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 Objections
Claims 3, 8, 9, and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities
Claim 3 recites the status identifier "(Currently amended)"; the status identifier should be capitalized as "(Currently Amended)" in accordance with 37 CFR 1.121(c).
Claims 8, 9, and 19 each recite "in respond to"; the phrase should read "in response to."
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following observations on claim interpretation are made of record. Claim terms are given their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification. In re Am. Acad. of Sci. Tech Ctr., 367 F.3d 1359, 1364 (Fed. Cir. 2004) [examiner to verify citation form before mailing].
"a liquid cooling unit" (claims 1–20). The claimed "liquid cooling unit" is interpreted as encompassing a unit formed of two or more physically separate liquid-cooled bodies operating together, as well as a single unitary body. This interpretation is compelled by the claim set itself: claim 5 recites that "the liquid cooling unit (20) is a split structure or an integrated structure." Under the doctrine of claim differentiation and the plain recitation of claim 5, the "liquid cooling unit" of claim 1 embraces split structures. This interpretation is consistent with the specification, which states: "The liquid cooling unit 20 is a split structure or an integrated structure, which is specifically selected according to technological requirements" (Specification, p. 11, ll. 21–23). Accordingly, in the rejections below, a plurality of separate liquid-cooled bodies that together receive and cool the unit requiring cooling — for example, a pair of liquid-cooled blocks defining therebetween the recited cooling groove — is treated as meeting the recited "liquid cooling unit.
"a unit (90) requiring cooling" (claims 1, 6–9, 19). The recited "unit requiring cooling" is not limited to any particular device type. The specification states: "The unit 90 may be a unit that generates heat when operating, such as a hard disk, a fan, an expansion card, or a processor" (Specification, p. 9, ll. 16–17). The term is therefore interpreted to read on any heat-generating electronic component insertable into the cooling groove, including, e.g., memory modules and pluggable storage devices.
Wherein clauses. The "wherein" clauses of the claims (e.g., the recitations in claims 2–19 specifying structural arrangements and material properties) are interpreted as positively limiting the claimed apparatus, and the rejections below treat each such clause as a limitation requiring art support.
Functional recitations. Recitations of intended use and function — e.g., "configured for inserting a unit requiring cooling," "configured for cooling the unit," "configured to bypass the operating side" — are interpreted as requiring that the prior art structure be capable of performing the recited function. Prior art structure identical or substantially identical to the claimed structure and capable of the recited use meets such limitations.
Claim Rejections — 35 U.S.C. 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina et al. (US 2013/0120926 A1, "Barina '926") in view of Barina et al. (US 2013/0135812 A1, "Barina '812") and Dangel (US 5,577,779, "Dangel").
Regarding claim 1, Barina '926 discloses a liquid cooling apparatus, comprising:
a chassis (Barina '926 discloses the cooling system "may be installed in a chassis as small as a 1 U server chassis" (¶ [0014]); Barina '812, directed to the same inventors' liquid-cooled memory system, expressly depicts chassis 16 with system board 12 supported on wall 17, and states "The chassis 16 may be a 1U server chassis" (¶ [0025]));
a liquid cooling unit (first and second liquid-cooled mounting blocks 40, 140, each including one or more liquid flow passages 42 through which liquid is circulated to cool the blocks (¶ [0019]); the blocks together are interpreted as the claimed liquid cooling unit under the Claim Interpretation section above, consistent with claim 5's recitation that "the liquid cooling unit (20) is a split structure or an integrated structure"), one side of the liquid cooling unit is an operating side (the top side, from which the heat conduction assemblies are installed in insertion direction "D" perpendicular to the system board and removed "when lifted upward, generally perpendicular to the system board 12" (¶¶ [0021], [0029])), the liquid cooling unit is provided with a cooling groove (slots 51–54 on the mounting blocks 40, 140, each "configured to frictionally receive" a support of a heat conduction assembly, wherein "[t]he slots or a portion of each slot is cooled by virtue of the coolant circulating through the mounting blocks 40, 140" (¶¶ [0019]–[0020])), a plugging opening of the cooling groove is located at the operating side (the slots 51–54 open upward, receiving