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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
Claims 1-7, 9-15 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ma et al. (US 2020/0400380, herein “Ma”).
Regarding claim 1, Ma discloses:
an oscillating heat pipe (figs. 1 and 4), comprising:
an evaporator section (evaporator, fig. 1);
a condenser section (condenser, fig. 1); and
a plurality of fluid channels (seen in figs. 1 and 4) extending between the evaporator section and the condenser section (figs. 1 and 4), the plurality of fluid channels at least partially filled with a phase change material in a solid state [par. 0024] (figs. 1 and 4).
Regarding claim 2, Ma discloses:
the phase change material in solid state being initially disposed at the evaporator section [par. 0024] (figs. 1 and 4).
Regarding claim 3, Ma discloses:
the plurality of fluid channels containing the phase change material in a range of 30 percent to 70 percent of a total volume of the plurality of fluid channels [par. 0036].
Regarding claims 4-5, Ma discloses:
the phase change material including one or more molten salts that includes one or more of NaNO₃, KNO₃, LiNO₃ and LiCl [par. 0040].
Regarding claim 6, Ma discloses:
the plurality of fluid channels being arranged into a plurality of closed channel loops (figs. 1 and 4).
Regarding claim 7, Ma discloses:
the evaporator section being disposed at a first end of the oscillating heat pipe (figs. 1 and 4), and
the condenser section being disposed at a second end of the oscillating heat pipe opposite the first end (figs. 1 and 4) [par. 0056].
Regarding claim 9, Ma discloses:
a thermal energy dissipation system (figs. 1 and 4), comprising:
a component (device to be cooled, of par. 0021; heat source, of par. 0030); and
an oscillating heat pipe disposed at the component configured to remove thermal energy from the component (figs. 1 and 4) [par. 0021],
the oscillating heat pipe including:
an oscillating heat pipe (figs. 1 and 4), comprising:
an evaporator section (evaporator, fig. 1);
a condenser section (condenser, fig. 1); and
a plurality of fluid channels (seen in figs. 1 and 4) extending between the evaporator section and the condenser section (figs. 1 and 4), the plurality of fluid channels at least partially filled with a phase change material in a solid state [par. 0024] (figs. 1 and 4).
Regarding claim 10, Ma discloses:
the phase change material in solid state being initially disposed at the evaporator section [par. 0024] (figs. 1 and 4).
Regarding claim 11, Ma discloses:
the plurality of fluid channels containing the phase change material in a range of 30 percent to 70 percent of a total volume of the plurality of fluid channels [par. 0036].
Regarding claims 12-13, Ma discloses:
the phase change material including one or more molten salts that includes one or more of NaNO₃, KNO₃, LiNO₃ and LiCl [par. 0040].
Regarding claim 14, Ma discloses:
the plurality of fluid channels being arranged into a plurality of closed channel loops (figs. 1 and 4).
Regarding claim 15, Ma discloses:
the evaporator section being disposed at a first end of the oscillating heat pipe (figs. 1 and 4), and
the condenser section being disposed at a second end of the oscillating heat pipe opposite the first end (fig. 1 and 4) [par. 0056].
Regarding claim 17, Ma discloses:
a heat sink (cooling block, fig. 4) in thermal communication with the condenser section (figs. 1 and 4) to remove thermal energy from the oscillating heat pipe (figs. 1 and 4) [par. 0056].
Regarding claim 18, Ma discloses:
a method of transferring thermal energy from a component (device to be cooled, of par. 0021; heat source, of par. 0030) (figs. 1 and 4) [par. 0021 and 0056], comprising:
thermally connecting an oscillating heat pipe to the component (device to be cooled, of par. 0021; heat source, of par. 0030) (figs. 1 and 4) [par. 0021 and 0056],
the oscillating heat pipe including:
an evaporator section (evaporator, fig. 1) in thermal contact with the component (device to be cooled, par. 0021; heat source, par. 0030) (figs. 1 and 4);
a condenser section (condenser, fig. 1); and
a plurality of fluid channels (seen in figs. 1 and 4) extending between the evaporator section and the condenser section (figs. 1 and 4), the plurality of fluid channels at least partially filled with a phase change material in a solid state [par. 0024] (figs. 1 and 4).
applying a heat load to the component (device to be cooled, par. 0021; heat source, par. 0030) (figs. 1 and 4) [par. 0021 and 0056];
melting the phase change material to absorb thermal energy [par. 0025] from the component (device to be cooled, par. 0021; heat source, par. 0030) (figs. 1 and 4) [par. 0021 and 0056]; and
transferring the thermal energy to the condenser section (condenser, fig. 1; fig. 4) via the plurality of fluid channels (figs. 1 and 4) [par. 0021 and 0056]
Regarding claim 19, Ma discloses:
transferring the thermal energy to one or more heat sinks (cooling block, fig. 4) at the condenser section (figs. 1 and 4) [par. 0021 and 0056].
Regarding claim 20, Ma discloses:
the phase change material in solid state is initially disposed at the evaporator section (evaporator, fig. 1) [par. 0024].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103:
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 8 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma in view of Rap et al. (US 2019/0293359, herein “Rao”).
Regarding claims 8 and 16, Ma does not specifically disclose:
the condenser section surrounding the evaporator section.
Ma discloses the condenser section being disposed at an end of the oscillating heat pipe and the evaporator section being disposed at an opposing end of the condenser section. However, changing the arrangement order of the condenser and evaporator sections constitutes a simple rearrangement of existing parts, not affecting the fundamental functioning of the system. Such rearrangement of parts wherein the rearrangement does not fundamentally alter the operation of the device has been found in case law to be unpatentable (see MPEP, section 2144.04.VI.C). Further, Rao teaches that oscillating heat pipes (6) (figs. 2-4) comprising an evaporation section (7), and a condenser section (9), wherein the condenser section (9) surrounds the evaporator section (7), are old and known in the art [par. 0029].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GUSTAVO A HINCAPIE SERNA whose telephone number is (571)272-6018. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5:30pm.
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/GUSTAVO A HINCAPIE SERNA/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/JENNA M MARONEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
