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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The claims are directed to heat dissipation within a capacitor module. The title should more clearly reflect this feature. Claim 3 only broadly names a power module – the main focus of the claims still appears to be the capacitor heat dissipation. There is no actual power conversion within the claims (no converters are identified by name or functionality). Thus, it does not appear that it is necessary to include “power conversion” in the title.
The disclosure is objected to because the language of paragraph 45 is not clear. It is not understood how the conductive plate 26 is “extending from the capacitor elements 22 to the power modules 30, via the positive electrode conductor 23, the negative electrode conductor 24, and the insulation portion 25”.
The bolded appears to be contradicted by the fact that the conductive plate is located inside the housing. If the plate is entirely within the housing, then it does not extend to an exterior component (the power module or something else).
The italicized language does not make sense. It is unclear how one structural element can extend “via” two other structures and an insulation portion. The conductive plate is its own component – while it may extend in the same direction as the electrodes, it does not do so “via” them. It is unclear how the conductive plate can be defined as “via” the insulating portion that appears to completely surround it.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the limitation of “extending from the capacitor elements 22 to the power modules 30, via the positive electrode conductor 23, the negative electrode conductor 24, and the insulation portion 25” is indefinite. As discussed above, “extending to the power modules” appears to be contradicted by the explicit recitation that the conductive plate is “housed in the housing” (it does not extend out of the housing) and the “via” language is not understood. The specification (par 45) simply repeats this language without offering any guidance or explanation.
Claims 2-3 are similarly rejected as they depend from, and inherit the deficiencies of, claim 1.
Claim 2 is indefinite because it contradicts itself. The claim recites that the conductive plate has two distinct portions, but the “second portion [is] formed integrally with the first portion”. If they are integrally formed, then it is unclear why or how there would be two different ones.
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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yang (US 8,018,712).
With respect to claim 1, Yang discloses a power module connection capacitor (fig. 3-5; col. 1-5) comprising:
a housing (C);
a plurality of capacitor elements (1) that are housed in the housing and are disposed adjacent to each other;
a positive electrode conductor (1a) that connects positive electrodes of the plurality of capacitor elements and positive electrodes (not claimed – intended use) of power modules disposed outside the housing;
a negative electrode conductor (1b) that connects negative electrodes of the plurality of capacitor elements and negative electrodes (not claimed – intended use) of the power modules, in a state where the plurality of capacitor elements are held between the positive electrode conductor and the negative electrode conductor (see fig 3);
an insulation portion (labeled as 9 in figure 4, specification discloses that this is an epoxy insulating material, see col. 1, lines 39-43, col. 2, lines 33-37, col. 5, lines 27-35) housed in the housing and disposed to fill respective spaces formed between an inner surface of the housing, the plurality of capacitor elements, the positive electrode conductor, and the negative electrode conductor, thereby insulating the housing, the capacitor elements, the positive electrode conductor, and the negative electrode conductor from each other (see at least col. 5, lines 27-35); and
a conductive plate (20a, including the components shown in figure 5b, namely item 6) housed in the housing, and disposed between (see fig 3) a current path of the positive electrode conductor extending from the capacitor elements to the power modules and a current path of the negative electrode conductor extending from the capacitor elements to the power modules, via the positive electrode conductor, the negative electrode conductor, and the insulation portion,
wherein the conductive plate is formed of a material with higher heat conductivity than the insulation portion (col. 4, lines 24-49).
Yang discloses a capacitor module with a plurality of capacitors connected to positive and negative bus bars (electrodes). The module housing is filled with an insulating epoxy. To assist in heat dissipation, Yang has added a conductive plate (20a, 6) to make a better thermal connection with the capacitors to conduct heat away from them and out of the module housing. This is clearly done because it has a higher heat conductivity than the epoxy.
The power modules are not distinctly claimed (see language of claim 3). The connection capacitor is a standalone component. Thus, there is no actual connection of any component within the power module connection capacitor to an external power module. This connect language is interpreted as an intended use for where ethe connection capacitor is intended to be used.
With respect to claim 2, Yang discloses the conductive plate has
a first portion (20a) disposed between the current path of the positive electrode conductor and the current path of the negative electrode conductor on a side of the power modules, with respect to the capacitor elements, and
a second portion (6) formed integrally with the first portion and disposed between the adjacent capacitor elements.
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang in view of Hoyler (US 2021/0144887).
Yang discloses a power conversion device comprising the power module connection capacitor according to claim 1 and that the conductive plate is disposed integrally with the housing (see fig 3). Yang does not expressly disclose a connected power module or cooler.
Hoyler discloses a power conversion device (fig 1-2; all text) comprising:
a power module connection capacitor (3) comprising
a housing (14);
a plurality of capacitor elements (15, 16) that are housed in the housing and are disposed adjacent to each other;
a positive electrode conductor (one of 8 or 9) that connects positive electrodes of the plurality of capacitor elements and positive electrodes of power modules disposed outside the housing (via one of bus bar 17 or 18);
a negative electrode conductor (the other of 8 or 9) that connects negative electrodes of the plurality of capacitor elements and negative electrodes of the power modules (via the other bus bar 17 or 18);
an insulation portion (22; par 28) housed in the housing and disposed to fill respective spaces formed between an inner surface of the housing, the plurality of capacitor elements, the positive electrode conductor, and the negative electrode conductor, thereby insulating the housing, the capacitor elements, the positive electrode conductor, and the negative electrode conductor from each other (par 28); and
a conductive plate (shown in fig 2, see item 26; par 31) housed in the housing, wherein the conductive plate is formed of a material with higher heat conductivity than the insulation portion (obvious in the name “heat-conducting plate”);
a plurality of power modules (within item 1, items 23 and 24 [par 29] are interpreted as individual power modules); and
a cooler (2) that cools the power modules connection capacitor and the power modules.
Yang and Hoyler are analogous to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor, namely capacitor modules with heat dissipation. At the time of the Applicant’s earliest filing date, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify Yang to include the cooler and power modules, as taught by Hoyler. The motivation for adding the cooler would have been to increase heat dissipation (relying on an active medium instead of passive conduction through the surrounding air). The motivation for adding the power modules would have been to use the capacitors as part of an electrical circuit to complete a function. Yang states that the purpose of its capacitor is to be used in industrial fields – this includes being used in association with power modules.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Li (US 2025/0157740) at figure 3 discloses a capacitor module, filled with insulation, with positive and negative electrodes, and a heat dissipating conductive plate (HSN) between the electrodes. Li does not disclose a plurality of capacitors within the housing, but such a modification would have been within the level of one of ordinary skill in the art.
Nguyen (US 2020/0328026) at figure 3 discloses a capacitor module, filled within dielectric resin (an insulator), with positive and negative electrodes (11, 13), a heat dissipating conductive plate (14) and a cooler (19). Nguyen discloses the conductive plate is below the electrodes, not between them.
Usui (US 2016/0307822) at figure 11A discloses a capacitor module, filled with resin (an insulator), with electrodes (5a, 5b), a heat dissipating conductive plate (2) between the electrodes and a cooler (the source of cooling fluid that flows through 2). Item 4 is a plurality of capacitors.
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/ADI AMRANY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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