the supports 61, 62 slid downward in insertion direction D (¶ [0021]; FIG. 1)), the plugging opening is configured for inserting a unit requiring cooling into the cooling groove or removing the unit requiring cooling from the cooling groove (each DIMM 20 with attached heat conduction assembly 60 is slid downward into, and removable upward from, the corresponding slots 51–54; "the heat conduction assemblies 60 and the DIMMs 20 may be removed without obstruction when lifted upward" (¶¶ [0021], [0029]; FIG. 1)), a cooling channel is provided in the liquid cooling unit, and a fluid in the cooling channel is configured for cooling the unit (liquid flow passages 42 within the blocks 40, 140; "Chilled coolant is continuously circulated through the mounting blocks, which cools the heat conduction assemblies at both ends to enable transfer of heat from the DIMMs to the mounting blocks through the heat conduction assemblies" (¶¶ [0013], [0019], [0028])); and
a cooling pipeline, the cooling pipeline is in communication with the cooling channel, and the cooling pipeline is configured to bypass the operating side (fluid inlet couplers 74 and fluid outlet couplers 75 with inlet hoses 76 and outlet hoses 77 at the mounting blocks, coupled to a chilled coolant supply and chiller loop (¶ [0028]); Barina '926 expressly teaches "There are also no liquid manifolds or other fluid control components above the DIMMs to interfere with removal and replacement of DIMMs" (¶ [0014]; see also ¶ [0029])).
Barina '926 does not disclose that the liquid cooling unit is detachably snap-fitted in the chassis. Barina '812 states the mounting blocks "may be pre-installed on the system board" without detailing the fastening (Barina '812, ¶ [0034]), and Applicant's own specification acknowledges that in the related art "a tool needs to be used to achieve the assembly and disassembly of the liquid cooling apparatus, which is inconvenient to operate" (Specification, p. 2, ll. 8–11).
Dangel teaches a snap fit lock mechanism for releasably joining a first component to a second component, including a plurality of such mechanisms joining a cover component onto a box-like enclosure component (FIGS. 10–11; col. 5, ll. 1–20), each comprising a resilient locking arm 10 integrally molded to the first component and a projection 20 defining a step portion 22 and a cam surface 21, engaging a locking frame 14 on the second component (col. 3, ll. 21–36). Dangel expressly states its purpose: "The lock mechanism can be engaged and released without the use of tools" (col. 1, ll. 45–47), and "the inventive lock mechanism may be repeatedly secured and released without reducing the retention performance of the lock" (col. 1, ll. 51–54); "A user can release the lock mechanism by simply pressing on projection 20 and pulling the two components 12, 16 apart" (col. 4, ll. 46–48).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to secure the mounting blocks of Barina '926 within the server chassis of the Barina '926/'812 system by snap fit lock mechanisms as taught by Dangel, in place of tool-fastened mounting, in order to permit the liquid cooling unit to be engaged and released without the use of tools and repeatedly secured and released without reduced retention performance, as Dangel expressly teaches (col. 1, ll. 45–54). The combination is consistent with Barina '926's own stated design objective of maximizing serviceability of system components, whose assemblies are removable by hand, without tools, from above (Barina '926, ¶¶ [0014], [0021], [0029]–[0030]); the skilled artisan would have recognized tool-less snap-fit mounting of the blocks as a direct extension of that same express serviceability principle to the mounting blocks themselves, solving the tool-dependent assembly problem Applicant acknowledges existed in the related art.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel, as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 2, Barina '926 further discloses that the liquid cooling unit is internally provided with a plurality of cooling grooves spaced apart from each other, and plugging openings of the plurality of cooling grooves are all located at the operating side (each mounting block 40, 140 includes a plurality of slots 51, 52, 53, 54 — "four slots in this embodiment" — spaced along the block, equal in number to and aligned with the DIMM sockets 30, each slot configured to frictionally receive a support of a respective heat conduction assembly (¶ [0019]); all of the slots 51–54 open upward at the top side of the blocks and receive the respective supports slid downward in the insertion direction D, such that each of the four DIMMs and its heat conduction assembly is individually insertable and removable from above (¶¶ [0016], [0019], [0021]; FIGS. 1, 4)).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Payne (US 2010/0276132 A1, "Payne").
