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 . As per the remark of 07/02/2025, claim 5 is amended; claim 21 is newly added. Examiner appreciated applicant for considering the reference disclosed in the Notice of Reference, but inadvertently errored the reference number in the office action. Claims 1-21 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statment
The Information Disclosure Statement dated 7/02/2025 is acknowledged and the cited references have been considered in this examination.
Claim Rejections - 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 present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US 2018/0069424) in view of Hao (US 2020/0235440).
With respect to claims 1, 2 and 18, Yang discloses a direct current (DC) charging system configured to charge a battery (Fig. 2; Para. # 0041: power source is applied as an input power source, a voltage of the applied AC power source may charge a high-voltage battery 240), the system comprising: a rectifier (Fig. 2, 210) comprising: a plurality of Gallium Nitride (GaN) switches (Para. # 0037,-0039); and a plurality of silicon carbide (SiC) rectifying diodes (Fig. 4, PFC 330, and SW module 332; Para. # 0041, 0043: the rectifier 210 include a diode, and the rectifier 210 mounted within a PFC 220. The PFC performed by adjusting a duty ratio of a switching module of the PFC 120), wherein the rectifier is configured to receive alternative current (AC) input (Para. # 0041:a rectifier 210 may be configured to cause current for the input AC power source) and output a first DC signal (Para. # 0042: converting AC power into DC power); and a converter configured to convert the first DC signal into a second DC signal that meets charging needs of a battery (Para. # 0043:DC-DC converter 230 supplying the voltage to the high-voltage battery 240 may be adjusted. The high-voltage battery 240 may provide a driving power to an eco-friendly vehicle), wherein the converter comprises a plurality of SiC switches, and wherein the second DC signal is provided to the battery for charging the battery (Fig. 2, DC-DC converter 130 charging high-voltage battery 240; Para. # 0045: high-voltage battery 240 may be charged with the DC voltage applied thereto, ripple current flowing into the output terminal of the DC-DC converter 230 supplying the voltage to the high-voltage battery 240 may be adjusted).
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YANG, however, does not expressly disclose a plurality of Gallium Nitride (GaN) switches and a plurality of silicon carbide (SiC) rectifying diodes other suitable electronic devices).
Hao discloses, on the other hand, a plurality of Gallium Nitride (GaN) switches and a plurality of silicon carbide (SiC) rectifying diodes (Para.#.0036:semiconductor inverter switch 164 within the power inverter 162, pack contactor switch 168 may be constructed of highly efficient switching device, such as wide-gap gallium nitride (GaN) or Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs, IGBTs, or other suitable electronic devices).
YANG and Hao are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor namely controlling onboard charger and battery voltage switching system.
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have added a specific transistors to the controlling charger of Yang in view of Hao used for switching and rectifying, such as SiC and gallium nitride parts as a diode since Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride are wide-bandgap semiconductors offering advantages over traditional silicon-based devices with SiC excelling at high voltage and power applications, and GaN at high-frequency, high-power density applications.
With respect to claims 3 and 16, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, wherein the voltage threshold is between about 500V and about 700V (Para. # 0050: a battery voltage (e.g., 800V upon switching from 400V to 800V or more).
With respect to claim 4, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, further comprising a DC bus connected to the rectifier and the converter (Para. # 0043).
With respect to claims 5, 6 and 20, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, Hao further discloses wherein the power management system is further configured to sense the at least one of currents or voltages at various portions of the plurality of SiC switches and adjust a plurality of signals configured to turn on or turn off the plurality of SiC switches based on the sensed at least one of currents or voltages (Para. # 0041: switches S1, S2. Switches S1 and S2 are subsequently opened such that all three switches S1-S3 are open; sensors 174A, 174B contemporaneously measure the electrical currents of the first and second traction battery packs 121A, 121B; all three switches are open; sensors 174A, 174B contemporaneously measure the electrical currents).
With respect to claim 7, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, Yang further discloses wherein the power management system comprise a pulse width modulation (PWM) generator and a processor configured to control the PWM generator to generate a plurality of driving signals to control the plurality of GaN switches (Para. # 0051-0052).
With respect to claims 8 and 9, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, Yang further discloses wherein the processor is configured to determine a tradeoff between a frequency and duty cycle of at least one driving signal of the plurality of driving signals to achieve a desired efficiency or a desired output DC voltage (Para. # 0066-0068: frequency control for adjusting ripple current may be changed within a predetermined range based on a preset operating frequency).
