurality of resin housings.” For purposes of examination, claim 12 will be construed as if “the resin housing” is written as “the plurality of resin housings.”
With regard to claim 13, the phrase “a plurality of the channels and the valve chamber” (line 8) renders the claim indefinite. Claim 13, line 5 already recites “a plurality of channels.” Thus, it is not clear if line 8 intended to recite “the plurality of channels” or if line 8 is intending to state “some of the plurality of channels. For purposes of examination, claim 13, line 8 will be construed as if it is written as: “at least some of the [[a]] plurality of the channels and the valve chamber.”
With regard to claim 16, the phrase “the resin housing” (line 2) renders the claim indefinite. Claim 16 depends from claim 11. Claim 11, line 2 recites a manifold formed by a plurality of “resin housings.” It is not clear if the “resin housing” of claim 16 is referring to just one of the resin housings or if claim 16 intended to recite “the manifold” or “the plurality of resin housings.” For purposes of examination, claim 16 will be construed as if “the resin housing” is written as “the plurality of resin housings.”
Dependent claims 2-10 and 14-17 are also rejected for being dependent upon a rejected claim.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, and 11-17 (as far as they are definite and understood) are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2018/0119828 (“Ozeki”).
With regard to claim 1, Ozeki discloses a cooling module valve (8, para [0031]) that switches between a plurality of channels including an inflow channel (channel of 37a, para [0048]) and outflow channel (channel for 41b or 55a, 56a, 66a, paras [0050] [0064] [0066] [0067]) of fluid flowing in a cooling module (1), the cooling module valve (8) comprising: a valve chamber (chamber inside 21, see annotated Fig) into which the fluid flowing through the inflow channel (channel of 37a) flows and from which the fluid flowing through the outflow channel (channel of 41b) (see annotated Fig) flows out, a valve body (22, para [0042]) that is housed in the valve chamber (chamber inside 21) and switches between a plurality of the channels (para [0070]), and at least one inflow spare chamber (chamber in cavity adjacent 37a, see annotated Figs) disposed between the valve chamber (chamber within 21) and the inflow channel (37a) and adjacent to the valve chamber (see annotated Fig), or at least one outflow spare chamber (chamber within 41) disposed between the valve chamber (chamber within 21) and the outflow channel (channel extending from 41b inside 44b) and adjacent to the valve chamber (see annotated Fig).
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With regard to claim 2, Ozeki discloses that in at least one of a plurality of the inflow spare chambers and of the outflow spare chambers, an outlet (see annotated Fig) from the valve chamber (chamber in 21) to the outflow spare chamber (chamber in 41, see annotated Fig) and the outlet (see annotated Fig) from the outflow spare chamber (chamber in 41) to the outflow channel (channel for 41b in 44b), or an inlet from the inflow channel to the inflow spare chamber and the inlet from the inflow spare chamber to the valve chamber are different in height from each other in a rotation axis (axis O, see para [0043]) direction of the valve body (outlet of valve chamber is at a different height than outlet of outflow spare chamber because outlet of valve chamber is farther left in Fig 5 making it at a different height along axis O than outlet of outflow spare chamber (narrower so farther right)).
With regard to claim 7, Ozeki discloses that the valve body (22) is entirely housed in the valve chamber (chamber within 21, see Fig 5).
With regard to claim 8, Ozeki discloses that the valve body (22) rotates about a rotation axis (axis “O”, para [0043]) and is partitioned into a plurality of valve spaces (spaces shown in Fig 4) in a circumferential direction by a coupling plate (83), and at least one of the valve spaces is further partitioned into a plurality of spaces in the rotation axis direction (direction of O) by a partition plate (120, see Figs 4 and 5).
With regard to claim 9, Ozeki discloses that the valve chamber (chamber inside 21) includes an inlet (inlet is opening from 37a into chamber inside 21) and an outlet (outlet is exit from chamber inside 21 to 41) of which axis height positions are different from each other in a direction along the rotation axis (axis O) (inlet at 37a is farther left along axis O than outlet at 41, thus making them different axis height positions, see also Fig 5).