Regarding claim 3, Barina '926 discloses the liquid cooling unit with a plurality of spaced cooling grooves cooled by coolant circulating within the unit (¶¶ [0019]–[0020]), but does not disclose that the liquid cooling unit comprises a substrate and a plurality of liquid cooling plates arranged side by side on the substrate, each cooling groove formed in a region between two adjacent liquid cooling plates, with the cooling channel distributed in the substrate and the plurality of liquid cooling plates.
Payne teaches a liquid-cooled body for cooling a plurality of members received therein, comprising an extruded housing 160 defining an interior region 162 having a serpentine flow path of flow channels 180, 182, 184, 186, 188, 190, 192, 194 therein, the housing having a plurality of grooves 209, 210, 212, 214, 216, 217, 218, 220 extending from a first surface of the housing into the housing, each groove receiving a portion of a member to be cooled therein, the grooves sealed from fluid communication with the interior region (Payne, Abstract; ¶¶ [0030]–[0031]; FIGS. 8–11). The wall portions of the housing between adjacent grooves constitute liquid cooling plates arranged side by side on the base portion of the housing, each groove being formed in the region between two adjacent wall portions (FIG. 11, showing the grooves 209–220 alternating with the wall portions of the housing profile, with the interior region 162 within the housing profile among the grooves), and the cooling channel is distributed through the wall portions and the body of the housing (FIG. 9, showing the flow channels 180–194 interleaved with the grooves across the width of the housing 160 and joined through the end regions of the housing body by open regions 400, 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414 to form the serpentine flow path (¶ [0041])). The housing is a single extruded metal structure constructed from at least one of aluminum, copper, silver, gold, and alloys thereof (Payne, ¶ [0030]; claims 3, 6), consistent with the "integrated structure" interpretation of the liquid cooling unit set forth in the Claim Interpretation section above and with Applicant's claim 5.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the liquid cooling unit of the Barina '926 combination as a substrate carrying a plurality of side-by-side liquid cooling plates defining the cooling grooves therebetween, with the cooling channel distributed through the body as taught by Payne, because Payne teaches that an extruded housing defining a serpentine flow path with member-receiving grooves formed in its surface "provide[s] a substantial advantage" in "effectively removing heat energy from a thermally conductive member coupled to the cooling manifold" (Payne, ¶ [0079]), and because forming the plural cooled grooves of Barina '926 in a single extruded liquid-channeled body consolidates the cooling structure into one manufacturable extrusion while placing the circulating coolant in the walls adjacent each received member, in accordance with Barina '926's own teaching that the slots are cooled by virtue of the coolant circulating within the block bodies (Barina '926, ¶ [0020]).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812, Dangel, and Payne, as applied to claim 3 above.
Regarding claim 4, the combination set forth in the rejection of claim 3 configures the liquid cooling unit as a substrate carrying a plurality of side-by-side liquid cooling plates, the plugging openings of the cooling grooves being located at the operating side; the substrate accordingly lies at the side of the unit facing away from the operating side. Payne discloses that the coolant enters and leaves the serpentine flow path through first and second fluid ports 170, 172 (Payne, ¶¶ [0030], [0033]), but locates the ports on the top cap 166 at the same side as the groove openings, the top cap having grooves 230–237 communicating with the housing grooves 209–220 for receiving the cooled members therethrough (Payne, ¶ [0033]; FIG. 8), and does not disclose an input pipe and an output pipe both connected to the substrate at the side facing away from the operating side.
