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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
Applicant’s information disclosure statement filed 10/29/2024 has been considered and is included in the file.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 4 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, lines 16 and 20-21, “the each of the support frames” should be changed to --each of the support frames--.
In claim 4, lines 3-4, “the each of the support frames” should be changed to --each of the support frames--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuan et al. (CN 115635839, machine translation attached) in view of Ajisaka (JP 2006036039, machine translation attached) and Okamoto et al. (US 11505248).
Regarding claim 1, Yuan et al. discloses a vehicle front structure (Fig. 1) in which a heat exchanger (11) is disposed in front of a motor in a motor room (paragraph [n0002] of the machine translation teaches that the heat exchanger is positioned in front of the powertrain, i.e. motor), the vehicle front structure comprising support frames in a left and right pair (21), the support frames extending in a front-rear direction and respectively supporting left and right ends of the heat exchanger (Fig. 1), wherein the heat exchanger comprises a front supported portion and a rear supported portion that are disposed in a rear upward posture in a side view (Fig. 1), are disposed at left and right ends (Fig. 1), and are supported by the support frames (Fig. 1), the frame (2) comprises a front support body (6) that supports the front supported portion (front face of (11)), and each support frame comprises a rear support body (5) that support the rear supported portion (421) of the heat exchanger, the rear support body (5) is configured such that the rear supported portion (421) is detached from the rear support body in certain conditions (through opening (542)).
Yuan et al. does not explicitly disclose each of the support frames comprises a front support body, the each of the support frames comprises a front bent portion and a rear bent portion, that are respectively configured to be bent in a mode of protruding upward and to be bent in a mode of protruding downward when a compressive load in the front-rear direction acts on the each of the support frames, the front support body is disposed in front of the front bent portion, the rear support body is configured such that the rear supported portion is detached from the rear support body when the front bent portion and the rear bent portion are bent, and the heat exchanger is configured to approach a vertical posture from the rear upward posture in a side view when the front bent portion and the rear bent portion are bent.
Ajisaka, like Yuan et al., teaches a vehicle front structure and further teaches each of the support frames ((26),(20)) comprises a front support body (28) and a rear support body (34) that support the front supported portion (24) and the rear supported portion (32) of the heat exchanger ((12), Fig. 5-6).
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 vehicle front structure of Yuan et al. to include the front support body on the support frames as taught by Ajisaka, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to provide a moment around the front support body in the case of impact so that it is easier to detach from the rear support body (Ajisaka: paragraph [0035] of the machine translation). Please note in the combination, the heat exchanger is in an inclined position as taught by Yuan et al.
Okamoto et al., like Yuan et al., teaches a vehicle front structure and further teaches each of the support frames comprises a front bent portion and a rear bent portion, that are respectively configured to be bent in a mode of protruding upward and to be bent in a mode of protruding downward when a compressive load in the front-rear direction acts on the each of the support frames (col. 6, lines 29-43, Figs 11A-11D show the front and rear bent portions and their mode of protrusion when a compressive load acts on the support frames).
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 vehicle front structure of Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka to include a front bent portion and a rear bent portion as taught by Okamoto et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to provide larger energy absorption (Okamoto et al.: col. 1, lines 56-59). Please note in the combination, the front support body is located in front of the front bent portion, positioned as taught by Yuan et al., behind the crossbeam.
Regarding claim 2, Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. teaches the vehicle front structure of claim 1, and teaches wherein the rear support body is disposed between the front bent portion and the rear bent portion (as noted above in the rejection of claim 1, in the combination, the location of the heat exchanger is behind the crossbeam, and since it is inclined rearwardly, the rear support body would be disposed between the front bent portion and the rear bent portion of the combined vehicle front structure).