With regard to claim 11, Ozeki discloses a cooling module (1, Fig 1) comprising: a manifold (21) formed by joining a plurality of resin housings (25, 26; para [0043] = 21 is formed by 25+26; para [0045] 25+26 are resin); a cooling module valve (8) that is housed in the manifold (21, see Fig 5) and switches between a plurality of channels (channels at 41b, 66a, 55a, 56a; para [0070]); and a water pump (3, para [0032], Fig 1) that pumps fluid that flows through the channels (see Fig 1, paras [0032] [0033]), wherein the cooling module valve (8) includes a valve body (22), a valve chamber (chamber within 21) housing the valve body (21, see annotated Fig), and a spare chamber (outflow spare chamber shown in annotated Fig 5) disposed between the valve chamber (chamber in 21) and the channels (channels for 41b, 66a , 55a, 56a) (“between” because between a leftmost portion of valve chamber and remaining channels extending toward the left along the axis O) and adjacent to the valve chamber (see annotated Fig), of a plurality of the channels (channels for 41b, 66a, 55a, 56a), the valve chamber (chamber in 21), the spare chamber (outflow spare chamber, see annotated Fig), and the water pump (3), at least a vortex chamber (see annotated Fig; vortex chamber is met by 90 bend in flow path) is formed in the plurality of resin housings (25, 26), and the resin housings (25, 26) includes
With regard to claim 12, Ozeki discloses a cooling module (1, Fig 1) comprising: a manifold (21) formed by joining a plurality of resin housings (25, 26, paras [0043] [0045]); and a cooling module valve (8) that is housed in the manifold (21) and switches between a plurality of channels (channels of 41b, 66a, 55a, 56a para [0070]), wherein the cooling module valve (8) includes a valve chamber (chamber in 21), and a spare chamber (outflow spare chamber, see annotated Fig) disposed between the valve chamber (chamber in 21) and the channels (channels of 41b and 66a) (“between” as so broadly recited because spare chamber is fluidly between valve chamber and 41b channel, and longitudinally along the axis O between left most of valve chamber and channel for 66a, 56a, 55a as shown in Fig 3) and adjacent to the valve chamber (chamber in 21), a plurality of the channels (channels for 56a, 55a, 66a), the valve chamber (chamber in 21), and the spare chamber (outflow spare chamber in annotated Fig 5) are formed in the resin housing (25, 26, see Fig 5), the valve chamber (chamber in 21) includes a first valve chamber (on one side of 83) and a second valve chamber (on opposite side of 83, see Fig 4 and 5), and the resin housings (25, 26) includes a valve communication path (93, para [0077]) that allows the first valve chamber (one side of 83) and the second valve chamber (other side of 83) to communicate with each other (para [0077] and see Fig 5, flow path 93 can communicate with both sides of 83).
With regard to claim 13, Ozeki discloses a cooling module (1, Fig 1) comprising: a manifold (21) formed by joining a plurality of resin housings (25, 26; paras [0043] [0045]) at a joining surface (surface between 25 and 26, see annotated Fig 5); and a cooling module valve (8) that is housed in the manifold (21) and switches between a plurality of channels (channels of 41b, 55a, 56a, 66a, para [0070]), wherein the cooling module valve (8) includes a valve body (22) that rotates about a rotation axis (axis O, para [0043]), and a valve chamber (chamber in 21) housing the valve body (22), some of the plurality of the channels (channels of 55a, 56a, 66a) and the valve chamber (chamber of 21) are formed in the resin housings (25, 26, see Fig 5), at least some of a plurality of the channels (channels of 41b, 55a, 56a, 66a) have a portion protruding outward from the resin housings (25, 26, see Fig 3), and a plurality of the channels having a portion protruding outward from the resin housings includes a first channel group (55a, 56a) that is a set of some of the channels, and a second channel group (channels of 41b, 66a) that is a set of a plurality of the channels not included in the first channel group and is disposed so as to be offset with respect to the first channel group (channels of 55a, 56a) in a direction along the rotation axis (axis O) (as shown in Fig 3, the first channel group is at a different position offset from the second channel group along the axis O).
With regard to claim 14, Ozeki discloses that the valve body (22) of the cooling module valve(8) rotates about the rotation axis (axis O, para [0070]) and is partitioned into a plurality of valve spaces in a circumferential direction by a coupling plate (83, see Fig 4 and 5; partitioning between either side of plate 83), and at least one of the valve spaces is further partitioned into a plurality of spaces in the rotation axis (axis O) direction by a partition plate (120; partitions space between left and right along axis O, see Fig 5).
With regard to claim 15, Ozeki discloses that the valve chamber (chamber inside 21) includes an inlet (inlet is opening from 37a into chamber inside 21) and an outlet (outlet is exit from chamber inside 21 to 41) of which axis height positions are different from each other in a direction along the rotation axis (axis O) (inlet at 37a is farther left along axis O than outlet at 41, thus making them different axis height positions, see Fig 5).
With regard to claim 16, Ozeki discloses that the valve chamber (chamber in 21) is disposed at a central region of a pair of opposing outer walls (left and right walls of 21) in the resin housings (25, 26).
With regard to claim 17, Ozeki discloses that the channels (channels of 55a, 66a, 55a, 56a), the inflow spare chamber (see annotated Fig), and the outflow spare chamber (see annotated Fig) are radially arranged so as to surround the valve chamber (chamber in 21) (see Fig 5 and Fig 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 and 10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2024/0318589 discloses a coolant tank with channels
U.S. Pat. No. 11,719,350 discloses a coolant flow control module.
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/JESSICA CAHILL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753