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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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, 5, and 11 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.
Line 2 of claim 4 recites the plurality of interfaces of the integrated module including “a return air interface” with line 4 of the claim teaching that “the return air interface is connected to the inlet”. The only recitation of an inlet in the claims appears in line 3 of claim 1 which teaches “a compressor comprising an outlet and an inlet”, further described in lines 13-15 to include “a throttled and depressurized refrigerant which flows out of the integrated module flowing to at least one of the first flow channel and the second flow channel, and flowing back to the integrated module to be discharged to the inlet.” (emphasis added by examiner). As claim 1 (from which claim 4 depends) teaches only refrigerant flowing to the inlet of the compressor, it is unclear whether the inlet recited in claim 4 to be connected to a “return air interface” is a different inlet connected to receive a flow of return air (rather than a flow of depressurized refrigerant as taught in claim 1) or if the inlet being configured to receive air in addition to refrigerant is a limitation implied by the teachings of claim 4 which must be considered in the examination of the claim, or whether “return air interface” is to be taken only as a name, identifying the inlet as a structure different from other interfaces (e.g. the first through fourth cold plate interfaces and the exhaust interface) but not imposing limitations on the interface (e.g. so that it is not required to receive, provide, or otherwise act with regard to “return air”). For these reasons, the scope of claim 4 cannot be positively ascertained and the claim is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite.
Claim 5 includes equivalent recitations to those of claim 4 with regard to the return air interface and is rejected as being indefinite for the same reasons set forth above.
For purposes of examination, claims 4 and 5 have been given their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification and “return air interface” has been interpreted only as a label as the specification includes no teaching or suggestion of this interface actually receiving, providing, or otherwise concerning “return air”.
Claim 5 further teaches in lines 14-15, “a third electronic expansion valve” and “a fourth electronic expansion valve” but the claim does not include any teachings of a first or second electronic expansion valve. It is not clear from the terms “a third electronic expansion valve” and “a fourth electronic expansion valve” whether claim 5 requires that the thermal management system includes first and second valves (such that the claimed valves are “third” and “fourth”) or if “third” and “fourth” are to be taken only as labels for identifying these expansion valves. Further, first and second expansion valves are previously taught only in lines 14-15 of claim 4 (upon which claim 5 does not depend) so that it is further unclear, if claim 5 is taken as requiring first and second expansion valves, whether and what limitations presented in claim 4 with regard to the first and second expansion valves would also be required within the scope of claim 5. For these reasons the scope of claim 5 with regard to the third and fourth expansion valves cannot be positively ascertained and the claim is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite.
For purposes of examination, claim 5 has been given its broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification and “third expansion valve” and “fourth expansion valve” have been interpreted only as labels rather than as numerical signifiers which would limit the scope of the claim so that claim 5 is not taken as requiring the presence of first and second expansion valves.
Claim 11 teaches the thermal management system to comprise “a hybrid mode” and further teaches that “the first switching valve is configured to control the thermal management system to operate at the second working mode and the third working mode to enter the hybrid mode”. The second and third working modes are recited in claim 10 upon which claim 11 depends and are defined as follows (emphasis added by examiner):
in the second working mode, the coolant is configured to flow through the motor electronic control module radiator and the second heat exchange flow path to form the coolant circuit; and
in the third working mode, the coolant is configured to flow through the motor electronic control module radiator, the second heat exchange flow path, and the first radiator to form the coolant circuit.
As can be seen, the “third working mode” requires all elements of the “second working mode” (that is, coolant flow through the motor electronic control module radiator and the second heat exchange flow path) with the additional element of coolant also flowing through the first radiator. As such, it is not clear how the system being controlled “to operate at the second working mode and the third working mode” would constitute or cause the system to enter “the hybrid mode” as this combination would appear to result only in the limitations taught for the third working mode. In addition, claim 11 does not teach any further features or configurations of the hybrid mode so that it is not clear what operations would constitute such a mode or how it would distinguish over the third working mode which appears to teach operations required of the hybrid mode. For these reasons, the nature and operations of the hybrid mode of claim 11 cannot be positively ascertained and the claim is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite.
