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 .
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 10-11, 13-14, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yang et al. (hereinafter “Yang” CN-116247924).
(It should be noted that the Yang reference was submitted by the applicant via the Information Disclosure Statement received 05 August 2025. It should further be noted that the relevant portions of the Yang reference are cited with respect to the accompanying English Language Machine translation of CN-116247924).
As pertaining to Claim 1, Yang discloses (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 5, along with Fig. 7) an energy storage converter (1000), comprising:
a shell (10) and a baseplate (102), the shell (10) and the baseplate (102) forming a chamber (see Fig. 2; and see Page 5, Para. [03] and [07]);
inductors (see (302) in Fig. 5 and/or (603) in Fig. 3) and insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules (see (602) in Fig. 3), disposed within the chamber (see Fig. 2 and Fig. 3); and
a liquid-cooled assembly (see (50) in Fig. 3 and Fig. 7), located on the baseplate (102) and including:
a liquid-cooled plate (501), internally provided with a flow-splitting structure (see Fig. 7), wherein the flow-splitting structure (again, see Fig. 7) includes a coolant inlet (501a), N flow-splitting channels (50aa), and a component cooling channel (501c, 501d), wherein the N flow-splitting channels (50aa) and the component cooling channel (501c, 501d) are in fluid communication with the coolant inlet (501a);
wherein the N flow-splitting channels (50aa) are connected in parallel to each other (see Fig. 7), and each of the N flow-splitting channels (50aa) includes a first sub-flow channel (i.e., see any arbitrary portion of (50aa)) and a second sub-flow channel (i.e., see any other arbitrary portion of (50aa)) connected in series (i.e., between (501a) and (501b); see Fig. 7), wherein N≥2;
wherein the component cooling channel (501c, 501d) is connected in parallel to the N flow-splitting channels (50aa), or connected in series to at least one of the N flow-splitting channels (50aa); and
wherein the N flow-splitting channels (50aa) corresponds to the IGBT modules (602), and the component cooling channel (501c, 501d) corresponds to the inductors (again, see (302, 603); and see Page 6, Para. [04] with Page 6, Para. [06] through Page 8, Para. [02]).
As pertaining to Claim 2, Yang discloses (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 5, along with Fig. 7) that the flow-splitting structure (again, see Fig. 7) further includes a coolant outlet (501b), and in response to the component cooling channel (501c, 501d) being connected in series to at least one of the N flow-splitting channels (50aa), inlets of the N flow-splitting channels (50aa) are in fluid communication with the coolant inlet (501a), an outlet of the at least one of the N flow-splitting channels (50aa) is in fluid communication with an inlet of the component cooling channel (501c, 501d), and an outlet of the component cooling channel (501c, 501d) is in fluid communication with the coolant outlet (501b; again, see Page 6, Para. [06] through Page 8, Para. [02]).
As pertaining to Claim 3, Yang discloses (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 5, along with Fig. 7) that the flow-splitting structure (again, see Fig. 7) further includes a coolant outlet (501b), and in response to the component cooling channel (501c, 501d) being connected in parallel to the N flow-splitting channels (50aa), an inlet of the component cooling channel (501c, 501d) is in fluid communication with the coolant inlet (501a), an outlet of the component cooling channel (501c, 501d) is in fluid communication with the coolant outlet (501b), inlets of the N flow-splitting channels (50aa) are in fluid communication with the coolant inlet (501a), and outlets of the N flow-splitting channels (50aa) are in fluid communication with the coolant outlet (501b; again, see Page 6, Para. [06] through Page 8, Para. [02]).
As pertaining to Claim 10, Yang discloses (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 5, along with Fig. 7) that at least one of the first sub-flow channel (i.e., the arbitrary portion of (50aa)) and the second sub-flow channel (i.e., the other arbitrary portion of (50aa)) includes a first trunk section (i.e., any arbitrary portion of (50aa)), a cooling region (i.e., any arbitrary portion of (50aa)), a second trunk section (i.e., any other arbitrary portion of (50aa)), and a bending section (i.e., a curved section of (50aa); see Fig. 7) sequentially connected to each other (see Fig. 7), the bending section (i.e., the curved section of (50aa)) having a number of times of bending greater than or equal to 2 (see Fig. 7; and again, see Page 6, Para. [06] through Page 8, Para. [02]).
