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.
Claims 1, 3-8 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kanai (US 20200337182 A1).
As to Claim 1, Kanai discloses:
An apparatus (electronic apparatus 100; see Fig. 1) comprising:
an inflatable cold plate (tubes 2; see Figs. 2-8) configured for placement in a slot between two memory cards 52 connected to a motherboard 51 of a computing device (server 50; Par. 0025 “The tubes 2 are arranged so as to pass through spaces between the memories 52 that face each other and so as to be parallel to the memories 52”), wherein:
the inflatable cold plate 2 expands to contact the two memory cards 52 in response to pressure from a cooling fluid (Par. 0027 “When the coolant liquid 15 flows through the tube 2, the expansion portions 2a are able to expand or contract in response to the pressure of the coolant liquid 15. The expansion portions 2a are able to be brought into contact with the memories 52 disposed beside the expansion portions 2a when the expansion portions 2a expand. When the pressure in the tube 2 is appropriately adjusted, the expansion portions 2a are able to be brought into surface contact with the memories 52”); and
the inflatable cold plate 2 is configured to transfer heat from the two memory cards 52 to the cooling fluid (Par. 0027 “This allows heat transfer between the expansion portions 2a and the memories 52. The coolant liquid 15 deprives the memories 52 of the heat. As a result, the memories 52 are cooled”),
wherein the inflatable cold plate 2 is in fluid communication with a fluid pump 42 configured to:
pump the cooling fluid through the inflatable cold plate 2 at a sufficient pressure to pressurize the inflatable cold plate 2 against the two memory cards 52; and
circulate the cooling fluid through the inflatable cold plate 2 to transfer heat from the inflatable cold plate 2 (Par. 0034 “The degree of expansion of the expansion portions 2a of the tube 2 is adjustable as illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7C by adjusting output of the pump 42. When the pump 42 is not operated, the expansion portions 2a contract as illustrated in FIG. 7A. When the output of the pump 42 is adjusted to an intermediate degree, the expansion portions 2a slightly expand as illustrated in FIG. 7B. When the output of the pump 42 is further increased, the expansion portions 2a greatly expand as illustrated in FIG. 7C When the expansion portions 2a greatly expand, the degree of close contact with the memories 52 may be improved”; Par. 0027 “The coolant liquid 15 having deprived the memories 52 of the heat is cooled by the CD 40 and is sent to the cooling module 1 again by the pump 42”).
As to Claim 3, Kanai discloses:
wherein the inflatable cold plate 2 is configured to expand in a direction towards a side of each of the two memory cards 52 in response to the fluid pump 42 pumping the cooling fluid (Par. 0027 “The expansion portions 2a are able to be brought into contact with the memories 52 disposed beside the expansion portions 2a when the expansion portions 2a expand”; see Par. 0034, tube expands based on adjustment of pump 42).
As to Claim 4, Kanai discloses:
wherein one or both surfaces (expansion portions 2a) facing the two memory cards 52 comprise a compliant material configured to form to an irregular surface of each of the two memory cards 52 (Par. 0028 “The tube 2 according to the present embodiment is formed of silicone rubber, which is a material having elasticity, so that the expansion portions 2a easily expand. It is sufficient that the tube 2 have thermal conductivity and be elastically deformable. For example, other than silicone rubber, the tube 2 may be formed of ethylene propylene rubber”; tube 2 formed of compliant material, capable of forming to irregular surface).
As to Claim 5, Kanai discloses:
wherein one or both surfaces 2a facing the two memory cards 52 comprise an irregular shape configured to form to a corresponding irregular surface of each of the two memory cards 52 (see Figs. 7a-8, 2a expands forming an irregular shape and couples to 521 of 52).
As to Claim 6, Kanai discloses:
wherein sides of the inflatable cold plate 2 other than surfaces facing the two memory cards 52 expand less than the surfaces facing the two memory cards 52 (see Figs. 7a-8, height maintaining portions 2b, 2c, expand less than 2a).