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 1-3, 6-9, and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chinese Publication No. 216033602 U to Li et al. in view of US Patent No. 12,194,887 B1 to Boecker et al.
An English translation of Li has been provided by Applicant with the Information Disclosure Statement of 25 March 2025 and citations to specific passages and paragraphs of this reference are directed to this translation rather than to the Chinese-language original document.
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Li teaches limitations from claim 1 in figs. 1, 4, and 6, shown above, a thermal management system for a vehicle (per the abstract of Li), the vehicle comprising a battery module (not shown in the figures although a battery pack heat exchanger 500 is shown and taught in ¶ n0056 and battery heating and cooling modes are described in ¶¶ n0069-72), and the thermal management system comprising:
a compressor (600) comprising an outlet and an inlet (at the right and left sides respectively of the compressor given the orientation of shown in fig. 6);
an external heat exchanger (300) connected to the outlet (as shown);
a first heat exchange plate (battery pack heat exchanger 500) configured for heat exchange with the battery module, a first flow channel disposed inside the first heat exchange plate (as shown in fig. 6); and
an integrated module (shown in fig. 1) comprising a valve seat (main body 10 shown in fig. 1) and a throttle valve group (15, also numbered 17 within the specification of Li), the throttle valve group disposed on the valve seat to throttle and reduce a pressure of a refrigerant flowing through the throttle valve group (particularly through the expansion valves 41, 42, and 43 of the valve group 17), the valve seat (main body 10) comprising a plurality of interfaces (as shown in figs. 1 and 4), the external heat exchanger (300), the inlet (of compressor 600), two ends of the first flow channel (of the heat exchanger 500) connected to corresponding interfaces respectively (with the external heat exchanger 300 connected to the third interface, the eleventh connecting to the separator 800 which is disposed at the inlet of the compressor 600, and the seventh and eighth interfaces connecting to respective ends of the battery pack heat exchanger 500 as taught in ¶ n0056), the thermal management system having a battery cooling mode (as taught in ¶¶ n0071-72), and in the battery cooling mode, a throttled and depressurized refrigerant (from the open third expansion valve 43) which flows out of the integrated module flowing to at least one of the first flow channel (in the battery pack heat exchanger 500), and flowing back to the integrated module to be discharged to the inlet (through the eighth interface as discussed above).
Li does not teach the system including first and second heat exchanger plates configured to exchange heat with the battery pack and having a second flow channel connected to the integrated module. Boecker teaches a thermal management system for the thermal conditioning of a battery pack of a vehicle electrical system in which the battery pack is cooled by a cooling plate through which a coolant flows “via channels, tubes, passages, cavities, coils or other features, to remove heat from the battery module” (col. 10, lines 33-45) and teaches in col. 18, lines 53-62 that a system may include a first cooling plate disposed above the battery cell and a second cooling plate disposed below the cell so that a flow rate of coolant to the battery cell may be increased by use of one, the other, or both of the plates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the application was effectively filed to modify Li with the multiple battery plate cooling plates taught by Boecker in order to increase the flow of coolant to the battery and thus the rate at which the battery may be cooled, mitigating thermal runaway events as taught by Boecker in col. 18, lines 53-62, and because it has been held that the mere duplication of the working parts of a system (such as adding an additional battery pack heat exchanger to the system of Li in which one such heat exchanger is already taught) is a matter of only routine skill in the art where no new or unexpected results are produced (here, the additional cooling provided by increased flow of coolant is understood and expected as articulated by Boecker). See MPEP 2144.04 Legal Precedent as Source of Supporting Rationale in subsection (VI)(B) and In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960).
