DETAILED ACTION
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 statement filed on 11/26/2024 has been fully considered.
Priority
The foreign priority claim to JP2022-137250 filed on 8/30/2022 is acknowledged.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 8 are 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.
Regarding claim 6, this claim includes the limitation “the first reserve tank is located between the first cooling fan and the first discharge port, and the second reserve tank is located between the partition wall and the operating oil tank.” These limitations in combination with the limitations of claim 5 are not found in the prior art of record. To teach this limitation would require either: a reference that teaches each of these elements in the orientation claimed, in such a way that could be obviously combined with Nishikori, an alternative primary reference; or a reference that teaches all the limitations of claims 5 and 6. No such reference was found. As such, claim 6 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.
Regarding claim 8, this claim depends upon claim 6 and thus contains allowable subject matter at least by merit of its dependency.
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 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.
Claim(s) 5, and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nishikori (US 20230228059 A1) in view of Matsumoto (JP 2016089422 A) and in further view of Yoneda (JP 2009274462 A).
Regarding claim 5, Nishikori teaches an electric construction machine comprising:
an electric motor as a power source (63 “electric motor” taught by figure 2);
a radiator that cools a first heat exchange liquid (HE1 taught by paragraph 51 “The first heat exchange device HE1 includes a radiator”) warmed by cooling the electric motor (taught by paragraph 51 “the cooling medium circulates in a circulation path through the electric motor 63, etc., thereby to cool the electric motor 63”);
a first cooling fan that applies cooling air to the radiator (F “fan” taught by figure 2 and paragraph 52 “hot cooling water supplied from the electric motor 63 is cooled by heat exchange with blown air from the cooling fan F”);
a first reserve tank into which the first heat exchange liquid flows and from which the first heat exchange liquid flows out (64 “water tank” taught by figure 2);
a hydraulic pump that is driven by the electric motor (71 “hydraulic pump” taught yb paragraph 69 “driving the electric motor 63 drives the hydraulic pump 71”); and
an operating oil tank that is connected to the hydraulic pump to store operating oil (74 “hydraulic oil tank” taught by paragraph 57 “The hydraulic oil circulates through the hydraulic pump 71, the hydraulic valve 72, the hydraulic actuator 73, the second heat exchange device HE2, and the hydraulic oil tank 74”), characterized by including:
a second heat exchange liquid (HE2 taught by figure 4);
a second reserve tank into which the second heat exchange liquid flows and from which the second heat exchange liquid flows out (74 “hydraulic oil tank” taught in figure 4);
an oil cooler that cools the operating oil a temperature of which is risen by the hydraulic pump (HE2 “second heat exchange device” taught by figure 4);
a second cooling fan that applies cooling air to the oil cooler (F “fan” is also taught as two cooling fans which cool each heat exchanger separately in paragraph 61 “each cooling fan F blows air separately to one of the first heat exchange device HE1 and the second heat exchange device HE2”);
a single room in which the electric motor, the radiator, the first cooling fan, the first reserve tank, the operating oil tank, the oil cooler, the second cooling fan, the electrical heater and the second reserve tank are arranged (44 “engine chamber” taught by figure 2 and at least paragraph 49 “In the engine chamber 44, the heat exchange device HE is placed opposite the hydraulic pump 71, with respect to the electric motor 63. The heat exchange device HE is so configured as to include a first heat exchange device HE1 and a second heat exchange device HE2”).
However, Nishikori does not teach:
a heater core for heating;
an electrical heater for heating a second heat exchange liquid to be supplied to the heater core;
an electrical equipment room in which the electric motor, the radiator, the first cooling fan and the first reserve tank are arranged; and
a tank room in which the operating oil tank, the oil cooler, the second cooling fan, the electrical heater and the second reserve tank are arranged, wherein a partition wall is provided to partition between the electrical equipment room and the tank room.
Matsumoto teaches a first room; and
a second room, wherein a partition wall is provided to partition between the first room and second room (19 “partition plate” taught by figure 6 and “The partition plate 19 is located between the heat exchange device 11 and the hydraulic oil tank 17”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified Nishikori’s single room with the partition of Matsumoto in order to form an electrical equipment room in which the electric motor, the radiator, the first cooling fan and the first reserve tank are arranged; and a tank room in which the operating oil tank, the oil cooler, the second cooling fan, and the second reserve tank are arranged, with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because separating various components into separate rooms helps insulate those components from one another, meaning the electric motor in the electrical equipment room would not be able to heat the oil cooler in the tank room.
Yoneda teaches a heater core for heating (22 “heater core” taught by figure 1 and the abstract);
an electrical heater for heating a second heat exchange liquid to be supplied to the heater core (27 “air conditioner main body” taught by figure 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have incorporated the electrical heater and heater core of Yoneda into the tank room of Nishikori in view of Matsumoto, with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this incorporation because hydraulic oil works best within a specific temperature range and a heater would ensure that the oil does not go below that range.
Regarding claim 7, Nishikori in view of Matsumoto and in further view of Yoneda teaches the electric construction machine according to claim 5, as set forth in the obviousness rejection above.
However, Nishikori does not teach wherein the second reserve tank is located closer to the upper side than the operating oil tank, the oil cooler, and the electrical heater inside the tank room.
Matsumoto teaches wherein the second reserve tank (17 “oil tank” taught in figure 6) is located closer to the upper side than the operating oil tank (13B “lower tank” taught in figures 4 and 6), the oil cooler (14 “oil cooler” taught in figure 6) and the electrical heater (13c “heat radiating portion” taught in figure 6) inside the tank room.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the tank room of Nishikori in view of Matsumoto and in further view of Yoneda, to have the second reserve tank higher than the other listed components as taught by Matsumoto, with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because having the second reserve tank higher up than the other components allows gravity help ensure a constant supply of oil from the second reserve tank..
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS KANDAS whose telephone number is (571)272-5628. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri.
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, James A Shriver can be reached at (303)297-4337. 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.
/NICHOLAS R. KANDAS/Examiner, Art Unit 3613
/JAMES A SHRIVER II/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3613
Prosecution Insights