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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the use of solid gray and/or black shading in Figs. 1-4 reduces legibility & therefore fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(m).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (WO2022141564) in view of Wang (CN203416525).
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Regarding claims 1 & 12, Li teaches the structure substantially as claimed, including a housing (4), wherein the housing (Fig. 2) comprises at least one accommodation cavity (A in Fig. 2 Annotated), wherein the accommodation cavity is configured to dispose a circuit board (2 – see Fig. 1); and mounting holes (B) are provided on a first side wall (C) of the side walls of the accommodation cavity, and the mounting holes are configured to allow an input port and an output port to pass through the first side wall (Fig. 1). Li fail(s) to teach through holes. However, Wang teaches the provision, in the side walls of an accommodation cavity, of a plurality of through holes (Fig. 3), and a total area of the through holes on any side wall of the side walls of the accommodation cavity is not less than ½ of an area of the any side wall (par. 44). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to add through holes, as taught by Wang, to the side walls of Li, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to facilitate cooling of the circuit board by increasing ventilation thereof. Hence, Li as modified would teach through holes (Fig. 3 of Wang; or combination of Fig. 3 of Wang & G of Li).
Regarding claims 2 & 13, Li teaches a housing comprises a top plate (D of Li), a bottom plate (E of Li), and a side plate (F of Li), the top plate, the bottom plate, and the side plate form the accommodation cavity (A of Li), and the mounting holes (B of Li) are provided on the side plate; at least one of the top plate or the bottom plate is provided with the through holes (Fig. 3 of Wang & G of Li); and center lines of at least a part (G of Li) of the through holes on the top plate or the bottom plate intersect with center lines of the mounting holes (Fig. 2 of Li).
Regarding claims 3 & 14, Li as modified teaches through holes (Fig. 3 of Wang & G of Li) distributed in an array on at least one (D, E of Li) of the side walls of the accommodation cavity, and N+1 rows of the through holes are arranged along a length direction of the housing (as in Fig. 3 of Wang), wherein N is a total quantity of the mounting holes; and M rows of the through holes are arranged along a width direction of the housing, wherein M is greater than or equal to 2 (as in Fig. 3 of Wang).
Regarding claims 4 & 15, Li as modified teaches a housing that comprises a bottom plate (E of Li) and a side plate (F of Li), the bottom plate and the side plate form the accommodation cavity (A of Li), a side of the accommodation cavity that is away from the bottom plate is open (via G of Li), and the mounting holes (B of Li) are provided on the side plate (Fig. 2 of Li); and at least one side of the bottom plate or the side plate is provided with the through holes (Fig. 3 of Wang).
Regarding claims 5 & 16, Li teaches a housing comprises two accommodation cavities (A, H), and the two accommodation cavities are not connected to each other (Fig. 2).
Regarding claims 6 & 17, Li teaches a housing formed of an unspecified material. Additionally, the examiner takes OFFICIAL NOTICE that forming a housing from sheet metal is well-known in the art. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to make the housing of Li as modified from sheet metal, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to increase the strength & durability thereof. Hence, Li as modified would teach an accommodation cavity (A, H of Li) formed by sheet metal. It is noted that the housing does not depend on the process of making it; and the product-by-process limitation “bent” would not be expected to impart distinctive structural characteristics to the housing. Therefore, the claimed housing is not a different and unobvious housing from that of Li as modified.
Regarding claims 7 & 18, Li as modified teaches through holes that include holes (Fig. 3 of Wang & G of Li). It is noted that the holes do not depend on the process of making it; and the product-by-process limitation “stamped” would not be expected to impart distinctive structural characteristics to the holes. Therefore, the claimed holes are not different and unobvious holes from those of Li as modified.
Regarding claims 8 & 19, Li teaches a shape of the through holes (Fig. 3 of Wang & G of Li) is round (as in Fig. 3 of Wang & Fig. 2 of Li).
Regarding claims 9 & 20, Li teaches through holes (Fig. 3 of Wang & G of Li) that are non-evenly distributed (since distribution of the holes in Fig. 3 of Wang & G of Li is different) on the side walls (D, E of Li) of the accommodation cavity (A of Li).
Regarding claim 10, Li teaches through holes (Fig. 3 of Wang) that are evenly distributed in a staggered manner (as in Fig. 3 of Wang) on the side walls (D, E of Li) of the accommodation cavity (A of Li).
Regarding claim 11, Li teaches a protrusion structure (J) configured to support the circuit board (2) is provided on an inner wall of the housing (Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 12, Li teaches an energy processing apparatus (Fig. 1) comprising: a circuit board (2), an input port (i.e., one of 6), an output port (i.e., another of 6), and a housing (4), wherein the circuit board is disposed in an accommodation cavity (A), the input port is connected to the circuit board via a first mounting hole (i.e., one of B), and the output port is connected to the circuit board via a second mounting hole (i.e., another of B).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW ING whose telephone number is (571)272-6536. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Daniel Troy can be reached at (571) 270-3742. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
/MATTHEW W ING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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