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 § 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 4 and 15 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.
Claims 4 and 15 recite “a second fiber pump tube” which is indefinite as the claims fail to establish a first second fiber pump tube”.
Claim 5 and 6 are rejected as they depend on claim 4.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-11, 13, 14, 16-18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0209774) in view of Shintake et al. (PCT Publication WO2020233791A1, “Shintake”).
Regarding claim 1, Gao discloses a cooling assembly for thermal management of one or more electronic devices (fig 3), comprising:
a fluid reservoir (304) configured to store a dielectric liquid (218);
a condenser (212) fluidly coupled to the fluid reservoir;
a housing (202) comprising one or more substrates (100), a side wall, an upper wall (see annotated fig 3 below) positioned opposite of the substrates and spaced apart by the side wall to define a cavity, the cavity fluidly coupled to the condenser, and one or more of the substrates configured to be thermally coupled to one or more of the electronic devices (¶0023).
However, Gao does not explicitly disclose a plurality of fiber pump jets fluidly coupling the fluid reservoir to the housing, one or more of the fiber pump jets comprising one or more pairs of wire electrodes; and
one or more electric sources electrically coupled to one of the fiber pump jets, wherein the electric sources are configured to individually apply a controllable bias to the wire electrodes of one or more fiber pump jets to control a flow rate of the dielectric liquid from the fluid reservoir to the cavity in the one or more fiber pump jets.
Shintake, however, discloses a fiber pump jet (fig 3B) comprising one or more pairs of wire electrodes (105a, 105b), one or more electric sources electrically coupled to one of the fiber pump jets (see ¶0063), wherein the electric sources are configured to individually apply a controllable bias to the wire electrodes of one or more fiber pump jets to control a flow rate of the dielectric liquid (see ¶0063).
Shintake teaches that fiber pump jets are silent and do not cause vibration (¶0006). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Gao to provide the fiber pump jets in place of the pumps (AP, MP) in order to reduce noise and vibration caused by the device.
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Regarding claim 2, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. Gao, as modified, further discloses wherein the cooling assembly further comprises a first fiber pump tube (fig 3, Shintake, in place of MP, Gao) fluidly coupling the condenser (212, Gao) to the fluid reservoir (304, Gao).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. Gao, as modified, further discloses wherein the first fiber pump tube (fig 3, Shintake, in place of MP, Gao) comprises a pair of wire electrodes electrically coupled to one of the electric sources (such as taught by Shintake, see ¶0063), the first fiber pump tube configured to transport the cooled dielectric liquid to the fluid reservoir (fig 3, Gao).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. Gao, as modified, further discloses wherein the cooling assembly further comprises a second fiber pump tube (VR, Gao) fluidly coupling the cavity (of 202, Gao) to the condenser (212, Gao).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. Gao, as modified, further discloses wherein the second fiber pump tube (VR, Gao) is configured to transport a vapor transformed from the dielectric liquid by absorbing heat from the substrate above a boiling point of the dielectric liquid (fig 3, Gao).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. Gao further discloses wherein the cooling assembly further comprises one or more thermal sensors (T) configured to monitor temperatures of the electronic devices (¶0031).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. Gao, as modified, further discloses wherein the electric sources are configured to individually apply the controllable bias to the wire electrodes of the one or more of the fiber pump jets (fig 3, Shintake) based on the temperature of the electronic devices (¶0032, Gao).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. Gao, as modified, further discloses wherein one or more of the pairs of wire electrodes (105a, 105b, Shintake) are embedded in one of the fiber pump jets in a continuous helical pattern around an inner surface of one or more of the fiber pump jets (fig 3, Shintake).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. Gao, as modified, further discloses wherein one or more of the pairs of wire electrodes (105a, 105b, Shintake) are configured to move the dielectric liquid in the fiber pump jets using charge-injection electrohydrohynamics (¶0007, Shintake).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. Gao, as modified, further discloses wherein one or more of the pairs of wire electrodes (105a, 105b, Shintake) are asymmetrically spaced (fig 3B, Shintake).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. However, they do not explicitly disclose wherein the dielectric liquid comprises methoxy- nonafluorobutane, perfluoropolyethers, fluorinated liquids, silicone-based oil, or a combination thereof. However, the Examiner takes Official Notice that the use of Fluorinated liquids is old and well known in the art of cooling and it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Gao, as modified, to provide a Fluorinated liquid in order to optimize the cooling of the electronic devices.
Regarding claim 14, Gao discloses a cooling system for thermal management of one or more electronic devices (fig 3), comprising:
a fluid reservoir (304) configured to store a dielectric liquid (218);
a condenser (212) fluidly coupled to the fluid reservoir;
a housing (202) comprising one or more substrates (100), a side wall, an upper wall (see annotated fig 3 below) positioned opposite of the substrates and spaced apart by the side wall to define a cavity, the cavity fluidly coupled to the condenser and one or more of the substrate configured to be thermally coupled to one or more of the electronic devices (¶0023);
one or more thermal sensors (T) configured to monitor temperatures of the electronic devices (¶0031); and
one or more processors, the processors operable to, based on the temperatures of the electronic devices, control a flow rate of the dielectric liquid from the fluid reservoir to the cavity in by controlling a flow rate of pumps (¶0032).