As to Claim 7, Kanai discloses:
wherein the sides 2b,2c of the of the inflatable cold plate 2 other than surfaces 2a facing the two memory cards 52 are configured to be rigid (Par. 0029 “the positions of the height maintaining portions 2b, 2c are substantially unchanged in the height direction”; Figs. 7a-8 suggest 2b,2c remain rigid in expansion direction, however, 2b,2c are rigid in height direction).
As to Claim 8, Kanai discloses:
further comprising the fluid pump 42 and a heat exchanger 41, the heat exchanger 41 positioned in a cooling loop in fluid communication with the fluid pump 42 and the inflatable cold plate 2 and positioned to remove heat from the cooling fluid (Par. 0023 “Each cooling module 1 is coupled to a coolant distribution unit (CDU) 40 through a first pipe 43 and a second pipe 44. The CDU 40 includes a heat exchanger 41 and a pump 42”; “The heat exchanger 41 exchanges heat between the coolant liquid 15 and a coolant that has been cooled outside of the CDU 40 and flows into the CDU 40 so as to cool the coolant liquid 15. The first pipe 43 distributes the coolant liquid 15 cooled by the heat exchanger 41 to each cooling module 1. The second pipe 44 recovers the coolant liquid 15 that has deprived the servers 50 of heat in the cooling modules 1 and has been heated”).
As to Claim 14, Kanai discloses:
A system (electronic apparatus 100; see Fig. 1) comprising:
a fluid pump 42; and
a computing device (server 50) further comprising:
a motherboard 51;
at least two memory cards 52 connected to the motherboard 51 (Par. 0025 “The memory slots 53 are disposed over a motherboard (board) 51, and the memories 52 as electronic components are inserted into the memory slots 53”); and
at least one inflatable cold plate (tubes 2; see Figs. 2-8) configured for placement in a slot between two memory cards 52 of the at least two memory cards connected to the motherboard 51 (Par. 0025 “The tubes 2 are arranged so as to pass through spaces between the memories 52 that face each other and so as to be parallel to the memories 52”), wherein:
the at least one inflatable cold plate 2 expands to contact the two memory cards 52 in response to pressure from a cooling fluid (Par. 0027 “When the coolant liquid 15 flows through the tube 2, the expansion portions 2a are able to expand or contract in response to the pressure of the coolant liquid 15. The expansion portions 2a are able to be brought into contact with the memories 52 disposed beside the expansion portions 2a when the expansion portions 2a expand. When the pressure in the tube 2 is appropriately adjusted, the expansion portions 2a are able to be brought into surface contact with the memories 52”); and
the at least one inflatable cold plate 2 is configured to transfer heat from the two memory cards 52 to the cooling fluid (Par. 0027 “This allows heat transfer between the expansion portions 2a and the memories 52. The coolant liquid 15 deprives the memories 52 of the heat. As a result, the memories 52 are cooled”),
wherein the at least one inflatable cold plate 2 is in fluid communication with the fluid pump 42 configured to:
pump the cooling fluid through the inflatable cold plate 2 at a sufficient pressure to pressurize the inflatable cold plate 2 against the two memory cards 52; and
circulate the cooling fluid through the inflatable cold plate 2 to transfer heat from the inflatable cold plate 2 (Par. 0034 “The degree of expansion of the expansion portions 2a of the tube 2 is adjustable as illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7C by adjusting output of the pump 42. When the pump 42 is not operated, the expansion portions 2a contract as illustrated in FIG. 7A. When the output of the pump 42 is adjusted to an intermediate degree, the expansion portions 2a slightly expand as illustrated in FIG. 7B. When the output of the pump 42 is further increased, the expansion portions 2a greatly expand as illustrated in FIG. 7C When the expansion portions 2a greatly expand, the degree of close contact with the memories 52 may be improved”; Par. 0027 “The coolant liquid 15 having deprived the memories 52 of the heat is cooled by the CD 40 and is sent to the cooling module 1 again by the pump 42”).