Li teaches limitations from claim 2 in figs. 1, 4, and 6, shown above, the thermal management system according to claim 1, wherein:
the interfaces comprise an exhaust interface (the first interface as described in ¶ n0056), the outlet (of the compressor 600) is connected to the exhaust interface (as taught in ¶ 56), the integrated module comprises a control valve group disposed on the valve seat (main body 10), the control valve group operates to switch a flow direction of the refrigerant in the valve seat (the valve group 17 includes a number of switch valves as taught in ¶ n0058, controlling the direction of refrigerant flow in the system, such as switching the direction of flow through the battery pack heat exchanger 500 in the battery heating and battery cooling modes of ¶ 69-72); and
the thermal management system further comprises a first heat exchanger (motor heat exchanger 700), the first heat exchanger (700) is connected between the throttle valve group (including connection to the valve 43 as shown in fig. 6, allowing flow from the battery pack heat exchanger 500 to the motor heat exchanger 700 as discussed in ¶ 70) and the inlet (of the compressor 600 as shown in fig. 6), the thermal management system has a battery heating mode (described in ¶ 70), and in the battery heating mode, the refrigerant flowing out of the outlet (of the compressor 600) flows through the integrated module and flows to at least one of the first flow channel (of the battery pack heat exchanger 500) be obvious in light of the modification of Li by Boecker as discussed above), and flows to the first heat exchanger (700) after being throttled by the throttle valve group (at the valve 43).
Li teaches limitations from claim 3, the thermal management system according to claim 2, wherein the interfaces comprise a heat exchanger interface (the tenth interface, taught in ¶ n0056 to connect to the motor heat exchanger 700), and the first heat exchanger (700) is fixed to the valve seat and is connected to the heat exchanger interface by connection to the tenth interface and to the valve 43).
Li teaches limitations from claim 6 in figs. 1, 4, and 6, shown above, the thermal management system according to claim 2, wherein:
the interfaces further comprise a first one-way valve interface and a second one-way valve interface (coupling to the first and second one-way valves 51 and 52), the integrated module further comprises a first one-way valve (51) and a second one-way valve (51), the first one-way valve is fixed to the valve seat and is connected to the first one-way valve interface (to receive refrigerant flow from the valve 43 to the motor heat exchanger 700 as described in ¶ n0070), the first one-way valve is connected to the throttle valve group and the first heat exchanger (700) and configured for the refrigerant to flow to the first heat exchanger (as shown in fig. 6); and
the second one-way valve (52) is fixed to the valve seat and is connected to the second one-way valve interface (to receive refrigerant flow from the heat exchanger 300 to the expansion valve 43 as discussed in ¶ n0060), the second one-way valve (52) is connected to the throttle valve group (including to the valve 43) and the external heat exchanger (300) and configured for the refrigerant to flow to the throttle valve group (as shown in fig. 6 and taught in ¶ 60).
Li teaches limitations from claim 7 in figs. 1, 4, and 6, shown above, the thermal management system according to claim 1, further comprising a first vehicle interior heat exchanger (evaporator 400), two of the interfaces are respectively connected to an inlet end and an outlet end of the first vehicle interior heat exchanger (with the fifth and sixth interfaces taught in ¶ n0056 to connect to the inlet and outlet of this evaporator),
wherein the thermal management system further has a refrigeration mode (the air conditioning cooling mode taught in ¶ n0065-66), and in the refrigeration mode, a throttled and depressurized refrigerant flowing out of the integrated module (from the second expansion valve 42, shown on the main body in fig. 4) flows to the first vehicle interior heat exchanger (400) and flows back to the integrated module to be discharged to the inlet (to the inlet of the compressor 600 through the separator 800 as shown in fig. 6).
Li teaches limitations from claim 8 in figs. 1, 4, and 6, shown above, the thermal management system according to claim 7, further comprising a second vehicle interior heat exchanger (condenser 200) connected to a corresponding interface and the outlet (as taught in ¶ n0056 and as shown in fig. 6, the condenser 300 is coupled to the outlet of the compressor 600 and is the second interface of the main body 10),
wherein the thermal management system further has a heating mode (taught in ¶ n0067-68), and in the heating mode, the refrigerant flowing out of the outlet flows to the second vehicle interior heat exchanger (200) and flows to the integrated module (as taught in ¶ 68).