However, Gao does not explicit disclose a plurality of fiber pump jets fluidly coupling the fluid reservoir to the housing, one or more of the fiber pump jets comprising one or more pairs of wire electrodes;
one or more electric sources, one or more of the electric sources electrically coupled to one of the fiber pump jets.
Shintake, however, discloses a fiber pump jet (fig 3B) comprising one or more pairs of wire electrodes (105a, 105b), one or more electric sources electrically coupled to one of the fiber pump jets (see ¶0063), wherein the electric sources are configured to individually apply a controllable bias to the wire electrodes of one or more fiber pump jets to control a flow rate of the dielectric liquid (see ¶0063).
Shintake teaches that fiber pump jets are silent and do not cause vibration (¶0006). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Gao to provide the fiber pump jets in place of the pumps (AP, MP) in order to reduce noise and vibration caused by the device.
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Regarding claim 16, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. Gao, as modified, further discloses wherein the cooling system further comprises a first liber pump tube (fig 3, Shintake, in place of MP, Gao) fluidly coupling the condenser (212, Gao) to the fluid reservoir (304, Gao), the first fiber pump tube comprising a pair of wire electrodes (105a, 105b, Shintake) electrically coupled to one of the electric sources, the first fiber pump tube configured to transport the cooled dielectric liquid to the fluid reservoir.
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. Gao, as modified, further discloses wherein one or more of the wire electrodes (105a, 105b, Shintake) are embedded in one of the fiber pump jets in a continuous helical pattern around an inner surface of the one or more of the fiber pump jets, and one or more of the wire electrodes are asymmetrically spaced (fig 3B, Shintake).
Regarding claim 18, Gao discloses a method for thermal management of one or more electronic devices (fig 3), comprising: detecting, using one or more thermal sensors, temperatures (T) of the one or more electronic devices (¶0031);
determining whether a temperature of at least one electronic device is beyond a cooling threshold temperature (¶0032);
in response to determining that the temperature of the at least one electronic device is beyond the cooling threshold temperature, controlling a bias applied pump associated with the at least one electronic device to transport a dielectric liquid from a fluid reservoir to a cavity of a housing comprising a substrate (100) thermally coupled to the at least one electronic device (¶0032); and
wherein:
the fluid reservoir is fluidly coupled to a condenser (212);
the housing comprises one or more substrates, a side wall, an upper wall (see annotated fig 3 below) positioned opposite of the substrates and spaced apart by the side wall to define the cavity, the cavity fluidly coupled to the condenser, and one or more of the substrates thermally coupled to one of the electronic devices;
a plurality of pumps (AP, MP) are fluidly coupling the fluid reservoir to the housing.
However, Gao does not explicitly disclose one or more of the fiber pump jets comprising one or more pairs of wire electrodes; and one or more electric sources electrically coupled to one or more of the fiber pump jets.
Shintake, however, discloses a fiber pump jet (fig 3B) comprising one or more pairs of wire electrodes (105a, 105b), one or more electric sources electrically coupled to one of the fiber pump jets (see ¶0063), wherein the electric sources are configured to individually apply a controllable bias to the wire electrodes of one or more fiber pump jets to control a flow rate of the dielectric liquid (see ¶0063).
Shintake teaches that fiber pump jets are silent and do not cause vibration (¶0006). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Gao to provide the fiber pump jets in place of the pumps (AP, MP) in order to reduce noise and vibration caused by the device.
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Regarding claim 20, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. Gao, as modified, further discloses wherein one or more of the wire electrodes (105a, 105b) are embedded in one of the fiber pump jets in a continuous helical pattern around an inner surface of the one or more of the fiber pump jets, and one or more of the wire electrodes are asymmetrically spaced (fig 3B, Shintake).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao and Shintake as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Xie (Chinese Patent Publication CN101303930).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Gao and Shintake discloses all previous claim limitations. However, they do not explicitly disclose wherein the dielectric liquid has a conductivity range from about 10-¹² S/m to about 10⁻⁶ S/m, a viscosity range from about 1 cPa to about 100 cPa, and a breakdown strength equal to or greater than 10 kV/cm. Xie, however, discloses a cooling assembly using a dielectric liquid (HFC-8160, page 5, lines 19-31) has a conductivity range from about 10-¹² S/m to about 10⁻⁶ S/m, a viscosity range from about 1 cPa to about 100 cPa, and a breakdown strength equal to or greater than 10 kV/cm. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for Gao, as modified, to provide HFC-8160 to provide the optimal cooling to the electronic devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 15, and 19 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, as well as overcoming the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections provided above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HARRY E ARANT whose telephone number is (571)272-1105. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10-6 ET.
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/HARRY E ARANT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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