As to Claim 15, Kanai discloses:
further comprising a heat exchanger 41, the heat exchanger 41 positioned in a cooling loop in fluid communication with the fluid pump 42 and the inflatable cold plate 2 and positioned to remove heat from the cooling fluid (Par. 0023 “Each cooling module 1 is coupled to a coolant distribution unit (CDU) 40 through a first pipe 43 and a second pipe 44. The CDU 40 includes a heat exchanger 41 and a pump 42”; “The heat exchanger 41 exchanges heat between the coolant liquid 15 and a coolant that has been cooled outside of the CDU 40 and flows into the CDU 40 so as to cool the coolant liquid 15. The first pipe 43 distributes the coolant liquid 15 cooled by the heat exchanger 41 to each cooling module 1. The second pipe 44 recovers the coolant liquid 15 that has deprived the servers 50 of heat in the cooling modules 1 and has been heated”).
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.
Claims 2 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kanai (US 20200337182 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Najjari (US 20250024640 A1).
As to Claim 2, Kanai does not disclose:
wherein the two memory cards are two dual in-line memory modules (“DIMMs”).
However, Najjari discloses:
wherein the two memory cards are two dual in-line memory modules (“DIMMs”) (Par. 0087 “a liquid-cooled cold plate 335 can be positioned between and in thermal contact with a pair of multi-chip modules 305 (e.g., DIMMs)”);
in order to provide liquid cooling to DIMMs (Par. 0087).
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 Kanai as further suggested by Najjari e.g., providing:
wherein the two memory cards are two dual in-line memory modules (“DIMMs”);
in order to provide liquid cooling to DIMMs.
As to Claim 12, Kanai does not disclose:
wherein the inflatable cold plate further comprises one or more gap pads positioned on one or both surfaces of the inflatable cold plate facing the two memory cards to contact one or more components of at least one of the two memory cards.
However, Najjari discloses:
wherein the cold plate 220b further comprises one or more gap pads 225 positioned on one or both surfaces of the cold plate 220b facing the two memory cards to contact one or more components 215 of at least one of the two memory cards (Par. 0060 “the thermal-interface material 225 is a so-called thermal-gap pad having a finite thickness sufficient to span a gap between the heat-generating components 215 (FIG. 5) and the overlying passive, two-phase cold plate (e.g., cold plate 220b)”);
in order to provide a thermally conductive material capable of absorbing variations in gap dimensions between components and the cold plate (Par. 0060).
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 Kanai as further suggested by Najjari e.g., providing:
wherein the inflatable cold plate further comprises one or more gap pads positioned on one or both surfaces of the inflatable cold plate facing the two memory cards to contact one or more components of at least one of the two memory cards;
in order to provide a thermally conductive material capable of absorbing variations in gap dimensions between components and the cold plate.
Claims 9-10 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kanai (US 20200337182 A1) as applied to claims 8 and 15 above, and further in view of Saito (US 20210103320 A1).
As to Claims 9 and 16, Kanai discloses:
wherein the heat exchanger 41 is a first heat exchanger and is coupled to a secondary cooling loop (Par. 0023 “The heat exchanger 41 exchanges heat between the coolant liquid 15 and a coolant that has been cooled outside of the CDU 40 and flows into the CDU 40 so as to cool the coolant liquid 15”).
Kanai does not disclose:
the secondary cooling loop is coupled to a secondary heat exchanger configured to expel heat to air in a location away from the computing device.
However, Saito discloses:
the secondary cooling loop is coupled to a secondary heat exchanger (heat exchanger 14, see Fig. 1) configured to expel heat to air in a location away from the computing device (14 located outside room, other side of 17; Par. 0028 “An additional heat exchanger 14 which may be the refrigerator (cooing tower and the like), for example, is configured to transfer heat taken from the coolant C by the heat exchanger 13 so as to make the temperature low through the refrigerating operation”; cooling tower transfers heat to ambient environment);
in order to transfer heat from primary heat exchanger (Par. 0028).
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 Kanai as further suggested by Saito e.g., providing:
the secondary cooling loop is coupled to a secondary heat exchanger configured to expel heat to air in a location away from the computing device;
in order to transfer heat from primary heat exchanger.
