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 .
Email Communication
Applicant is encouraged to authorize the Examiner to communicate via email by filing form PTO/SB/439 either via USPS, Central Fax, or EFS-Web. See MPEP 502.01, 502, 502.05.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art.
If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives.
Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps.
Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
Presently, the abstract is objected to at least because it is well over 150 words in length.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the
Power distribution cable and electric device in a server room as in claim 1;
At least one liquid cooling radiator of claim 1;
Outdoor cooling device of claim 1;
Air duct as in claim 2;
All the limitations of claim 4;
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2-5, 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites, “large air-cooled air conditioner” which is unclear. Is the term “large” referring to the physical size of the air conditioner or the amount of heat that the air conditioner can remove (for example, BTU’s)? Either way, what dimensions or amount of BTU’s does an air conditioner need to have to be considered, “large”? The written description does not provide any context.
Claim 4 recites, “small air-cooled air conditioner” which is unclear. Is the term “small” referring to the physical size of the air conditioner or the amount of heat that the air conditioner can remove (for example, BTU’s)? Either way, what dimensions or amount of BTU’s does an air conditioner need to have to be considered, “small”? The written description does not provide any context.
Claim 7 recites, “the liquid cooling unit…is configured to tightly adhere the liquid to a surface of rear face of the CPU/GPU chip” which is unclear. How does one adhere liquid to a surface of a chip? How adhered must the liquid be to be “tightly” adhered?
Claim 7 recites, “to achieve efficient heat conduction” which is unclear. How high does the heat conduction need to be to be, “efficient”?
Claims 3 and 5 are also rejected since they depend from claims 2 and 4, respectively, and inherit the deficiencies therein.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (US 2024/0357771 – hereinafter, “Zhang”).
The applied reference has a common Applicant and Inventor with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B) if the same invention is not being claimed; or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed in the reference and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement.
With respect to claim 1, Zhang teaches (In Figs 1-2) a combined refrigeration system for a high-density data center based on an air-cooled air conditioner (4) and a liquid cooling radiator (3), comprising: at least one server cabinet (212), each of the at least one server cabinet being equipped with at least one server (While Zhang does not specifically recite the presence of a server in the server cabinet, at ¶ 0035 recites that the cabinets contain heat generating devices which includes CPU and GPU, these devices are believed to be part of a server in the context of the reference and thus Zhang implies at least one server in the server cabinet, as claimed) each of the at least one server being equipped with at least one liquid cooling radiator internally provided with a liquid cooling unit (¶ 0035), the liquid cooling unit being connected to a CPU/GPU chip of the server and configured to transmit heat generated by the CPU/GPU chip to an outdoor cooling device (5) through a liquid (¶ 0035); at least one air-cooled air conditioner (4), each of the at least one air-cooled air conditioner being communicated with at least one hot aisle (23) and configured to discharge heat generated by another heat dissipation device except for the CPU/GPU chip in the server cabinet and a power distribution cable and an electric device in a server room by means of air circulation (¶ 0035); and at least one enclosed hot aisle (23, “closed hot aisle”), each of the at least one enclosed hot aisle being corresponding to at least one server cabinet (212) and being configured to isolate hot air inside the server cabinet from cold air inside the server room, to form a separate hot aisle.
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 1-2, 4, 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan et al. (WO 2016/155081 – hereinafter, “Pan”) in view of Gao (US 2022/0078945) in view of He (CN 212511718) and further in view of JP2012-516570 (hereinafter, “JP-570”).
With respect to claims 1 and 8, Pan teaches (In Figs 9-11) a combined refrigeration system for a high-density data center based on an air-cooled air conditioner and a liquid cooling radiator, comprising: at least one server cabinet (100), each of the at least one server cabinet being equipped with at least one server (111), each of the at least one server being equipped with at least one liquid cooling radiator internally provided with a liquid cooling unit, the liquid cooling unit being connected to a CPU/GPU chip of the server (“The liquid heat pipe 101 is a heat pipe component, one end directly contacts the server chip for heat transfer”, where the disclosed “chip” would include a CPU/GPU) and configured to transmit heat generated by the CPU/GPU chip to an outdoor cooling device (cooling tower 007) through a liquid (See Fig 9); at least one air-cooled air conditioner (008, “008, air-cooled air conditioner”), each of the at least one air-cooled air conditioner being communicated with at least one hot aisle (Fig 11, aisle that resides between 100) and configured to discharge heat generated by another heat dissipation device except for the CPU/GPU chip in the server cabinet (“the residual heat of the server 111 is taken away by the low-temperature air”) and an electric device (Motor for 008) in a server room (Room where 100 resides) by means of air circulation (air circulation in the room also cools the motor for 008).