Li teaches limitations from claim 9 in figs. 1, 4, and 6, shown above, the thermal management system according to claim 1, further comprising:
a first heat exchanger (motor heat exchanger 700) comprising a first heat exchange flow path (the lower flow path of the heat exchanger 700 as illustrated in fig. 6) and a second heat exchange flow path (the upper flow path of the heat exchanger 700 as illustrated in fig. 6) for heat exchange with each other (as shown in fig. 6 and taught in ¶ n0068), the first heat exchange flow path is connected to the throttle valve group (at the expansion valve 41 as taught in ¶ 68)and the inlet; and
a coolant circuit configured for heat exchange with a motor electronic control module radiator of the vehicle (shown in fig. 6 as a component of the circuit which communicates with the motor heat exchanger 700), and the second heat exchange flow path configured as a portion of the coolant circuit (as shown in fig. 6).
Li teaches limitations from claim 18 in figs. 1, 4, and 6, shown above, a vehicle (as discussed in the Abstract of Li), comprising:
a battery module (not shown in the figures although a battery pack heat exchanger 500 is shown and taught in ¶ n0056 and battery heating and cooling modes are described in ¶¶ n0069-72); and
a compressor (600) comprising an outlet and an inlet (at the right and left sides respectively of the compressor given the orientation of shown in fig. 6);
an external heat exchanger (300) connected to the outlet (as shown);
a first heat exchange plate (battery pack heat exchanger 500) configured for heat exchange with the battery module, a first flow channel disposed inside the first heat exchange plate (as shown in fig. 6); and
an integrated module (shown in fig. 1) comprising a valve seat (main body 10 shown in fig. 1) and a throttle valve group (15, also numbered 17 within the specification of Li), the throttle valve group disposed on the valve seat to throttle and reduce a pressure of a refrigerant flowing through the throttle valve group (particularly through the expansion valves 41, 42, and 43 of the valve group 17), the valve seat (main body 10) comprising a plurality of interfaces (as shown in figs. 1 and 4), the external heat exchanger (300), the inlet (of compressor 600), two ends of the first flow channel (of the heat exchanger 500) connected to corresponding interfaces respectively (with the external heat exchanger 300 connected to the third interface, the eleventh connecting to the separator 800 which is disposed at the inlet of the compressor 600, and the seventh and eighth interfaces connecting to respective ends of the battery pack heat exchanger 500 as taught in ¶ n0056), the thermal management system having a battery cooling mode (as taught in ¶¶ n0071-72), and in the battery cooling mode, a throttled and depressurized refrigerant (from the open third expansion valve 43) which flows out of the integrated module flowing to at least one of the first flow channel (in the battery pack heat exchanger 500), and flowing back to the integrated module to be discharged to the inlet (through the eighth interface as discussed above),
wherein the first heat exchange plate … exchange[s] heat with the battery module (as a “battery pack heat exchanger 500”, with such exchange specifically taught in ¶ 71-72 regarding the battery cooling mode).