Barina '926, however, expressly teaches locating fluid components away from the side from which the cooled units are inserted and removed: "There are also no liquid manifolds or other fluid control components above the DIMMs to interfere with removal and replacement of DIMMs" (Barina '926, ¶ [0014]; see also ¶ [0029]), and provides its fluid inlet couplers 74 and outlet couplers 75 with hoses 76, 77 at the mounting blocks rather than at the insertion side (¶ [0028]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to locate the fluid input and output connections of the liquid cooling unit of the Barina '926/Payne combination at the substrate side facing away from the operating side, as an input pipe and an output pipe both connected to the substrate, because Barina '926 expressly teaches that fluid control components positioned at the service side interfere with removal and replacement of the units being cooled (¶ [0014]), and relocating the fluid connections from the cap at the groove-opening side to the opposite substrate side is a mere rearrangement of the fluid supply and return connections performing the same function, in a position the primary reference itself teaches to be advantageous (MPEP 2144.04(VI)(C), In re Japikse [examiner to verify citation form before mailing]). The rearrangement preserves the unobstructed insertion and removal of the units that is Barina '926's stated design objective (¶¶ [0014], [0021], [0029]).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel, as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 5, Barina '926 further discloses that the liquid cooling unit is a split structure or an integrated structure, and that the liquid cooling unit is made of metal. As to the recited alternatives, Barina '926 discloses the split structure branch: the liquid cooling unit of the combination is constituted by the first and second liquid-cooled mounting blocks 40, 140, physically separate liquid-cooled bodies operating together (¶ [0019]), consistent with the Claim Interpretation section above, which construes the "liquid cooling unit" of claim 1 — on the strength of claim 5's own recitation — as embracing precisely such a split structure. Because the limitation is recited in the alternative, disclosure of the split structure branch meets the limitation. As to the metal recitation, Barina '926 expressly discloses that the mounting blocks are aluminum (¶ [0031]), which is a metal within the scope of the claim; Applicant's specification identifies aluminum alloy among the exemplary metals for the liquid cooling unit (Specification, p. 11).
Claims 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Luo et al. (CN 115097909 A, "'909").
Regarding claim 6, Barina '926 discloses the cooling groove receiving the unit requiring cooling from the operating side (¶¶ [0019]–[0021]), and in Barina '926 heat is transferred from the two largest faces of each DIMM through the heat conduction assembly into the slot walls (¶¶ [0013], [0021]–[0022]), but Barina '926 does not disclose that an inner wall of the cooling groove is fitted with the surface with the largest area of the unit requiring cooling.
'909 teaches a liquid cooling arrangement for pluggable modules in which, upon insertion of the module 120 into the card slot 110, the two surfaces of the module are each pressed tightly against the surface of the corresponding heat dissipation plate 130 ('909, ¶ [0065]), the heat dissipation plates 130 being arranged one per module face ('909, ¶ [0066]; FIGS. 5–6), the module being a memory module or a pluggable hard disk having flat surfaces ('909, ¶ [0064]). The plates 130, together with the liquid cooling plate 140 pressed onto them and internally provided with flow channels ('909, ¶¶ [0077]–[0081]), constitute a liquid cooling unit of split structure whose groove walls are fitted with the largest-area surfaces of the received unit, consistent with the Claim Interpretation section above and with Applicant's claim 5, which recites that the liquid cooling unit "is a split structure or an integrated structure." '909 expressly states the benefit of this arrangement: heat is dissipated from both surfaces of the module with top-side liquid cooling, improving heat dissipation efficiency ('909, ¶ [0067]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the cooling grooves of the Barina '926 combination such that the inner groove walls are fitted directly against the largest-area surfaces of the inserted unit as taught by '909, in order to dissipate heat from both large faces of the unit and thereby improve heat dissipation efficiency, as '909 expressly teaches (¶ [0067]). The modification applies '909's teaching within Barina '926's own architecture, in which heat already passes from the large faces of the DIMMs into the coolant-cooled slot walls through the intervening heat conduction assemblies (Barina '926, ¶¶ [0013], [0020]–[0022]); fitting the groove walls directly to the largest faces is a direct application of the same both-face heat transfer principle.
Regarding claim 7, '909 further teaches that the unit requiring cooling has two oppositely arranged surfaces with the largest area, and the cooling groove has two cooling walls arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the two surfaces: the heat dissipation plates 130 are disposed on each of the two sides of the module 120, each of the module's two largest surfaces being pressed against the surface of its corresponding plate 130 upon insertion ('909, ¶¶ [0065]–[0066]; FIGS. 5–6).
Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Luo et al. (CN 115097909 A, "'909").
Regarding claim 8, Barina '926 discloses a thermal interface material at the interface between each slot and the support received therein, including a gap pad, positioned so that heat passes from the received assembly into the coolant-cooled block (¶¶ [0021]–[0022]), but does not expressly disclose that the thermal pad is arranged on an inner wall of the cooling groove and attaches to the unit requiring cooling in response to insertion of the unit into the cooling groove.
'909 teaches a first thermal pad 190 arranged between the heat dissipation plate 130 — which forms the wall against which the received module is seated — and the module 120, the pad being pressed directly against the module upon insertion of the module into the slot ('909, ¶¶ [0074]–[0075]; see also ¶ [0065]). '909 thus teaches the thermal pad carried on the groove-side wall rather than on the module, such that the thermal interface is established by the act of insertion itself.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to arrange the thermal pad of the Barina '926 combination on the inner wall of the cooling groove so as to attach to the unit requiring cooling in response to insertion, as taught by '909, because doing so establishes the thermal interface automatically upon insertion of the unit and thereby dissipates heat from the surfaces of the module through the pad into the liquid-cooled structure, as '909 teaches ('909, ¶¶ [0067], [0074]–[0075]), and because Barina '926 already provides a thermal interface material at this same slot interface for this same purpose (¶¶ [0021]–[0022]).
Regarding claim 9, the thermal pad of the combination is elastic and configured to be compressed in response to insertion of the unit requiring cooling into the cooling groove: '909's first thermal pad 190 is interposed between the plate 130 and the module and is pressed tight upon insertion of the module into the slot ('909, ¶¶ [0065], [0074]–[0075]), such that the pad is necessarily deformed between the two seated surfaces; and Barina '926's slot interface material is a gap pad of the kind provided at such interfaces to conform under assembly load and accommodate tolerance between the mating surfaces (Barina '926, ¶¶ [0021]–[0022])
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel, as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 11, Barina '926 further discloses that the cooling pipeline is connected to a heat exchanger by a connector: the mounting blocks are provided with fluid inlet couplers 74 and fluid outlet couplers 75, with inlet hoses 76 and outlet hoses 77 coupled thereto, the hoses being coupled to a chilled coolant supply such that chilled coolant is continuously circulated through the mounting blocks and returned through the chiller loop (¶ [0028]; see also ¶ [0013]). The chilled coolant supply and chiller loop, which extract the heat carried by the returning coolant to re-chill it, constitute the recited heat exchanger; the fluid couplers 74, 75 constitute the recited connector joining the pipeline (hoses 76, 77) to the cooling circuit.
Claims 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel, as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 12, the combination set forth in the rejection of claim 1 provides a snap fit structure by which the liquid cooling unit is snap-fitted with the chassis: Dangel's snap fit lock mechanism releasably joins the first component to the second component (Dangel, col. 1, ll. 45–54), and in the combination the mounting blocks of Barina '926 are secured within the chassis of the Barina '926/'812 system by such mechanisms, engaged and released without tools, for the reasons set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 13, in the combination the bottom wall of the chassis is configured to carry the liquid cooling unit (the mounting blocks are installed on the system board 12, which is supported on wall 17 of the chassis 16 (Barina '812, ¶¶ [0025], [0034])), and the snap fit structure comprises an elastic snap-fit comprising an elastic plate and a protrusion: Dangel's mechanism comprises a resilient locking arm 10 integrally molded to the first component — the recited elastic plate — with a projection 20 disposed adjacent the distal end of the arm, the projection defining a step portion 22 and a cam surface 21 (Dangel, col. 3, ll. 21–36). One end of the resilient arm is fixed to its component, the projection being carried at the other, free end, such that in the combination one end of the elastic plate is fixedly connected with the chassis and the protrusion is arranged at the other end. Dangel further teaches that the projection snaps into a receiving opening of the mating component — the aperture 30 of the locking frame 14 (Dangel, col. 3, ll. 21–36) — which, formed in the surface of the component to be retained, constitutes the recited groove into which the protrusion is snapped in response to the mating of the two components; the arrangement retains the components until released by hand (col. 4, ll. 46–48). In the combination, the receiving opening is provided in the top surface of the liquid cooling unit, the surface presented to the chassis-mounted resilient arm in the top-access architecture of Barina '926, in which the unit is installed and serviced from above (Barina '926, ¶¶ [0014], [0021], [0029]); positioning the snap engagement at that surface is the direct implementation of Dangel's mechanism in the orientation the primary combination itself dictates.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel, as applied to claim 13 above.