Pan fails to specifically teach or suggest that the air circulation in the room also cools a power distribution cable and at least one enclosed hot aisle, each of the at least one enclosed hot aisle being corresponding to at least one server cabinet and being configured to isolate hot air inside the server cabinet from cold air inside the server room, to form a separate hot aisle (Cl. 1), wherein the enclosed hot aisle is one of a curtain board made of a soft material, a curtain board made of a hard material, a door, a window, or a structure configured to isolate air flow (Cl. 8).
Gao, however, teaches at least one enclosed hot aisle (¶ 0023, “In one embodiment, hot aisle 115 is contained or enclosed by hot aisle containment”), each of the at least one enclosed hot aisle being corresponding to at least one server cabinet (111) and being configured to isolate hot air inside the server cabinet from cold air inside a server room (101), to form a separate hot aisle, wherein the enclosed hot aisle is a structure configured to isolate air flow (See Fig 1, see also ¶ 0023).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Gao with that of Pan such that Pan includes at least one enclosed hot aisle, each of the at least one enclosed hot aisle being corresponding to at least one server cabinet and being configured to isolate hot air inside the server cabinet from cold air inside the server room, to form a separate hot aisle, as taught by Gao, since doing so would prevent hot air from escaping and spilling from the hot aisle into other areas of the room such as to the cold aisles (¶ 0028, “According to one embodiment, hot aisle 115 is enclosed or contained within hot aisle containment 120, such that the hot air cannot escape or spill from hot aisle 115 into other areas of IT room 101 such as cold aisles 114A-114B”).
With respect to the limitations which require the power distribution cable to be within the room and cooled by means of air circulation: He teaches a cable within a room that is cooled by means of air circulation (“the cold air pipe overflow of the cold air can cool the cable; when the server in the machine room is in high load operation”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He with that of Pan such that, in Pan a cable is placed within the server room and cooled by means of air circulation, as taught by He, since doing so would allow for the servers within the room to receive power and/or data via a cable laid close to the servers and where the cable will be less likely to overheat due to cooling from within the room.
With respect to the cable being a power distribution cable, JP-570 teaches a distribution cable within a data center which is a power distribution cable (“The cable trough 42 houses and organizes the cables for connecting the equipment rack 14 to the power equipment and network equipment together”)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of JP-570 with that of modified Pan such that, in modified Pan the cable is a power distribution cable, as taught by JP-570, since doing so would allow for the cables within modified Pan to deliver power to the servers.
With respect to claim 2, as best understood by the Examiner, Pan as modified by Gao, He, and JP-570 teaches the limitations of claim 1 as per above and Pan further teaches as a large air-cooled air conditioner, the air-cooled air conditioner (008) is arranged inside or outside the server room (See Fig 11) and Gao further teaches a duct (102) used to communicate cold air to a server cabinet (111).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Gao with that of Pan such that, in Pan a duct is used to communicate the cold air from the air-cooled air conditioner to the server cabinet, as taught by Gao, since doing so would allow for proper cold air flow within the server room.
With respect to claim 4, as best understood by the Examiner, Pan as modified by Gao, He, and JP-570 teaches the limitations of claim 1 as per above and Pan further teaches wherein as a small air-cooled air conditioner, the air-cooled air conditioner (008) is arranged near the cabinet and is directly communicated with the hot aisle (Space between cabinets 100, see Fig 11) inside the server cabinet (See Fig 11).
Because Pan shows (In Fig 11) a plan view of the air-cooled air conditioner relative to the cabinets, Pan fails to specifically teach or suggest that the air conditioner is arranged at a top or bottom of the server cabinet as claimed.