As pertaining to Claim 11, Yang discloses (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 5, along with Fig. 7) that at least one of the first sub-flow channel (i.e., the arbitrary portion of (50aa)) and the second sub-flow channel (i.e., the other arbitrary portion of (50aa)) includes a first trunk section (i.e., any arbitrary portion of (50aa)), a cooling region (i.e., any arbitrary portion of (50aa)), a bending section (i.e., a curved section of (50aa); see Fig. 7), and a second trunk section (i.e., any other arbitrary portion of (50aa)) sequentially connected to each other (see Fig. 7), the bending section (i.e., the curved section of (50aa)) having a number of times of bending greater than or equal to 2 (see Fig. 7; and again, see Page 6, Para. [06] through Page 8, Para. [02]).
As pertaining to Claim 13, Yang discloses (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 5, along with Fig. 7) that a buffer structure (i.e., an outer portion of a curved section of (50aa); see Fig. 7) is provided in the cooling region (i.e., any arbitrary portion of (50aa)), and an included angle between the buffer structure (i.e., the outer portion of a curved section of (50aa)) and a first direction (i.e., a horizontal direction) is less than 90°, wherein the first direction (i.e., the horizontal direction) is perpendicular to a flow direction (i.e., a vertical direction) of a coolant in the cooling region (i.e., any arbitrary portion of (50aa); again, see Page 6, Para. [06] through Page 8, Para. [02]).
As pertaining to Claim 14, Yang discloses (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 5, along with Fig. 7) that a buffer structure (i.e., an outer portion of a curved section of (50aa); see Fig. 7) is provided in the cooling region (i.e., any arbitrary portion of (50aa)), and an included angle between the buffer structure (i.e., the outer portion of a curved section of (50aa)) and a first direction (i.e., a horizontal direction) is less than 90°, wherein the first direction (i.e., the horizontal direction) is perpendicular to a flow direction (i.e., a vertical direction) of a coolant in the cooling region (i.e., any arbitrary portion of (50aa); again, see Page 6, Para. [06] through Page 8, Para. [02]).
As pertaining to Claim 19, Yang discloses (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 5, along with Fig. 7) that at least one of the first sub-flow channel (i.e., the arbitrary portion of (50aa)) and the second sub-flow channel (i.e., the other arbitrary portion of (50aa)) includes a plurality of end flow-splitting channels (see (501c, 501d)) in parallel (see Fig. 7; and again, see Page 6, Para. [06] through Page 8, Para. [02]).
As pertaining to Claim 20, Yang discloses (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 5, along with Fig. 7) that the component cooling channel (501c, 501d) includes a plurality of third sub-flow channels (i.e., see any other arbitrary portions of (50aa)) connected in parallel (again, see Page 6, Para. [06] through Page 8, Para. [02]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9, 12, and 15-18 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: none of the references relied upon by the examiner, considered alone or in reasonable combination, teach or fairly suggest the combination of features recited in independent Claim 1, in combination with the features “wherein at least one of the first sub-flow channel and the second sub-flow channel includes a first trunk section, a first connecting section, a cooling region, a second connecting section and a second trunk section sequentially connected to each other, wherein a cross-sectional area of the first connecting section is greater than or equal to a cross-sectional area of the first trunk section.”
The teachings of Yang disclose all of the features recited in Claim 1 (see the above rejection of Claim 1). However, neither Yang nor any other reference relied upon by the examiner appears to disclose the specific energy storage converter of Claim 1 comprising the claimed N flow-splitting channels having the specific first sub-flow channel and second sub-flow channel characterized by Claim 4.
The features of Claim 4 appear to be suggested solely by the applicant’s disclosure.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lunsman et al. (US 2024 / 0107706) discloses a liquid-cooled assembly comprising N flow-splitting channels.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON M MANDEVILLE whose telephone number is (571)270-3136. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 7:30AM-4:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chanh Nguyen can be reached at 571-272-7772. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON M MANDEVILLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2623
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