Regarding claim 14, Dangel teaches the provision of a plurality of snap fit engagements arranged side by side between the same two components, in one-to-one correspondence: in the embodiment of FIGS. 10–11, a plurality of resilient locking arms, each carrying its projection, engage a corresponding plurality of locking frames to join a cover component onto a box-like enclosure component, each projection received in its respective frame (Dangel, col. 5, ll. 1–20; FIGS. 10–11). Dangel thus teaches multiplying the arm-projection-and-receiver engagement into side-by-side plural engagements in one-to-one correspondence where the retention load or the length of the joined edge warrants. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the elastic snap-fit of the combination of claim 13 with a plurality of protrusions arranged side by side on the elastic plate, snapped into a corresponding plurality of grooves in one-to-one correspondence, as a direct application of Dangel's plural-engagement teaching to the elongate mounting-block unit of Barina '926, distributing the retention force along the length of the unit; forming the plural projections on a common elastic plate rather than on separate arms is a mere integration of the taught plural engagements into a single actuating member, involving only routine mechanical skill and yielding the predictable result of simultaneous engagement and release of all projections.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Brocklesby et al. (US 6,058,579, "Brocklesby").
Regarding claim 15, Dangel provides the elastic plate and protrusion of the combination of claim 13, released by pressing on the projection itself (Dangel, col. 4, ll. 46–48), but does not disclose an actuating member connected with the elastic plate and configured to actuate the elastic plate.
Brocklesby teaches a snap latch for interlocking a shuttle assembly carrying an electronics board within a stationary chassis, the latch being a single-piece molded part having a snap feature 31 comprising a base portion 33, a thin flexible member designed to pivot relative to the latch body, the front end of the base portion having a lip 35 which tapers downward in a barb-like fashion, and a pivot lever 37 which extends integrally from the base portion 33, a thin triangular reinforcement web 41 extending between the base portion 33 and the pivot lever 37 for preventing relative movement therebetween (Brocklesby, col. 2, ll. 12–26; FIG. 4; claim 13: "a pivot lever extending from the elongated member for manually moving the lip out of engagement with the receptacle"). In operation, the lip 35 engages a hole 71 in the engaged position, and the latch is released by pulling back on or pinching the pivot lever 37, whereby "snap feature 31 is pivoted relative to handle 21 through base portion 33" and "[w]eb 41 pulls lip 35 out of engagement with hole 71" (Brocklesby, col. 2, ll. 56–67; FIGS. 5–7). Brocklesby states that "[b]oth the engagement and retraction operations are performed without the use of any additional tools" (col. 3, ll. 22–24), and that the latch "prevents unintentional disengagement" while providing the installer positive physical and audible indication of engagement (col. 3, ll. 25–37).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the elastic plate of the Dangel snap-fit in the combination with an actuating member connected to the elastic plate as taught by Brocklesby — a lever extending integrally from the resilient member, by which the member is deflected to withdraw the snap engagement — in order to permit release by a deliberate manual action on a dedicated actuating member rather than by direct pressure on the projection, preventing unintentional disengagement while preserving entirely tool-less engagement and release, as Brocklesby expressly teaches (col. 3, ll. 22–37). The modification applies a teaching from the same art of tool-lessly latching electronic assemblies within a chassis — Brocklesby's latch secures a board-carrying assembly in a chassis while assuring blind-mating connector engagement (col. 2, ll. 27–44; claim 14) — and is consistent with the serviceability objective of Barina '926 (¶ [0014]) and the release-by-hand principle of Dangel (col. 4, ll. 46–48) already underlying the combination.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of May (US 4,105,136, "May").