Regarding claim 3, Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. teaches the vehicle front structure of claim 2, and teaches (references to Ajisaka) wherein the front support body (28) allows the front supported portion of the heat exchanger to rotate about a left-right direction as an axis when the front bent portion and the rear bent portion are bent (the bending of the front bent portion and the rear bent portion would exceed the predetermined value applied to the heat exchanger to detach the rear supported portion from the support frames for the rotation around (24)), and the rear support body allows the rear supported portion of the heat exchanger to move upward when the front bent portion and the rear bent portion are bent (when bent, the detachment (32) would allow the heat exchanger to rotate vertically due to the repositioning from the bent portions of the support frames).
Regarding claim 4, Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. teaches the vehicle front structure of claim 3, and teaches (references to Okamoto et al.) wherein the front bent portion and the rear bent portion each comprise a fragile portion disposed in the each of the support frames (Figs. 5, 8, 10, col. 7, lines 1-21, the recesses provide fragile portions).
Claims 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. as applied to claim 1-4 above respectively, and further in view of Perez et al. (US 11619185).
Regarding claim 5, Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. teaches the vehicle front structure of claim 1. However, Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. does not explicitly teach the structure further comprising a component disposed between the heat exchanger and the motor, the component comprising a non-conductive material.
Perez et al., like Yuan et al., teaches a vehicle front structure, and further teaches a component (116) disposed between the heat exchanger (130) and the motor (120), the component comprising a non-conductive material (col. 7, lines 40-49).
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 vehicle front structure of Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. to include a non-conductive material component between the heat exchanger and the motor as taught by Perez et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to avoid interference with the other components of the vehicle (Perez et al.: col. 7, lines 40-49).
Regarding claim 6, Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. teaches the vehicle front structure of claim 2. However, Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. does not explicitly teach the structure further comprising a component disposed between the heat exchanger and the motor, the component comprising a non-conductive material.
Perez et al., like Yuan et al., teaches a vehicle front structure, and further teaches a component (116) disposed between the heat exchanger (130) and the motor (120), the component comprising a non-conductive material (col. 7, lines 40-49).
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 vehicle front structure of Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. to include a non-conductive material component between the heat exchanger and the motor as taught by Perez et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to avoid interference with the other components of the vehicle (Perez et al.: col. 7, lines 40-49).
Regarding claim 7, Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. teaches the vehicle front structure of claim 3. However, Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. does not explicitly teach the structure further comprising a component disposed between the heat exchanger and the motor, the component comprising a non-conductive material.
Perez et al., like Yuan et al., teaches a vehicle front structure, and further teaches a component (116) disposed between the heat exchanger (130) and the motor (120), the component comprising a non-conductive material (col. 7, lines 40-49).
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 vehicle front structure of Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. to include a non-conductive material component between the heat exchanger and the motor as taught by Perez et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to avoid interference with the other components of the vehicle (Perez et al.: col. 7, lines 40-49).
Regarding claim 8, Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. teaches the vehicle front structure of claim 4. However, Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. does not explicitly teach the structure further comprising a component disposed between the heat exchanger and the motor, the component comprising a non-conductive material.
Perez et al., like Yuan et al., teaches a vehicle front structure, and further teaches a component (116) disposed between the heat exchanger (130) and the motor (120), the component comprising a non-conductive material (col. 7, lines 40-49).
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 vehicle front structure of Yuan et al. as modified by Ajisaka and Okamoto et al. to include a non-conductive material component between the heat exchanger and the motor as taught by Perez et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to avoid interference with the other components of the vehicle (Perez et al.: col. 7, lines 40-49).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Kondo (JP 2013216226), Sakabe et al. (JP 2022028511), Mickley et al. (US 9592728), Iwamoto (US 2021/0331640), Park et al. (KR 20130008710), Husson et al. (US 2010/0326755), Kim (KR 20080054896), and Kersting (US 2008/0230291) teach heat exchanger positioning in vehicle front structures.
Kagami et al. (US 2020/0231223), Fujiwara et al. (US 10479409), and Buchfink et al. (DE 102013015615) teach bent support frames.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLY W. LYNCH whose telephone number is (571)272-5552. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:30am-5:30pm, Eastern Time, alternate Friday.
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/CARLY W. LYNCH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3643
