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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/11/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Objection/s to the Claim/s
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: “a light source; a light source” on lines 3 and 4. It appears that the recitation of the second “a light source” is a typographical error. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 4 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate of claim 3. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - AIA 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 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.
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 of this title, 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 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nomoto (US 20210018826 A1) in view of Chen (US 20070091568 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 9, Nomoto teaches a projector (Fig. 1-7) comprising: a case (5); a light source (11); a heat dissipation plate (121) formed in a plate shape and having a mounting surface on which the light source (11) is mounted; a plurality of heat dissipation fins (122) formed in a plate shape in which a first direction (X direction) along a back surface of the heat dissipation plate (121) opposite to the mounting surface is a thickness direction and arranged at intervals in the first direction (X direction); and a blower fan (41) disposed to face the back surface via the plurality of heat dissipation fins (122) and blowing air toward the back surface, wherein each of first ends (Z-) of the plurality of heat dissipation fins (122) in a second direction (Z direction) orthogonal to the first direction (X direction) along the back surface does not protrude outside of a first edge of the heat dissipation plate (121) in the second direction (Z direction; Fig. 3), and thus an opening (Fig. 3) is formed at a position corresponding to each of the plurality of basal ends of the plurality of first ends (Z-) such that the gap between adjacent heat dissipation fins (122) faces the outside of the plurality of heat dissipation fins (122).
Nomoto does not teach the plurality of heat dissipation fins (122) provided with a cover that is provided at the plurality of first ends and covers a region corresponding to each distal end in an extension direction of the plurality of heat dissipation fins (122) extending from the back surface toward the blower fan (41) in a gap between the heat dissipation fins (122) adjacent in the first direction (X direction), and a region corresponding to each basal end in the extension direction of the plurality of heat dissipation fins (122) in the gap between the adjacent heat dissipation fins (122) is covered with the cover.
Chen teaches the plurality of heat dissipation fins (22) provided with a cover (40) that is provided at the plurality of first ends and covers a region corresponding to each distal end in an extension direction of the plurality of heat dissipation fins (22) extending from the back surface toward the blower fan (30) in a gap between the heat dissipation fins (22) adjacent in the first direction, and a region corresponding to each basal end in the extension direction of the plurality of heat dissipation fins (22) in the gap between the adjacent heat dissipation fins (22) is covered with the cover (40).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skills in the art at the time of the invention to Nomoto with Chen; because it provides a support for mounting of the fan.
Claims 2-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nomoto (US 20210018826 A1) in view of Chen (US 20070091568 A1) and in further view of Horng (US 20130294094 A1).
Regarding claim 2, neither Nomoto nor Chen teaches a duct extending from the blower fan (41) toward the plurality of heat dissipation fins (122) and defining a flow path from the blower fan (41) to the plurality of heat dissipation fins (122), wherein a part of the duct located on the plurality of first ends side is formed not to cover the opening.
Horng teaches a duct (63) extending from the blower fan (62) toward the plurality of heat dissipation fins (72) and defining a flow path from the blower fan (62) to the plurality of heat dissipation fins (72), wherein a part of the duct (63) located on the plurality of first ends side is formed not to cover the opening (at 633; Fig. 7).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skills in the art at the time of the invention to combine Nomoto and Chen with Horng; because it prevents turbulence ([0044] of Horng).
Regarding claims 3 and 4, the combination of Nomoto, Chen and Horng consequently results in the duct (63 of Horng) having a ventilation opening (633) that allows the opening (Fig. 3 of Nomoto) to face the outside of the plurality of heat dissipation fins (122 of Nomoto).
Regarding claim 5, Nomoto, as modified by Chen and Horng, further teaches each second end of the plurality of heat dissipation fins (122) in the second direction (Z direction) protrudes outside of a second edge of the heat dissipation plate (121) in the second direction (Z direction; Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 6, Nomoto, as modified by Chen and Horng, further teaches the plurality of second ends (at Z+) are located on an opposite side to the plurality of first ends (Z-) in the second direction (Z direction).
Regarding claim 7, Nomoto, as modified by Chen and Horng, further teaches the light source (11) includes a first light source (first solid state light sources) located on the first edge side and a second light source (second solid state light sources; [0016]) located on the second edge side (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 8, Nomoto, as modified by Chen and Horng, further teaches the blower fan (41) is an axial fan having a shaft in which an axis is directed in the extension direction, and a blade disposed around the shaft, and in the second direction (Z direction), the shaft is located to correspond to the second light source (second solid state light sources), and the blade is located to correspond to the first light source (first solid state light sources) and the plurality of second ends (Fig. 3).
Conclusion
The prior art references cited in PTO-892 are made of record and considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Patent documents, US 20220019136 A1, US 20180059521 A1, US 20170277027 A1, US 20170199448 A1, US 20170075201 A1, US 20150308749 A1, US 20160053981 A1, US 20160050400 A1, and US 7228889 B1, disclose cooling system for solid state light sources.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BAO-LUAN Q LE whose telephone number is (571)270-5362. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday; 9:00AM-5:00PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minh-Toan Ton can be reached on (571) 272 230303. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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