Regarding claim 16, Dangel discloses that the snap-fit is an integrated structure ("The lock mechanism is molded to each component in a single operation," Dangel, col. 4, ll. 48–53) and that the protrusion is provided with a guide inclined surface (the projection 20 defines a cam surface 21 by which the engagement is cammed home, Dangel, col. 3, ll. 21–36). Dangel further discloses the receiving formation of its snap-fit as an aperture extending through the component that receives the projection — the generally rectangular aperture 30 through the locking frame 14 (Dangel, col. 3, ll. 21–36) — but locates that aperture on the mating component rather than in the elastic plate, and thus does not disclose that the elastic plate is provided with a through hole.
May teaches a unitary molded snap closure for an access opening of electrical equipment in which the yielding member carries the receiving formation and the fixed member carries the wedge formation: the flexible molded cover 51 contains a wedge-shaped slot 61 which snaps over a wedge-shaped boss 60 on the frame 50 to hold the cover closed (May, col. 3, ll. 24–27; FIGS. 3, 4, 8), and is released by pulling the cover to force the disconnection between boss and slot (May, col. 3, ll. 49–58). May's claims expressly recite the placement of the cooperating formations as an interchangeable design choice: "said closure means consists of a wedge-shaped boss connected to one of said frame or cover and a cooperating wedge-shaped slot in the other of said frame or cover" (May, claims 6, 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the receiving formation of the Dangel snap-fit of the combination as a through hole in the elastic plate — the elastic plate receiving therethrough a fixed protrusion having the guide inclined surface — because Dangel itself shows the receiving formation as a through-aperture (aperture 30) and May teaches that placing the receiving formation on the yielding member and the wedge formation on the fixed member is a known and interchangeable arrangement of the same cooperating snap elements (May, claims 6, 11; FIGS. 3, 7), the selection between the two placements involving only the ordinary skill of arranging known cooperating formations between two components with no change in the function of either formation, while retaining the tool-less, single-operation molded construction that both Dangel (col. 4, ll. 48–53) and May (unitary molding of the entire assembly) teach.
Claims 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel, as applied to claim 12 above.
Regarding claim 17, Dangel's snap fit lock mechanism comprises a projection defining a step portion 22 and cam surface 21 — a snap-fit hook — received in an opening of the mating component to retain the two components against separation until released (Dangel, col. 3, ll. 21–36; col. 4, ll. 46–48). In the combination of claim 12, in which the bottom wall of the chassis carries the liquid cooling unit (Barina '812, ¶¶ [0025], [0034]), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the snap-fit hook on the bottom wall of the chassis and the corresponding snap-fit groove at the bottom of the liquid cooling unit, such that the hook is snapped into the groove upon seating of the unit on the bottom wall, because the bottom interface between the unit and its carrying wall is the mating interface of the combination, and locating Dangel's hook-and-receiver engagement at the very interface across which the components are joined is the direct implementation of Dangel's mechanism in the mounting architecture the combination provides, securing the unit tool-lessly at the surface on which it is carried (Dangel, col. 1, ll. 45–54).
Regarding claim 18, Dangel further teaches a plurality of such engagements in one-to-one correspondence between the same two components (col. 5, ll. 1–20; FIGS. 10–11), rendering obvious a plurality of snap-fit hooks and a corresponding plurality of snap-fit grooves in one-to-one correspondence, for the load-distribution reasons set forth in the rejection of claim 14. As to the opening direction of the snap-fit groove facing the operating side, the combination installs and removes the liquid cooling unit from the operating side (Barina '926, ¶¶ [0021], [0029]); orienting the groove opening toward the operating side is the orientation in which the hook enters the groove along the very path of installation of the unit and is cammed out of it along the path of removal, permitting engagement and release by the same operating-side access through which all service of the apparatus is performed (Barina '926, ¶ [0014]). Selection of this orientation among the finite orientations available at the bottom interface is a matter of obvious engineering choice dictated by the combination's own single-sided service architecture, involving no change in the function of hook or groove.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Berkenbush et al. (US 7,336,493, "Berkenbush").