As to Claims 10 and 17, Kanai discloses:
wherein the heat exchanger 41 is configured to expel heat in a location away from the computing device 50 (heat transferred in area away from 50).
Kanai does not disclose:
wherein the heat exchanger is configured to expel heat to air in a location away from the computing device.
However, Saito discloses:
wherein the heat exchanger 14 is configured to expel heat to air in a location away from the computing device (14 located outside room, other side of 17; Par. 0028 “An additional heat exchanger 14 which may be the refrigerator (cooing tower and the like), for example, is configured to transfer heat taken from the coolant C by the heat exchanger 13 so as to make the temperature low through the refrigerating operation”; cooling tower transfers heat to ambient environment);
in order to transfer heat from primary heat exchanger (Par. 0028).
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 Kanai as further suggested by Saito e.g., providing:
wherein the heat exchanger is configured to expel heat to air in a location away from the computing device;
in order to transfer heat from primary heat exchanger.
Claims 11, 13 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kanai (US 20200337182 A1) as applied to claims 1 and 14 above, and further in view of Tseng (US 12510563 B2).
As to Claims 11 and 18, Kanai discloses:
further comprising the fluid pump 42.
Kanai does not disclose:
wherein the cooling fluid is air and the fluid pump and inflatable cold plate are in fluid communication via an open loop, wherein air exiting the inflatable cold plate is expelled to a location external to the computing device and/or a space housing the computing device.
However, Tseng discloses:
further comprising the fluid valve (switch module 4; see Fig. 7), wherein the cooling fluid is air (col. 6, Lines 55-57 “This embodiment utilizes a cooling gas as the cooling fluid, which can be air, nitrogen, argon or helium”) and the fluid valve 4 and inflatable cold plate (chip socket S; wherein valve corresponds to pump and socket corresponds to 2 of Kanai) are in fluid communication via an open loop, wherein air exiting the inflatable cold plate S is expelled to a location external to the computing device and/or a space housing the computing device (col. 7, Lines 3-6 “the cooling gas flows out of the chip socket S via the outlets Sout and can be discharged directly into the atmosphere after passing through the filter 26”; air expelled to ambient environment);
in order to provide safe cooling without consideration of a recovery mechanism (col. 7, Lines 9-12).
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 Kanai as further suggested by Tseng e.g., providing:
wherein the cooling fluid is air and the fluid pump and inflatable cold plate are in fluid communication via an open loop, wherein air exiting the inflatable cold plate is expelled to a location external to the computing device and/or a space housing the computing device;
in order to provide safe cooling without consideration of a recovery mechanism.
As to Claims 13 and 19, Kanai does not disclose:
wherein the cooling fluid is helium.
However, Tseng discloses:
wherein the cooling fluid is helium (col. 6, Lines 55-57 “This embodiment utilizes a cooling gas as the cooling fluid, which can be air, nitrogen, argon or helium”);
in order to provide safe cooling without consideration of a recovery mechanism and provide a cleaning effect (col. 7, Lines 9-13).
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 Kanai as further suggested by Tseng e.g., providing:
wherein the cooling fluid is helium;
in order to provide safe cooling without consideration of a recovery mechanism and provide a cleaning effect.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kanai (US 20200337182 A1) in view of Clayton (US 20080192428 A1).
