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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/28/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Atarashi, Kawase and Funakoshi are disclosed in the IDS.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 8-9 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Atarashi (U.S 5,592,363) in view of Kawase (US 2018/0204784 A1).
In regards to Claim 8, Atarashi discloses a cooling device (Fig.22, #106) that cools a plurality of semiconductor components (Fig.22, #103), which are mounted on a front surface of a substrate (Fig.22, #104) and are arranged in a first direction (Fig.22, #103 are arranged in the x-direction), the cooling device comprising: a base (Fig.22, #109) attached to a rear surface of the substrate (Fig.22, #109 attached to backside of #104); a bottom plate (Fig.22, #110) disposed apart from the base to form a flow path through which a refrigerant flows between the bottom plate and the base (Fig.22, flow path is between #110 and #109); and a cooling body (Fig.22, #107) disposed in the flow path (Fig.22), wherein an introduction port (Fig.22, #111), through which the refrigerant is guided into the flow path from a direction facing the rear surface (Fig.22), is formed in a central portion (Fig.22, #111 is formed in a central portion) of the bottom plate in the first direction (Fig.22, #111 in the x-direction), a flow path cross sectional area of the flow path at the introduction port is smaller than flow path cross sectional areas on both sides of the flow path in the first directions (Fig.22, #111 has a narrow flow path cross sectional area that the #112 which opens up) the introduction port extends in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction (Fig.22, #22 extends in the y-direction orthogonal to the first direction (X-direction)), and the opening portion has any of a rectangular shape (Fig.22, #11 has a rectangular shape), a polygonal shape, or an elliptical shape.
Atarashi fails to disclose: The introduction port is formed of a plurality of opening portions arranged at intervals the second direction.
However, Kawase discloses: The introduction port is formed of a plurality of opening portions arranged at intervals the second direction (Fig.11-12, #17c are plurality of openings disposed centrally on the bottom plate #17, as such the office notes that with the combination of Atarashi in view of Kawase, the bottom plate comprising a central portion having an opening (as taught by Atarashi) would be modified to include multiple opening portions (as taught by Kawase) to allow more refrigerant to enter the cooling body to efficiently dissipate heat generated by the semiconductor components).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the bottom plate comprising a central portion having an opening (as taught by Atarashi) to include multiple opening portions (as taught by Kawase) to allow more refrigerant to enter the cooling body to efficiently dissipate heat generated by the semiconductor components. By utilizing multiple openings, would ensure enough refrigerant is supplied to the cooling body to properly cool the multiple semiconductor devices.
In regards to Claim 9, Atarashi in view of Kawase discloses the cooling device according to Claim 8, wherein in a region, which is at least one of a surface of the bottom plate facing a side of the flow path and a surface of the base facing the side of the flow path and includes the introduction port (Atarashi Fig.22 which discloses a surface on #110 facing the flow path and another surface on #110 facing the flow path, wherein both surface include the introduction port #111), a thick wall portion (Atarashi Fig.26, #201) protruding from the bottom plate toward a side of the base is provided (Atarashi, Fig.22, #201 is protruding from bottom plate #110a and towards base #108).
In regards to Claim 11, Atarashi in view of Kawase discloses the cooling device according to Claim 8, wherein the cooling body is a plurality of fins that protrude from the base toward the bottom plate, extend in the first direction, and are arranged at intervals in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction (Atarashi, Fig.22, #107 are a plurality of fins which protrude from #109 towards #110 in the first direction and arranged in intervals in a second direction (y-direction) orthogonal to the first direction (x-direction).
In regards to Claim 12, Atarashi in view of Kawase discloses the cooling device according to Claim 8, wherein the cooling body is a plurality of pins each having a rod shape protruding from the base toward a side of the bottom plate and arranged at intervals from each other (Kawase, Fig.9-11, #16 and paragraph [0033], discloses using a plurality of pin fins having rod shaped, as such the office notes that with the combination of Atarashi in view of Kawase, the plate fin protruding from the base (as taught by Atarashi) would be replaced with a plurality of pin fin having rod shapes (as taught by Kawase) to help create turbulence to efficiently dissipate heat generated by the semiconductor devices).
Claims 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Atarashi (U.S 5,592,363) in view of Kawase (US 2018/0204784 A1) and further, in view of Funakoshi (JP 2018-37557 A).
In regards to Claim 12, Atarashi in view of Kawase discloses the cooling device according to Claim 8.
Atarashi in view of Kawase fail to disclose: Wherein on at least one of a surface of the bottom plate facing a side of the flow path and a surface of the base facing the side of the flow path, a slope portion extending in a direction apart from the other surface as being apart from the introduction port to both sides in the first direction is provided.
However, Funakoshi discloses: Wherein on at least one of a surface of the bottom plate facing a side of the flow path and a surface of the base facing the side of the flow path, a slope portion extending in a direction apart from the other surface as being apart from the introduction port to both sides in the first direction is provided (Fig.2-4, #12 bottom plate includes an introduction port which is defined via the sloping portions on both sides of #11, as such the office notes that with the combination of Atarashi in view of Kawase and Funakoshi, the bottom plate having a regular opening (as taught by Atarashi) would be modified to include two surfaces defined by the bottom plate to have sloping portions (as taught by Funakoshi) to adjust the flow of cooling fluid to the plurality of fins).
Therefore, it would of have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to have modified the bottom plate having a regular opening (as taught by Atarashi) to include two surfaces defined by the bottom plate to have sloping portions (as taught by Funakoshi) to adjust the flow of cooling fluid to the plurality of fins. By including sloping portions, would narrow the introduction port increasing the fluid pressure, thereby allowing more fluid to flow between the plurality of fins disposed on the base.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Harubeppu (U.S publication 2013/0135824 A1) – Discloses a substrate comprising a plurality of semiconductor devices on a surface and the opposite surface is coupled to a plurality of heat dissipating fins which allow a coolant to flow between said fins to dissipate heat generated by said devices.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANDEEP S BUTTAR whose telephone number is (571)272-4768. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00AM-4:00PM.
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/MANDEEP S BUTTAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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