Regarding claim 19, the combination of claim 1 provides the chassis and the liquid cooling unit with cooling grooves receiving units requiring cooling from the operating side, but does not disclose a connecting back plate fixed in the chassis, with a connector arranged on the connecting back plate and located in the cooling groove, mating with the unit requiring cooling in response to its insertion.
Berkenbush teaches a liquid-cooled rack for "mounting and electrically interconnecting electronics modules, each in a respective slot in the rack 10," the rack being "provided with an array of electrical connectors 12, one for each of the module slots," a module 14 being mounted with its electrical connector "mated with one of the rack connectors 12," and "held in place at its rearward end by the connector 12" (Berkenbush, col. 2, ll. 16–28; FIG. 1); Berkenbush states that "[t]he foregoing is well known in the art" (col. 2, ll. 28–29). The base 20 of the rack is formed of thermally conductive material with a coolant passageway 22 below its upper surface through which liquid coolant flows (col. 2, ll. 33–37; FIG. 2). In use, "a module 14 is installed in an appropriate slot on the rack 10 and engages a respective connector 12," the module being "easily slid into place" (col. 3, ll. 60–67), such that the electrical connection is established by the very act of inserting the module into its slot, the connector at the inner end of the slot retaining the module's rearward end (col. 2, ll. 26–28; col. 3, ll. 62–65).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the chassis of the combination with a connecting back plate fixed therein carrying a connector for each cooling groove, the connector located at the inner end of the groove so as to mate with the unit requiring cooling in response to the insertion of the unit into the groove, as taught by Berkenbush, because doing so establishes both the mechanical seating and the electrical interconnection of the unit by the single insertion motion through the plugging opening — the module "easily slid into place" and retained at its rearward end by the connector (Berkenbush, col. 2, ll. 26–28; col. 3, ll. 60–67) — thereby permitting each unit to be installed and removed through the operating side without separate cabling operations, in direct furtherance of the combination's serviceability objective (Barina '926, ¶ [0014]) and remedying the absence of hot plugging that Applicant acknowledges in the related art (Specification, p. 2); Berkenbush's own statement that connector-per-slot rearward mounting is well known in the art (col. 2, ll. 28–29) confirms that the skilled artisan would have regarded the provision as conventional in liquid-cooled rack architectures of exactly this kind.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barina '926 in view of Barina '812 and Dangel, as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 20, the combination renders obvious a server comprising the liquid cooling apparatus of claim 1: Barina '926 discloses that the cooling system "may be installed in a chassis as small as a 1 U server chassis" (¶ [0014]), and Barina '812 expressly discloses the chassis 16 as a 1U server chassis housing system board 12 with DIMM sockets 30 and DIMMs, the system board being a blade server motherboard or desktop motherboard (Barina '812, ¶¶ [0017], [0025]). A 1U server chassis housing a motherboard with populated memory sockets and the liquid cooling apparatus of the combination constitutes the recited server.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record does not disclose or render obvious a liquid cooling apparatus having, in combination with all of the limitations of claims 1, 8, and 9, a thermal pad made of silica gel wherein the thermal pad is compressed to a compression ratio of 30% to 70% of its thickness. The references of record that disclose a thermal interface material at the groove interface (Barina '926, ¶¶ [0021]–[0022]; '909, ¶¶ [0074]–[0075]) neither identify the material of the pad as silica gel nor identify the degree of compression of the pad as a variable bearing on the performance of the interface, and no reference of record recites a compression ratio or a range thereof. Accordingly, there is no basis on this record for treating the recited compression ratio as the result of routine optimization of a result-effective variable.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 2013/0194745 – liquid-cooled memory system having one cooling pipe per pair of dimms
US 8,385,069 - liquid coolant conduit secured in an unused socket for memory module cooling
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/ZHENGFU J FENG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2835 July 24, 2026
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