However, it has been held that mere re-arrangement of parts is obvious1.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the air-cooled air conditioner of Pan be arranged at a top or bottom of the server cabinet since doing so would allow for a desired structural arrangement within the data center room.
With respect to claim 6, Pan further teaches that the outdoor cooling device (007) is one of a dry cooling tower, a wet cooling tower (“007, cold liquid tower”), a plate heat exchanger, a heat pipe exchanger, or another device capable of cooling the liquid.
With respect to claim 7, as best understood by the Examiner, Pas as modified by Gao, He, and JP-570 teaches the limitations of claim 1 as per above but fails to specifically teach or suggest that the liquid cooling unit is in contact with a surface of a CPU/GPU chip to provide heat conduction between the CPU/GPU chip and the liquid cooling unit.
The Examiner hereby takes Official Notice of the conventionality of placing a liquid cooling unit (e.g. a cold plate) in thermal contact with a CPU/GPU chip to provide cooling thereto.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the liquid cooling unit in Gao be in contact with a surface of the chip of Gao to provide heat conduction between the chip and the liquid cooling unit, as taught by the Examiner’s Official Notice, since doing so would assure that the chip in Gao has adequate heat removal by the liquid cooling system.
Claim 3, as best understood by the Examiner, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan view of Gao in view of He in view of JP-570 and further in view of Lai et al. (CN 114413498 – hereinafter, “Lai”).
With respect to claim 3, Pan as modified by Gao, He, and JP-570 teaches the limitations of claim 2 as per above but fails to specifically teach or suggest wherein the large air-cooled air conditioner is a variable frequency air-cooled air conditioner, and is configured to automatically adjust refrigeration capacity and air quantity according to temperature and humidity inside the server room.
Lai, however, teaches an air conditioner which is a variable frequency air conditioner, and is configured to automatically adjust refrigeration capacity and air quantity according to temperature and humidity inside the server room (“At present, in the machine room air conditioner field, a variable frequency air conditioning system according to the data centre heat load of high and low adjusting refrigeration capacity output of the refrigerator set, so as to realize the load matching, satisfying the constant temperature and constant humidity requirement of the data machine room.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Lai with that of modified Pan such that, in modified Pan the air-cooled air conditioner is a variable frequency air-cooled air conditioner, and is configured to automatically adjust refrigeration capacity and air quantity according to temperature and humidity inside the server room, as taught by Lai, since doing so would allow for the data center of Pan to be more efficiently cooled.
Claim 5, as best understood by the Examiner, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan view of Gao in view of He in view of JP-570 and further in view of Mizuno et al. (US 2012/0116595 – hereinafter, “Mizuno”).
With respect to claim 5, Pan as modified by Gao, He, and JP-570 teaches the limitations of claim 4 as per above but fails to specifically teach or suggest wherein the small air-cooled air conditioner is an air-cooled air conditioner having a modular functionality and is configured to automatically adjust refrigeration capacity and air quantity according to temperature and humidity inside the server cabinet, to achieve linkage control between a plurality of small air-cooled air conditioners.
Mizuno, however, teaches air conditioners (700) in an information system (1000) which are linked via an air condition control server (200), the air conditioners have a modular functionality and are configured to automatically adjust refrigeration capacity and air quantity according to temperature and humidity in a respective server cabinet zone (730, ¶ 0062, where “and the like” is believed to include humidity levels).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Mizuno with that of Pan such that the small air-cooled air conditioner is an air-cooled air conditioner having a modular functionality and is configured to automatically adjust refrigeration capacity and air quantity according to temperature and humidity inside the server cabinet, to achieve linkage control between a plurality of small air-cooled air conditioners, as taught by Mizuno, since doing so would allow for the air-cooled air conditioners of Pan to be individually controlled based on the needs of the nearby server cabinets.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2023/0397377 to Zhang et al. which teaches classified heat dissipation system and data center; and
US 10,674,635 to Gao et al. which teaches a hybrid cooling arrangement for a data center;
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZACHARY M PAPE whose telephone number is (571)272-2201. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9am - 6pm EST.
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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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/ZACHARY PAPE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
1 In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).