Regarding claims 18 and 19, Li does not teach the system including first and second heat exchanger plates configured to exchange heat with the battery pack and having a second flow channel connected to the integrated module as taught in claim 18, or the two plates being disposed on opposite walls of the battery module as taught in claim 19. Boecker teaches a thermal management system for the thermal conditioning of a battery pack of a vehicle electrical system in which the battery pack is cooled by a cooling plate through which a coolant flows “via channels, tubes, passages, cavities, coils or other features, to remove heat from the battery module” (col. 10, lines 33-45) and teaches in col. 18, lines 53-62 that a system may include a first cooling plate disposed above the battery cell and a second cooling plate disposed below the cell so that a flow rate of coolant to the battery cell may be increased by use of one, the other, or both of the plates as taught in claims 18 and 19. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the application was effectively filed to modify Li with the multiple battery plate cooling plates taught by Boecker in order to increase the flow of coolant to the battery and thus the rate at which the battery may be cooled, mitigating thermal runaway events as taught by Boecker in col. 18, lines 53-62, and because it has been held that the mere duplication of the working parts of a system (such as adding an additional battery pack heat exchanger to the system of Li in which one such heat exchanger is already taught) is a matter of only routine skill in the art where no new or unexpected results are produced (here, the additional cooling provided by increased flow of coolant is understood and expected as articulated by Boecker). See MPEP 2144.04 Legal Precedent as Source of Supporting Rationale in subsection (VI)(B) and In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960).
Claims 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li and Boecker as applied to claims 1 and 7-9 above, and further in view of WIPO Publication No. 2015/186143 A2 to Gopinath et al.
Regarding claim 15, Li teaches a thermal management system for a vehicle having a battery, the thermal management system including a refrigerant cycle having a motor cooling heat exchanger for exchanging heat with a circulating motor cooling medium in a separate circuit. Gopinath teaches in pg. 3, lines 76-85 an automotive air conditioning system in which water is collected in a storage reservoir or container and pumped into an air tight water storage reservoir where it is used as make up water to be used for engine cooling of the vehicle in which the system is installed. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the application was effectively filed to modify Li with the water tank for engine cooling taught by Gopinath in order to allow waste or condensate water from the air conditioning system to be repurposed for engine cooling, reducing the risk of a deficiency of cooling water and ensuring effective and reliable cooling of the engine as taught in pg. 3, lines 76-85 of Gopinath.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 12-14, 16, and 17 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.
Claims 4, 5, and 11 are considered to read over the prior art of record because the prior art of record does not teach or suggest the claimed combination of features as discussed below. However, this claim cannot be considered "allowable" at this time due to the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office Action. Specifically, claims 4 and 5 are rejected based on recitations of “a return air interface” connected to a refrigerant compressor rather than any air passages and claim 11 is rejected based on the recitation of “a hybrid mode” which appears to duplicate features of the third working mode which it is recited to include. Therefore upon the claims being rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112 set forth in this Office Action, further consideration of this claim with respect to the prior art will be necessary.
Claims 4 and 5 each teach the configurations of main and branch circuits disposed inside the valve seat and having particular connections to various interfaces of the integrated module which are not taught or suggested by the equivalent module of Li.
Claim 10 teaches the system comprising a first radiator and a first switching valve connected to the first heat exchanger and motor control module radiator so that a coolant circulates in first, second, and third cooling modes based on the control of the first switching valve. Fig. 6 of Li shows this coolant circuit to include a heat exchanger and a switching valve but does not specifically teach or suggest the arrangement of the radiator and motor electronic control module radiator, or the switching valve operating to produce three different working modes for circulation of coolant as taught in this claim.
Claims 11-13 depend upon claim 10 and thus include the subject matter presented therein.
Claim 14 teaches the interfaces of the integrated module to include first and second interfaces communicating with the refrigerant passage of the motor heat exchanger and third and fourth interfaces communicating with the coolant passage of the motor heat exchanger. The prior art does not teach the integrated module including interfaces and passages therein for both fluids circulating to exchange heat in a motor-cooling heat exchanger.
Claim 16 similarly teaches the integrated module to include an interface for communicating with and receiving water from a makeup water tank. As noted above with regard to claim 14, the module of Li is not taught or suggested to include passages for the flow of the coolant in addition to the refrigerant passages taught by Li and thus further does not teach an interface for communicating with the makeup water tank.
Claim 17 depends upon claim 16 and thus include the subject matter presented therein.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL C COMINGS whose telephone number is (571)270-7385. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30 AM to 5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jerry-Daryl Fletcher can be reached at (571)270-5054. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL C COMINGS/ Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/JERRY-DARYL FLETCHER/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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