As to Claim 20, Kanai discloses:
An apparatus (electronic apparatus 100; see Fig. 1) comprising:
an inflatable cold plate (tubes 2; see Figs. 2-8) configured for placement in a slot between two memory cards 52 connected to a motherboard 51 of a computing device (server 50; Par. 0025 “The tubes 2 are arranged so as to pass through spaces between the memories 52 that face each other and so as to be parallel to the memories 52”), wherein:
the inflatable cold plate 2 expands to contact the two memory cards 52 in response to pressure from a cooling loop (Par. 0027 “When the coolant liquid 15 flows through the tube 2, the expansion portions 2a are able to expand or contract in response to the pressure of the coolant liquid 15. The expansion portions 2a are able to be brought into contact with the memories 52 disposed beside the expansion portions 2a when the expansion portions 2a expand. When the pressure in the tube 2 is appropriately adjusted, the expansion portions 2a are able to be brought into surface contact with the memories 52”); and
the inflatable cold plate 2 is configured to transfer heat from the two memory cards 52 to the cooling loop (Par. 0027 “This allows heat transfer between the expansion portions 2a and the memories 52. The coolant liquid 15 deprives the memories 52 of the heat. As a result, the memories 52 are cooled”),
wherein the inflatable cold plate 2 is in fluid communication with a fluid pump 42 configured to:
pump cooling fluid in a cooling loop through the inflatable cold plate 2 at a sufficient pressure to pressurize the inflatable cold plate 2 against the two memory cards 52; and
circulate the cooling fluid through the cooling loop of the inflatable cold plate 2 to transfer heat from the inflatable cold plate 2 to an external heat exchanger 41 within the cooling loop (Par. 0034 “The degree of expansion of the expansion portions 2a of the tube 2 is adjustable as illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7C by adjusting output of the pump 42. When the pump 42 is not operated, the expansion portions 2a contract as illustrated in FIG. 7A. When the output of the pump 42 is adjusted to an intermediate degree, the expansion portions 2a slightly expand as illustrated in FIG. 7B. When the output of the pump 42 is further increased, the expansion portions 2a greatly expand as illustrated in FIG. 7C When the expansion portions 2a greatly expand, the degree of close contact with the memories 52 may be improved”; Par. 0027 “The coolant liquid 15 having deprived the memories 52 of the heat is cooled by the CD 40 and is sent to the cooling module 1 again by the pump 42”; Par. 0023 “The pump 42 circulates a coolant liquid 15 (see FIG. 6) enclosed in the first pipe 43, the cooling modules 1, and the second pipe 44. The heat exchanger 41 exchanges heat between the coolant liquid 15 and a coolant that has been cooled outside of the CDU 40 and flows into the CDU 40 so as to cool the coolant liquid 15”).
Kanai does not disclose:
an inflatable cold plate configured for placement in a slot between two dual in-line memory modules (“DIMMs”);
the inflatable cold plate expands to contact the two DIMMs;
the inflatable cold plate is configured to transfer heat from the two DIMMs;
helium in a cooling loop against the two DIMMs; and
circulate the helium.
However, Clayton discloses:
cooling for dual in-line memory modules (“DIMMs”) (Par. 0046 “the descriptions within this provisional application are directed specifically to memory module devices and applications for server computer environments (e.g. Fully Buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM), Very Low Profile (VLP) DIMM, Registered (R-DIMM), Graphic (G-DIMM), etc.)”);
helium in a cooling loop (Par. 0047 “it will be understood that other gaseous or liquid cooling fluids, such as liquid fluorocarbons (e.g. Freon), water, helium, or other fluid known to one versed in the art of electronic component thermal cooling, may be employed in the present invention”);
in order to provide cooling to DIMMs using well known electronic component thermal cooling fluids (Par. 0046-0047).
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 Kanai as further suggested by Clayton e.g., providing:
an inflatable cold plate configured for placement in a slot between two dual in-line memory modules (“DIMMs”);
the inflatable cold plate expands to contact the two DIMMs;
the inflatable cold plate is configured to transfer heat from the two DIMMs;
helium in a cooling loop against the two DIMMs; and
circulate the helium;
in order to provide cooling to DIMMs using well known electronic component thermal cooling fluids.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Iyengar (US 20110286175 A1) discloses cooling of memory modules.
Cheon (US 7286355 B2) discloses a cooling system using pouches.
Huang (US 12615734 B2) discloses cooling of electronic devices suing flexible pipes.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW S MUIR whose telephone number is (571)270-1329. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm.
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, Jayprakash Gandhi can be reached at 571-272-3740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW SINCLAIR MUIR/ Examiner, Art Unit 2841
/Jayprakash N Gandhi/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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