DETAILED ACTION
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 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.
Claim(s) 7 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cutchaw (US 4730665 A).
As to claim 7, Cutchaw discloses:
A unit (Fig. 1-4), comprising:
a cooling liquid (coolant, see Abstract);
an electric circuit 18 (high density integrated circuit package); and
a fiber body 46 (see Fig. 4), wherein
the electric circuit is disposed within a liquid flow path (from inlet 48 through device 10 to outlet 50) of the cooling liquid, and
when a liquid flow of the cooling liquid passing through the fiber body is supplied to the electric circuit disposed downstream of the fiber body, turbulence is formed in a part of the cooling liquid that directly cools the electric circuit (col. 7, lines 31-37).
As to claim 9, Cutchaw discloses:
wherein the electric circuit 18 includes a board 30 and a circuit part 34 provided on a front-surface-direction-side of the board, and the fiber body 46 is provided on the front-surface-direction-side with respect to the circuit part.
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(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cutchaw (US 4730665 A) alone as applied to claim 9 above.
As to claim 10, Cutchaw discloses:
an inlet 48 for the liquid flow provided upstream of the fiber body; and
an outlet 50 for the liquid flow provided downstream of the fiber body,
wherein the inlet (internal end of inlet 48) overlaps the board 30 as viewed in a front surface direction of the board (overlaps from above when viewed from top down), and the outlet (external end of outlet 50) is offset from the circuit part 34 as viewed in the front surface direction (from the top down; Fig. 1-4).
Cutchaw does not explicitly disclose (in the current embodiment):
wherein the inlet overlaps the circuit part as viewed in a front surface direction of the board.
However, in another embodiment, Cutchaw discloses:
wherein the inlet (internal end of inlet 88; Fig. 5) overlaps the circuit part 34 as viewed in a front surface direction of the board (overlaps from above when viewed from top down);
in order to provide the inlet at a desired location (see Fig. 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Cutchaw as suggested by Cutchaw, e.g., providing:
wherein the inlet overlaps the circuit part as viewed in a front surface direction of the board;
in order to provide the inlet at a desired location.
Further, it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention (e.g., rearranging the position the inlet of a liquid cooling system) involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Additionally, all claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined/modified the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination/modification would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.___, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Claim(s) 8, 11 and 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cutchaw (US 4730665 A) as applied to claims 7, 9, and 10 above, and further in view of Goto (US 20110215660 A1).
As to claim 8, Cutchaw discloses:
wherein in the liquid flow path, a liquid flow flows from a coolant circulation system (col. 5, lines 42-45) toward (from the inlet 48) the fiber body 46, and a liquid flow flows from the electric circuit 18 toward (from outlet 50) the coolant circulation system.
Cutchaw does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the coolant circulation system is a pump.
However, Goto discloses:
wherein the coolant circulation system is a pump;
in order to forcibly supply cooling oil into the cooling inlet 170h (par. 0077, 0105).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Cutchaw as suggested by Goto, e.g., providing:
wherein the coolant circulation system is a pump;
in order to forcibly supply cooling oil into the cooling inlet.
Additionally, all claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined/modified the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination/modification would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.___, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
As to claims 11, 14, and 15, Cutchaw does not disclose:
a rotary electric machine and/or a power transmission mechanism, wherein the cooling liquid is used to lubricate the rotary electric machine and/or the power transmission mechanism.
However, Goto discloses:
a rotary electric machine (motor-generator; par. 0176) and/or a power transmission mechanism, wherein the cooling liquid (cooling oil; par. 0206, 0176) is used to lubricate the rotary electric machine (used to lubricate the bearings 131, 132 of the motor-generator; par. 0176) and/or the power transmission mechanism;
in order to provide a motor-generator with efficient cooling (Abstract, par. 0206), eliminate a special lubricating mechanism, and/or reduce manufacturing costs (par. 0176).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Cutchaw as suggested by Goto, e.g., providing:
a rotary electric machine and/or a power transmission mechanism, wherein the cooling liquid is used to lubricate the rotary electric machine and/or the power transmission mechanism;
in order to provide a motor-generator with efficient cooling, eliminate a special lubricating mechanism, and/or reduce manufacturing costs.
Additionally, all claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined/modified the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination/modification would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.___, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
As to claim 13, Cutchaw in view of Goto does not explicitly disclose (as modified in claim 8 above):
a rotary electric machine and/or a power transmission mechanism, wherein the cooling liquid is used to lubricate the rotary electric machine and/or the power transmission mechanism.
However, Goto further discloses:
a rotary electric machine (motor-generator; par. 0176) and/or a power transmission mechanism, wherein the cooling liquid (cooling oil; par. 0206, 0176) is used to lubricate the rotary electric machine (used to lubricate the bearings 131, 132 of the motor-generator; par. 0176) and/or the power transmission mechanism;
in order to provide a motor-generator with efficient cooling (Abstract, par. 0206), eliminate a special lubricating mechanism, and/or reduce manufacturing costs (par. 0176).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Cutchaw and Goto as suggested by Goto, e.g., providing:
a rotary electric machine and/or a power transmission mechanism, wherein the cooling liquid is used to lubricate the rotary electric machine and/or the power transmission mechanism;
in order to provide a motor-generator with efficient cooling, eliminate a special lubricating mechanism, and/or reduce manufacturing costs.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 12 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:
As to claim 12, the allowability resides in the overall structure and functionality of the apparatus as recited in the dependent claim 12, including all of the limitations of their base claims and intervening claims, and at least in part, because they recite the following limitations:
12. The unit according to claim 7, further comprising:
a rotary electric machine and/or a power transmission mechanism, wherein
the cooling liquid is used to lubricate the rotary electric machine and/or the power transmission mechanism, and
a downstream point of the rotary electric machine and/or the power transmission mechanism and a downstream point of the electric circuit merge and the cooling liquid is drawn into a suction port of a pump.
Friedmann (US 6428445 B1) discloses cooling and lubricating a transmission.
Chisolm (US 4130233 A) and Popovich (US 20060137856 A1) discloses cooling systems with fiber bodies.
None of the prior art, either alone or in combination, can be reasonably construed as adequately teaching the above claimed elements, in combination with the remaining claim limitations.
Further, Examiner has not identified any double patenting issues.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB R CRUM whose telephone number is (571)270-7665. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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/JACOB R CRUM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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