With respect to claim 10, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, Yang further discloses wherein the input comprises one or more digital control signals (Para. # 0051-0052: the switching module 332 of the PFC 330 does not perform duty ratio control of PWM. Pulse width modulation (PWM) is a type of digital signal that can be used to control the input voltage with digital position feedback signals, through a series of on-off pulses).
With respect to claims 5 and 11, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, Hao further discloses wherein the power management system is further configured to adjust switching frequencies of the plurality of SiC or GaN switches of the rectifier based on an output voltage required by the battery (Para. # 0035: power for powering the electric machine 114 via high-frequency switching. Each semiconductor switch S.sub.11-S.sub.16 may be embodied as a voltage-controlled bipolar switching device in the form of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET), wideband GaN device (WBG), or other suitable switch… gate signal is applied to change the on/off state).
With respect to claims 12 and 19, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, Hao further discloses wherein the power management system is further configured to monitor health of at least one of the plurality of GaN switches or the SiC switches (Para. # 0049: a central processing unit, and are operable to monitor inputs from sensing devices and other networked control modules).
With respect to claim 13, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, Hao further discloses wherein the power management system is further configured to collect data related to health and operating status of at least one of the plurality of GaN switches or the SiC switches (Par. # 0052: the soft application different data types during switches, such as Gallium nitride switches as in paragraph 0036).
With respect to claim 14, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, Yang further discloses wherein the converter is configured as a DC-DC converter (Fig. 2, 130: DC-DC converter).
With respect to claim 15, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, Yang further discloses wherein the converter does not include a transformer (Para # 0043: converter 230 may include transformer, or not as may implies options).
With respect to claim 17, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, Yang further discloses wherein the converter is configured to output the second DC signal in a range between 50V and 10kV to the battery (Para. # 0056: high output range of 240V-413V; and the DC-DC converter 340 can be made to have low input-output voltage gain for the required range).
With respect to claim 21, the combined references of Yang and Hao disclose the direct current (DC) charging system as described above, Hoe discloses wherein each of the plurality of GaN switches of the rectifier is connected to a corresponding SiC rectifying diode of the plurality of SiC rectifying diodes (Para.#.0036:gallium nitride (GaN) or Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs switches).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's amendments and arguments filed in the remarks of 07/02/2025 have been considered, and the previous anticipatory rejections to the claims described in the last office action have been withdrawn, but a new ground of rejections have been introduced to address the amended claims and related arguments made (see the rejections above).
Applicant's amendments and arguments filed in the remarks of 07/02/2025 have been considered but are not persuasive to overcome the rejections based on the references described (see the above office action).
Applicant argues that the Office Action fails to at least indicate how the cited portions of Yang or Hao disclose or suggest "wherein the converter comprises a plurality of SiC switches," as recited in claim 1.
As indicated in the last office action, Hao discloses a plurality of Gallium Nitride switches and a plurality of silicon carbide rectifying diodes as indicated in paragraph 0036:semiconductor inverter switch 164 within the power inverter 162, pack contactor switch 168 may be constructed of highly efficient switching device, such as wide-gap gallium nitride (GaN) or Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs, IGBTs, or other suitable electronic devices). Furthermore, the primary reference, Yang discloses a plurality of Silicon Carbide (SiC) rectifying diodes in paragraph 41 (A rectifier 210 may be configured to cause current for the input AC power source to flow in one direction. The rectifier 210 may include a diode).
Applicant further argues that “…The cited portions of Hao refer to "wide-gap gallium nitride (GaN) or silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs, IGBTs, or other suitable electronic devices" used for "the set 168 of solid-state relay switches ... to govern the electrical output of the battery system 115. Thus, the cited portions of Hao do not disclose "SiC switches".
The office action, however, as described by Hao, discloses gallium nitride (GaN) or Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs as indicated earlier. SiC MOSFET is SiC switches where the Metal Oxide Sem-conductor Field Effect Transistor is an active switch used for similar purpose as indicated above. SiC MOSFET is a power electronic switch that uses silicon carbide as its semiconductor material, offering superior performance over traditional silicon MOSFETs due to its higher breakdown voltage, faster switching speeds and better thermal conductivity. Therefore, applicant argument is not found proper.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YALKEW FANTU whose telephone number is (571)272-8928. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00AM-4:00PM.
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/YALKEW FANTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859