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 § 103
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(s) 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TAKAHASHI TAKETAKA (Japanese Publication # JP2023143954; hereinafter Takahashi; translation provided by the examiner) in view of Nobi; Laszlo (US patent # US 5086269 A; hereinafter Nobi).
Regarding claim 1, Takahashi teaches
having a cold water network (par.19 teaches “The first flow path 30 and the second flow path 32 are in communication with each other via a refrigerant flow path 23”) and a hot water network (par.41 teaches a hot water network as third flow path 40);
a water tank (par.19 teaches coolant liquid tank 28; coolants contain 50% water) and at least one test socket (par.22 teaches 3-way valve, which acts as a socket), the water tank being in fluid connection with the at least one test socket by the loop (par.22),
wherein the water tank has a first reservoir and a second reservoir (par.19 refrigerator 24 and cooling liquid tank 28 as 1st and 2nd reservoir), the first reservoir storing a low-temperature cooling liquid (par.20 teaches low-temperature coolant), and the second reservoir storing a high-temperature cooling liquid (par.20 teaches high-temperature coolant),
wherein the first reservoir further provides a heating unit (par.19 teaches a built-in chuck heater 50; par.21 teaches heater 38) for heating up the low-temperature cooling liquid to control a temperature of the cooling liquid (par.24 teaches chuck control system 42 as temp setting unit (thus, controls temperature)) supplied to the at least one test socket (; par.33 teaches controlling heater control system 42 connected to 3-way valve control unit 56).
Takahashi fails to teach a closed-loop liquid-cooled burn-in device, comprising:
a loop.
Nobi does teach a closed-loop liquid-cooled burn-in device (col.7 ln 46-49 teaches closed loop burn-in device), comprising:
a loop (col.7 ln 51-52 teaches closed loop.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Takahashi to include the teachings of Nobi; which would provide an improved burn-in method that makes the burn-in screening of relatively high power, TAB-bonded integrated circuit chips feasible (Nobi col.2 ln 38-40) but also employs a closed loop heat transfer fluid system whose fluid never touches the chip itself, so that there is little or no fluid loss and/or fluid contamination as disclosed by Nobi (col.4 ln 4-6).
Regarding claim 2, Takahashi in view of Nobi teaches the closed-loop liquid-cooled burn-in device of claim 1, Takahashi further teaches wherein the first reservoir is in fluid connection with the at least one test socket by the cold water network (par.22 teaches 3-way valve connected to chiller 24 and heater 38), and the second reservoir is in fluid connection with the at least one test socket by the hot water network (par.22).
Regarding claim 3, Takahashi in view of Nobi teaches the closed-loop liquid-cooled burn-in device of claim 1, Takahashi further teaches wherein the first reservoir is in fluid connection with a heat exchange unit by the cold water network (par.20-21), and the second reservoir is in fluid connection with the heat exchange unit by the hot water network (par.36-37).
Regarding claim 4, Takahashi in view of Nobi teaches the closed-loop liquid-cooled burn-in device of claim 1, Takahashi further teaches wherein the heating unit is attached to an outer wall surface of the first reservoir (par.44 teaches heater 38 located on refrigerator 24 side; the side is interpreted as a wall) and electrically connected to a circuit board (fig.1 shows chuck heater control system 42, which contains several circuit boards, electrically connected to heater 38).
Regarding claim 5, Takahashi in view of Nobi teaches the closed-loop liquid-cooled burn-in device of claim 4, Takahashi further teaches wherein the heating unit is a PTC device (par.19 teaches chuck-heater 50; PTC devices are commonly used in chuck heaters because they provide a self‑regulating, safe, and efficient heating solution).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The search yielded 3 prior art that teach,
Reference 1, US 8699660 B2; Joshi; Ashutosh et al. teaches
“A liquid cooled thermal control system for a computed tomography (CT) detector includes a plurality of temperature sensors and a control mode selector module coupled to the plurality of temperature sensors. The control mode selector module is programmed to receive an input from the plurality of temperature sensors, identify the inputs as either valid inputs or invalid inputs, and determine an operational mode of the liquid cooled thermal control system based on the identified inputs. A CT imaging system and a method of operating a cooling system are also described.”
Reference 2, US 20220377943 A1; CHEN; Chao-Jung et al. teaches
“A closed-loop liquid cooling system includes a liquid coolant conduit, a cold plate, a pump and a heat exchanger. The liquid coolant conduit is in proximity to a heat-generating electrical component. The liquid coolant conduit allows circulation of a liquid coolant to extract heat therefrom. The liquid coolant conduit includes an inner portion that surrounds and contains the liquid coolant, and an outer portion configured to prevent or inhibit leakage of the liquid coolant from the inner portion and also detect any leakage from the inner portion. The cold plate is in thermal communication with the liquid coolant. The pump is configured to transport the liquid coolant in the liquid coolant conduit. The heat exchanger is coupled to the liquid coolant conduit to extract heat therefrom.”
Reference 3, US 20240349449 A1; SUN; Minghui et al. teaches
“A containerized single-phase liquid immersion cooling system includes a tank unit, a power distribution unit, a plate heat exchanger unit and a control unit that are disposed within a container, and a liquid cooling system disposed outside the container. A plurality of computational power servers are placed in each tank containing a cooling liquid, and the tank serves as a place for heat exchange between a cooling liquid and the computational power servers. The liquid cooling system is configured to cool a secondary-side medium from the plate heat exchanger unit. A bypass pipe is disposed between the plate heat exchanger unit and the liquid cooling system. The secondary-side medium in the bypass pipe serves as a heat source and is communicated with an external device through a hot water outlet to recover waste heat, and the medium cooled after waste heat utilization returns to a primary-side pipe.”
However, regarding claim 6, the updated prior art does not teach or suggest, in combination with the rest of the limitation of claim 6,
“… recycling the cooling liquid from the loop to the water tank with one or more pumps when the loop becomes an open circuit; and reading by a water-level sensing unit a water level of the water tank, and determining that the cooling liquid does not incur any substantial loss otherwise caused by the open circuit when the water level of the water tank reaches a predetermined position.”
Claims 7-10 would also be allowed due to their dependence on claim 6.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
US 8699660 B2; Joshi; Ashutosh et al. is a Liquid cooled thermal control system for an imaging detector.
US 20220377943 A1; CHEN; Chao-Jung et al. is a closed-loop liquid cooling system.
US 20240349449 A1; SUN; Minghui et al. is a containerized single-phase liquid immersion cooling system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARL F.R. TCHATCHOUANG whose telephone number is (571)272-3991. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am -5:00am.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached at 571-272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CARL F.R. TCHATCHOUANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/HUY Q PHAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858
